Change-Makers

KIERA HUI

CHANGE-MAKER FROM CANADA

by Kristine Brackman

“Our world is constantly being challenged, and despite all that we know to conserve and reuse, very few people actually do it. I hope to be an example to others by being innovative and bringing big ideas to fruition.”

Last year, 14-year-old Kiera Hui won a silver medal in the Canada-Wide Science Fair for finding an alternative way to clean up oil spills and reduce waste.

At age 14, Kiera Hui wants to create a cleaner world for her generation. And she’s off to a great start. For her eighth grade science project, she developed a plan to better protect the environment. Her project made it to the Toronto Science Fair last year – it then went on to compete in the Canada-Wide Science Fair. Her experiment? An alternative way to clean up oil spills and reduce waste. Kiera attends Spring Garden Baptist Church in Toronto with her family. Her love for God’s creation and science inspired her to dig deeper to find an innovative way to conserve the environment. “When I researched oil spills, many methods used harmful chemicals or released carbon dioxide into the environment, adding to global warming,” she says. “Many previous projects looked at cotton fibres compared to sawdust or other products, and cotton always seemed best.” Kiera found that recycled cotton textile cloths could absorb oil without retaining the water – performing better than cotton balls, which absorbs the water along with the oil. Since 85 percent of textiles end up in landfills, using discarded cotton garments addresses two environmental issues at once: waste reduction and mitigating pollution. According to the United Nations, over half a million children under the age of five die from air-pollution-related causes every year. Her experiment was one that wasn’t easy to prove, but her perseverance won her a silver medal in the Canada-Wide Science Fair held in Fredericton last May. Through her experiment, Kiera also discovered that oil-soaked cloths could be repurposed as igniters, pending further research. In the future, she wants to find a way to reduce soap and laundry detergent use, which could help increase algae blooms in lake water. Although Kiera travelled to a different province to showcase her successful project, Kiera knows she doesn’t need to go far to spark change. “My hope for the world is for a cleaner environment for our generation,” she says. “Our world is constantly being challenged, and despite all that we know to conserve and reuse, very few people actually do it. I hope to be an example to others by being innovative and bringing big ideas to fruition; I also hope other youth will express their ideas to the public and know that it is a true possibility for it to become a reality.”

INTRODUCTION

Oil spills are a common and serious problem that negatively affects the ocean environment. This environmental disaster requires innovation to clean up oil spills, which are primarily in oceans. It poses a risk to our environment, our drinking water supply as well as the marine biosystem. Oil spills can most commonly occur in 4 areas as shown in the infographic. There are currently methods for cleaning up oil spills but often involve chemicals which are harmful to the environment by polluting our air and water and affect birds and ocean life. Using materials to soak up oil and leave the water is the best solution that remains environmentally friendly. Many experiments utilized absorbent natural materials like sawdust, clay, and raw cotton to clean up oil spills. Cotton balls were often the best natural material that was able to soak up oil, fl oat on water and pose no harm to the environment.

Another area to tackle is textile waste. 85% of textiles are thrown away into the garbage and 81 pounds of textiles are in landfi lls every year! Since there are so many cotton garments that are thrown away into garbage dumps, many people are looking to repurpose clothing, towels and rags into other useful items or utilizing the fi bers to make other items.

Since most garments are made of cotton fi bers, it may be purposeful to solve two problems. If the abundance of textiles may be diverted from fast-growing landfi lls to be used for cleaning up oil spills, then the environment will benefi t because we have recycled. Even harvesting new cotton or developing chemical sponge to clean up oil uses chemicals and energy resources, which affect our environment. The oil soaked cotton textile pieces may be used for other purposes like fi re igniters so there may be investigation into tertiary uses. ABSTRACT Two main environmental concerns are oil spill cleanup and overfl owing landfi lls due to textile waste. This experiment investigated the effectivity of absorbing oil using various cotton materials. Recycled cotton cloths were most effi cient textile, which amassed oil without removing excess water. Diverting textiles for oil spill cleanup is one method to protect the environment.

