This fall, we launched Turning the Tides: Emerging Leaders Against Plastic Pollution, a new and exciting initiative designed to empower young changemakers to take meaningful action against one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time—plastic pollution. The initiative equips emerging leaders with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience that they need to develop impactful solutions in their communities.
The program includes a number of different elements, including opportunities to learn from leading experts in the field, interactive skills-building workshops, hands-on experiential learning events, ask our expert sessions and field trips to interesting plastic-related facilities!
Our thanks to the many incredible professionals and subject-matter experts who have helped to make the initiative possible by sharing their knowledge, insights, and experiences to help inspire and guide participants:
- Dr. Karen Kidd, an internationally renowned researcher from McMaster University, who shared insights from her work on assessing the impacts of municipal wastewaters on invertebrates, fish and riparian spiders.
- Tim Crowley and Rob Richarz from the City of Hamilton, who discussed the city’s important initiatives to combat plastic pollution and its impacts on residents’ health and the environment. Our emerging leaders had the opportunity to visit the City of Hamilton’s Woodward Wastewater Treatment Plant—one of the largest facilities of its kind in Canada, where they got an inside look at how plastic in water and wastewater is treated, providing them with a deeper understanding of the challenges and solutions in managing plastic waste.
- Jacob Krone from MacChangers at McMaster University, who shared perspective on how a design thinking approach can be used to develop creative projects to tackle complex challenges.
- Aditi Sitolay, an entrepreneur and innovator, who provided valuable insights from her journey in securing early-stage funding for her company that offers reusable medical solutions.
- Dr. Ashish Pujari from McMaster University, who shared insights on how marketing and business strategies can help advance plastic reuse and recycling.
- Dr. Kirsty Robertson from Western University, who explored how creative approaches like art and storytelling can raise awareness and inspire community action on plastic pollution.
- Victoria Brzozowski from Hamilton Health Science, who shared insights on addressing plastic pollution within healthcare settings.
- Our own expert, Melissa De Young, who discussed effective strategies for educating and engaging communities to take meaningful action on plastic pollution and to contribute to a circular economy for plastics.
What’s Next? The next phase of the program will involve participants working closely with our team and other mentors to develop their own creative solutions to the plastic pollution challenge. The exciting part? The most promising projects will receive funding for implementation, empowering participants to take real action in their communities!
Stay tuned for updates!