Youth Climate Activists
IN THE NEWS
BC student fought her school board for composting and recycling
In Grade 10, Melody Silva began pressing her Saltspring Island, BC, school to provide plastic recycling and composting. To her frustration and despite a strong economic argument and widespread student and community support, the school board remains mostly intransigent.
A Calgary teen turned fruit peels into a plastic-free farming solution
Gayatri Sakharkar has invented a substitute for agricultural plastic film that leaves no toxic trace because it is made from orange and pineapple peels. She is a 15-year-old, Grade 10 student from Calgary.
Student climate leader is rallying youth to take on the plastic crisis
Payal Mehta has a plastic dream. This young climate leader from Guelph, Ont., was named a 2026 Starfish Canada Fellow for her work starting Reimagining Plastic , a youth-led initiative to raise awareness and take action on the impact of plastics in our environment and bodies.
Montreal student turned a thrift fashion show into an annual college tradition
Anne Liang, a 19-year-old Dawson College student in Montreal, organized and ran a thrift fashion show so successful that the college now plans to make it an annual tradition.
A young Torontonian is connecting sustainable cafés with customers who care
Kiethan Theva is shifting Toronto’s coffee-drinking culture. The 23-year-old from Scarborough, Ontario, is building a network to help sustainability-minded cafés and values-aligned customers find each other.
Meet the 12-year-old who found a better way to keep beaches clean
Dane Currie is cleaning up for good. The 12-year-old from St Catharines, Ont., and his Thursday classmates, the Green Herons, got tired of doing beach clean-ups, so they figured out how to stop pollution at the source. They are 2025 winners of the I-SEA National Youth Climate Activism Award for their Earth Day video.
Earthly Bros' collect and recycle used electronics
Alexandre Bourré and his brother, Samuel, will help you declutter your home, reduce landfill waste and assist Canadians in need. The teenager from Richmond Hill, Ont., started Earthly Bros, working with the Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) to collect used electronics and make them useful to people who cannot afford new equipment.
Student upcycles badminton birdies bound for landfill
Anya Yang turns badminton birdies bound for the landfill into useful works of art. This 17-year-old highschool student from Markham, Ontario, co-founded Birdie UP Canada to sell upcycled birdies. The group sends birdie proceeds to the World Wildlife Fund and other charities engaged in social and environmental justice.
Student launches reusable cup initiative at local coffee shops
Abby Van Helvoirt thinks globally and acts locally. This 13-year-old, Grade 8 student from Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, builds networks, relationships and partnerships to reduce waste.
Young entrepreneur diverts discarded furniture from landfills
Saanich, BC-based Elwyn Thom upcycles unwanted couches so they are like new and resells them at deeply discounted prices. His work has diverted more than 100,000 pounds of waste from landfills.
When age isn't an obstacle to climate action
Elle Larsen, a 14-year-old student from Saanich, BC, has been helping shape a better future since she was eight. This fall, as she enters Grade 9, she is intent on transforming beverage services at the University of Victoria.
How a young leader is building the circular economy
Abhi Mishra, co-founder of Mosa Technologies, has over the past two years played a key role in diverting more than 40,000 glass bottles from waste bins, instead converting them into beautifully up-cycled glasses, platters and candles.
Swapping fast fashion for climate solutions
Ulwiana Mehta-Malhotra keeps clothing out of landfills and helps students stay hopeful. This 18-year-old from North Vancouver inspires highschool students to trade fast fashion for thrift shops and clothes swaps, and provides a newsletter that spreads good news about climate solutions.
From sugarcane paper to shoreline cleanups: How one teen built a climate movement
Alexandra Chow encourages students to collaborate, so they increase their impact on the climate crisis. This 18-year-old from Vancouver was a 2024 winner of The I-SEA Youth Climate Activism Award for bringing together high school students from seven Vancouver schools.
Chipping away at our plastic habit, one water bottle at a time
Seventeen-year-old Ziya Merchant is the founder of Phasing Out Plastic Bottles, a multi-school campaign using plastic water bottles to raise awareness about climate justice.
Student Kasey Chen schools others on all things green
This 17-year-old Grade 12 student from Victoria, B.C., is a recipient of a 2022 Youth Climate Activism Award for her work raising awareness about the importance of recycling at her high school, reclaiming habitat from invasive species and encouraging native plant gardening, and lobbying all three levels of government on youth concerns about climate change.