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Malaika Mirza
2025 Youth Climate Activism Award - Essay Entry
Malaika is a 17 year old from the Northwest Territories.
Malaika receiving her NYCAA Certificate from Don Reid principal of Ecole St. Patrick High School.
The small community that I live in has limited access to resources, but that does not mean that we are behind on our Green initiatives. Growing up, my family practiced some green-friendly habits such as recycling, composting, and having moderate waste reduction techniques. I did not know the severity of climate change and what it entailed until I became an active participant in my schoolβs Green Team and started furthering my knowledge of how it affects our future. Now I have built habits that have become second nature and I set the example with others, as well.
Photo of NWT beauty - courtesy of Malaikaβs instagram.
Northern Lights in the NWT skies. Check out Malaikaβs photography page here.
My environmental journey began when I was part of a small number of students who started the Green Team in elementary school. We launched the compost program and would volunteer to empty the bins weekly outside of every classroom. With composting came the problem of fruit flies, which we came up with a solution for quickly. Small traps which consisted of repurposed plastic cups were filled with apple cider vinegar and a dollop of honey, which worked seamlessly. In middle school, I dedicated countless hours to sorting through recyclable materials by type and bagging them up, so the administration could recycle and use the money to buy a few new laptops and other resources for the school. This showed me firsthand how one personβs idea can lead to a tangible difference.
When the pandemic hit, I was in high school, and there was not much to pursue behind an online class. Of course, I kept up with my practices at home but it was not the same, as I loved the collaborative component of what I was doing prior. Then, after the pandemic, the Green Team fizzled out due to the teacher lead and student President leaving, and no one was immediately ready to continue its mission.
Ecole St. Patrick High School Green Team 2024. Photo from their facebook page.
Thankfully, the Green Team has been back and running for almost two years, and I am extremely grateful to be part of its return. I have taken the role of planning and logistics, and also the front lines of many events that we have done recently. The Green Team has put on some smaller school initiatives, such as composting, recycling, bake sales, and Earth Week activities.
We have been lucky enough to be a vital part of the wider community as well, with an annual EcoFair where multiple information booths are hosted along with workshops with local NGOs. We also facilitate a spring clean-up along a chosen route, and more recently, student-led discussions with MPs in the territory. I had the privilege of leading the discussion panel with the MPs, opening up the conversation to the Northwest Territories Climate Action Plan where the topic of territorial milestones was brought up and how citizens can play a meaningful role in achieving these goals.
Overall, participating in local environmentally friendly clubs and initiatives has taught me a lot over the years. Most of all, I have learned the importance of community and how it only takes a few people to start the chain reaction of change. I believe that with dedication, we can combat climate change and create a solution for our planet moving forward, and it starts with youth like myself.
β I believe that with dedication, we can combat climate change and create a solution for our planet moving forward, and it starts with youth like myself.β
~Malaika Mirza
As part of the submissions application we asked participants to answer these 3 questions in addition to their essay or video.
What future goals do you have around your environmental and climate work, and do you have any future projects in mind?
As I transition on to post-secondary, I strive to be an active part of my institutionβs Green Team to continue to make a meaningful change. I believe that we are at a pivotal point in history where immediate action is required to halt the effects of climate change, in an attempt to slowly reverse it. My goal is to be part of the solution, whether it be through local efforts or global innovations.
In the future, I would like to help reinforce grassroots programs such as composting and responsible waste reduction, as I have been participating in them throughout my life. I would also like to work on a larger-scale project, such as waste reduction using AI. Lately, I have been doing some exploring on water consumption by AI, which can be detrimental to our planet, and I think it should be more widespread knowledge. However, I do think that with time and more ethical research being put into the cause, AI paired with humanity itself could solve this issue and create sustainable ways to use such a powerful tool. I truly believe that sustainability and new developments in technology will be powerful synchronous tools.
If you could share one message of hope for your community, what would it be? Briefly explain why you would choose this message.
Coming from a small city in the Northwest Territories, I am confident that hope in the community is what keeps us thriving. While our population is small, it makes us tight-knit and promotes collaboration to allow us to work towards our climate goals.
I attend a high school of about 500 students, which is relatively small compared to the rest of Canada, but our impacts have been anything but minor. Our Green Team has accomplished a lot; composting, spring trash clean-ups, an EcoFair, and more.
I think this is what is most inspiring for me, knowing that impactful change starts small, and this is why I chose this message. Instead of looking down on our accomplishments and thinking that they are not worth anything in the bigger picture, we still do our part.
Who or what inspires you to work on climate change?
In the more recent years, I started paying attention to climate change during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns caused events such as traffic emissions to lower significantly and pollution levels to improve. This was when I made the connection that humans and the health of our planet are directly linked. I specifically have a distinct memory of learning about the Climate Clock in New York City, and it was an insane wake-up call for me since there was not much time left before irreversible damage.
As I progressed through high school, I mainly had two teachers who inspired me to further my understanding of the climate and become more active in its preservation. Ms. Colpitts and Ms. George, my Grade 11 and 12 Chemistry teachers, were both the staff leads of the student-led Green Team. They were extremely passionate about our mission, aiding us in contacting organizations in the territory and pitching our ideas to administrators.
Most of all though, I am driven by the idea of shared responsibility and that no singular person is truly at fault, however, we can all individually create change together.