Hey Shanzeh! I think you touched on a very important element of this course: the use of story-telling. Going into this class, I didn't realize how helpful story-telling could be when educating about environmental issues. Stories make environmental challenges more digestible and engaging for an audience. The details also stick with you afterwards, much longer than facts. The effectiveness of Dr. Chan's stories inspired our group to make story-telling the main part of our workshop. I will continue incorporating story-telling into future presentations.

Hey Robert! Thank you for your post! Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading what you posted this term. You have a very open, honest, and reflective writing style. Even if you didn't have a clear solution each week, I always valued what you had to say. I think you touched on one of the most important aspects of this course: community. I'm an Arts minor, so I've taken several courses that have had tutorials or set aside time for class discussions. I haven't had any science courses that have generated the same sense of community as those Arts courses. That is, until ENVR 430. I hope there are more opportunities to take discussed-based science courses like this one in the future!

Hi Bolun! I agree with what you said about class time! I've never had a three hour course that has flown by so quickly. I also like what you said about the accessibility of this course. I think that was one of the course's greatest strengths. You don't need very much of an environmental background to participate and enjoy the material. I was wondering what you meant by the fact that "this class changed your perspective on the environment." Do you mean that the environmental issues we discussed were more complicated than you anticipated?

Hey Inez! I relate a lot to what you say about the challenges of understanding complex systemic problems. I wrestled with this throughout the course. How do we know if our suggested interventions are feasible or realistic? I'm a very detail-oriented person, so "tumultuous and abstract" issues can quickly become overwhelming! Like you say, however, there is also a place for individual-level change. Going forward, I will keep this fact in mind.

Hey Tyson, Thank you for your post! I think the point you raised about solutions is so important. This course is one of the first ones I have taken that required us to devise our own solutions to environmental problems. As we have learned, it is much easier to talk about problems than to try and find answers!

Hi Allison! First of all, I love your title. Secondly, I couldn't agree more! I have so many great memories of playing outdoors and visiting Pacific Spirit Park. While this is pure speculation, I wonder if my experience "getting dirty" as a child has boosted my immune system. I rarely get sick and experienced little to no reaction to the COVID vaccines. As you mentioned, interacting with different animals can benefit a child's immune system. Perhaps this could also be incorporated into your outreach campaign! Promotional materials about the health benefits of pets, including exposing your children to other pets, could be strategically located (i.e. next to a dog park) in urban areas.

Hi Maia! In answer to your question... yes! I am scared of getting old. As you outlined, elderly people are some of the most vulnerable members of our society. I really appreciate what you shared about your family's experience with geriatric depression. I am sorry to hear about the trauma this has caused. Depression is always a difficult subject to talk about, even among family members. I know from my own struggles with mental health. Your post also reminded me how long it's been since I've seen my grandparents! Most of my family lives in Toronto and I haven't been able to see them for three years. When you haven't seen someone in-person for a while, you forget the importance of that connection. You become oblivious to the mental struggles they have gone through or are still going through. As you say, support for elders with cognitive disabilities should improve. One of the best measures of any society is how well it treats its most vulnerable members. I'm curious what ideas you have to make healthcare "more encompassing"? Should a greater portion of provincial budgets be devoted to healthcare? Should the government incentivize caregiving services to increase their mental health care capacity?

Hi Irina! I really like what you say about how "seeing yourself" and your body as part of nature will make people more receptive to natural burials. Learning about a family member, or a friend of a family member, who is planning to have a natural burial would make me more open to the idea myself. In the spirit of destigmatizing death, I thought I'd share this document from the AARP about how to discuss end-of-life care. Having meaningful conversations helps put the value of life into perspective, including the natural perspective to which you allude. Perhaps this document can serve as a guide for us to start having tough discussions with our own family members. https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/basics/info-2020/end-of-life-talk-care-talk.html

Hi Amy! I connect with what you said about the injustice of animals being forced to navigate urban infrastructure. The video of the turtle struggling to climb a curb in 5 Sleepless Cities evokes a lot of powerful emotions. I also connected with what you said about the role of education in protecting endangered species. However, I've found educating people about human-species interactions can run into complications. Over the past few months, I have worked on a project to relocate a roost of little brown bats from a UBC building. During the early stages of the project, our group hoped cohabitation would be possible, where bats could coexist with building residents. However, we quickly learned that bat guano frequently appeared on accessibility railings, limiting human mobility. Thus, we realized cohabitation would be unacceptable for residents, even if education materials were provided about the lack of health risks posed by bats.

Hi Amy! I essentially have the same vision and intervention that you proposed here. I also hope aquamation become legalized and eco-friendly death care options become more available. However, I have my doubts that they will destigmatize conversations about death. During class, I remembered a conversation with my grandfather several years ago. We were visiting the grave of my great-grandmother. When we arrived, we discovered my grandfather had already had his name inscribed on a headstone next to my great-grandmother. He told my other relatives that was where he wanted to be buried. In situations when someone makes it clear how they want their body to be treated, I feel very uncomfortable suggesting they do anything otherwise. Talking about death care in a classroom is one thing, but actually discussing it with your family is something else entirely.

