On the 26th May, members of Penarth Youth Action, Llantwit Youth Council, Rights Ambassadors, the Youth Cabinet Youth Homelessness Task Group and the 18+ youth club, all took part in a focus group about Project Zero!
Project Zero is the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s response to the climate change emergency. Project Zero brings together the wide range of work and opportunities available to tackle the climate emergency, reduce the Council’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 and encourage others to make positive changes.
We met with Helen Moses, Hannah Rapa and their colleagues from across the Council to share our thoughts on what we can do as young people to help tackle climate change in the Vale of Glamorgan.
We use this opportunity to share some of the work we have done within our groups on environmental issues and climate change.
PYA have previously worked on surveys in Penarth with local businesses about single use plastic items, planted an orchard and took part in a litter pick in Cosmeston Country Park.
LYC have sold reusable canvas shopping bags, created a campaign to provide young people with eco-friendly sanitary products and designed bins for their local area.
Together, PYA and LYC have completed an accredited course in plastic Recycling, designed reusable water bottles and gone to visit their local recycling centre in Cowbridge.
Young people all across the Vale have voted in the Make Your Mark campaign run by Youth Cabinet, this has been supported by all youth participation groups. Environmental issues such as stop plastic pollution, protect the environment and take action on the climate emergency have been voted for in high numbers by young people.
In the focus group, we split into two breakout rooms where we discussed different topics. In one room we talked about tackling waste, and in the other room we talked about food production and food waste. Some interesting issues were brought up about repairing broken things and using reusable items instead of single use items.
If you are interested in in Project Zero, more information can be found here: https://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/en/our_council/consultation/Project-Zero.aspx
If you have any ideas or thoughts on what young people can do to help tackle the climate change emergency, or you are interested in joining a youth action group get in touch with us at: valeyouthaction@gmail.com
