Whether you are a member of a school eco-club, have a general interest in the environment or want to learn where to start, we want to hear from YOU!

By sharing ideas, resources, successes and by working together on school and community eco-projects, as youth we can have a greater impact with a louder voice. 

After all, it is OUR future.

By joining the free Network you can:

• Get involved in the planning of Burlington's Annual Youth Environmental Conference "Imprints: Make your Mark, Leave no Trace"!
• Attend monthly meetings at MEC with guest presenters & snacks!
• Share ideas & work on projects as a network
• Volunteer with our community partners doing things like Invasive Species Removals, Native Species Plantings, Shoreline Restoration, Clean-ups, Event Greening & more (even intern opportunities at BG!)
• Meet new friends who care about the environment!
• Have fun too!

“ My experiences with the Youth Network have truly transformed me as a person, and have positively influenced many other youth like me. The BurlingtonGreen Youth Network is what I describe as a powerful grassroots catalyst for very real and exciting youth-led action in improving the environment both locally and globally...I believe that the Network is a deeply vital and necessary program for the present and future well-being of the community. Aside from its crucial role in facilitating action by youth for the environment, the most precious element of the Network is its unique ability to creatively instill an unyielding spirit and drive and motivation and potential in each youth who participates in the program"

Andrew Wong - Youth Network Alumni

"My experience as a BGYN member has been the absolute most motivating, empowering, educational and impactful volunteer opportunity I've ever had to date. This organization has influenced my life in more ways than I ever thought possible. Most importantly it has enabled me to find full potential in my passion for the environment…One of the most memorable experiences I have with the BGYN was helping to organize Burlington’s first Environmental Youth Conference. Working with an innovative team to plan and run a day of environmental action and inspiration for 400 youth was an invaluable teamwork, event planning and organizing experience. There is nothing else like the BurlingtonGreen Youth Network.”

Zofia Smeja - Youth Network Alumni

“BurlingtonGreen’s tireless commitment to engaging youth as today’s environmental leaders is truly inspiring. As a professional Community Worker who has worked with youth in a range of non-profit sectors, I have been absolutely astounded with the energy and devotion BGYN’s youth members have invested in creating and encouraging positive environmental change. By offering youth-focused environmental programming that provides youth with valuable skills and opportunities, BurlingtonGreen not only has positive impacts on the natural environment, but also in the lives and futures of young people; they are truly “EcoMentors” in every sense of the word."

Josh Stevenson, EcoMentors Program Manager,Earth Day Canada

BGYN EVERY MONTH AT MEC!

Our Youth meetings are held the first Thursday of every month from 4:30 - 6:30 pm at Mountain Equipment Co-op store's community room.  Thanks to the MEC we have a great space for us to meet & all of our meetings are zero waste so please bring your own re-usable water bottle for drink, we bring the snacks!

What some of our Youth Network members have to say: 

“I think this is amazing, I always look forward to the meetings. Something like this is long overdue!”

“I wish it were more than once a month!”

 “My favourite things about the Network are collaboratng with other youth and all the volunteer opportunites.”

“Its the best way to meet with environmental club members from schools in Burlington to share ideas.”

"The BGYN is all about working together to work smarter not harder! There are 9 high schools in Burlington and if we all work together to achieve our common goals we'll be a lot more effective than if we went at it seperately! Everyone is welcome, just contact me to get involved!"

On Oct 27^th 2011, BurlingtonGreen Youth hosted Burlington’s Environmental Youth Conference. Held at the Royal Botanical Gardens, it was a terrific success with 300 students in attendance from 26 schools!

It was due to the generous support of the following sponsors that we were able to offer this important opportunity to Burlington Youth:

• The Halton Learning Foundation
• The Ontario Trillium Foundation 
• BurlingtonGreen Environmental Association
• TD Friends of the Environment Foundation
• Burlington Transit
• Mountain Equipment Co-op
• The Halton District School Board
• Bullfrog Power
• Conservation Halton

The theme of the conference was Forests in honour of the 2011 International Year of Forests & featured an opening keynote address from Severn Cullis Suzuki. You can see her message to you in full further below. Check out some conference highlights on this video:

Thank you for your feedback...