Hi Anonymous Polar Bear! Great suggestions! This is the first post I've seen that has touched on the issue of transporting garbage to other countries. I shared the same sadness you described when learning about this practice. It also reminded me of this recent dispute between Canada and the Philippines. Safe to say, the story doesn't paint the Canadian government or Canadian companies in a positive picture. I agree with your principle that each country should be responsible for its own waste. However, it would be remiss of us to dismiss the potential for international collaboration on waste management. Perhaps experts from government departments, like those you mention above, could travel overseas to advise other governments on best practices for dealing with their own waste.

Hey Bhavin! I share many of the same visions you describe here! I am curious what you mean by "governments [mandating] responsibility for recycling plastics." Would this be responsibility placed on consumers or companies, or both? If companies, what specific policies would be implemented? If individuals, how would you incentivize individuals to improve their recycling habits? If it is okay with you, I was wondering if I could adopt the same actions that you proposed here? I also want to try and reduce the amount of plastic waste I produce, particularly milk jugs.

Hi Eunee! Thank you for your post! You touch on the discouraging discoveries so many of us make. We think we are contributing to a solution, but later we find out our actions have no impact, or may even make the problem worse. The lady who spent years collecting plastics from locals for TerraCycle, only for them to be burned in Bulgaria, stands out as one example. Even if individuals or companies are disincentivized from using single-use plastics, we still see many (including ourselves) continue to use them. Ultimately, the question becomes...is there any point to doing any of this? Perhaps injustice can help rekindle our motivation. When I see images like the one above, I am reminded of the consequences of pollution. Do we want to live in a world where a child from Indonesia must bear the costs of plastic pollution from wealthier nations? No. So even if we don't have a clear answer on how to address plastic pollution right now, we must keep trying to find one.

Hey Tom! I share your vision for regulatory reassessments! Given that a proponent's commitments during the EA process are not legally binding, strong oversight is needed to ensure the proponent is meeting their end of the bargain. Your solution is very thoughtful! We discussed in class that the two biggest issues with current environmental assessments are conflict of interest and low regulatory capacity. This intervention goes a long way towards addressing both of those concerns. I was wondering which third-party organizations you had in mind. Would these be NGOs? If so, what would be the process of vetting these NGOs and how would we prevent corruption within these organizations?

Hey Sofie! I strongly relate to what you said about guilt. Everything at the grocery store always seems to be stored in plastic! I try to find ways to re-use plastics, such as using plastic bags for my lunch and my garbage, but more often it feels like a losing battle. I agree with your idea that lawmakers should hold producers responsible for their waste. You mentioned that we should encourage lawmakers to create these laws. How would we do this? Perhaps a first step would involve mobilizing support for changes locally before bringing them to a lawmaker's attention. A lawmaker is more likely to pay attention to collective concerns than individual concerns among his/her constituents.

Hey Ravleen! Loved the thought and detail you put into your post! I share the same visions you outlined: equitable wealth distribution, fairer taxation, and stronger environmental laws. Focusing specifically on environmental laws, I was wondering how you would balance the need for stronger environmental laws with the need for sustainable economic growth? While I believe that stronger environmental laws will improve Canada's economy in the long-term, they may hamper the Canadian economy in the short-term. How would we maintain high investment in Canada if companies are incentivized to move production to areas with less stringent regulations?

Hey Hunter! Thank you for your post! It was the only one I saw this week that discussed some of the meaningful contributions of billionaires. Following a class where we mostly talked about the downsides of billionaires, it takes courage to bring up some of the potential benefits. I hope we see more posts like this one in future weeks. I agree with you that the best intervention would be higher taxes and stricter laws targeting the ultra rich. However, how do you think we could increase the effectiveness of these laws? The recent Panama Papers scandal revealed how the ultra-wealthy used tax havens to hide their riches. Several world leaders, as well as relatives of current and former world leaders, were implicated. How do you think we could enact national laws that prevent a second Panama Papers from happening? Or are more international laws needed? https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers

Hey Arshi! I empathize with your ambitious vision! It would be great to see companies implement the suggestions of researchers. It doesn't happen enough. Your call for a governing body that conducts research and forces companies to comply with the findings is a very creative idea. This raised a lot of questions for me. If different researchers had different suggestions about what solution was the most sustainable, how would the body decide which solution to enforce? Also, I would imagine many companies might try to incentivize researchers to fabricate their results to the company's advantage, creating many conflicts of interest. My general concern is with the potential risks such an institution places on the integrity of science. As we saw with the suggestion of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, all it takes is one scientist with one conflict of interest to have devastating longterm consequences for the reputation of the scientific community (see article below). https://www.nature.com/articles/ni1208-1317

Hey Yaxi! I like what you said about the government's role in increasing consumer knowledge. I've seen a few posts that have suggested governments should work more closely with companies or enact harsher legislation. My gut tells me that companies will always find a way to exploit those partnerships and overcome these laws. The best thing for governments to do is improve the way they enforce existing legislation. When reviewing a governmental monitoring plan for a new project last Fall, I noticed that most of the details were quite vague. Perhaps adding more detail to such plans can be a building block for more comprehensive monitoring and enforcement in the future.

Hey H! I agree with what you said about the importance of big companies being transparent with their donations. I had no idea about 501(c)(4)s and other methods employed by the wealthy to save money before watching Patriot Act. I also like your idea of incentivizing companies to invest in programs that require government oversight. How would the government effectively monitor the activity of these companies? We know from the VW example in class that companies may "appear" to comply with regulations and laws, but don't necessarily follow them if the costs are significant. How would we prevent companies from appearing transparent, without actually being more transparent?