A group of young adults in Ontario's Waterloo region and Guelph are helping local churches reduce their carbon footprints through the United Church of Canada's Climate Motivator program. The eight-week internships produced concrete projects: an energy audit at St. Luke's United Church in Cambridge that led to a proposal for greener lighting and heating, a pollinator garden at Dublin Street United Church in Guelph, and an educational summer camp at Forest Hill United Church in Kitchener that also generated 53 campaign letters calling for stronger federal climate action. The program gives young people hands-on experience in community-level decarbonization while showing that local institutions can make measurable changes. The interns say the work gives them hope despite broader climate concerns like wildfires in northwestern Ontario. The pollinator garden and utility audit are small but replicable steps that other congregations could adopt without major capital investment.
