The following organizations and individuals will conduct workshop sessions:
(i) Free the Children (funded by RBC H2O 4U)
Free the Children is using its RBC Blue Water Project grant of $300,000 to launch an "H2O 4U Speaking Tour", which will visit 100 schools across Canada to educate youth about global water issues, inspire them to take action in their daily lives to conserve and protect water. The students will also be encouraged to fundraise to provide clean water and education programs for rural communities in China and India. Free The Children will then help provide these communities with localized clean water sources and sanitation facilities.
Free the Children Motivational tour speakers: Derrick An and Sarah Klassen
Water is a human right and needs to be protected and treated as such. Thirty years ago, bottled water barely existed in concept and now it is sold at most stores, restaurants, institutions. How did we get so far when every house is hard-wired into a healthy and safe source of water that flows from the tap. Together we will explore importance and access to water as well as waste prone and resource intensive plastic bottles of water in today's societal context.
Fostering a new generation of water stewards - Our Message in the Bottle Project (MITB) is designed to place up to 50,000 stainless steel water bottles in the hands of students in Wellington and neighbouring Counties. This will empower children and youth to take back the tap, dramatically lower their carbon footprint and solid waste while saving parents and schools money. For only 1 cent their bottle can be filled over 60 times with municipal tap water, water that is among the safest and most regulated in the world. Up to 100 tonnes of carbon emissions will be eliminated per year with this program including large volumes of solid waste as onetime use disposable drink containers will no longer enter the waste stream
(iv)
T.A.P. H2O- Teens Against the Privatization Water
We are a student movement against bottled water. We're opposed to the privatization of our world's water sources by major multi-national corporations. In protest, we are Boycotting the Bottle! We are on a mission to not only raise awareness of the countless injustices stemming from the privatization of our world's water sources, but also the implications that plastic water bottles have on our environment. Through our movement, we hope to connect like-minded students from all over, provide resources and more information on water privatization and empower students to take action! Together, we will make a difference!
BurlingtonGreen's workshop will focus on how we - today's youth - can force positive change in the way we interact with water to ensure the integrity of this valuable resource is maintained. We will introduce the concepts of Water Footprinting and Virtual Water, which are both used to understand what aspects of our lives are most water-intensive and to identify opportunities for conservation. These tools have been adopted in all spheres of water management, from helping individuals make better personal choices about water, to international strategic planning and cooperative watershed management. We will then flow to applying these tools to the issue of bottled water, perhaps the most wasteful use of our water and the greatest opportunity for conservation. We will provide you with a set of practical tools that can be used to run a campaign to remove bottled water from HDSB school. Our goal is to provide you with a background on the issue of sustainable water and a inspire you to get involved in initiatives that will reduce our impact on our blue planet. Lets think global and act local for water.
Our cycling and performing tours have reached over 100,000 people across Canada since 2003. This spring, the Phenomenal Food Tour will be travelling by bicycle from Kitchener to Ottawa from May 1st to June 22nd, delivering our award-winning programming in cities, towns and villages along the way.
The Otesha Play: Reason to Dream. Over the last seven years Otesha's theatre performances have explored the many ways we can reduce our ecological footprint and tackle environmental issues through everyday consumer choices. Comedic and inspiring, Reason to Dream touches upon the topics of food, clothing, transport, water and energy use and the media. This is a piece of imaginative physical theatre that leaves audiences feeling inspired, empowered, and ready to take action!
(vii) Amy Collard, HDSB Trustee, Burlington, Ward 5
The Ethical and Environmental impacts of bottled water will be explored, including the current state of Canada's freshwater supply, the environmental costs associated with privitizing of our drinking water and the social costs of commodifying water. We will discuss the various options that consumers have, and the leadership role that municipalities, boards of education and social justice groups can and should take on this issue.
(viii) First Nations perspectives on water
Paul General from Six Nations Eco Centre
(ix) Lynn Johannson, CEO & Founder,
Going for the GreenStudents will explore where water use occurs on the school property using a mapping tool.
The workshop will enable students to see how their actions relate to water use through the mapping exercise, and how to assert economic power to promote water conservation and water quality.
