Grade 8 Vincent Massey student Daisy Barton said she and her team wanted a solution to prevent types of water pollution.

Barton’s project, other student projects, along with numerous exhibitors, were displayed at the 2022 Mayor’s Environment Expo in the atrium of the Municipal building Tuesday.

Barton said they figured a lot of stuff gets flushed down toilets or put down the drain that could instead go into compost. They put together a compost kit that would break materials down to be used as fertilizer for plants.

“It’s beneficial in some cases, and it really helps our Earth,” Barton said.

Vincent Massey science teacher Carter Cox said the students first took part in a project called Caring for Our Watershed. It was a provincial effort with schools all over Alberta participating. Vincent Massey was the top school in the province with several projects that made the top 10, Cox said.

Instilling in students the importance of the environment is critical, he said.

“It’s the future, right? The sustainability of our communities depends on ideas like this,” Cox said.

The students created a storyline with their projects, covering climate change, sustainable energy, water quality, zero hunger and more.

“(They pieced) it all together with a storyline where the villains are the bad guys that are creating the problems and why we need to address these kinds of problems with these issues coming up,” he said.

Students are full of ideas, said Mayor Gondek

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek toured the Vincent Massey projects on Tuesday morning.

It coincides with the delivery of the city’s new climate strategy at the Community Development Committee Wednesday afternoon. That’s the roadmap to net zero by 2050.

The mayor said there was a bit of a buzz at city hall. Many of the kids hadn’t been on a field trip in nearly two years.  But they’re excited to be at the expo and to listen in on the meeting.

“The kids are excited to see how some of their ideas are going to come into action through Council,” Mayor Gondek said.

“And we’re very interested as a council to hear what they have to say and what they’re talking about.”

Barton said if we don’t take care of the environment, it won’t be here in the future.

“I guess it will just be like a desert-type thing,” she said.

“I feel like it’s pretty important to me because, if there’s no more scenery, and without scenery, what’s the point of living?”