Stories & Updates

Donor Story: Kim and Stuart

Hi. Kim & Stuart here. We’re steadfast supporters of Be the Change Earth Alliance and Verity is  the embodiment of why we believe  bringing eco-social education to our youth is so important. We want Verity to enjoy the same rejuvenating experiences in nature as we’ve enjoyed our whole lives...not wildfires, floods and millions of starving people all over the world.

We’re constantly looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint: riding a bike to work, conserving energy and water, reducing waste, cutting way back on air travel and needless consumption. But we’re frustrated knowing this is just a drop in the bucket. We need critical mass - the population, business and industry need direction from government. Seeing politicians being non-responsive is maddening. We agree with Greta – politicians need to tell the truth to rally collective action. Seeing climate-aware youth in the street gives us renewed inspiration. This generation will soon be able to vote.

Donor Story: Investing in our youth

My name is Andrew Davidson, I’m an Investment Advisor based in Vancouver. 

To me, meaningful investment includes investing in combating the climate crisis. There is no clearer return than a clean and healthy world.

As with tackling many pressing issues, starting with education can be transformative. I encourage you to invest in Be the Change Earth Alliance because there really is no downside to investing in climate action and students.  

Donor Story: Creating systems change

Hi, I’m Suzanne Barois. I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on behalf of Be the Change Earth Alliance and commend this grassroots organization for all the good work they do.  

My husband and I have attended BTCEA’s Annual General Meeting each year and have met most of the board members and staff. We have always been impressed with how much this small organization is able to do with the resources they have and inspired by the calibre of their work. The volunteers are enthusiastic, and the staff is highly motivated in their work with the teachers and students. I feel that every penny we invest in this organization is put to good use and much appreciated. 

Donor Story: Supporting collaboration and critical thinking

My name is Michael Goodman, and I’m proud to say I’ve donated to Be the Change Earth Alliance. 

I’m 69. Climate change feels like my generation’s problem. And yet we’ve left our youth to deal with it. How better to solve this problem than by supporting them? 

Let’s help our youth discuss these problems and consider how they can reshape our country to do better. I donated to Be the Change Earth Alliance because I think that without discussion and thought there can be no action. Be the Change helps youth come to grips with the climate crisis and discover how they can make a positive impact on our world.  

Donor Story: Supporting Transformative Change

My name is Kate Sutherland. I donate every year to Be The Change Earth Alliance and have been an avid supporter since the early days. 

I love its grounded, practical, and strategic use of key levers for transformative change: activating HEAD (sharing key info), HEART (connecting to others and to values) and HANDS (recommending a range of potential actions). I so respect how the work keeps deepening and evolving, as the team learns and iterates its offerings.

And I care deeply about the braiding of three crucial strands in the BTC vision: to support a socially just, environmentally sustainable and personally fulfilling human presence on this planet. 

Federal Election Reflections

It has now been a week since the Federal election.  After spending the 6 week election period involved and volunteering in canvassing and Get out the vote efforts to ensure we get voters to consider climate change when they cast their ballot, it has taken me a bit of time to fully decompress and assess what the outcomes of this important election means in the context of climate justice. I know for many of us committed to working towards justice, there were many moments in this election that left me feeling deeply disappointed and frustrated with the state of debate on issues in Canada, and that made clear to me how much work we still need to do in the fight for ecological justice, indigenous justice, racial justice, economic justice, gender justice, across Canada but also around the world.

Action Pack Stories: Justice - The Privatization of Water

This blog post is part of a series that demonstrate how our Action Packs are used! This post covers the 'Water Privatization' in our Justice Action Pack. 

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Before I started college, I bought plastic bottled water almost every day. Yes, I bought water. But did I really need to pay for all that water when I could have gotten it for free instead? I started to change this habit as I learned more about how plastics harm our environment. Now, I have been bringing a reusable water bottle with me for 5 years. I’ve really changed the way I live with water. 

I learned about the negative impacts of plastics, which encouraged me to switch to reusable water bottles, in the ‘Privatization of Water’ justice action pack. But more significantly, I hadn't realized until completing this action pack that the bottled-water industry exists as a result of the privatization of water.

Throughout the research process of this action pack, I was most impressed by a video called The Story of Bottled Water. This video taught me that bottled water is actually created by manufactured demand. The bottled water industry scares people about tap water, seduces people with marketing strategies, and supplies misleading information. In fact, studies prove that bottled water is not necessarily cleaner, safer, or better tasting than tap water. In addition, it requires a large amount of energy to produce a plastic water bottle, and plastic bottles contribute to land waste pollution. Not all bottles can be recycled, and many are even transported to poorer countries, increasing their own waste. This creates social injustice. What’s more, bottled water costs thousands of times more than tap water.

Action Pack Stories: Health - Food Additives

This blog post is part of a series that demonstrate how our Climate Action Unit's Action Packs are used! This post covers the "Health: Food Additives" Action Pack. 

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Have you ever stopped and read the labels of the foods you consume? Or even researched what exactly all those weird-sounding ingredients are? Yeah, me neither. 

The “Health: Food Additives” Action Pack changed this for me, though. Throughout this action pack, I learned what food additives and preservatives are, why they’re used, their detrimental effects on our health, and how to eliminate these pesky and problematic substances from my life by taking personal pledges.  

Basically, food additives and preservatives are sneaky substances, often incorporated into packaged and processed foods so they last longer on the shelf, look better, are easier to package, taste better, and/or add nutritional value. But these substances can have seriously negative effects on our health and are known to increase the risk of a myriad of health complications. 

In this action pack, there was an activity in which I got to choose one of my favourite processed foods, write a list of its additives/preservatives, and then research their health implications. I chose Oreos, because I love them dearly, and was quickly disappointed to find out that Oreos are destroying forests of palm trees (and orangutans!!), as well as increasing my risk of heart disease, obesity, and cancer. As much as I love Oreos, I'd rather not eat them knowing what goes into their production, let alone their possible effects.

Out of Office & Onto the Streets

This week, millions have already walked in solidarity with youth leaders demanding action to address the climate crisis. Our time is running out. Sea levels are rising, glaciers are melting, we are seeing an increase in extreme weather events, and temperatures are at all-time highs. 

Our modern existence seems to have forgotten its intrinsic connection to the natural world. And so here we stand, on the precipice of an irreversible climate crisis, with countless species at risk of extinction, and our frightened children leading rallies in the streets. 

We got ourselves into this mess, and we have got to get ourselves out. Our way of living, governing, and going about ‘business as usual’ is going to bring us all down. So let’s take pause. Let’s reset. And then let’s act boldly by making personal choices and supporting public policies that protect our planet. 

But how? How can we change hearts and minds? How can we collectively break our habits and disrupt the status quo? Well -- as we stand in the wake of a week of incredible youth-led organizing around the world, it seems we ‘elders’ could learn a thing or two about global collaboration from our ‘youngers’. It is possible!