The Winners Of The Polar Bear Ambassador Contest
/ Post by Polar Bears International
Scoring entries in a contest is always hard, but the judges for our Polar Bear Ambassador Contest were left with the feeling that, holy moly, momentum for action on climate change is truly taking place at a grassroots level!
In photo after photo, video after video, essay after essay, our judges felt buoyed by the positive actions and can-do attitude shared by contestants in our My Planet, My Part gallery—from schools with composting programs to green households and a couple so determined to reduce their carbon footprint that they moved to an energy-efficient house close to work.
From the many inspiring efforts, our judges narrowed the winners down to the following, who emerged as ambassadors and community change agents:
Ages 14-18
- Grand Prize: Sparta High Earth Club for their amazing community efforts and commitment to the environment
- Second Place: Alana Krug-MacLeod for her uplifting video, Polar Power, on her personal and community efforts to go green
- Third Place: Ahira Medalla for The Little Things, an upbeat take on how each of us can make a difference
Ages 19+
- Grand Prize: Marie Baer for her creative and inspiring video, Reducing My Carbon Footprint
- Second Place: Aleksandra Wolanin for Let’s Go Green, a “yes, we can” look at how easy it is to live green
- Third Place: Karen Meeker Biddinger-Ogden for her Classroom Eco-challenge
We also awarded Honorable Mentions to the following:
- Camilla Ross for How Daisi Helps the Environment, an adorable video on a seven-year-old’s conservation efforts
- And to Philip Fensterer and Heather Kalka for multiple creative entries and to Michelle Winslow for the amazing visual below that says it all
Our heartfelt thanks to all who participated. Choosing the winners was difficult, but as one of our contestants, Jennifer Hsu, wrote in her essay: I am happy to know that there are many others like me who are concerned and are making efforts to change. In the end, every one who is doing their part to save the polar bears is a winner of this competition.
Prizes include a trip for two to Churchill during the polar bear migration for the Grand Prize winners, sponsored by explore.org; a Canada Goose parka for the second place winners; and a PBI Polar Bear Adoption Kit for the third place winners.
Ready for a shot of endorphins? You can view the contest photos on our Flickr page and videos on our YouTube channel.
If you haven’t yet discovered our online community on My Planet, My Part, we’re now featuring a Green Your Holidays challenge. Each week we’ll award a Polar Bear Adoption Kit to the best entry.
