I love your post Meagan - it feels "real" and grounded in its sentiments. I especially relate to your feeling that the course has offered a "sense of belonging" in making the big changes we discussed. I think I often experience imposter synodrome, which coupled with climate anxiety makes for one debilitating outlook. However, in learning that individual changes such as publicly boycotting companies, or advocating for transformative legislation can make a difference, and that we are capable of it, this course has shifted my view for the better!

Your post is so thoughtful Sarah! I also cherished Friday afternoons surrounded by like-minded individuals keen to learn. I find your intervention interesting - I feel like a lot of solutions in the semester involved using social media to "educate" and "spread awareness", but I appreciate you challenging that intervention in favor of less passive actions, of conscientious decisions.

Yessssss - let's normalize hard conversations! Difficulty should not permit disregard. I personally love having my ideas challenged by difficult conversations because it almost always means growth is happening :)

I love your comment stating "how important it is to have a welcoming and innovative space to share ideas and learn new things" - I think this is so key and you've articulated it beautifully! I also admire your intervention of incorporating sustainability into pre and post secondary curriculums. I foresee this action likely contributing to developing and prioritizing global sustainability agendas!

I admire your positivity Cindy! I'm curious, where do you think climate and sustainability education is best implemented? Formally in grade schools/universities, through mass media advertisements from NGOs, government PSAs, or maybe all of the above?

I share your sentiment Amy - that's it is indeed inspiring the impact we're are capable of as students! I also loved the "turning off the laptops", to divide full attention to the content. I'm curious which examples you found to be most "shocking"!

Great summary of the course Matin! Its so encouraging reading these posts and feeling surrounded my empowered individuals. You mention implementing policies for governments and companies, could you give an example of some of them that stood out to you? I would love to hear!

Yes I love this movement!! I think lawns do have a place for things like sports and common picnic spaces, but in small-otherwise un-used parcels of land, rewilding these spaces seems like the obvious solution. Ignoring the instrumental uses and ecosystem functions of a rewilded lawn, I wonder how best these "messy" spaces could be reperceived as something beautiful, if it's the aesthetics people care most about? In my eyes, biodiversity, flowers, a flurry of pollinators, and the sweet smell of the sage that we have growing in our yard is all infinitely more beautiful than a lawn anyways, but I wonder how we can inspire this perspective to whole neighborhoods. Perhaps social media?

I agree there's much we can learn about sustainable ways of interacting with local ecology through Traditional Ecological Knowledge!

Great ideas Sarah!! I would love to see if/how your ideas to divert transportation could be applied to marine environments too? Maybe enforcing ship routes to leave meaningfully large areas of cetacean migration corridors consistently clear to mitigate boat strikes!

Absolutely agreed Sophia! I think it's extra special when people can re-discovering the natural areas right around them! I think when we see it in a whole new light, we feel that much more connected to it and that much more inclined to conserve it and continue learning about it.

Hi Amy, thanks for your post! There's so many ideas in here. Are you suggesting that we enact regional laws regarding rewilding lawns and mitigating light pollution, or were you suggesting these separate non-legal interventions? I'm just wondering if you have ideas as to how laws that may directly infringe on peoples "private" spaces and personal habits may be received and enforced. Or maybe these laws only apply to public city spaces? Very curious to hear more of your thoughts!

Great post Anna! I'm interested by how you mentioned throwing away food after the 'best before' dates, because this one stumps me all the time! I don't trust a "smell-check". For example, for non-perishables I usually disregard the BB date, especially if it's never been opened. But for perishable foods, especially dairy products, I am frequently questioning the BB date. Is it that it is simply best before said date, but still edible after? Or if I should I be concerned about the food perishing? If I eat food that is slightly perished I'm probably fine, but to what degree? I would love to learn more about how I can better understand for how long which types of foods are still good for my gut, and when they've actually reached the point of no return. Thanks for surfacing this aspect of food and "dirtiness"!

Haha yes Meagan!!! Your passion is evident in the tone of your comment. I am keen to check out the Hinge park wetland now. What you say about ecological balance in the city is so true! I love seeing little 'trash pandas' around, but hadn't thought much about how they eat more than leftover pizza, and would be good for pest control. Speaking of urban pests, I'm guessing you heard how recently BC temporarily banned rat poison in cities over concerns for owls? I think this is another great example of how maybe facilitating owl habitat in cities could control our rat populations for us!

Yes! I love when buildings do this. Personally I think the decals also just make the buildings more interesting to look at too. Win-win!

Personally, I also freak out, but usually out of excitement haha! I understand what you mean though. Its pretty anthropocentric of us to think that wildlife can "trespass". Maybe education is the way to shift how people perceive wildlife, especially in cities?

Oooh I didn't know about nest boxes! I'm very curious to look these up. But I have heard of cinder blocks for buildings designed in such a way to house bees! These examples make wildlife-friendly skyscrapers sound excitingly promising.

I 100% agree with everything you've shared here Helen. Plastics feel almost impossible to deal with at this point, but I envision a future where transformative change through not just banning single-use plastics (and other materials), but through rethinking what we actually need to use in the first place (shifting away from plastics all-together!) Thank for you mentioning that plastics should not be thrown out just to go buy the sustainable versions - I think this is such a misleading example of greenwashing that many fall victim to.

I definitely agree with your sentiments Vy! I've personally tried to go plastic-free in my bathroom before and it is difficult, inconvenient, and kinda expensive! I also hope for transformative changes in how these companies administer/package these products.

Love that you've listed alternative materials that could be used for single-use items! I had not heard of many of them before. I'm curious though how we might define "absolutely necessary" use for plastics - Sadly I feel like governments might assign that term generously.