Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode
of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla and I am so
excited to be joined here by three folks who
are part of our Trinity family. And we're going
to be talking a little bit more about creation
care, about what it means to care for our earth,
why any of that matters, and what it actually
has to do with Jesus at all. Because sometimes
we think of those as very separate things, but
hopefully throughout the course of this conversation
we'll sort of dive into some connections between
those things. So thank you so much for joining
me, folks. Good morning. Yeah. So maybe I'll
just get you to start by introducing yourself,
saying your name, and a little bit about some
of the ways that you have been involved in caring
for the earth. Do you want to start us off? Sure.
Good morning. My name is Diana Gomez. I have
been coming to Trinity for about a year. Okay.
Lived in Mississauga for a decade. So my latest
role, I've joined the Credit Valley Conservation
Foundation. And so I work very closely with CBC,
the authority, to engage and rally the community.
So that's a little bit about me. Okay, great.
Thank you. So hi, my name is Mia. I'm still in
high school, so I don't have much job experience
yet. That's okay. But to me, I think some ways
that I'm currently helping out in my community.
Right now is, I'll talk about more of this later,
but I started a nonprofit where basically you
just go around, we interview different people
of, I guess, different careers. And one of the
things we did earlier was a conservation series.
So we were able to reach out to people that I
mentioned that have careers in, I guess, conservation
sustainability. And we did that kind of as an
initiative for Earth Day a while ago. So that's
one thing I do. I guess outside of that, maybe
just like my usual like recycling things that
I guess. Yeah. I'm just thinking of now, but
that's just about me. Yeah, no, that's awesome.
Thanks. My name's Adrienne. I've been here, I
think, three -ish years now. I have done mostly
volunteering in this space, I guess. So Girl
Guides, huge emphasis on Earth stuff. And then
I work with a charity where we're giving. um,
gently used prom wear to high school kids for
free who might need an appeal. I work with a,
um, a menstrual charity that provides sustainable
solutions to around the world. And then I also
ran for the green party in the last election.
So yeah, lots of different little things. Yeah.
But all sort of bring this one theme together.
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay. So what prompted
you to want to like get involved in that work?
Why? care about the earth? Why? Like, what sort
of prompted you to want to do that? That's an
excellent question. I think for me, I've always
worked in social causes. Sure. So I came to Canada
when I was seven years old, and I actually got
help from the Salvation Army at that time. My
mom needed some help. And so I felt for me, it
was a great moment to continue to give back somehow.
So I really wanted to work in the not for profit
sector. And worked in, you know, food banks and
hospital foundations, humanitarian NGOs, international
work there. And then I moved over to the conservation.
I think from the very beginning, I felt we live
in a wonderful place here in Mississauga. You
have access to so many trail systems and green
spaces. And I was always out with my children,
naturally enjoying them. Being able to work very
close to home and understanding more about how
to protect these green spaces was very important
to me as an example, even to my own family. Right.
And what are we doing every day? These acts of
care to take care of nature. So for me, it's
been. why I've transitioned. And I'm not going
to lie to you, the perks of being seven minutes
from home was very, very a big negotiating factor,
but I'm really enjoying it. And I'm actually
learning quite a lot. I think that I have more
respect for nature and our green spaces and the
work that the authority is doing every day, because
now I'm embedded into the process internally.
Yeah. Yeah. I think like that, like. like you
said living in a space that has lots of access
to trails and green spaces i think that does
influence the way that you think about the earth
right yeah that you get to be out in it that's
right yeah yeah what about for you mia i think
for me now that i'm thinking about it i feel
like at school even in like middle school when
i was in grade maybe seven or eight we were kind
of taught a little bit about Just like our ecosystem,
how it's being affected by. I know climate change
was a big factor in some of my science classes
and still is today. So there in middle school,
I had, I think, like a green team. I think that's
what it's called. Sure. And one of the things
we did was we go around kind of to these like
conferences. I guess you learned about conservation.
