In this episode, learn how to create change through plant-based living with Jackie Bastianon.

Jackie, one of Canada’s Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25, is the Co-Founder of PlantEd Project, an Ottawa-based group that connects the community in taking sustainable action every day through the power of plant-based living. In this episode, learn how Jackie transformed her passions into a real-life business and became a young entrepreneur, while also receiving valuable advice on how to create your own project.

Episode references and resources:

• PlantEd Project website
• Health Canada’s Food Guide
• Tips for going plant-based (1, 2)
• Recipe blogs: Hot For Food, Minimalist Baker, Oh She Glows

If you enjoyed learning how to create change through plant-based living with Jackie Bastianon, check out these conversations on skill-building, creating change and following your passions:

• Cater your degree to your passions with Jeffray Behr
• How to be a young entrepreneur with Tania Del Matto
• Breaking boundaries in research with Dr. Sarah Wolfe
• Starting a national youth environmental group with PickWaste

It’s time to Clear the Air of all this confusion about climate change. It’s time to learn how we, the youth climate leaders of today, can make a change. It’s time to take our future into our own hands.

Make sure to rate, subscribe and follow the Clear the Air Podcast, and follow the journey on social media:

Website: https://ctablog.ca

Podcast site: https://ctablog.ca/podcast

Instagram & Twitter: @_ctablog

Don’t forget to share your sustainability journey on social media and tag Clear the Air!

Clear the Air – The Podcast

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Clear the Air seeks to educate, empower and mobilize youth to take action against climate change. These weekly episodes will focus on a specific theme, teaching you how to take action RIGHT NOW in your own life. By listening to the podcast, you will become a sustainability expert in no time.

Jenna Phillips is the podcast host, a passionate university student, and a local climate action leader. She uses her expertise and desire for change to make a difference in the lives of others.

It’s time to Clear the Air of all this confusion about climate change. It’s time to learn how we, the youth climate leaders of today, can make a change. It’s time to take our future into our own hands.

The post Episode 12: Create change through plant-based living with Jackie Bastianon appeared first on Clear the Air.

Do you aspire to someday work for one of the world’s top companies (Google, Walmart, Apple) or non-profits (World Wildlife Fund, the United Nations), but have no clue where to start? Do your passions for sustainability coincide with these dreams of working for a global organization, but you can’t figure out how they can possibly coincide? If you said yes to either of these, today I bring you a story that will answer your questions. In this interview with Winnie Lam, learn how to pursue sustainable careers with top companies from Google’s Director of Energy, sustainability lead, and member World Wildlife Fund’s National Council.

Winnie started out just like the rest of us: a student with a passion for change. Through hard work, skill development and an opportunist mindset, Winnie has become an admirable leader in the realm of sustainability, helping some of the world’s largest companies operate more eco-consciously. In this interview, Winnie discusses how she designed the career she has now and what critical steps youth need to take to make a change.

Tell us a bit about yourself!

“I graduated from Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, and have been working at Google for 15 years. I have always had a passion for sustainability. I had been doing side projects to optimize the energy produced by Google’s solar panels, and benchmark the energy efficiency across Google’s office buildings. In 2013, I decided to go all in. Rather than doing side projects, I decided to pursue a career in sustainability full time. It’s been very fulfilling since.”

Coming from an engineering background, how did you first get involved in sustainability?

Back in 2008, I was working in Google’s Ads team, which didn’t have much to do with sustainability. I wanted to roll up my sleeves and do something related to sustainability. I learned that Google had recently become the largest installer of solar panels in corporate America. I contacted Google’s Real Estate team, and asked if there was anything I could do to help with the solar panels. They wanted help with data analytics. My goal was to optimize the solar energy generated by the 1.7MW of solar panels across dozens of Google’s office buildings. I analyzed the solar panels’ tilt, building locations, solar radiation by time of year, and many other factors. After analyzing all this data, we identified a method to double the solar energy output for some buildings. 

