GUELPH, ON, Jan. 5 /CNW/ - As the world's attention has been focussed on Copenhagen and the global problem of climate change in recent weeks, Canadian students have been taking action to boost the health of the environment on their campuses, in their communities, across the country and beyond. Twelve exceptional post-secondary students who participated in Impact!: The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership have received a total of $47,000 to support their environmental projects.

The four-day conference brought 180 students together in Guelph, Ontario this past September to learn from and work with sustainability experts from business, non-governmental organizations and academia. The students developed recommendations for more sustainable practices in various sectors of the economy, and each made a personal pledge to work to create a healthier, greener world in the years ahead. The Co-operators created the Impact! Fund to support them in their efforts.

The 12 successful applicants announced today are:

Keleigh Annau of Mount Allison University, who received $5,000 to expand for Lights Out Canada, an initiative that has already reached more than 125,000 students with informative presentations about energy conservation.

Robert Courteau of Bishop's University received $1,300 for the Lennoxville Plastic Bag Ban, which is raising awareness of the environmental impacts of plastic bags in an effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate them from Lennoxville, Quebec, including the campus of Bishop's University.

Jonathan Glencross of McGill University received $3,500 for Sustainable McGill, an initiative to provide information to students, faculty and staff to promote more sustainable practices on campus.

Alla Guelber of Royal Roads University received $5,000 to create a workshop as part of Green Jobs Workshop, which is promoting a green economy in Calgary, which is her hometown.

Amélie Marsolais-Ricard, a student at McGill University, was granted $5,000 to support the construction of a green roof and other elements of a green bicycle shelter at College Durocher in Saint-Lambert, Quebec.

Alison McDonald of Trent University, received $5,000 toward the construction of a root cellar for the Seasoned Spoon Cooperative Café at the university, and to educate students and others about sustainable food systems and storage methods.

Marco Mwenda of Assiniboine Community College received a $5,000 grant to support the Marquis Project in Manitoba, which develops sustainable farming practices that are shared with farmers in Tanzania.

Emil Noordeh, who is studying at the Schulich School of Business at York University, was awarded $1,385 to help with the development of an educational video and website about water conservation, as part of the Did You Know: H2O project.

Elisabeth Poirier-Garneau, a student at Université de Sherbrooke, received a $5,000 grant for Sustainable Product Information: Moving Beyond the Barcode. She is researching the potential for cell phone-read bar codes on food products that would provide information including their nutritional value and environmental impacts.

Ellen Quigley, from the University of Saskatchewan, received $5,000 for Water Water Everywhere, through which she has partnered with the City of Saskatoon's Water Treatment Division and We Are Many to supply and promote the use of tap water, rather than bottled water, at events in Saskatoon.

Eliese Watson, a student at Mount Royal College, will use her $5,000 grant to promote urban bee-keeping in order to create more ecologically diverse ecosystems within the city of Calgary. The project is called A.B.C. - Apiaries and Bees for Communities.

Sara Wicks of the University of Guelph received $1,000 for Reduce the Juice: Bike Generators. Together with other partners in Waterloo, Ontario, the youth-led conservation project will promote the use of bicycle-powered electricity generators at local cultural events and energy generating demonstrations.

More information about the conference and the projects above can be found at www.impactyouthsustainability.ca.