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Hello everyone, I am Zeinab Salehiankia, a Master of Environmental Science student at Memorial University of Newfoundland. I am passionate about climate change and how we can mitigate its impacts. Climate change affects us all, regardless of geographical or socioeconomic boundaries. My research interests focus on mitigation and adaptation strategies to promote a sustainable future. Additionally, I am collaborating with Econext Newfoundland, the province's foremost not-for-profit association, to help the government and businesses foster green initiatives and eco-friendly practices. I am a volunteer and board member at Climate Facts Atlantic, a student-run organization. Our mission is to enhance public knowledge surrounding climate change/environmental science and promote informed conversations throughout Atlantic Canada. My dedication to sustainability stems from my experiences in my home country, Iran, where we organized ten workshops and webinars to promote eco-friendly practices for a greener future. I administered pre- and post-intervention surveys to participants of these workshops and webinars, focusing on raising awareness and promoting behavior change for environmental sustainability. I am happy to be a member of CoSphere and be part of this transformation.🌿

I spoke to a family member about why alternative methods to traditional intensive agriculture need to be explored in order to preserve the land. I consider this an important issue as traditional intensive agriculture may contribute to desertification and the socioeconomic consequences of this phenomenon. Given that I've visited the fields cultivated by my grandparents and have observed that they were vast swathes of rice monoculture, I thought this would have been a concern that my family would need to listen to. I told this family member that by replacing the native plants with crops, the soil becomes less stable as the shallower roots of the crops would not be able to retain the soil as well as the native plants. Not only does the soil become unstable and erode over time, the soil that does remain eventually becomes deprived of its nutrients since crops are constantly being grown in high density. I told them that this makes deserts expand more easily and this could bring problems to the economy, public health and biodiversity as the spreading of deserts destroy crops, damage buildings, reduce shade and thereby increasing risk of heatstroke, and destroys viable habitats for all kinds of organisms. I thought that with all the risks associated with traditional intensive agriculture, the family member would have agreed that we need a better farming system to prevent the aggressive spread of deserts, but they did not. They agreed with most of the aspects of the conversation, but also pointed out how alternatives to traditional intensive agriculture could potentially reduce crop yield. According to them, reduced crop yield has two problematic elements. First, given that farmers heavily depend on crops for income, if crop yield were to be even reduced by, for example, 10%, then the farmer with that yield would lose a significant portion of their income. The second problem was that food is always a high-demand resource, thus if crop yield was to be reduced, then many people may starve given the increased difficulty of procuring food. Thus, ultimately, we concluded together that despite the system needing change, we can't exactly afford to be burdened with the potential consequences of such changes. Although, this was not how I expected this discussion to go, I learned to consider the perspectives of other parties thanks to the concerns outlined by the family member. A monoculture rice field in China. Credit: Colin W (Wikimedia Commons) Retrieved on October 5, 2023 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Terrace_Rice_Fields,_Yunan_China_-_panoramio.jpg

With the growing usage of social media at the fingertips of consumers, it can be increasingly tempting to get caught up in searching for the latest trends to stay “popular”. I envision a society in which consumers have the courage to think for themselves, buy second-hand instead of relying on fast fashion, and repair old clothes rather than looking for the latest trends (these visions are outlined in the image below). I value the importance of communication and education in achieving this vision. With regards to communication, I will try to use social media to promote sustainably-made products, as well as inform others about the negative impact social media has on luring us towards “trend chasing”. With regards to education, I will try to educate myself on how to repair old clothes as well as which companies to stay away from that sell their products in a non-sustainable way.  #UnleashValues (Image by Bushra Noor, via https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/secondhand-september-bushra-noor/)