You learned about how to sustain the earth. I
guess that kind of maybe like lit an interest
in me, something that I was always interested.
I was like, that's pretty cool. I see how this
would affect us. I think also for some high schoolers
my age too, I think it's also a pretty big part
of our lives. We're taught not to throw litter
on the ground. We're taught how to recycle. That's
another thing at school. So with that in mind,
I guess I'll talk more about the nonprofit. So
that came to me when I was in maybe 2023. So
when I was in grade 9 or so. And one of the first
things we ever did was we were getting answers
to our questions. It's kind of hard, I guess,
for youth. to get answers to maybe questions
that we had and we had a lot of questions about
conservation about climate change about how do
we do this like how is this affecting us but
not really like the net like right platform or
the resources to be able to ask that so me my
co -founder who lives in california we were like
that's something we would definitely want to
reach out about. And our audience was mainly
teenagers like myself. So what we ended up doing
was we would basically, our first series ever,
as I mentioned, was a conservation series. We
managed to reach out to two people from the UN
and from their division of OCHA, which is like
the humanitarian relief, I think, sector. And
we basically asked them a series of questions
that I honestly wanted to know the answers to,
but... hadn't been able to get anyone to know
like how does like humanitarian work how does
the UN work at all what are you guys doing very
cool right so that was something and I guess
once I got answers from them I realized this
is definitely something that I kind of want to
I don't say pursue but something I want to definitely
know more about how obviously as I'm going to
be I know it's kind of I don't know how to say
it, kind of cringy, but how like the next generation
is going to be the one on this earth. Because
we're always mentioned by our teachers. That
was something I guess I was always like, oh,
I have to keep that in mind. I have to learn
so much more about, I guess, our earth. And I
want to share all this knowledge that I get with
kind of people of my generation. So that was
something that I guess my mindset was coming
into today and still is of today. More recently.
what i've been doing is after conservation series
i was reaching out to basically everyone i was
like hey i've had my name is mia i have so many
questions for you is there time that i could
ask though yeah we got to chat to some people
really wonderful people from the canadian wildlife
federation and to be honest um when you're in
school i know there's this course in grade 10
you take which is called careers and you get
to learn about everyone's careers something i
never learned about was careers in kind of the
environment or like humanitarian that was something
that was just never considered i had no idea
and i still kind of don't but i had no idea what
you and like people do like these different sectors
right and so through these um asking people for
jobs i was also kind of i guess opening my eyes
to a whole another level which i feel like is
something i don't usually get to do or people
my age usually don't get to do so i guess that
was just one of the main like reasons why i feel
like i've broadened my view on the world and
being more interested in conservation efforts
into our ecosystem. Sure. Yeah, that's really
cool. It's like coming from this place of like
curiosity and like being like, OK, if I'm going
to be a person in the world, I want to like understand
how it works and like how I can contribute to
that. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. What about
for you, Adrienne? For me, it probably started
with school, like in our young years. And I'm
from like rural Nova Scotia. So it wasn't like
seeing pollution and seeing all this stuff. It
was kind of new, like recycling was new. I'm
old enough that recycling was new. They really
we would do like trips and we would do all these
like appreciation type things and cleanups and
stuff. So for me, it started young and it kind
of carried through. And then my family is kind
of the same. So it was just kind of embedded
in there early and then just carried on. Yeah.
Yeah. So when you think about sort of. your faith
and how that connects with this idea of like
caring for the earth like what what connections
do you see are there ways that you know caring
for the world has impacted your faith in some
way or vice versa yeah sure for me i also like
earth is amazing and created i know that I'm
going to say it's in Genesis. I'm going to pull
out here. It talks about tending to the earth.
But it's also for me linked to humanity. Like
we live on this earth. We live on it together.