PURPOSE The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether recycled cotton textiles are as effective in absorbing oil spills as cotton ball fi bers. This would allow recycling of cotton textiles to be diverted from garbage dumps and utilized for cleaning oil spills on water in a safe and environmentally friendly way. The experiment will use 3 different cotton items: cotton balls, cloths and towels. They are all made from 100% natural cotton with the main difference being the fi bers density and absorption. The cloth and towel will from recycled material. The experiment will test which type of cotton may work best at picking up oil while conserving the water.

HYPOTHESIS If cotton balls have been shown to be effective in absorbing oil into its fi bers, then cotton textiles which are denser and organized cotton fi bers should absorb an equal or increased amount of oil than cotton balls.

RESPONDING TO OIL SPILLS AT SEA

DISPERSION Chemical dispersion is achieved by applying chemicals designed to remove oil from the water surface by breaking the oil into smaller droplets.

BURNING Also referred to as in situ burning, this is the method of setting fi re to freshly spilled oil, usually while still fl oating on the water surface.

BOOMS Booms are long, fl oating barriers used to contain or prevent the spread of spilled oil.

ABSORBENT PARTICLES Solidify the oil into pieces to be picked up.

85% of textiles are thrown into the garbage and 81 pounds go to landfi lls every year! SKIMMING Skimming is achieved with boats equipped with a fl oating skimmer designed to remove thin layers of oil from the surface, often with the help of booms.

I N S P I R I N G N E X T G E N E R AT I O N L E A D E R S W O R K I N G F O R A B E T T E R W O R L D

EMMANUEL CYZIA

CHANGE-MAKER FROM RWANDA

by Laurena Zondo

“I was able to disciple new young leaders and now it is so wonderful to see that they are the ones organizing the camp, under my assistance … I am so thankful that God allowed me to raise up other people, to engage them in youth ministry.”

Thirty-year-old Emmanuel Cyzia from Kigali, Rwanda, is passionate about engaging youth in peace and community development initiatives. Emmanuel has experienced first-hand the result of violence and hatred. At the age of five, he witnessed the genocide rip through this country. “I recall a few things … I knew something bad was happening. When we were running away, I saw people crying in the street … people killing.” Despite having to flee for safety, through God’s grace Emmanuel and his family survived. During his troubled teens years, Emmanuel was invited to attend a peace camp held by CBM’s partner, the Association of Baptist Churches of Rwanda, and it changed the course of his life. “It was very impactful. We heard about servant leadership and teamwork and ways to bring peace in society, to be a catalyst wherever God has placed you … and we had opportunity to share our talents and discover new skills. I created a peace song that my [church] choir still sings during our annual commemoration of the genocide every April.” After graduating from secondary school, Emmanuel started Bible clubs and peace clubs among children and youth in neighbourhoods and schools. In 2017, concerned by the high rate of drug use, teen pregnancies and sexual immorality that he saw among youth, he adapted a former church crusade called HIG – Hunga Irari rya Gasore (“Flee from Youthful Passions,” 2 Timothy 2:22) – into an annual camp to mentor, train and encourage youth to set a biblical foundation to guide them in life. “I was able to disciple new young leaders, and now it is so wonderful to see that they are the ones organizing the camp, under my assistance.” Through Emmanuel’s church, he is now serving across the country, training pastors and leaders from different churches in discipleship and leadership. He has also helped to lead evangelism campaigns in schools and villages, and community compassion efforts – such as repairing the homes of poor widows – with teams of youth from his church. “I am so thankful that God allowed me to raise up other people, and to engage them in youth ministry.”

Pictured at the first peace camp in 2010, Emmanuel and some of his new friends practise a peace song for talent night. He was inspired to write the song at camp. Today, his church choir continues to sing his peace song during the annual Commemoration of the Genocide Against the Tutsi.