In our first class, when Kai asked us if any of us had ever felt that hopelessness when it comes to climate action, and thought "What can I do to make lasting change?" I realized I finally felt both seen and heard and that I had to take this class... and I'm so glad that I did. This class has been so different from any other science course I've taken at UBC, but in the best way possible. I felt like it was such a great, discussion based, safe-space classroom environment, where we got to learn about the real nitty gritty of climate change and climate action in a low pressure/low-stakes way. I honestly had no idea what to expect from this course, but the goals that I set out for myself were to become more knowledgeable about what's going on within our planet, to become more brave when it comes to discussing climate change, to help educate others on what I've learned, and to attempt to foster real, tangible change. I can confidently say that through our class discussions, Kai's lectures, our "hard conversations", these weekly journal posts and reflections, and our group workshop that we taught on the water crisis, I have achieved all of these goals. I have learnt to not second guess myself or my knowledge, to be more forthright with what I know, and I've learnt how important self awareness and community discussion is to almost all of the issues we've discussed - we cannot make change without first being aware that change needs to be made. This class has helped me to approach climate issues in unique and alternative, novel ways and I hope to continue tackling climate change issues in these ways - with an open heart and open mind. Thank you so much for an amazing class, Dana and Kai!

Nobody likes to think about death. I think this stems from the uncertainty and controversy that surrounds what follows it - do we simply cease to exist? Or is there something else out there for us? I know that the first thing we must do is to talk about it. We fear what we do not know, and we do not know what we fear. Death care is a huge decision and what we choose has a big impact on our environment and the world around us. I remember once seeing an advertisement for a company that, instead of placing you in a casket when you die, would place you in a biodegradable "pod" in which a tree could grow from, bringing life from your remains and having the cycle come full circle again. I value the choice for both people and the loved ones of those passed to have more than just cremation, caskets, and "anti-ecological burials" as the go-to options for death care, and I envision a future where we have the options of more "eco-friendly" burials available in a legally accessible manner. A possible solution to this would be to have funeral homes offer a wider variety of services that would include more eco-friendly options such as aquamation and natural burials which could be done by implementing law forcing funeral homes to offer different services.

Whenever I'm on campus, I make sure to sort out my recycling into the proper bins. Generally, campus is quite clean and I feel good about myself for doing so. But can you believe that only 10% of our plastics are actually recycled or down cycled? I have family in the Philippines who are very poor and I've seen the amount of single-use plastics that end up in the natural environment there. Additionally, videos circulate online of how much plastic is in our oceans. I value healthy, natural ecosystems across our globe that are free of plastic pollution and I envision a world where our oceans and forests are empty of trash and plastic waste and single-use plastics are no longer created or used/in circulation. I also value educating the public on recycling myths and envision a future where people are made aware of the true numbers when it comes to recycling, and instead, are more mindful, aiming to first reduce their consumption and reuse items/materials before resorting to recycling. We need to push our government bodies to draft bills and legislations to end the production and sale of single use plastics, either by incurring a fine for companies that produce them, or providing incentives for those company to refrain from producing them altogether. I hope through these actions, we may be able to one day stop single-use plastics. I truly believe that if we had survived without them before, we could learn to survive without them now.

Unfortunately, I do believe that we live in a capitalistic driven society where ethics often fall to the wayside and businesses take the course of maximum profit. It won't be until something drastic, disastrous, and blatantly unavoidable occurs (like the entire planet being threatened) will these businesses finally take environmental action. I value businesses that are environmentally conscious and transparent with their policies and dealings, and I envision a future where more businesses are both environmentally aware and transparent, leading ethically for positive change for our planet instead of aiming to acquire wealth for wealth's sake. Moving forward, I believe that strong environmental laws should be enforced to require businesses to act transparently; we also need more independent studies to avoid scandals like the VM case. We could also have the government hire third-party anonymous/"secret" employees working in big companies who report back about any undercover dealings or conditions.

This post is a little different and longer than my others, because I'd like to take the perspective of someone else for once: my sister's. My sister has an autoimmune disease called Systemic Scleroderma, one in which your organs start to harden. It affects almost all aspects of the body, and for my sister (who is only 31, and looks seemingly healthy) it really affected her lungs. Her lungs became so bad that her lung breathing capacity was at 30% of what the average person her age should be at; she needed to wear an oxygen tank when she went out and she needed to take frequent breaks when walking even the slightest incline or hill. I remember when we visited Sydney, Australia, she had an uncontrolled coughing fit on the street, just because somebody was smoking a cigarette nearby. Her condition became so bad that in 2019, she was put on the organ transplant list for a double lung transplant. I don't think I knew how severe the condition of her lungs was until she got the call to surgery - just 3 months after being put on the list. She received a pair of healthy lungs, and endured SO much in her recovery. I'm happy to say that three years later, her lungs are still healthy (because they aren't "genetically" hers, her condition doesn't affect the new pair of lungs she received). I envision a future where not only I have access to clean, particulate free air; I envision a future where those like my sister who are immunocompromised or with lung conditions do not have to fear going outside and breathing in. I believe it is a human right to have access to clean, healthy air. Fires have always occurred, but their effects are being exacerbated by our contributions to climate change (burning fossil fuels and wasting/over-consuming resources) that lead to global temperatures rising. I hope that in the future we use technology like 3D mapping and lidar and simulations to guide control burns so that forest fires no longer occur to the degree at which they currently do. I am making the conscious effort to research government officials, candidates, and policymakers that have visions and goals that align with mine, those who want to take strong action on climate change, through controlled burns and mechanical fuel treatment, which could help us protect and properly take care of our forests. I also aim to educate others I know about the effects of our actions on man-made uncontrolled fires. #UnleashValues