It's caring for it affects everybody. And I think
that people have a very isolated sometimes view
of like what their impact can be. But yeah. And
like the whole, I mean, it's coming a lot more
recently about climate change being such a threat
multiplier. Right. And how it's going to displace
people. poor people are impacted the most by
all of this change. So for me, even people that
I have a tougher time, maybe selling the environmental
part on it's the humanity part of it as well.
Like they're so intertwined. And I think when
people remember that it's, it's motivating. Yeah.
Yeah. I remember like when I, I also sort of
started. from a sort of humanitarian lens in
this was like, okay, I care about people and
I care about like, you know, making sure that
there's, there's justice and fair treatment and
all of these things. And I was like, you know,
the earth is. Cool. Yeah. But yeah, then to be
able to see it as like, yeah, this threat multiplier,
this like thing that if we aren't taking seriously
our job to care for the world, then we're like
actually not caring for our neighbor very well
either. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I agree there.
I just want to say that I really appreciate hearing
your perspective on how you feel you didn't have
enough information. as a youth. And I think the
role of the foundation at the Crowley Valley
Conservation Foundation is to educate and inspire
not only youth, but all individuals. And I think
I like to hear that because it's a really important
element of my program to incorporate information
for youth to get involved. And as you said, you...
Youth are the next generation of stewards. And
so how are we educating them and building up
to carry the torch? Yeah. Right. To take care
of these green spaces, to do the everyday acts
like we talked about recycling and anything around
our neighborhood. So I think that that's significantly
important. And just to go back on the Bible verse
that you mentioned, it's I think it's in Genesis
chapter two, where the Lord says, the Lord God
took man into the Garden of Eden to work. Work
it and care of it. And so that's where I think
it's a really important element to say it is
about, you know, us being entrusted with something.
And I look at the creation. If God was so intentful
in creating, I mean, when I walk around and I
see just the detail on the leaf, I take a look
at how intentful and purposeful he was in creating
all of these. green spaces, all of the life that
thrives, including us, right? So we don't protect
our green spaces. It's what sustains us all.
And I think making that connection is really
important. God calls us to action out our faith,
right? And I remember this in the 90s, I was
a fan of this artist. His name was Ricardo Arjona.
He talked, in a song, he mentioned Jesus. And
he said, Jesus is not a noun. Jesus is a verb.
And so I look at that and say, if Jesus and God
created this beautiful thing for us. He only
expects us to protect it. And if we love our
neighbors like ourselves, why wouldn't we love
the spaces they live in and take care of those
and protect those? So I think it is a sense of
responsibility for all of us to take care of
the creation of Earth because it really is our
heart and our lungs. And I think if we look at
it that way. Every little act that we do from
recycling to planting trees to just taking care
of it. These are all acts that we're responsible
for. I think it's not a task. I think it's a
responsibility for all of us to do something
that will, again, pass the torch to future generations.
I know I'm getting older when I say this and
I say, well, we're here. We're temporary here.
Yeah. We're not here forever. Our home is temporary.
But who comes next, whether it's our family,
our grandchildren or our neighbors, we want to
leave a legacy behind that they can also enjoy.
Yeah. Right. So I look at that as connections
to my everyday work. And I love to hear different
perspectives because it makes me. appreciate
that we have to do this work it's important work
to tell youth and individuals and us as residents
of where we live yeah that we have responsibilities
attached to the spaces we use yeah right yeah
yeah for sure i think that's like a really interesting
point i feel like once you realize There is also
a Bible verse that I want to bring up from Psalm
instead, though. Psalm 24, where it's like, the
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell within, right?
