Hi Ravinder! It's great that you feel this way about this course and that you told all of your friends about ENVR 430. I feel exactly the same way and I will push my friends to take this course because we truly learned more than just the environment, but our individual roles in this whole thing.

Hi Adam! I completely agree this course was definitely a course I will remember for the rest of my life. It allowed me to be more aware of what the companies and governments are doing to the environment and what they can get away with. I also agree that the weekly write-ups were not limiting and allowed for everyone to tap into their own creative minds and come up solutions that are separate from the ones Kai brought up.

Hi Vani! I agree, this class is definitely in my top 5 classes I have taken at UBC. From the lectures to assignments, I feel like everything was well thought out and worked very well with the course content. I hope Kai and Dana can continue this course in the same format because it was very good all throughout.

Hi Bita! It was always nice to hear your input during class and I hope you continue to be an advocate for sustainable living! I agree with you that this class has been much more than content or lessons. It gave me confidence in myself to talk about the environment.

Hi Sara! I also feel the same way about this course. It was way more fun and interesting than I have initially thought. The hard conversation was definitely an impactful activity because it really put us in a situation where we had to discuss what we learned from class and transform it so that our friends/family members could understand.

Hi Sara, Aquamation definitely sounds cooler than the term "alkaline hydrolysis" we used in class. Yes! Make Aquamation LEGAL and a STANDARD practice! 😎

Hi Qihan, Interesting points that you brought up. Tourism is definitely one aspect that can easily be changed and changing it to something sustainable like ecotourism is a wonderful idea. I believe that in our position after the pandemic, lots of countries can make changes to their tourism without much backlash and I think that should highly consider taking a more sustainable route

Hi Vy, Completely agree with your points, death care should be addressed and the sooner the better. We need to normalize choosing our own methods of burial/cremation and not leave these decisions with our loved ones. Ofcourse our loved ones would want to bury us the traditional way because it has been marketed to be the "right" way of burial. However, if we can shift this narrative into a more ecological method then we can finally be sustainable before and after our death!

Hi Hooria, Most definitely! I believe giving people the option is the bare minimum that funeral homes can offer. Like you said, it is a sensitive subject but one that needs to be addressed. We should normalize choosing what happens to our bodies after we die and not let our loved ones choose for us.

Hi Ravinder, I completely agree with your post, more people do need to be aware of the ecological impacts of death care. The fact that funeral homes only give you the expensive options and don't suggest any of the sustainable options are absolutely wrong.

Hi Philip, This is a very interesting idea, to elongate the process of start up companies. I actually really like this idea and I think it could work. However, what's to say that a little bribery won't just make the government look the other way on doing things right. Maybe the projects that do get approved have to be accepted by 5 nationally recognized environmental protection organizations

Hi Sarah, Right? I wonder when did companies make the shift towards ONLY using plastics. Like what ever happened to the old methods of packaging, yes it could be more costly, but do we have to cut EVERY corner? What happened to values and being ethical. Clearly we need to live like how we used to. It's not like plastics are advantageous to our lives anyways.

Hi Bhavin, Those are definitely some actionable things that we should all frequently do. I just wish that everyone could be more accountable and instead of dealing with the plastic problem later, we should all be finding new ways to reduce plastic waste. I sometimes wonder if companies that brand themselves as making their products out of recycled plastics, to what extent is the truth? As we move into the next era, I hope humanity can make a change and start doing EVERYTHING more sustainably.

Hi Vy, Great ideas with just banning single-use plastic and focusing on one industry to reduce plastic waste. I also think that if you switch to glass pots, there should be an incentive to reuse. For example, if you had lotion that you buy monthly, maybe you can bring back your glass jar and get refills instead of buying a limited amount every time that are contained in plastic bottles.

Hi there! I think it would be very helpful if we have a dedicated department in the UN that looks at plastic waste and managing it. However, it is nearly impossible to micro-manage all of the countries in the world and many shady businesses will still occur. As much as the black market is illegal, black markets still exist and many illegal activities occur on the daily basis. I believe we have recently found a solution to plastic waste and it is to find a plastic alternative. Just like how people can't live without milk & milk alternatives nowadays, it will be impossible for people to stop using plastics.

Hi Zhoujie, I agree that for the most part that we shouldn't be having this us vs them mentality and focus on how we can change ourselves. However, I think the reason why we want millionaires to contribute to the environment is because they have capital in which they can invest into environmental issues. While 99% of the global population must focus on surviving and be responsible in financially supporting their family. As I remember talking in class about the social influence that millionaires/billionaires has on policy making. I think we focus on millionaires/billionaires in this aspect, where they can support our environment if they just funnel some finances towards this. However, you are completely correct that we as consumers must also make a change. That's why we all need to work together towards creating a better world for the generations that come after us.

Hi Robert, I think it's very interesting how you are able to abstract yourself from just thinking as an environmental activist and put yourself in the shoes of the billionaire. It's true that billionaires have much more to worry about than the environment, but I think they need have to follow suit with other companies like Patagonia in using their social presence. Being able to have that much influence globally, they should allocate just some of their efforts into that area. However, the difficulty of that is out of my scope but I just like how you thought from their perspective.

Hi Sara, I agree with your stance. There needs to be more transparency with the donations these billionaires are making. A donation should be altruistic, but it has become a way for billionaire to gain public recognition and to compound their profits. How can that be??

Hi Christopher, I've personally never heard of these local film screenings. Now that I am aware of this, I think this is an amazing way to raise awareness for the environment. You're completely right in the aspect that big companies have a lot of social capital and should use their social presence to make positive impacts.

Hi Bellie, I share your envisions as well. I think one of the way we can really get through to the big companies is to properly track where finances are going. We also have a lot of power as citizens with being able to boycott companies and we should utilize this power more often.