Fuel Efficiency Blog

Ottawa’s Saania Tairq (pictured here, centre) got involved with One Change’s fuel efficiency campaign so that she could apply the volunteer hours toward credit at A.Y. Jackson Secondary School. But when the Grade 9 student came out on October 31 to help distribute free digital tire gauges at our Kanata Canadian Tire event, she quickly discovered that she was doing something meaningful.

“I (realized) that the message One Change was telling others was important,” says Saania.

After her first volunteer experience with us, she says she fully appreciated the fact that simple actions matter. “But I also knew that a lot of other people didn’t.” So Saania decided to do more to help spread the message, and empower people with the knowledge that they can make smart choices to protect the environment. She volunteered for our November 6 event at Bell Sensplex, delivering even more free digital tire gauges and coaching new volunteers on how best to engage people about the importance of fuel efficiency.

“It was a fun experience,” says Saania. “I got to do some extra things while volunteering, like meet new people, learn new things and watch some hockey games. I also learned some social skills I didn’t have before.”

Not only that, but Saania says she now has a new appreciation for the environment and the power we all have to make a difference. “The environment isn’t being treated like it should be, and One Change is trying to change that by asking everyone to do one simple task,” she says. “Now, I try my hardest to turn off any lights we’re not using or remind my parents to check the tire pressure… I’m glad I’m (more aware) now because we’ll be living on this world for years to come and we need to take care of it and give back (in exchange) for everything it’s given us.”