Thank you. So I feel like what you were mentioning
earlier, and especially what you said earlier
with the love thy neighbor thing, if... god or
jesus thinks of this world i guess as his own
and as therefore you're kind of like i don't
want to say required but there's you have that
responsibility in a that's oh i should be taking
care of this world it was given to me it was
um i guess all these like gifts of nature that
were given to me like as you mentioned when you
were working on like the credit river which is
something i always thought was really cool or
just like when you're recycling just these little
things that kind of i guess add up so we're making
sure that we're all like doing our own part just
as jesus would have wanted us to i just thought
that was kind of i like i like that i feel like
that's like a very good kind of way of thinking
about conservation so it's kind of like simplified
but it's in a way that you're like oh i know
i'm doing this for a good purpose right yeah
Yeah. And I think like all of these things sort
of remind me, I think sometimes we think that
like faith really has nothing to do with the
world, right? We think like faith is all about
coming to church and talking about spiritual
things. And that's like super important, obviously.
But also we're embodied people who live in a
body in a world, right? And so God cares about
our bodies. God cares about our world, right?
That's right. And we're part of creation. We're
part of creation. We're not separate from it.
Yeah. We're part of it. And we have to do something
within it. Yeah. So I think that that's what
it comes down to. That we're all connected. It's
connected relationship with God. But if you love
God, you take care of what he's created. Right.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that piece
that you just said that we are part of creation.
I think that's something that's easy for us to
forget sometimes because God creates humanity
and God says, OK. have dominion over it like
take care of it but at no point does god say
you are god yeah god is above creation god sets
the rules we are still part of this world that
god has made and so we have a role yes to take
care of it but to take care of it as part of
it that's right yeah yeah yeah for sure um so
Are there any ways that like when you think about,
you know, doing this work of caring for the earth,
are there any ways that that doing that work
has like taught you something about God or helped
to like enrich your faith in some way? I walk
my neighborhood very differently now. Like I
think working with the conservation, which has
taught me quite a lot in terms of what they do,
we work. Well, they work summer, winter. They're
checking our river systems, making sure that
our drinking water is still healthy. If something
reaches the water, like we will know right away
because we are constantly monitoring. Sure. I
say we because we're a team, but CVC does that.
I won't take credit for their job, but the foundation
gets to educate people about that work. Right.
And so. Now learning all of these aspects of
what an authority does, for me, it's been quite
a grounding experience because when I walk my
neighborhood in the trails, which is the Credit
Valley Trail, actually will. The vision will
be right behind us. That vision starts. So the
river starts in Port Credit and it goes all the
way up to Orangeville. So CVC is actually working
towards building one trail system. It's going
to be 100 kilometers accessible to all of us.
Wow. And by that, I mean, whether you are walking
or you need special assistance, like the trail
system is being built so that everyone enjoys
it. Understanding all of these aspects, indigenous
culture and heritage and how we're making the
Credit River system into an outdoor classroom,
getting more youth out. Right. Knowing that I
didn't know that we had 13 over 1300 plants of
plant species in this area. Wow. We have very
unique snakes, salamanders, frogs, birds and.
Unlike any other place in Canada. And so to know
that and to learn that makes me appreciate every
time I have a walk. Sure. I look at nature differently.
Yeah. We're very unique in this area. We have
lots of natural resources. And like, why wouldn't
I want to take care of it? So I do have a different
lens now as I thank God for what he's created
because such unique spaces, but also as a responsibility
to say, you know what, we have to. do something
about this if we want to maintain these wonderful
assets for us. Because personally, in my life,
nature has always been there to provide healing.
Like in my toughest times of life, I go for a
walk and I sit in solitude in nature and I talk
to God and I see his creation. And so nature
is doing its job for us. And we have a responsibility
to do a job to protect it as well. Yeah, yeah,
for sure. I really like that. Recently, so around
last year, I got a job at the city. I was doing...
