Young Voices, Big Impact 2025: Reflection, Learning & Lasting Change 

Written by Michael Sober, Environmental Program Coordinator, with contribution by Pegah Pourkarimi, Executive Director

This year, I had the privilege of supporting AWARE’s renewed youth outreach and helping bring the Young Voices, Big Impact Committee to life. As a young person working in environmental action myself, I’ve always known how underrepresented youth are in climate decision-making. What I didn’t fully realize, until I met this year’s committee and youth volunteers, is just how ready, capable, and eager young people are to step into leadership when they’re given the chance.

From September to November, our committee of high-school students participated in eight hands-on events. Each designed to build knowledge, develop skills and ignite a deeper sense of agency around topics related to climate action, conservation and circular economy. Below is a snap shot and my brief reflection, including testimonials from these events:

1. GROW: Harvest for the Food Bank Initiative

The committee kicked off by joining AWARE’s GROW Community Garden Manager, Kiki to learn about food security, climate action and sustainable local gardening. Their harvest helped supply the Whistler Food Bank, grounding the youth in the links between soil, community and climate resilience. An awesome opportunity to get their hands in the soil, and recognizing that small, individual, local actions can ripple into something larger.

2. Old Growth Guided Tour with Ecologist Bob Brett

A guided tour with local forest ecologist Bob Brett brought students face-to-face with ancient forests. This immersive experience connected the youth directly to the ecosystems they hope to protect. Their reflections showed just how deeply the experience resonated:

“By protecting and respecting these forests, we are not only preserving the natural beauty of this place but also making a commitment to a healthier future for both people and the planet.”

“I think it is important for youth to experience our ecosystems and nature so that they have a deeper appreciation and understanding of it.”

“We need to care and treat these forests like our family so they can stay healthy for many years to come”

“Learning more and sharing the knowledge with our peers is a great way to spread awareness to our community.”

“So every time we go outside we should appreciate [Whistler’s forests] for what they are and be grateful we get to live in a place that has forests.”

I personally really enjoyed reading the reflections. Hearing youth articulate those ideas with such sincerity was powerful, more importantly it was proof that connection leads to stewardship.

3. Zero Waste Heroes at the Whistler Farmers Market

At this event, students got the chance to shadow one of our Zero Waste Heroes to assist visitors in properly sorting their waste, while also learning about Whistler’s waste diversion systems from our Zero Waste Program Manager, Alexandra. They spoke with market vendors, and got to hear from the Fairmont’s Sustainability Manager to gain insight on how businesses play a major role in zero waste initiatives. 

4. GoByBike Week Outreach

Throughout GoByBike week, students joined AWARE’s outreach tents at UTMB, the Farmer’s Market, Creekbread and the Repair Cafe. They signed up new riders, celebrated community members who biked and helped promote sustainable active transportation. This was where they really began owing their outreach skills, smiling, engaging and representing the cause with pride.

5. Repair Cafe

During this circular economy event, the committee helped register participants and liaise with volunteer fixers. As part of Big Moves 6 – Closing the Loop, youth got to see first hand how a community event like this brings people together and can make a real difference in waste diversion by giving items a second life.

6. Community Garage Sale

Students played a big role in helping this biannual AWARE event run smoothly. They directed cars and welcomed vendors in the morning and then coordinated donations with WCSS in the afternoon while ensuring smooth vendor pack down and exits. The youth seemed to really enjoy their active involvement in running the event. Many of them told me afterward that being so involved made the experience especially rewarding.

7. Clothing Swap

This was a busy event, that the committee took great initiative in. They helped weigh and sort the clothing donations, then planned amongst themselves the best way to display and group items. They got to see how a community driven event like this can make a big impact on textile waste, with over 75% of the clothes finding a new home.

8. Protecting Wildlife Workshop

For the final event, the committee attended a wildlife seminar with researcher Michael Allen. They explored the ecology, behaviour and threats facing grizzlies, cougars and wolves in the Sea-to-Sky region. This was a very interesting and informative session, where students learned a lot about keystone species in our area. Some members submitted reflections they had from the seminar, a shared sentiment was:

“If I could share one key message with the community, it would be to reflect on the impact you might have on wildlife before going into the backcountry or into nature at all.”

What Youth Told Us

At the end of the program, we sent out a survey and the results were incredibly encouraging:.

• 100% of the respondents said they would like to return to the committee next year
• Overall satisfaction was 4.6/5.

But what was most interesting to me was that the Garage Sale and Clothing Swap were ranked, by far, as the favourite events. Some written responses supporting that were: “I enjoyed the garage sale workshop the most because I was actively helping the most” and “in the future making it more hands-on would be more captivating and more interesting for us participants!” Although I assumed that the outdoor events would be the favourites; the old-growth hike and community garden harvest, it turned out that the events where the youth had the greatest sense of leadership, ownership and were the most hands-on and active in the event operations, were most enjoyable. This goes to show that they really want to make tangible impacts and be actively involved in community events. 

In closing, supporting this committee has been amazing. I watched youth step into unfamiliar spaces, ask thoughtful questions, support their community, demonstrate great initiative, curiosity and a genuine commitment to improving the sustainability of our community. Their enthusiasm shaped each event and it was really encouraging and inspiring to me to see the strong environmental leadership emerging in Whistler’s youth.

Their enthusiasm shaped each event and it was really encouraging and inspiring to me to see the strong environmental leadership emerging in Whistler’s youth.

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Thanks for the support of TELUS Community Board grants, GFL Full Circle Grants and the RMOW for making this work possible. The impact of your investment is already taking root in the next generation of environmental leaders.