The sun is finally out. Just a week away from Mother’s Day, ending the expectation of snow. The Colorado Youth Climate Summit is hosted at the Third Street Center in Carbondale, Colorado. Nestled at the base of Mt. Sopris, you can’t help but to stare at the snow-capped mountain so close you can almost feel its chilled breeze.
The Colorado Youth Climate Summit is a free event for Colorado high school youth and is directed by Wild Rose Education and powered by Lyra. This high-energy, interactive conference is expected to unite at least 80 high school students and their advisors from across Colorado, alongside experts in climate action and justice. The Summit aims to create engaging opportunities for rural Colorado youth to become empowered as climate action leaders and advocates statewide.
Sierra Club Senior Climate and Energy Organizer, Sarah Tresedder, and volunteer Rebecca Deleon-Hutton acted as workshop leaders during the Summit. Presenting on “Grief to Growth: Turning Climate Anxiety into Climate Action in the Community”. This presentation started with a personal story of the level of stress someone could encounter when consuming so much climate change media. It can leave you feeling helpless and exhausted. But reassured students that staying informed is important, but also taking media breaks can be crucial when maintaining your mental health. The presentation then transitioned to building a career in sustainability. From college campus groups, to a degree in engineering, to working at a top sustainable manufacturing company, and volunteering with Sierra Club. Promoting sustainability in every room has always been at the core of Rebecca's values.
The Sierra Club Team then provided some other examples of climate action in the community. Discussing Groundwork Denver’s Green Team events as well as DPS Student for Climate Action. From cleaning up polluted waterways to advocating policy at the state capital, there are so many ways to participate in climate action. The presentation then comes into focus on the benefits of campus gardening. Rebecca shared her personal story on the University of Texas Campus Garden and the steps it took to get such a massive project approved by the university.
1. Pick a deadline for construction.
2. Garden size and funding options.
3. Who would you like to be on the Garden Committee? Who is your sponsor?
4. Long-term planning: harvest, funding, and continuous student engagement.
The group of students then shared some of the climate actions that they currently participate in. The overall comments focused on student-led groups that provide their schools with sustainability-focused projects - renewables, gardening, composting, and recycling, to name a few.
We then moved the group of students outside. Coming back to that beautiful day in the sun. We sat in a circle on the grass and had each student select a mystery thrifted mug from a bag. Once the mug had been chosen, we then had each student pick from a bag of wildflower seeds. Ensuring each student doesn’t need to overthink which one they want or don’t want, leaving it up to chance. We then began to fill each cup with the necessary ingredients for a planting (soil, drainage, and nutrients). Now that everyone's hands are a little dirty from the soil, we instruct them to plant the seeds into their mugs. The students then on their own begin to feed each of their seeds from their personal water bottles, knowing that that’s the final step. We thank everyone for their participation in actively providing a habitat for pollinators, improving air quality, increasing biodiversity, and hopefully providing some ease to any climate anxiety that might be felt by our next generation of climate leaders.
Rebecca Deleon-Hutton, Colorado Sierra Club Climate and Energy Volunteer
