On Saturday, January 11, 2025, Church of the Advent, Colwood hosted an environmental expo. But the idea for the event started life in the brain of Anglican youth and Church of the Advent member Taylor Gossman. Taylor is a senior in high school and a passionate environmentalist. She plans to go into environmental science for her post-secondary education and hopes to one day make a career out of it.
“I’ve always been interested in the environment,” says Taylor. “It’s something I’m very passionate about, and I think [the expo] really stemmed from me wanting to do something. I’m a teenager and there’s not a lot I can do. But I knew that using the church would be a really good way to do something impactful in my community.”
The environmental expo featured 15 local organizations with a focus on environmental sustainability, such as the Gorge Waterway Action Society, the Urban Food Resilience Initiative Society, the Victoria Natural History Society and the Friends of Havenwood Park, as well as a number of local farms. Each organization hosted a table, and attendees could talk with leaders and volunteers to learn more about achievable actions they can take to help the environment.
There were also presentations from speakers including Calvin Sandborn, a parishioner in our diocese and former director of the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, and Carol Bruce, chair of the Citizens Environment Network in Colwood.
Taylor single-handedly organized the event, including marketing it. She put up posters around the community, as well as posting about the expo on the church website and Facebook groups. Ingrid Anderson, the incumbent at Church of the Advent, also lent a hand by mentioning the event at services and encouraging parishioners to spread the word.
Although Taylor feels marketing isn’t her strong suit, her efforts clearly paid off as the event attracted over 150 people. Attendees were a mix of members of the church and the local community. There were also several teens and children there throughout the day.
Many who took part mentioned to Taylor that they were excited to attend the event again next year. Taylor enjoyed the experience and would be keen to organize a similar event in the future — although she would like to rope in a few other passionate environmentalists to help organize it! She also feels that the event achieved its goal.
“I think the biggest thing with the environment, and environment anxiety, is the fact that people really don’t know how they can get involved and how they can help the environment in their own community. So, giving people this opportunity to donate or to volunteer their time or to just learn about what’s happening and things they can do, I think was really impactful.”