Turns out that there were a few buildings directly located across from a dirt field and it had not rained for months, so the solar panels were very dirty. We power washed them, and the solar energy output doubled overnight. While it seems obvious now, washing solar panels was not a commonly adopted practice. I published this finding in Google’s blog, so that everyone else can benefit from our analysis.  

When people think of WWF, they typically don't relate it directly to engineering. How did you find yourself working with WWF?

In 2012, there was a vast increase in the elephants being poached for their ivory. I learned about this issue from various wildlife conservation non-profits that I supported. I wanted to do something to help, and didn’t have to look far. Back at that time, when someone searched for “buy elephant ivory”, Google would mistakenly show ads and shopping results enabling people to buy ivory. This was against Google’s policy, but there were holes in enforcing that policy.

I recruited some friends as volunteers. With help from WWF on what to look for, we noted all the elephant ivory ads we found on a spreadsheet. I would then share that spreadsheet with my colleagues that did policy enforcement. They took down the ads promptly. That worked well for a while, but certainly was not a scalable approach. So I worked with the Engineering team to automate the removal of these ivory ads. It was not straightforward, because the algorithms needed to distinguish between elephant ivory ads from ivory colored shoes. Of course, the team figured it out and automated banning ivory ads. 

After getting Google to ban elephant ivory ads, WWF and I decided that the robust solution we need is to get the entire tech industry to ban selling ivory on our tech platforms. We formed a coalition comprising of many major tech companies in the US and China, and then later in Europe and Africa, towards the common goal of banning the sale of endangered animal products on our websites.  

You have worked organizations from the global to local scale to promote sustainability. Do you think one scale is more important or feasible to act at than another?

What advice can you give to someone interested in making change, but not sure which level they should work with?

Every organization delivers value to society in unique ways. A small local organization or startup may be more nimble to the needs of the region, whereas a big global organization has the potential to scale its impact more broadly. For someone early in their career, it may be beneficial to work for a company that is well respected in their industry. Some people claim that working at Google or McKinsey is like earning a degree from Stanford or Harvard, in terms of the boost in their career. I can see that.

For someone wanting to make change, my advice is to get your hands dirty and do anything, literally anything, to add value to that organization. I’ve used that approach at various points in my career. It has worked out well for me.  

From your own experiences, what are some of the challenges with mobilizing people to take action, especially youth? Do you have any advice for overcoming these barriers?

There is no shortage in people who are passionate about doing something positive for climate change. Transforming that enthusiasm into meaningful impact is the challenging part. My advice is to come up with an effective strategy for how you will positively impact the world, and recruit people to join you. 

For many co-op students today, it is a dream to get an internship opportunity with Google. Back in university, did you ever imagine that you’d be working for an organization as large as Google or the WWF?

Definitely not. I have always adopted an opportunistic mindset, to grab the best opportunity ahead of me and never look back. 

Going through your degree and career, did you have a mentor/role model to guide or inspire you?

I have had lots of mentors throughout my career. I am not shy about asking for advice from people who are orders of magnitude more accomplished than I am. My mentors include CEO’s at various non profits, many of whom had illustrious careers in the private sector before going the non-profit route. Some of my mentors are very generous with offering me their guidance, because they see my potential in doing something good for the world. Other times, they mentor me because I can help them, through my Google connections. Other times, they are just genuinely kind people. I’m extremely grateful to my mentors, and make an effort to stay in touch with them.  

IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND TELL HIGH-SCHOOL WINNIE ONE THING/LESSON RELATED TO YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

To succeed in the professional world, it takes a lot more than A+ grades and knowledge. People skills and emotional intelligence are critical leadership qualities.

What does sustainability mean to you?