um skate patrolling basically you know um celebration
square i would just be there i'd be watching
people skate me that's literally my job just
patrolling the rink and one thing that i didn't
really was realized was required in the job was
we would have to pick up so much trash around
the area so what happened was before i got there
like right after school when i got there we would
try to empty out oh right empty out the trash
bins and there's so many of them and i and kind
of also what we had to do which i've never done
before is they just take those bins and you have
like those scoopers you go around you scoop up
all the trash that people leave on the table
on the rink and originally i thought wow like
this is so much work i'm not like fulfilled i
don't like doing this like it's kind of an aspect
of my job i guess i'll tolerate it but sure it's
not really interesting to me but then again i
guess as um sorry as you said earlier i thought
i guess if i changed my mindset and i thought
about oh how all like i'm kind of doing like
jesus a favor in a way i'm kind of doing as he
wanted me to do right i'm picking up all this
trash i'm helping take care of our earth and
even if other people don't do it that's okay
because i guess it is kind of my responsibility
in a way to make sure like this space is maintained
and i always after i thought about that i would
actually start not necessarily like looking forward
to but i would enjoy kind of taking like trash
i would just like walk around i would um do the
benches and it was like 11 like in the night
so no one would be around sure and i'd be like
wow i'm doing i really feel good doing this in
a way i feel like um i feel like i'm doing my
part i feel like this is what um kind of is inspiring
motivates me even though i might not not necessarily
have really enjoyed it And then on my last day,
it's a seasonal job. So it was from, I guess,
December to March. So actually really recently,
on my last day, one of the supervisors, they
kind of just loaded all of the workers on the
last day. And we just got into, it's kind of
like, of course I don't know what they are, but
they just drive around. And we went to these
different like parks of the city. So Korea down,
it's like the Japanese park. And we were there
and we were just picking up trash. And I was
there and it was a pretty cold day. So there's
a lot of snow. I didn't expect to see any animals
or anybody. But there were these little groups
of like kids. they were looking at the ducks
at korea and we were just walking by and and
i guess it was around this time that the trees
and we were also blooming like really cherry
blossoms yeah i was really surprised too because
it was so early yeah and i just thought about
that and i was picking up the trash and i'm really
like helping make this place beautiful i feel
like and i felt really like good i feel like
that's um maybe and like you change your mindset
on the things that you're doing sure right and
you change your outlook like you mentioned earlier
Um, I feel like that kind of makes like a world
of difference for me. And that's what happened
to me. I feel like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like,
there's like this verse in the Bible that talks
about, you know, whatever you do, do it like
for the glory of God. So whatever you're doing
while you're picking up trash, you're picking
up trash, like for the glory of God. Right. Like
that. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. What about
for you? What would you sort of add to that?
I've lost track of the original question. The
original question was, are there any ways that
sort of caring for the earth and doing some of
this work has enriched your faith or helped your
understanding of God in some way? For me, it
would be more like when I come to church, I really
appreciate the community part of Christianity.
When I'm out in creation, when I'm out in the
world, when I'm out in nature, I really appreciate
the wonder and the spectacle of it all, right?
The creativity. So for me, it's just another
kind of facet of the whole part of being. Sure.
In the family. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And
I think, like, Diana, when you were talking about,
you know, the different species of, like, salamanders
and frogs and all of these different things,
like, that's super cool. And I think, like, just
so interesting to think, like, God... made each
of them. And God was like, you know what you
need? You need 13 species of salamanders because
that somehow expresses more of who God is than
one species of salamander possibly could. Right.
Like that's super cool. Yeah. When I think of
God, like, you know, we, we look at ourselves
like we're really smart people, all of us. Right.
But when you think of the IQ of God to create
All these plants, like when you look at roses
and you look at all the little details, the leaves,
like you said, the snakes, anything around nature,
everything has such detail that I'm like, I could
never even reach a little inch of that creativity.
And so God was so thoughtful in what he created.
And if we love him, it's just we have to take
care of his creation and us included. Yeah, yeah,
for sure. um so i think sometimes when we think
about you know caring for the earth it's really
easy to get discouraged it's really easy for
us to think okay there's especially you know
when you watch the news and you see all of the
bad things that are happening and you're like
this feels like pushing a boulder up a hill and
actually the boulder's just rolling back down
on top of me sometimes it feels that way um So
in the midst of all of that, are there any pieces
that are like giving you hope right now? That
when you like look at it or think about it, you're
like, oh, actually, this is a really good news
story in the midst of all that's challenging.
