Being a student in ENVR 430 this term was a pleasure. I looked forward to every Friday at 2pm because it meant I could sit in a classroom with like-minded students and absorb a wide range of topics related to sustainability. Being in a course that relied less on testing our understanding of course content made learning less stressful. Coming out of this course I have learned to not be fearful of hard conversations because having these conversations is vital for the continuation of our species. The societal norms that are detrimental to our planet (like the need to purchase the latest greatest thing) can be shifted if people engaged more frequently in meaningful conversations about sustainability. Reflecting on my experience in ENVR 430 these past few months, I would say that my overall values are knowledge sharing and responsibility. With these values in mind, I envision a future where concerned citizens feel a responsibility to share what they know in a respectful manner and they create a ripple effect where other — perhaps more apathetic — people start to live a more conscientious life. While social media may be a useful tool to spread information, I think it’s oversaturated. It’s very easy to forget about the meaning and takeaways of the content we spend hours every week consuming because new global problems arise everyday on the digital space. Thus, my intervention is to spend less time consuming content and more time having tough but impactful conversations with those around me. I extend this intervention to whoever is reading this post as well. #unleashvalues

Why have we built a world where plastics are used for a few minutes (think plastic-lined coffee cups, grocery bags, granola bar wrappers etc.) before being discarded into ineffective recycling and waste streams where this packaging is rarely ever turned back into something useful? I value a healthy environment — one that is not riddled with micro-plastics. I value a world where consumers do not fall prey to the false claims of recycling plastered on plastic packaging. Unfortunately, these values are not compatible with our current addiction to efficiency and profits. I envision a world where our collective concern for human health and environmental health trump the idea of efficiency that businesses sell us. To achieve this future, governments need to force companies to take their products back when consumers throw them out. Governments also need to fine businesses who put false recycling claims on their packaging/products.

Do you value putting money where it actually matters? I know I definitely do. Billionaires are often seen as key players to improving some of the world’s most pressing issues through big philanthropic donations. Unfortunately, the wealthy often make these contributions as a way to avoid taxes rather than out of the goodness of their hearts. I envision a world where billionaires are given less power, so that they cannot continue “donating” their money in a way that does not actually serve the people who need it the most. Because billionaires make up a tiny portion of the world’s population, they are, for the most part, not in touch with the world’s needs. We need to start redistributing the wealth amassed by the world’s most powerful people by taxing them more heavily. Only then can we start to see money being spent more equitably.

I envision a future where our collective understanding of fires and forest ecology is improved. The media tends to portray forest fires in a negative light through the dispersal of fear-inducing images: cars trying to escape a forest burning all around them; people covering their mouths to avoid inhaling plumes of smoke; and communities evacuating their towns to avoid being killed. While these impacts of fires are very much real, the portrayal of purely negative information about fires is exacerbating the problem. I value a world where hope trumps fear since fear usually leads ineffective actions. Fire management today largely uses the suppression of fires as a way to deal with fires, but this doesn't work. By putting off our need to deal with the problem through "fighting" fires, we are increasing the chances for even more devastating and less controllable fires to ravage the ecosystems and communities we love. To break the cycle of fire suppression and increased potential for worse fires, we need to be more accepting of the fact that fires are a necessary process for forests to thrive. Two action items are needed: (1) we need to educate others about the importance of fires; and (2) we need to governments to allocate more resources to forest management that includes controlled burns and the collection of excess deadfall.

Agriculture is damaging the planet in so many ways because it has evolved into a practice where producing a higher yield is more important than ensuring the sustainability of food production. For instance, introducing fin-fish aquaculture into waters, that were once abundant in native salmon species, for the sake of economic gains has reduced the resilience of these coastal ecosystems. Growing monocultures and applying pesticides to control food production is degrading the soil that makes plants healthy and is introducing a concoction of chemicals into waterways. It is hard to imagine another way forward when the world relies on producing large quantities of food to nourish our global population of nearly 8 billion people. Industrial agriculture makes it easy to scale farming practices across the globe, but at the same time, these practices are harming the health of people and ecosystems. I envision a world where farms are re-wilded so that a diversity of crops are grown together, and animals are embraced as the form of pest control as opposed to spraying our food with chemicals. I also envision a world where farmers are more respected in society and given more resources and incentives (e.g., subsidies) to practice regenerative farming. Above all, I value food systems that protect natural ecosystems while maximizing the amount of food that's available to people. This may mean that industrial agriculture needs to be scaled back and that food is more evenly distributed across the globe.

The world’s poorest people are those most likely to experience water scarcity. When people’s watersheds are contaminated or people live far ways from water sources, they are more likely to stay trapped in the poverty cycle. This is because people who spend large portions of their days suffering the effects of water-related illnesses or travelling far distances to retrieve water means they have little time to make money or go to school, thus they are less able to improve their situation. It’s unfair that the world’s wealthiest people use water as if it’s an infinite resource, while the world’s poorest hardly have access to water that’s safe enough to drink. I value fairness — where access to water is equal amongst all people regardless of their socio-economic background. I also value justice — where those responsible for contaminating the water sources of others are required to clean up their mess. I thus envision a future where all people have access to the most fundamental human right basic human right: clean drinking water. My intervention to get to this future includes greater education about the value of properly functioning ecosystems for the generation of clean water sources. Another intervention is creating legislation where industries must pay for their water use and must clean up the watersheds that they have contaminated.

I hope for a future where society genuinely values the voices and knowledge of those who have historically been undervalued and silenced. The current system of greed, supported by privileged people in developed nations and wealthy corporations, has degraded ecosystems in a way that negatively impacts communities made up of BIPOC people. This is called environmental racism and it is clearly unjust. A way to support this vision of a more just future would be to vote for BIPOC candidates running in municipal, provincial, and federal elections (if they are committed to improving the health of ecosystems and/or people). Another intervention would be to conduct all operations that can have consequential impacts on the environment (e.g., resource extraction projects, energy project, conservation projects) to be made in full partnership with the Indigenous communities whose land would be affected by these projects. Today in Canada, the process of consulting Indigenous people is required for environmental projects, but it is flawed. We should not strive to merely consult these groups of people whose land we have stolen, instead we should be asking them for permission to conduct the economic activities we wish to pursue. We need a societal shift where Indigenous people are given back the rights to their land. Only then can we truly live in line with our "aspirations" of "reconciliation". #UnleashValues

I envision a future where people feel more connected to each other because we become less influenced by marketing and more influenced by our own visions of sustainable and fulfilling lives. I value a world that is more thoughtful -- a world that continuously draws connections between consumption habits and the impact those habits have on ecosystems and people across the globe. To achieve this future of equity and responsibility we should ban the practice of planned obsolescence, provide subsidies for appliance repairs, and apply greater taxes on items that are produced unethically. I will take steps today towards this less-consumeristic future by committing to not buy any new clothing for the rest of this year.

Hey everyone! My name’s Sarah and I’m super excited to be enrolled in ENVR 430 this term! I’m a fifth-year student studying Environmental Science and Political Science, and I often get frustrated by the inaction of corporations and governments when it comes to pursing more sustainable practices. However, I’m looking forward to this course because of its focus on solutions to many of the pressing environmental and social issues we face today. I can’t wait to create a positive movement alongside my peers in this course and hopefully beyond. Join the movement to #UnleashValues with us!