Sustainability is such a broad term. For climate change, it means doing everything we can to limit further temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. For consumerism, it means not consuming more of the planet’s resources than can be replenished. For wildlife, it means protecting ecosystems around the world. 

final thoughts

If this conversation could be summed up, the message would be this: there is always a role for youth in fostering change. Whether it be with a company, a non-profit, or your own start-up initiative, all it takes is the motivation to initiate something. If you truly want to work for a an organization, you need to initiate it. If you see an environmental problem within your community (litter, water pollution, deforestation…) take the initiative to launch a campaign against it. Also, always strive to learn. Your role as a student does not stop once you get your degree. Learn from coworkers, peers, family members; find a mentor in every new role you take on. Follow the journeys of people you admire and want to grow up to be like, and figure out what steps it took them to get there. The road to your ideal future may be a hard one, but it is possible. You just need to put the work in and believe in yourself.

To learn more about Winnie and her work, check out these resources and stories:

• https://www.worldwildlife.org/leaders/winnie-lam
• https://www.blog.google/topics/inside-google/she-word-winnie-lam-helping-google-do-right-thing-planet/
• https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/summer-2018/articles/wwf-national-council-member-winnie-lam-on-innovation

If you enjoyed learning about Winnie’s journey and her advice on how to pursue sustainable careers with top companies, check out these other helpful conversations that deal with skill-building, creating change and following your passions:

• How to be a young entrepreneur with Tania Del Matto
• Catering your degree to your passions with Jeffray Behr: engineering, renewable energy and plant-based meats
• Breaking boundaries in research with Dr. Sarah Wolfe
• Starting a national youth environmental group with PickWaste

Have any questions for Winnie about how to pursue sustainable careers with top companies, or suggestions for other guests to have on the blog/podcast? Let me know in the comments. 

Until next time.

The post How to pursue sustainable careers in top companies with Winnie Lam, Google’s Director of Energy appeared first on Clear the Air.

Episode 08: In this episode, learn how to be a young entrepreneur with Tania Del Matto. Tania is a sustainability expert, esteemed entrepreneur and inspiring youth mentor. From navigating the world as a young entrepreneur to finding inspiration to start a business, this conversation proves how youth can truly make a difference in the world.

It’s time to Clear the Air of all this confusion about climate change. It’s time to learn how we, the youth climate leaders of today, can make a change. It’s time to take our future into our own hands.

Make sure to rate, subscribe and follow the Clear the Air Podcast, and follow the journey on social media:

Blog: https://ctablog.ca

Instagram: @_ctablog

Twitter: @_ctablog

Don’t forget to share your sustainability journey on social media and tag Clear the Air!

Clear the Air – The Podcast

To learn more about GreenHouse: check out their site here.

If you enjoyed learning how to be a young entrepreneur with Tania Del Matto and want tips more on being a successful innovator, check out these posts:

• Why daily goals are essential for success
• How to be “successful”
• How to stay motivated

ABOUT THE PODCAST

Clear the Air seeks to educate, empower and mobilize youth to take action against climate change. These weekly episodes will focus on a specific theme, teaching you how to take action RIGHT NOW in your own life. By listening to the podcast, you will become a sustainability expert in no time.

Jenna Phillips is the podcast host, a passionate university student, and a local climate action leader. She uses her expertise and desire for change to make a difference in the lives of others.

It’s time to Clear the Air of all this confusion about climate change. It’s time to learn how we, the youth climate leaders of today, can make a change. It’s time to take our future into our own hands.

The post Episode 08: How to be a young entrepreneur with Tania Del Matto appeared first on Clear the Air.

Hello, everyone! I hope that you have been safe and warm the past few weeks. In case you don’t live in Ontario, we’ve been experiencing winter storm after winter storm. I’ve never seen this many extreme weather alerts in such a short time frame…

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my story a few weeks ago hinting at this post. Now that it is complete, I am so excited to share with you another interview! I believe that the couple behind this amazing company are two of Ontario’s most innovative sustainability entrepreneurs. I was elated, then, when Ellin a.k.a. one of the co-founders of Zero Waste Bulk, agreed to do an interview with me!

ZWB is a zero-waste grocery store that opened in December 2018 in Waterloo, Ontario by Ellin and Kevin. I had been waiting for this store to open for almost a year, as soon as I read the announcement online that ZWB was coming to Waterloo. Already the store has attracted thousands of shoppers and media as it paves the way for sustainable shopping in our province.