I could tell you right away, it just jumps out
at me, all of us here. I am so inspired by hearing
what we all do and how we all feel. So, you know,
when you mentioned hope in humanity, this is
it. Like I see hope in you and all of us because
we. We understand that God created this and we
want to please him and we want to take care of
his creation. So what we do in our everyday lives
will be just that. And so as we are light, as
we are working and doing his work around our
own every day, I think we're naturally going
to be that glue, that information. Like now you're
going to look at your friends and you're going
to tell them quite differently. Right. And so
I think if we're all actioning, that gives me
optimism. That gives me hope in that we can do
this. Like we can talk about this. We can educate
each other. And everybody can contribute in so
many different ways that, again, goes back to
taking care of creation. So I feel inspired when
I hear that we are all thinking that we want
to please God and take care of his creation.
And so we get to go out and. And tell others.
Right. And that I think it's how we live out
our faith. It's action driven. Right. And so
that inspires me. Yeah. That's good. I think
also besides, I guess, like. in real life things
another thing i just feel like i know you're
mentioning news stories but all media in general
like sometimes i know a lot of people like it
will gain a lot of traction these these videos
i guess of nature um just be posted out randomly
i guess like on like on social media platforms
or videos of like cute baby animals like you
mentioned like all those different species and
i guess one thing that does really foster in
people i know like it fostered me and my friends
it was just like the sense of a curiosity you
see this initial like thing like maybe you see
like a beautiful like waterfall and you're just
like wow this is great but then maybe you'll
get to wonder like how do we like sustain these
how do these come to be right so through like
the media through like guests like this rapidly
like spreading like social media channels where
everybody can see anything it's good to see both
the good and also the bad that will also be posted
right um because i know that is also kind of
prevalent too just like i guess like you know
landfills like all these oil spills that also
do get posted on this side i know there's like
a certain like group or like certain channel
that is pretty popular that does these like side
-by -sides like look at how beautiful the earth
is and look what we're doing to it i feel like
those kind of videos and the media in general
with the articles which i know um aren't necessarily
as well like much read as like the videos would
be sure they're still like really important i
feel like these um are helping i can only speak
for my generation but through these i know people
who've seen these and decided oh wow like is
there something i can do about this i don't want
this to happen is there something like do i need
to change something do i need to talk to people
do i need to like spread the word um i can give
like i guess a personal example one of my friends
she was i honestly this was um way before i got
very interested into this was like way back in
like grade six um but she was um she saw a video
where it was like these animals i think were
or like the polar bears that were losing their
iceberg like icebergs and she just thought to
herself she's telling us she was like this is
something i wish i really could help out with
so then fast forward a few years i'm in high
school she's founded i think a little chapter
in her own high school of like an eco school
and she's been asking people to like hey can
we donate um all these kinds of things and we
can bring them in so like recycle which i've
always thought was really like admirable and
to think that it just started because of a simple
video I feel like the media nowadays is doing
really good and also kind of keeping like somebody's
curiosity and also like provoking them try to
act on, which I think is also as important as
us going out in real life and also engaging.
Right. So I guess the media could have been used
in good ways into engage. I know it can be used
in a lot of other bad ways, but I just want to
focus on how I guess how I can like, like encourage
people. Yeah. There's two sides. Yeah. Right.
