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Sustainabiliteens post powerful messages on Burnaby overpass

Under the beating afternoon sun on Wednesday, a group of youth equipped with chalk, zip ties and banners braved the heat to send a message to the drivers below in Burnaby.
Sustainabiliteens banner burnaby overpass
Under the beating afternoon sun on July 29, a group of youth equipped with chalk, zip ties and banners braved the heat to send a message to the drivers below in Burnaby.

Under the beating afternoon sun on Wednesday, a group of youth equipped with chalk, zip ties and banners braved the heat to send a message to the drivers below in Burnaby.

Their demand?

That the COVID-19 pandemic be used as a turning point in the fight against “climate injustice.”

Commuters along Hastings Street in the Kensington area of Burnaby honked in support of the banner posted on the overpass: “‘Normal’ was a housing/opioid/climate/inequity crisis!”

Pedestrians crossing the overpass saw the same call to action in chalk beneath their feet. 

Having to wear masks and stay apart has not stopped the Sustainabiliteens, Metro Vancouver’s youth-led climate movement, from fighting for a better world for future generations.

“As much as everyone longs for a return to ‘normal’ after COVID-19, they are painfully aware that ‘normal’ was as much a crisis as the pandemic,” said a news release. “The issues that the Sustainabiliteens fight for, be it climate change itself or the inequity that it causes, have only been highlighted by COVID-19. This is a unique opportunity for true systemic change. How all levels of government plan their recovery from the pandemic to address these underlying problems (or not) could determine the future that the young activists will inherit.”