When shopping at the store you have two options: bring your own reusable containers or pay a deposit to borrow/purchase one of the store’s containers. They have everything you could think of, from fresh produce to locally made bread (from one of my favourite cafe’s!), to cleaning supplies, personal care, frozen foods and more! When the produce is reaching the end of its life, they offer the items at a discounted price/free and share it in their Instagram story. They also sell items online on their website. They are always seeking new ideas for products and love feedback from the community.

Without further ado, let’s learn more about what it’s like to run Zero Waste Bulk.

What inspired you to start your Zero Waste journey? Have you always been interested in protecting the environment?

Ellin: I first heard of “zero waste” when I connected with minimalist communities about two years ago. It started with a journey of re-evaluating my possessions. How did I accumulate so much stuff and why was I so attached to my possessions? I was a borderline hoarder, but being surrounded by clutter was a constant source of stress. A key moment was when I realized I didn’t have an organization problem – it was a “too much stuff” problem. Too much stuff that didn’t even bring me joy (I was definitely inspired by Marie Kondo – now trending on Netflix). I realized much of this stuff I was decluttering was destined for the landfills, and this bothered me a lot as I’ve always wanted to prevent things from being wasted (that was part of the reason I held onto so much stuff). Being critical about my material possessions also led to the re-evaluation of my consumption habits. That’s where minimalism and zero waste overlap – both involve becoming a conscious consumer.

I’ve always been interesting in protecting the environment, but did not realize that so much of the waste I regularly produced could be avoided. In terms of waste, I thought recycling was good enough, but it’s best to avoid having to recycle in the first place. Recycling is just a form of waste management. What we want to do is reduce recycling by creating systems of reuse. Recycling is still resource intensive, and putting things in the blue bin does not necessarily guarantee that the item will get recycled. In addition, plastic “recycling” is really downcycling. Every time plastic goes through the recycling process, its quality deteriorates; plastic cannot be recycled forever – it eventually becomes waste.

Producing loads of garbage on a regular basis is so normalized we don’t really give it a second thought, but much of the garbage we produce can be avoided by being prepared with reusables and becoming mindful of our consumption habits.

What made you want to open Zero Waste Bulk? When did you officially decide that you were going to open the store?

Ellin: As I began trying to live zero waste two years ago, I realized that it was inconvenient. If there were a one-stop shop where you could shop zero waste, this would be much easier. I’ve heard of other zero waste shops popping up around the world and wanted to see one near me, but as far as I knew, this wasn’t happening. I did not want to wait for someone else to start a zero waste store in the area since I didn’t know how long that would take. So I decided I would take the initiative and start one myself. It took about two years from the birth of the idea to the opening of the store.

Did you have any experience as an entrepreneur prior to opening ZWB? If not, what was the process of opening your own store like?

Ellin: Nope! I had little interest in starting my own business, especially a brick-and-mortar business. The process of opening my own store was definitely a huge learning process. There are so many details to take care of to open your own store – it’s something I would not be able to cover here.

Why did you choose to open the store in Uptown Waterloo?

Ellin: First, the location had to be somewhere I could walk to since I don’t drive. I chose Uptown Waterloo because it is central and visible. I wanted the store to be in a place where random people walking by would walk in and become introduced to the idea of shopping zero waste rather than it being in a location that would only draw in people already interested in sustainable living.

How do you find the products that you sell in store? Do you prioritize local/organic/ethically made products? 

Ellin: Lots of research and connecting with the online zero waste community and local businesses. Yes, we prioritize products made locally, organically, and ethically. Though this often means that the price points also tend to be higher than if the products were mass produced, outsourced, and made in unethical conditions.

Since it was announced that Zero Waste Bulk was opening in Uptown, there has been a lot of hype and support for the store. It’s only been open for a month now and is already so successful. Did you ever imagine that the store would do so well, so quickly? 