For sure. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. For me, it would
probably be when I actually see... On social
media, for sure. Try to get my algorithm to be
a little more positive. But when we've organized
through Girl Guides a shoreline cleanup or tree
planting and how excited people are for it. To
see people doing work with their own hands and
giving up their own time and energy to do that,
that's hopeful. Because it's hard to be like,
I'm going to recycle this can and it's going
to offset that bomb that was just dropped. That's
not how it works, right? But to only control
what you can control and try to get people around
you. involved it's definitely a grassroots thing
and like the environmental um environmentalism
i guess is really grassroots and getting people
around you engaged and in your community and
when people see it it is inspiring it is motivating
um But it is work. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For
sure. For sure. So building on that, then, like,
what are some ways that people can do more? If
somebody's like, I don't know where to start
with all of this. Like, what are some sort of
tips that you might offer? I mean, sorry. You
go ahead. I know for, like, myself and my youth,
there's always so many opportunities. I know
it could be hard to look for. But there will
always be kind of an opportunity maybe waiting
for myself. I was recently able to be a part
of like an ambassador, I guess, for CAGIS, which
is like the Canadian Association of Girls in
STEM. And one thing they love to do is they're
very big on, I guess, conservation. And when
I... join this program i didn't realize wow i
would learn so much again about conservation
i know this from like some of my other like fellow
like ambassadors they're like wow we're actually
doing so much one thing they like to do is that
i think billy bishop airport there's always going
to be kind of this like they have like a booth
there every like year on like this national like
girls in science i think fair which always sound
really cool um and then there last year i was
able to volunteer and they had this very cool
science experiment i think it was about there
in some way like look at gravity and how this
like changes and i thought to myself wow like
i didn't realize i guess i didn't realize this
is a way that i could help out and like like
do conservation i just thought always conservation
was like doing my recycling um making sure i'm
not wasting enough water i just thought like
these are simple ways i'm doing enough but i
feel like you can never really be doing um i
guess enough in a way you can be doing You can
always do more, right? So I guess in that sense,
it kind of opened my eyes into these new different
ways. I would say kind of, I know a lot of like
teens my age, the biggest way to get involved
for us is maybe not even through a job, like
just volunteering. Because we obviously need
like the 40 volunteer hours. And a lot of the
school, like some... things that my school promotes
is that if you go out and you kind of do this
like trash cleanup you can get volunteer hours
you know so many people some of my friends were
telling me hey me i just wanted to go do this
like for my hours but then after like two sessions
or something they would still go to these trash
cleanups and i'd be like wow like do you have
your hours or be like yeah i have all my hours
just one like i felt really good about doing
this so i guess like like volunteering really
helped me i realized i'm doing like a lot more
for like my planet also for like jesus i feel
like i'm doing um it's like for a good cause
so I think through this um volunteering I guess
also like spreading the news on like social media
or anywhere like maybe I feel like all of these
ways are very valid for people of my age I can't
speak to I guess any other age but I feel like
I feel like for my age like getting like this
experience earlier on so we kind of know I guess
in the future like these are ways that like we
can help clean the earth more than just like
your usual i guess things that you're taught
in school so going out and like seeking new experiences
new journeys there's always something that i
feel like we should prioritize yeah and i think
you're in a really sort of unique position where
you have all these like volunteer opportunities
yeah and as you're sort of looking ahead to the
future you can be like okay maybe i want a job
that is you know directly conservation related
but even like okay maybe i want a job that's
like not specifically conservation related but
like i could be an engineer or i could be work
in non -profit or like wherever it is that you
want to be and incorporate like conservation
and environmental future so big right yeah i
feel like a lot of people don't realize like
apart from my age i didn't realize like we have
so many careers you have so many experiences
you have so much like to do ahead of you so it's
better to get like your get your experiences
in and I guess go from there. Yeah. That's something
I really enjoy. For sure. Yeah. I would say like
the foundation does offer lots of opportunities
and works with CVC tree plantings, right? We
work with community groups, school groups, corporations
who want to plant trees, who want to tackle invasive
species that we need to do. And then also like
there's opportunities for community cleanups.
So I would say that there's those volunteer components.
We also offer the school hours. But what I've
learned from our CVC team is at least the colleagues
that I've met, they've been there for like decades.
