ABU SARAH RILEY LINA BRAEDYN EDYSON
The reason we chose bamboo jerseys was that we had seen a soccer team go all bamboo. Their jerseys were made out of bamboo fabric and even their stadium was made out of bamboo wood. We thought that it was an amazing idea and were inspired to start something a little like that to play a part in helping the environment for us and our community.
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.
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.
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.
We got our audience involved through Instagram posts so that people can see and understand what we are trying to do.
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.
After presenting to the principal, she loved our idea. She had told us she wants to implement bamboo jerseys into our school in the years coming, as well as spreading awareness about the cotton deteriorating our world. Hopefully, we also influenced and inspired youth in our community to take action of their own.
We think our action was successful, we had a perceptive discussion with the principal and reached most of our goals. Our social media posts were well-received and overall learned and grew together as a group.
The main thing that helped our succession was all the communication and hard work we put into our project. We met our deadlines, did our parts, had each other's back, and above all, put in the effort.
There were a few mishaps here and there but one thing we would do differently and also one of our biggest regrets as a group was to make our presentation deadline sooner. We could've had so many more opportunities to present to the schools around us to make an even bigger dent in our community.
A next phase for our project could definitely be to present to the schools around our community.
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.
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.
Braedyn - I really enjoyed being the team leader it was great fun, the project pushed me out of my comfort zones at times like when we presented to the principal but after the presentation, I felt really good and now I am more comfortable with pushing myself and with presenting to others. This project was a great way to realize how much bamboo has an impact on saving our environment. It was good to learn the difference between cotton fabric and bamboo fabric.
Riley - This project was very good for me, I got to work with a group and present to the principal which was a good experience because during projects I've never really had to go and try to follow through with the idea. Most projects you finish and hand it in but you actually have to push for your idea to be incorporated in the school so that's something that I thought was very cool. There was also the fact that I learned a lot about the subject and I have a better idea of what's environmentally friendly and what's not. It was also great that you had to work together with your peers and have to use teamwork.
Edyson - Working on this project got me to learn new facts about materials, products, and plants. Showing me what is sustainable for our world environment, and how to work together with the people around me to make sustainability happen. Making a website, slideshow and a doc with information about our cause helped me to make any presentation I do in the future better.
Sarah - I enjoyed being a part of this team. This project made me realize how much I like creating little infographics. I got to research and be creative at the same time which I enjoyed. I find that educating people on important matters is essential and being able to do that was very rewarding for me. I also got to learn a great deal during this project. I had no idea that such a popular fabric like cotton was so bad for the environment and that bamboo fabric could be a more environmentally friendly alternative. Seeing the people in my team presenting to the principal was very eye-opening as I realized how much of an impact we can truly have. As this project comes to an end, I hope that we shed light on this matter and inspired a conversation about the small changes we can do in the search for a better environment.
Lina - We dove into a broad topic with many open options and I think we came out with a really interesting project. I had no clue something so universally owned could have such toxic impacts on our planet. I had lots of fun designing the graphics and discussing the issues surrounding cotton and climate change. I hope this project could be the start of something new and more importantly encourage schools to take initiative to make better choices in the future.
Abu - I had a lot of fun with this project, I've never had a project that made us go beyond just an idea and it was a great experience. We researched and learned about the harm of cotton clothing and the benefits to bamboo clothing, this was my first time actually cooperating in a group project and not just splitting up the work. Presenting to the principal was nerve-racking but it felt worth it in the end, all the research, planning, and effort felt like it hasn't gone to waste by submitting it as an assignment but actually executing it and making it a real thing.