He was there to speak to the students about renewable energy and its ability to give the world a greener future, as part of the Green Up! conference hosted by Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn.

Etcheverry, a research and policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation, told students that the only way to make the world more environmentally sensitive is through persistence and devotion.

"People that tell you 'No, you can't have a green school,' need to rethink that, because it's never been easier than today, in Ontario, to do solar," he said.

Etcheverry encouraged the 70 students, who attended the conference as members of their schools' environmental clubs, to hold parties and fundraisers, in order to gather money for solar energy systems.

"Every $10 that you make, gives you one watt of solar energy for your school. If you run into trouble along the way, then get him for support," said Etcheverry, pointing to Flynn, who sat on the park bench along with some 25 other students.

He also told the students they should follow a back-casting, instead of forecasting strategy, when pursuing environmental goals. That is, instead of setting a goal and working towards achieving this goal without a deadline, they should set a goal, make a deadline for it, and work back from that deadline.

According to Etcheverry, Ontario could one day become a world energy provider because it has the people who know how, or can be trained to, manufacture and produce solar energy resources.

"Having a solar energy option is important because it will solve a lot of issues in climate change and air pollution," he said.

This would create more job openings in places like Oakville, where manufacturing is an important component in the community, he added.

Etcheverry believes that students are going to be the ones who will help Ontario become a world energy leader.

The actions put together by the students attending the conference do not place Etcheverry's vision in doubt.

For example, Maha Mansoor, from White Oaks Secondary School, explained how she, along with the rest of the school's environmental club, helped improve the recycling system at White Oaks.

"We had two big recycling bins in each classroom, and then put smaller ones in the hallways," the grade 10 student said.

"I learned a lot from the other students at the conference. It was good because we got to see what other students were doing at their schools, and then, now when we go back, we can decide and see what things we can implement in our school that other schools have already implemented."

The conference was an all-day event that brought together environmental clubs from seven different high schools, to discuss green initiatives, listen to guest speakers -- like Etcheverry -- and to plant 200 trees in the park.