For 16-year-old Milah-Rose Jamieson of Petrolia, one of the most valuable outcomes of submitting a video to the 2019 Plasticurious video contest for Canadian teens was being able to share her thoughts on the importance of everyone taking responsibility for recycling. An added bonus was winning third prize in one of the contest categories and earning a cash prize of $250.
“I wanted to use my voice in my video, “Everyday People”, to tell people that it is easy to properly dispose of our waste and make the world we live in even better for the future, we just need to take action!,” Milah-Rose said.
The Plasticurious video content, sponsored by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA), encourages Canadian teens to think about plastic in their everyday lives. Nearly two dozen teens across Canada entered videos.
Each of the prize winners is being honoured by local CPIA members. In Sarnia, Keith Bechard, who is the Chief Commercial Officer of ReVital Polymers at 1271 Lougar Avenue organized an event today at ReVital to recognize Milah-Rose’s achievement and to present her with a celebration certificate.
ReVital and Milah-Rose are actually old friends. Keith and ReVital hosted Milah-Rose to a similar event last year after she won a prize for her first video entry to Plasticurious in 2017.
“As a serial winner of the Plasticurious contest, Milah-Rose’s passion for the environment continues to inspire her desire to serve the community good,” said Bechard. In line with that thinking, Milah-Rose says she’s headed for a career as a nurse.
CPIA is making all the winning videos available for viewing on the Plasticurious website.
“We were amazed at how thoughtful and passionate these young people are about the importance of sustainability when it comes to plastics. They get it. With a universal voice they conveyed, each in their own words, that with the use of plastics comes the responsibility to think sustainability by reducing, reusing and recycling. Throwing plastics away is not an option,” said Carol Hochu, CPIA CEO and President.
Another 16-year-old teen who is from Surrey, BC, Robert Cioata, who won first prize in the 16 to 18 age Plasticurious category noted: “The problem is not that we are creating plastics, it’s that we are throwing away plastics. Every single person has the power to create change. You don’t have to be the President of the World to get your voice heard. All you have to do is encourage responsibility and sustainability. All of us can take the steps necessary to create a sustainable and affordable future for many generations to come.”
“Our intent was to engage young people in thinking and sharing ideas about plastics and how the decisions they make today about managing plastics affect their lives tomorrow,” said Hochu. “We certainly got that and more. We’re very proud of our CPIA Plasticurious teen video winners.”
This is the second year that CPIA has sponsored the video contest for Canadian teens. Next year’s contest will call for new submissions this fall.
CPIA created the Plasticurious video contest as a way to remind young Canadians that plastics make a considerable contribution to their quality of life. But while we enjoy the benefits of plastics, each of us has a responsibility to care for our environment by ensuring plastic resources are used responsibly including their proper management at end of life.
“Plastics are too valuable to waste,” Hochu emphasized.
Winning categories included first, second and third in two age groups, 14 to 15 years of age and 16 to 18 years of age. Another category offered first, second and third for alumni winners from the previous year’s contest. In addition, first, second and third prizes were offered for the greatest number of shares (Super Shares) and views (Fan Fave). Winners of the main categories received cash prizes of $1000, $500 and $250 for first, second and third place wins and the winning entries have been posted on the Plasticurious.ca website.
2018-2019 Plasticurious Video Submission Winners are:
Age Category 16 to 18:
First Place – Robert Cioata, 16, Surry, BC for his video “Plastic and the Future”
Second Place – David Rico, 16, Nepean, ON for “Plastic is Power”
Third Place – Britney Bang, 16, Edmonton, AB for “Plastic and all it’s Worth”
Age Category 14 to 15:
First Place – Samuel Miele, 15, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON for “Plastic Powers all of our Lives”
Second Place – Lydia Pollard, 15, Chilliwack, BC for “Plastic Throughout Our Lives”
Third Place – Riley Stone, 14, Peterborough, ON for “Canadians Rely on Plastics”
Alumni Category (those who also submitted videos in the 2017 contest):
First Place – Barath Velmuragan, 16, Brampton, ON for “Plastics for Fun, Passion, Innovation, Profession with Responsibility”; also won third place in the Fan Fave category
Second Place – Jacqueline Shi, 18, Mississauga, ON for “Plastic is our Routine”
Third Place – Milah Rose Jamieson, 16, Petrolia, ON for “Everyday People”
Fan Favourite (greatest number of views) and Super Share (greatest number of shares):
First Place for both – Jazel de la Paz, 17, Scarborough, ON for “Part of Your Everyday Life”
Second Place for both – Alicia Mok, 17, Markham, ON for “A Day Without Plastics”
Third Place – Alexander Clarke, 17, St. John’s, NFLD for “How Plastics Affect My Life: Vinyl and Music”
Honourable Mentions
Jayni Chang, 16, for “What is Plastic?”
Lucy Baker, 16, for “Zooming in on Plastics”