Collingwood’s new Earth Day flag has a lot of heart.
In honour of Earth Day, a new flag was raised outside the Collingwood Public Library on April 22, with local dignitaries and members of the Collingwood Climate Action Team (CCAT) in attendance.
Also in the crowd was Collingwood Collegiate Institute student Elettra Di Cintio, the designer behind the new flag. Di Cintio’s design was chosen from eight entries this year for the Collingwood Climate Action Team’s annual youth contest.
The 15-year-old is currently at CCI on an exchange from Pescara, Italy. She said she was drawn to Canada for the exchange because of the landscapes and the quality of education, and was surprised to learn she had won the contest this year.
“I was very surprised, because I didn’t think it would win,” said Di Cintio. “I’m proud of my design. It means so much to me.”
Di Cintio’s design incorporates the ideas of earth and heart, and takes inspiration from Michelangelo’s painting The Last Judgment. There are two hands; one holds water, while the other holds hearts.
“One of the most serious problems that our country is facing revolves around water, the pollution of our beautiful lakes or the decreasing of snow, year by year,” Di Cintio wrote as part of her submission. “We must convey love to what surrounds us and be grateful for what we have, which sometimes seems obvious to us, but it isn't.”
“The sooner we start to realize that we are doing something bad for our one-of-a-kind planet, the sooner we can save it," she wrote.
The former Scout said water is one of the main problems Canada faces when it comes to climate change.
“I’ve always been connected to the environment since I was little, because both my grandparents had vegetable farms,” she said. “I’m passionate about nature.”
Laura Vermander, director of community engagement with the Collingwood Climate Action Team, said the judges felt Di Cintio’s design encompassed the meaning behind the competition.
“We thought her design was a nice picture of two different entities coming together,” she said.
When the flag was raised, CCAT chair Catherine Daw talked about the importance of Earth Day, which was first celebrated in the 1970s.
“Back then, they knew we were polluting our planet. A lot has changed,” she said. “We want to keep that journey going and we want to accelerate it because we’re all starting to see more of the effects of climate change.”
“We all need to get engaged and involved. We can always go fast when we’re alone, but we can go farther when we’re together,” she said.
For more information on the Collingwood Climate Action Team, click here.
