January Newsletter: Sharing Gratitude & Excitement for 2024!
Happy New Year! We hope you had a memorable holiday season and a positive start to 2024. At Be the Change, we are energized and excited for the year ahead!
Be the Change’s Youth Blog Series highlights blogs written by university student interns at Be the Change Earth Alliance. In the blogs, the interns reflect on their experience completing “Action Packs,” which are learning resources that guide students in research, critical thinking and tangible action related to a global sustainability topic.
Summary of Action Pack
This Action Pack alerts students about the ocean acidification crisis. Students will learn that human activities have released too much carbon emissions, and this excessive 
amount of carbon is being absorbed by Earth’s oceans. In nature, the carbon cycle is a natural process where the balance of carbon release and carbon absorption has sustained terrestrial ecosystems and marine ecosystems for a very long time. However, the excessive carbon particles in oceans are turning ocean water into a coercive and acidic environment that has become dangerous to calcifying organisms, such as molluscs and crustaceans, by making it difficult for these organisms to survive and build shells. The Action Pack outlines how the disruption of oceans’ pH balance will affect marine food webs, the fishing industry and coastal communities’ economic well-being. The Action Pack also encourages students to reflect on the environmental, social, and economic consequences of excessive carbon emissions and ocean acidification.
The Action Pack offers many ideas on how students can partake in raising awareness and how they can help to reduce carbon emissions. Students can research their school’s dependence on fossil fuels, calculate the current carbon footprint of their household, and encourage friends to join them in reducing their CO2 impact on the ocean for 1 month. This Action Pack is a great resource for students to learn about ocean acidification and the importance of carbon emission reduction.
My Reflection
After completing this Action Pack, I looked into clubs fighting climate change at my school. Myself and many others vowed to limit air travel to reduce carbon emissions. We signed a petition to limit staff from traveling for work related reasons. Later, I found a news article stating that faculty members from various schools are joined together in signing said petition. This action will lead to tangible change in the reduction of carbon emissions caused by academic air travel. I felt that my actions, along with others, really caused change in the world, and helped our oceans!
Latest posts
December 2023 Newsletter - ⛄‘Tis the season to celebrate at Be The Change!⛄
As 2023 comes to a close and school winds down for winter break, we’re taking a moment to reflect back over the past year. 2023 was a very regenerative time for BTCEA! We developed and delivered our Climate Action, Resilience, and Emotions (CARE) program in communities on the frontlines of wildfires in our province. And as an organization, we prioritized creating space to discuss what decolonization could look like both internally, and in our programming. Here are the highlights:
Oct 2023 Newsletter - Check out our mid-October climate-justice resources!
Hello,
An introduction from Communications Coordinator, Lucy Wicken
Dear Be The Change community,
As we approach mid-October, I’m reflecting on the changing seasons, from the warm and active days of summer to the cooler and quieter days of autumn. Personally, I’ve noticed a desire to slow down, take on fewer responsibilities, and stay inside where it’s cozy. Have you felt this way too?
As 21st century humans living in a world that operates under capitalism, white supremacy, and other oppressive systems, we can be made to feel guilt or shame about listening & responding to our needs. We are expected to maintain the same energy and productivity levels throughout the year, no matter how cold or dark the days are, how heavy world events feel, or how much we’re struggling in our personal lives.
This is where the concept of regenerative education comes in. Introduced to the BTCEA team by former staff member Jake, regenerative education calls on us to slow down and turn inward to consider our connection with the natural world. It asks us to examine the living systems that are breaking down due to violent human activity (such as fossil fuel extraction, destruction of Indigenous lands, and human-caused flooding and wildfires) and connect this breakdown with our own high levels of stress.