Ellin: No way! We were blown away by the support and people’s eagerness to learning to shop the BYOC way. We are proud of the community’s dedication to reducing waste!

Were there ever times that you felt discouraged during this process? How did you get through the tough times?

Ellin: Lots. I just tell myself you only live once – might as well try and fail than not try and forever wonder what could have happened if you tried. 

What was the most challenging part of making ZWB a reality?

Ellin: Finding the right location.

Do you have a favourite memory that you made throughout the whole process of opening ZWB?

Ellin: Renovations were pretty fun as we got to connect with an amazing community of volunteers who wanted to help us make ZWB happen.

What’s your best tip for someone just starting their journey towards a more Zero Waste lifestyle?

Ellin: It takes practise to create a habit. Work on creating new habits, one or just a few at a time. Don’t get discouraged if you forget to bring reusables with you and end up accepting disposables. That is totally normal when you are starting out. Just keep trying and eventually becoming prepared with your reusables for all sorts of situations will become automatic. It’s also normal to feel weird about bringing your own containers to restaurants and such, but often times people love seeing us packing away our leftovers or putting food in our own containers. Also, if you keep forgetting to bring your own bag, it helps to hang them on the doorknob right after you come home so you remember to take them with you again when you leave the house.

What’s your favourite product in the store (available now or coming soon)? 🙂

Ellin: In terms of non-food products, one of my favourite items is the round stainless steel Onyx container. I also love the U-Konserve nesting trio containers. They are always with me in my backpack!In terms of food… That’s hard! A few of my favourites: Maple syrup pecans, organic dried mangos, and the gaia mix (the best trail mix)!

~~~

It’s hard not to be inspired by Ellin’s story. I seriously am amazed at how determined her and Kevin were to open Zero Waste Bulk, without any prior business experience. Their story shows that you really can do anything that you set your mind to. Thank you, Ellin, for sharing your journey on my blog! I know that your store will inspire and empower anyone who reads it. If you want to learn more about Ellin, Kevin and the story of ZWB, check out their Instagram, Facebook or website!

Next time you are feeling discouraged, or have a dream but have no clue how to bring it to life, do not give up. Yes, it could be a long and hard process with numerous setbacks and challenges. No successful business owner, actor, singer, writer, politician, engineer or student could be where they are without hard work. Take the setbacks and challenges you face as a learning process. The more you learn from your mistakes, the better equipped you will be to face similar challenges in the future, and the stronger you will be when you achieve your dreams. Don’t stop yourself from achieving your dreams just because you’re afraid of failure: often times, failure is the best way to learn.

I hope that you all have a great day, and thank you as always for reading!

Until next time!

The post An interview with Zero Waste Bulk appeared first on Clear the Air.

Hello everyone! I officially have one week left of summer, and I am quite disappointed by how fast time has flown by. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been on break for nearly four months now! Nonetheless, I am very excited to get back to school and see my friends. This will be my first year completing a co-op term (which is in the winter) and I can’t wait to see what job I get! Applications and interviews began as early as mid-September, so I’ll have an update about that soon.

For today, I would like to reflect on my experience this summer as a camp counsellor. Quite honestly, I never would have thought that I’d have this job. I was always the kid who went to camp. I ended up applying for several different camps this summer, and this is the one I felt I was most compatible with.

I was so lucky to have such an amazing team. Seriously, all of the other counsellors were awesome. There was always something new going on at camp, too, and this job really taught me to think on my feet and be creative.

Although I am still working at the camp (this is my last full week!) I’ve been able to come up with ten lessons I learned as a camp counsellor. These lessons will no-doubt benefit me in the future, not only during my co-op terms but also in my everyday life. I want to share these lessons with you to perhaps inspire you to become a counsellor next summer, and to understand that counselling is much more than just playing games and singing songs all day.

With that, let’s get on to the post!

1.  You need to be adaptable. 

When working with kids, you need to be able to think on your toes and act quickly. Maybe you had an activity planned at the turf that you thought the kids would love; turns out they’d much rather kick soccer balls around and run into the walls (yes, some of them enjoy doing that). Or maybe you’re making a craft that worked well for the senior kids, but it’s just too confusing for the juniors who can’t even hold a pair of safety scissors properly. You need to always have a backup plan, and even better, a backup to your backup plan. You need to read the situation, act accordingly and adjust the activity so everyone can enjoy it equally.

2.   Patience is key.

If there is one thing that I think this job really tested this summer, it was my patience and tolerance. Kids are great, but they just. Don’t. Listen. You have to constantly tell them not to do something, only to have them do it while they’re staring right at you defiantly, knowing that you don’t want them to do it. Sometimes you have to put up with five kids yelling in your ears at once about the fight that happened between Bob and Billy. Sometimes you have to walk a bit slower because the youngest campers aren’t even half your height and climbing up three floors is like climbing up a mountain to them.