Thank you very much to all the students and teachers who took the time to share your input via our on-line survey. We will be summarizing all the feedback and using it to help guide our event planning for 2012.  A special thank you is offered to Sayo Ibsa, Jordan Dyck and Allison Paknis from Frontenac P.S. for sharing your appreciation for this event with the Burlington Post so everyone in Burlington can learn more about the  Imprints Conference and how it inspires us all! See their letter here.

We asked you to guess which world renowned environmental icon sent us an inspirational video clip to share with YOU, Burlington Youth.

31% of you guessed right!

Here it is:

See Severn Cullis Suzuki's message to Burlington Youth:

Remember ~ Think Global ~Act Local ~ Change starts with YOU!

The BurlingtonGreen Youth Network

Are you passionate about protecting our environment? Do you want to help teach younger kids about what they can do for the planet?

We are too!!!!

The BurlingtonGreen Youth Network recently met at Gary Allan High School for a training session focused on providing all the training, resources & connections needed to become an EcoMentor! We now have BGYN members that are qualified to run EcoMentor training sessions!

What exactly is an EcoMentor?

EcoMentors are self-motivated youth who are passionate about the environment. They have been trained to facilitate environmental education workshops and engage their peers and other young people. EcoMentor workshops take place in a wide range of settings. Examples include...

• Schools and educational classes
• After-school programs and clubs
• Community and recreational centres
• Faith based organizations
• Extra-curricular organizations (ex. Boy Scout & Girl Guide troops)

If your group is interested in setting up a training date please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Congratulations to Billi Krochuk & Kayla Marie Peters, the BT YA!s (Burlington Transit Youth Ambassadors) from Aldershot High School on their success with the World Car Free Day promo!

Billi & Kayla managed to receive 300 pledges from teachers & students to leave the car at home on Sept 22nd, World Car Free Day & noticed about a 50% increase in the amount of students that rode their bikes, walked or took the bus!

Billi Krochuk: "...After weeks of planning, coordinating with staff and teachers, and many announcements, our little school Aldershot showed us that we are a community that cares about our environment. We had exactly 300 pledges made that day, just under half of the entire school’s population! A big thank you to everyone for making Aldershot’s World Car Free Day such a success!"

All of the BT YA!s from across Burlington participated in this promo, collecting pledges from their school community during the lead up to World Car Free Day. Aldershot achieved the best overall performance in the promo campaign out of all of the teams of YA!s and earned a $250 cash prize to go towards a school Eco-project courtesy of Burlington Transit

My name is Kale Black and I am the Youth Program Coordinator for BurlingtonGreen Environmental Association.

I graduated from Aldershot School in 2007 where I got the opportunity to be one of the first students to take part in the RBG Eco-studies program. It was the Eco-studies program that really introduced me to environmentalistm, in my returning year I ran my school Eco-club with BGYN member Tom Nagy and received the Aldershot Lions award for service to my school and community as well as a Rotary medal for our recycling program and fundraising.

In my returning year while I was running our school eco-club I was lucky enough to receive a co-op position with the City of Burlington's Environmental Department along with a placement with BurlingtonGreen. After my placements I volunteered over the summer and then I began a new contract with BurlingtonGreen as their first Youth Program Representative. I have been very busy ever since.....helping to establish Burlington's first ever BGYN (BurlingtonGreen Youth Network), organizing three "Imprints", Youth Environmental Conferences, spreading the word on our new facebook page, leading Climate Change workshops to more than 5000 children and more!

No one can dispute youth are the future and one of my goals is to help youth get involved  so we can do our  part to make a difference to help the planet. We should be thinking globally and acting locally, and as I’ve been finding out, there are lots of opportunities to act locally to support the environment.

So, if you are interested in doing your part to help the environment and working with other like minded youth throughout Burlington, I want to hear from YOU!

Just give me a call (905-407-0486), send me an This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or add me to facebook (search Kale Black) and I will get you connected to our Eco-network!

Keep reading to find out about upcoming opportunities to volunteer for the Planet -  Woop Woop!