North Bay teen heading to Miss Teen Earth pageant

Sadie Proulx of North Bay, the current Miss Teen Earth Canada, is heading to Ecuador in October for the international competition.

Proulx said while she's only recently started competing in pageants, it's something she's fallen in love with.

"I've only been doing pageants for about three years, but I got into it because I wanted to make a change and I wanted to use my voice for good," she told CTV News.

A few months ago, the 17-year-old won Miss Teen Earth Canada, a pageant where competitors must share their thoughts on ways to make the Earth a better place.

"I competed against around 200 girls and I won, so it was very shocking and it's been a ride, a journey, it's only been a couple months but I'm looking forward to the future," said Proulx.

"We have a specifically environmental platform and we have to do a certain amount of volunteering, raising money for charities. It's not just about beauty anymore. It's more about what you do for others and what you do to change the world."

Proulx said she's worried about the state of the Earth and wants to continue to use pageants as a way to use her voice and to make change.

"From a young age, I would go up to people and yell in their face if they did things like littering," she said.

"I'm a member of Clean, Green, Beautiful North Bay, where we've been going weeding around town."

Next, Proulx and her family will head to Ecuador for the four-day pageant where she will aim to become Miss Teen Earth in a competition with 40 other young females.

"I'm looking forward to meeting like-minded women," she said.

"Like-minded people from all over are going to be watching and cheering for their country. So representing Canada and being that face of Canada for Miss Teen Earth is really, really exciting."