There were definitely times that I felt my patience running very thin, but I think my ability to tolerate stress and be patient has grown tremendously this summer. At the beginning of the summer I was surprised by how much the kids expected from me. I would get frustrated when they wouldn’t listen, or screamed at me about how Paul stole Gary’s chair. By the end of summer I could take all of this yelling and fighting and other stimulations without even flinching. Sometimes another counsellor and I would make eye contact while we were both being yelled at, a silent communication that we both get it. So what if Barry cried because he got apple juice instead of orange juice with his pizza? They’re kids. We shouldn’t be mad at them for the little things. They react differently than us big humans, and they don’t always understand the consequences of their actions.

3.    Having an imagination is an amazing thing. 

One of my favourite things about my job was hearing the kids’ crazy stories. As an adult, I often times find myself weighed down by the pressures of life and the harshness of reality. The amazing thing about children is that they still have this purity to them, where they can allow their imagination to run wild and do not worry about the things happening in the world around them. Spending time around them let me see the world through their eyes, a lighter, happier perspective that I used to have when I was their age.

I loved it when the campers would tell a story that was absolutely positively true, even though you know that’s hardly the case. For instance, one camper told me a story about something that happened to them when they were eight—but they’re only four. It’s so fun to tell your own stories, too! To get the kids to stop sticking their heads into these vents in the outdoor play area, the counsellors would tell them that an alien monster was sleeping inside and every time they yell into it or poke their heads in, the monster will wake up and try to eat them. They believed us, alright, but for some reason they said they wanted to be eaten by the alien and would continue to scream into the vents. Oh, kids…

4.    If you need help, don’t be the hero. Ask for help.

When starting at a new job where there are many senior counsellors, it can be intimidating to not know how everything is supposed to run. There are norms that everyone is accustomed to that you don’t want to mess up. You also don’t want to ask because you think that the others will look at you like you’re a fool that shouldn’t be asking simple questions. Instead of asking for the help you need, you keep your mouth shut and try figuring things out yourself — only to make the situation worse. Asking for help in the first place is the only way to avoid the embarrassment that will ensue if you create an even bigger problem, and it shows that you are actually wishing to learn how to complete your responsibilities properly.

On the first day of camp, I started at 7:45am at Express Drop-Off. Parents can drop their kids off downstairs and save the time and effort of signing them in upstairs (camp is on the third floor). I was so nervous to do this because I’d only watched the training videos and never got a chance to practice beforehand. I was scheduled to work with one of the senior counsellors, and when I walked into camp that morning there were only senior counsellors and the supervisor. I was very nervous because I was the newbie in the group and wasn’t sure what to do, so I stood there awkwardly for a few minutes until my Express partner said it was time to head downstairs. When we got down there, I finally worked up the nerve to ask my questions. I realized that I had nothing to be afraid of, and that the senior counsellors are all super friendly and welcoming to the new staff. They didn’t want us to feel isolated from the group and were so helpful at answering all of our questions throughout the summer. On the first day I told my Express partner that I was nervous to ask for help, and they said that they didn’t want any of the new counsellors to feel that way. Now we’re a big family, and I have the title of “Express Queen” because I do Express Drop-Off every single morning, training whoever my partner is. If I had been afraid to ask for help during the summer, things would not have gone nearly as smoothly, and we all wouldn’t be as close as we are now.

5.     Don’t bring your work stress home.

In any sort of job where you are working with people, you are bound to come across an irate customer. I had several occasions where angry parents condemned me or my teammates over something that was out of our control. I would feel bad that I couldn’t help them, yet hurt because the anger was often misplaced. Sometimes a parent would be having a bad day and take it out on us. This is something we all do as humans from time to time, which I totally understand, but that doesn’t make it okay. In addition, there were several situations during the summer that left me shaken when I got home. I can’t go into details, but some campers could have been seriously hurt if I had not intervened. These moments are when I truly realize that I am responsible for the lives of the children at these camps, and anything could happen to them at any moment.

Some nights I would come home from work very frustrated with how I was treated or what had happened to others at camp. Being the empath that I am, even if a camper is being bullied I take on the stress that the victim feels. I realized quickly that I needed to leave my work stress at camp for my own sanity. Dwelling on the stressful moments when I was at home would impact how I functioned in other areas of life, impede on my sleep cycle and just create unnecessary anxiety. I had to establish a rule with myself: what happens at camp stays at camp. This helped me relax once I clocked out and come to work refreshed the next day.

6.      Camp counsellors are some of the hardest workers out there. 

