A group of high school students organizing a major Earth Day Parade and Festival will be unveiling a windmill made of all recycled materials today Wednesday, April 20 at 12:30pm at Windermere High School.

Members of the media are invited to visit the classroom and watch students put on the finishing touches days before the big parade.

"For the Earth Day celebrations we have been planning, we decided to put into action what we have been learning about how we have to end our addiction to oil within our lifetime," said Henry Tan, grade 12 Windermere student and organizer with Youth 4 Climate Justice Now (Y4CJN). "Alternative energy, smarter transportation and better recycling are what its all about and we want to do something about it", said Tan.

The windmill project was largely undertaken by the grade 10 leadership class taught by Vagner Castihlo at Windermere. It was constructed using plastic bottles, chicken wire and bike parts. The 'Windermere Windmill' will be at the front of the Earth Day Parade, which will proceed down Commercial Drive on Friday beginning at 11am from just south of Broadway Skytrain Station. The Windmill will be amidst an array of students in colourful costumes, stilt walkers and other performers from the "Madskillz Collective".

At the Earth Day Festival at the parade's end point, Britannia field (William st. and Woodland ave.), the windmill will be symbolically raised.

"At the beginning of the festival we will observe a moment of silence for all the victims of climate change -- people need to realize this crisis is displacing and even killing people right now, especially the world's poorest people who have done the least to cause the problem," said Tan. "We will raise the windmill at the end of the moment of silence as an expression of our desire for change", said Tan.

The fact that this Earth Day action is youth-led is generating wide interest in the context of the ongoing federal election campaign. There have been a number of social media and grassroots initiatives to encourage youth voting and participation. Some young people have taken to calling Friday's parade a 'Vote Mob'. April 22nd is an advanced polling day.

"A lot of these students are too young to vote, but they are calling on all of us to vote for the sake of their future - they are going to make this an Earth Day in Vancouver to remember," said Ben West, Climate Campaigner with the Wilderness Committee, who is helping the students organize the event. "These young people make me hopeful that their generation is going to take the lead in pressing ahead and demanding that all political leaders take serious action to stop global warming", said West. 

For More Information Contact:
Henry Tan, Youth for Climate Justice Now -  604-612-0012
Ben West, Wilderness Committee - 604-710-5340