Youth Convergence 36 students 2 days Unique perspectives
Youth Convergence
Students from 10 different schools including public schools, private schools and the Guam Homeschool Association
Father Duenas Memorial High School
Guam High
J.F.K High School
Guam Adventist Academy
Guam Homeschool Association
Okkodo High School
Southern High School
University of Guam
Guam Community College
What did students hear?
Some main goals to work on and facts we heard include: Educate youth about Zero Waste Zero Waste plans are not built by government alone Gathering data is important. That data should be used to make informative changes The Philippines is implementing different composting strategies in their communities 90% diversion rate in some schools in the PI More than 100 local government units in the PI that have banned or regulated plastic bags
What did students hear?
Some main goals to work on include: Technology can be used to advance and make traditional ways more efficient Zero Waste can be used to empower communities The community needs to be creating involved in waste management goals Zero Waste plans rely on having good goals Guam’s Zero Waste goal is 37% by 2030 The Philippines is the first, and only, country to ban waste incineration LEED building is not mandatory in all places Women community members are making products out of trash/plastic bags in Fiji which is called Trash for Cash
What did students hear?
Some main goals to work on include: San
Francisco does a lot of composting, recycling and banned single-use plastic bottles
Guam
DOE needs to implement programs to help our youth change their mindset to be green and recycle
Zero
Waste needs to be incorporated into curriculum of the Guam Department of Education
Farmers
around the world are in the form of slavery
What did students hear?
Some main goals to work on include: Refuse
and redesign are a new and important addition to the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle cycle.
Green
waste should be called green resources because we are not wasting, we are reusing
ACKA
(Awareness, Challenge, Knowledge and Action) by Froilan Grate. People have to know things to be able to protect it, and then challenge themselves to change.
The
10 years of Zero Waste Plan is important to effectively change and adapt our world
What did students hear?
Some main goals to work on include: AEE
stands for Advocacy, Education and Established Models
U.S.
EPA Region 9 includes Guam, CNMI, AS EPA, California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii
Composting
is more important than many people think
Composting
reduces the amount of trash that would otherwise go into the landfill One
use of compost is fertilizers. It is way better than chemical fertilizer
What did students hear?
Some main goals to work on include: Need
to be aware of the lifespan of resources we use and make decisions to reduced the use of residuals
Need
to educate the youth to bring awareness to their families and gradually foster Zero Waste habits
The
importance of measuring the recycling rate
Plastic
bag reduction is necessary for zero waste
What surprised students
Some surprising facts presented: The
problems at Ordot dump are being mitigated right now
UOG
has a “Sustainable house”
Froilen
has not used a single plastic bag or plastic straw in 9 years
Melissa
Savares actually goes to residents to talk to them if they have been illegally dumping
What surprised students
Some surprising facts presented: Rhino One
beetles can make compost
of the GCC Ecowarriors is 10 years old
Dead
animals can be composted
A
trash slide in the Philippines buried 100 people alive
LBJ
and MLK were tight
San
Francisco is 80% Zero Waste
Other observations by students
“Zero Waste is the way to go and Guam needs to better their zero waste goal”
“Opportunity; there are many to support Zero Waste in Guam”
“The community needs to get more involved”
Other observations by students
“You are never too young to make a difference and impact your community”
“Guam should have a composting infrastructure”
“Composting is an important and helpful tool in traditional farming”
Other observations by students
“Guam needs to find practical, efficient and suitable methods to achieve our island waste management goal”
“We can teach you and you can teach us”
Give the young people the platform to lead”
“The secret to awesomeness is youth awareness”
Goals to achieve by May 2015 What should adults in Guam do? What will students work on?
Goals for 2014-2015
Goal 1
Goals to achieve by the time we are 30 years old
Goals for 2014-2015
Goal 1
Thank you for giving us this opportunity We are thankful for the opportunity to listen, to learn and to share our ideas. Participants of the 2014 Youth Convergence Zero Waste Pacific