A parent once said to me when picking up their child, “Hey, you just take care of my kid during the day. Try being a parent and having them for the rest of the day.” I’m not saying that parenting isn’t hard. I applaud parents for all they do. However, I feel that this comment makes us counsellors seem like we’re just glorified babysitters. Counsellors do so much. We watch over up to 110 kids for ten to eleven hours every day. From planning activities, to watching the kids in the pool, to making sure our campers are safe while on trips, counselling is a lot of work. In addition, the campers are not allowed to have any electronic devices or trading cards at camp, and today’s kids are so attached to these items that the campers have a difficult time sitting still without them. This makes it extra challenging to keep the kids’ attention. Some counsellors work open to close, 6:30am to 6:30pm. Some counsellors do a full day shift at camp and then go to their next job right after. Needless to say, I have respect for camp counsellors all over the world. My coworkers are definitely some of the hardest workers I know.

7.       Repetition, repetition, repetition.

At the camp, we work with kids as young as four. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of patience (like I said before) and repetition to get a point across to these kids. Especially when youngsters are in a group with their friends, their attention spans are even shorter, so repetition is key. Whether you’re learning to ride a bike, using the quadratic formula for the first time, or baking your first ever cake, you don’t magically succeed on the first try (unless you’re a super human or genius…). Same goes with teaching kids how to behave at camp. Sometimes it takes one day to teach them how to listen. Sometimes it takes the entire week. You can’t be angry with campers for not complying to what you say the first time; they’re just kids after all. Sometimes they won’t ever get it, and that’s okay. There’s no harm in repeating what you’ve said before. After a while, the campers would get annoyed from hearing the same thing over and over anyway, and would eventually listen just so they wouldn’t have to hear it again.

8.       The kids look up to you as a role model.

To young children, the counsellors are like wise, old superheroes. They want to hear all about your life, what you do, what you’re good at. You watch over them from 7am to 6pm every day, and are their leader. They’ll mimic your actions, your sayings, all to be like their cool, grown-up counsellors. They want to help you hand out lanyards for the other counsellors, or cut off wristbands at the end of the day, or carry your binder and backpack. Although the job can be tiring, seeing how the campers want to be just like you is one of the things that motivates me to go to work every single day.

9.        Your words and interactions with the kids can change their lives.

Since the kids look up to you and start to mimic you, what you say and do can really change their lives. Have you ever had a bad day, and then you pass a stranger on the street who smiles and says hello to you, and you say hello and smile back, and feel instantly a bit better? Our interactions with the campers are like that. The little things we do, from braiding their hair, to holding their hand while walking through the gym, to letting them sit on our lap during opening circle really makes a difference.

I’ve seen kids sitting alone at lunch because they were too shy to interact with the other campers. I would sit down with the kids and eat my lunch with them, and they would instantly open up and start talking to me. Other campers would then come and sit down with us. The shy camper would interact with the others and laugh along with them, acting nothing like the quiet camper they had just been. I’ve also had one-on-one talks with campers that were crying because they were so self conscious over years of bullying. I’ve told them that the bullies are just trying to be mean, that nothing they say is true. I’ve told them about my personal struggles and how I came out so much stronger from experiencing them. I told them that I think that they are amazing, and that any time they feel down about them selves to remember that their counsellor thinks they’re a true leader that will change the world. The look in the child’s eyes when you say these things to them, or sit with them when they’re alone, or make them your special helper, is a look of admiration and hope. Many of the small things that happen to kids resonate with them their whole lives; I remember many negative things said about me when I was younger, and that was over ten years ago. I don’t think I’ll ever forget these things. I wish that my younger self had a friend or older peer to look up to, who told them that the bullies were wrong and that they were amazing. I want to prevent any of these kids from feeling bad about who they are, just because of what others think or say. I want to ensure that these kids have the best camp experience possible, and leave at the end of the week with their heart full. They’re too young to be dealing with some of the issues they tell me about, and it breaks my heart to see how it weighs them down in life. They deserve to have these years as happy, free souls. Every little action I can do as their role model makes a difference in their lives.

10.        These kids are our future.

What we teach the children now will inspire them to act in their future. I’ve told some of the kids about what I do in school, how I pick up litter and work to protect the environment, and they’ve said “I want to do that! I want to protect the environment!” We’ve had police officers, fire fighters, scientists and even Sam from PickWaste come in to chat with and inspire the kids. They see these successful individuals and ideas start to blossom inside their heads, their imagination running wild with all of the potential things they can achieve as they grow up. We teach the campers that they are capable of doing anything they set their heart to, and with a lot of hard work and determination they can achieve their goals. It’s important that the campers grow up with a mindset of optimism, otherwise they’ll be too discouraged to make a change. Inspiring them now will start them on the track of being our future leaders. Maybe one of them will be the prime minister, or the CEO of Canada’s greenest business, or a pop star, or a police officer, or anything else that will better our future. I know that some of these kids will make a big change in our world, and I am so excited to see what they do. I will do whatever I can to encourage them to achieve their dreams.

