When Elyse Colville, Heather Hutchinson and Grace Pratch were assigned a group paper in their SUST 201 class by sessional communications professor Roberta Laurie, they had no idea that they would see it published in Earth Common Journal and even win a monetary prize for their efforts.

They were tasked with writing about an environmental issue, and they chose to look at the individual’s role in the environmental crisis. The resulting paper, “No One is an Island: The Misdirect of the Individual Climate Impact Narrative,” delves into the issue of whether or not one person’s actions can actually make a difference in the fight against climate change.

“It’s heavily focused on the fact that corporations, governments and companies are the biggest issue when it comes to climate change,” says Pratch. “There’s a lot of emphasis put on individual choices – and those are important in everyday life – but ultimately the biggest change is going to have to come from corporations."

“From my perspective, the narrative that an individual’s choices can have any real impact on what’s coming is ridiculous,” says Hutchinson. “It’s not only silly, it’s an active rhetorical choice made by big corporations. It’s a concerted effort on their part to make people feel guilty, impotent, helpless and responsible.”

Laurie suggested that the trio submit their essay to Earth Common Journal, which features articles around sustainability and environmentalism from both student and professional writers and editors. The theme for their eighth volume, which was released in November 2022, was Adapt.

“We thought our article really spoke to that theme, to finding alternative solutions to a problem that has been incorrectly framed as an individualistic issue,” says Colville. “Our article focuses on how issues like plastic straws have been almost like a smokescreen for the greater issue.”

The article also examines concepts like the individual carbon footprint, and how the idea was popularized by a marketing campaign by British Petroleum (BP) that not only distracted the public from BP’s own emissions, but actually convinced many people to pay the company to neutralize their comparatively tiny emissions. During the COVID pandemic when there was a noticeable reduction in emissions from many individuals as they eliminated their commute to the office, global emissions only dropped by about six per cent. Change, the writers conclude, needs to begin with regional government and proactive policies.

When their article was accepted by Earth Common Journal, the writers worked with editor-in-chief Dr. Lucille Mazo and editor Claire Wosley to ensure their paper fit the publication. They were invited to the issue’s launch party unaware that they were winning anything, and were surprised to be presented with the Top Article award by MacEwan President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Annette Trimbee.

“Dr. Trimbee not only read our piece, but she flew in that day from Montreal and high-tailed it to the soiree to present us our award. So that was a big honour,” says Hutchinson. The writers were given certificates as well as a cash prize.

“It’s really nice to receive acknowledgement for the work and research that we’ve done,” says Colville. “It’s an honour to be featured as the cover story in Earth Common Journal, especially coming off of the rebrand.”

“I am really grateful to be a part of this, and to have won this award on a topic that I’ve cared about for my entire life,” says Pratch. “It’s something that I would really like to focus on in my career.”

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