From sugarcane paper to shoreline cleanups: How one teen built a climate movement

These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity. 

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 Salt Spring Institute for Sustainability Education & Action (I-SEA) Youth Climate Activism Award for bringing together high school students from seven Vancouver schools.

Tell us about your project.

My friend Milian Chen and I formed the Sustainable Union to facilitate connections among student environmental clubs in the Metro Vancouver area. We tested the use of sugarcane paper (made from waste-bound fibres) as an alternative to wood, helped school librarians understand how to make books about sustainability more accessible and did a shoreline cleanup at Olympic Village. Working together, we were able to reach at least 5,000 students, teachers and administrators. 

Sugarcane paper is available in office supply stores, and although it is the same price as wood-based paper, it is not yet used in schools. The Vancouver School Board gave us a grant that allowed us to work with local business Social Print Paper to test its use across seven schools. The results showed it is as user-friendly as wood-based paper and worked equally well in school and school board photocopiers and printers. We pointed out that its use can save the school board money because it reduces their carbon footprint. We made a video about it for our school board trustees and are waiting to hear back if they will adopt it. 

While many school libraries have some books about sustainability, because it is such a multidisciplinary subject, they are shelved in many different locations and can be hard to find. We worked with school librarians at five schools to expand their collection and set up “Sustainable Corners,” so students can easily access books about sustainability. While it is important to weave sustainability into every discipline, we also think it is important to make it easy for students thinking about sustainability to be able to find resources. So many students are worried about the climate crisis but don’t necessarily know what to do. Having the material in one place might help them find their niche. We held official openings of the Sustainable Corners and the school board publicized them on social media. 

Over the past three years in Youth 4 Climate Justice, we’ve created and facilitated seven professional development workshops on climate justice education, encouraging more than 65 educators to incorporate the topic in their classes.  

A team member and I wrote and presented letters to our school board trustees, which helped persuade them to increase the budget for student-led sustainability initiatives by $100,000 and allowed 50,000 students to take action in their 100+ schools.

We also brought high school students together to mark World Oceans Day by cleaning up the Olympic Village shoreline. It was fun to meet old friends and make new ones as we worked together for the common good.

How did you get interested in the idea? 

I was active in my school’s environmental club, but I noticed that while there was a lot of work being done, collaboration was rare. I thought we might be able to have a greater impact if we worked at more than just the individual school level.

What made it hard?

Some people seem to believe that people like me can be left to make all the changes. 

What gives you hope?

Now that I am at McMaster University, I see so many exciting initiatives. A bike-share program has recently been negotiated with the university, and the company has had its best month ever. I was also very happy to see that the library here already uses sugarcane paper for printing.

What do you see if we get this right?

Climate change is disproportionately impacting people. I am working toward a world where everyone has a voice and can thrive. If we have a world where people are respected and cared for, we will have more peace.

What would you like to say to other young people?

Sometimes, it might feel like the whole world is on your shoulders, but it’s not. We need everyone involved to make sure we have the best solutions. It is much better for you and for the world if you choose a path that you love and leave the things that interest you less to others. 

It is very important to work at scale. Individual actions do matter, and they are important, but we also need institutions like governments and corporations to make changes. Do what you can, and trust that everything will pay off.

What about older readers?

While it is true that young people will be more impacted than you are, it is more helpful to encourage and support us, rather than just leave it to us to do the work. This is a collective project, and we really need your support as well.