~~~

This summer has been more of a learning experience for me than anything else. I’ve worked three jobs (often two in the same day) and learned something different from each of them. Though an exhausting break, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t have met so many great people or learned so many new things.

I hope that you enjoyed this post, and I will see you next week!

Until next time!

The post Ten lessons I learned as a camp counsellor appeared first on Clear the Air.

Do you remember this post a while back where I interviewed Sam and Dillon, the young entrepreneurs behind the PickWaste initiative? Well, I am officially joining their team as PickWaste’s environmental blogger!

This awesome news means that I will be featuring a post once a week on their website, pickwaste.ca. I’ll be posting their every Wednesday, along with my weekly posts here on Jenna’s Journey every Monday/Tuesday. My first post as their blogger is up, and it’s a short autobiography I wrote detailing some of my past involvement in environmental initiatives, how I got started in the field and more. You can check that post out here, which I strongly suggest you do! 

If you’re not already following them, you should go right now and follow PickWaste on Instagram. This is where they post about their upcoming events, the locations of their weekly cleanups and more. 

I am so excited to be joining the team. We are all very like-minded in our approach to solving environmental issues: we all believe that small, consistent actions are the key to success when it comes to reaching any goal you have. I think that we are going to do a lot of good for the world, and I can’t wait to see where this partnership takes us.

That’s all for now! I’ll be back early next week for my next post. The next post will be on an interesting topic you perhaps never considered before, so stay tuned!

Until next time! 

The post Special announcement! appeared first on Clear the Air.