PROJECT GOALS

What was the mission or aim of your project?

The aim of our project was to ask the principal to invest in bamboo jerseys for our school to help save the environment and fight climate change. We also aimed to educate people on the issue of cotton production. Cotton is so widely used and so predominantly in our lives and people are completely unaware of its true nature and effects on our environment.

Why was this your mission?

This was our mission because we wanted to show students that cotton clothing is depleting Earth's resources and that there is a better alternative out there. And what better way to do that than to implement it into our school sports. We wanted to show that there are more ways to stop climate change and to help our earth. Sports have always been an important part of building community and school spirit. There are lots of kids who play or simply watch from the stands and with the help of our school, this is how we can show students that climate change needs and can be stopped if we act now.

What action did you take?

As a group with a seemingly unattainable vision to actually create bamboo jerseys to use, we had to think about how we can begin this call of change for future generations to come. Multiple steps had to be taken for our action to be a success. Our Instagram posts for example; show people what we are doing and why it's important for us and the environment. Our group also held a virtual meeting with the school principal as well as other schools to, first of all, inform them that yeah, this is a problem and more notably, convince and team up so that schools in the future would stop using cotton for school jerseys and choose better alternatives.

How did you get your audience involved?

We got our audience involved through Instagram posts so that people can see and understand what we are trying to do.

How did you educate your audience about the issue/event

We educated our audience by having informative and profound information/facts on social media. We used eye-catching graphics, strong, conceivably inspiring statements and preached these impactful messages on each of our social media accounts to raise as much awareness as possible. See some examples below:

INSTAGRAM POSTS

We not only educated people with our Instagram posts but also created posts to promote "BAMBOOZIES", which would be our brand if we were to have the opportunity to actually make bamboo jerseys and sell them to sports teams.

WHERE COULD IT GO NEXT...?

Pitch a next phase for your project

A next phase for our project could definitely be to present to the schools around our community.

Why is this an important cause? Why should they continue with it?

This is a very important cause because cotton, memorably named the "fabric of our lives," in all truth is destroying the earth. Cotton production is heavily reliant on the use of pesticides which is beyond toxic for the earth. Bamboo is an all-natural growing grass, in fact, it grows faster. It's easier to harvest and there is no need for pesticide or fertilizer use. We think that future classes should continue and go further with this project. Cotton pollution is a huge threat to our planet and yet, no one pays attention to it. Humans continue to excessively mass-consumption clothing that pollutes and degrade the environment.

Where would you like to see it go next

We would love to inspire more and more schools to use bamboo jerseys in the future. Whether it be other schools in Ottawa or even just schools in Nepean, change starts with small steps. Something that seems as little as some jerseys made out of bamboos can make a huge difference in our world if we take the initiative to fight against climate change.