And so you're right about that. They started
as youth who were volunteering and they really
saw something here and they dedicated their entire
careers. to helping conserve these green spaces.
So I see a lot of that. And I do see that a lot
of youth are very social driven. Like you want
to make a change and you want it now. And I think
it's very important how we use social media and
videos to tell the story. I want to share that
the foundation right now is going through its
spring campaign, which is called the Credit Critters.
So we're highlighting all of the life now at
the watershed. And this week's focus is the bumblebee.
OK, so if you go up onto our social media and
look at that video, it's the sweetest little
video you could see. But I think that those were
the educational components start. Right. And,
you know, like getting involved means. Just small
acts. Like sometimes we look at what's happening
around the world and in every area and you look
like, how can I make a change? How can I tackle
this big problem that is beyond me? And I think
we may not be able to do that, but we are able
to do something for our own club, our own area,
our own community, our own family. And so those
small acts. Like you said, they're pleasing to
God because God is not expecting us to solve
the biggest issues. In fact, we're asking help
to help us guide and solve those issues. But
our small acts by cleaning, you know, like taking
care of our backyard, by planting non -invasive
species in your land, or, you know, even CVC
offers help with tree plantings, like native
plant plantings as well. There's a lot of ways
to work with the community, but those small acts
is how we become heroes of conservation. Right.
Like you said, recycling. I tend to see my neighbors
walking the trail and they're always with a little
bag and a little scooper. Right. And I look at
my neighbor specifically. She doesn't want recognition.
She doesn't do this for anyone. She goes out
on her everyday walk to the grocery store and
takes this with her. And then it comes back full.
So I look at that and I'm like, well, what a
blessing there, right? She's doing her part.
And if we all do our part, I think there could
be lots, there could be a huge change, right?
So those small acts and don't feel overwhelmed
by what's happening around the world. Leave it
to God. but do your part. And I think that's
how we make a difference and we see hope in humanity
and us taking care of creation. Yeah, yeah, for
sure. So I totally love all the volunteering
and all absolutely important for me. I'll just
go through like the lazier ways to do it. Which
would be like avoiding fast fashion, right? Like
the constant need to have new things. Technology
is huge. Keep things until they die. Stop getting
new things every year. Like the amount of digital
waste is insane. Buying used items, right? Like
those things actually make your life cheaper,
easier. But they have a huge impact. Like if
you could get a whole movement of people that
are like, okay, you know what? No new phones
for three years. That'd be crazy. Right. Yeah.
Economically, people would hate it, but environmentally,
it would be amazing. Yeah. So I look at the things.
Excuse me. When when I like people are busy.
So volunteering can sometimes be a big ask. Yeah.
So when I'm like, you know what? Just buy three
less things this week or, you know, like stop
buying balloons are a bigger problem for me.
There's certain things, right, where you're like,
why do we still do this? But avoiding those things
and just being cautious consumers and not just
because, you know, to save money, but just to
save the planet. Like the amount of waste that
we produce is absolutely insane. And so if we
could cut down on that, it would be huge. Yeah.
Yeah, for sure. That's true. Very true. I think
the sort of note to end us on is in all of these
things, I think these are all. really important
steps that we can take. And, um, as we're taking
those steps, we're not doing them like, because
we think we can save the planet, right? We're
doing them as faithful acts of worship to God.
And as we trust that God will use all of our
little efforts to have some sort of impact and
that God is ultimately. Over all of it. That's
right. Yeah. We love our world as God loves our
world. Yeah. That's our whole job. That's a good
ending. That's right. Do what you can do. Exactly.
So thank you so much, folks. And thank you for
tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks.
I hope that wherever you are joining us from,
you are able to find some ways to care for your
space, whether that is just by changing your
consuming habits, by volunteering, by just getting
out and enjoying the beauty of creation. I hope.
Find some time to do that this week. And we'll
see you again next week for our next episode
of Trinity Talks. Bye.