I love how you are giving acknowledgement to the discomfort that comes from being in new spaces! I agree that this is off the beaten path for envr, but really encourages novel growth and exploration in students :) it sounds like those are great changes to make in your day to day life.

I agree- having a space where we can see our dreams echoed is so important. Such a wonderful exercise in showing the power of environmental optimism :)

Recently I had someone tell me that we literally have no system for transporting lettuce that doesn't involve being packaged in plastic less than 5 times throughout the journey... it really makes me wonder how we have progressed in so many ways, but failed to come up with innovate solutions for food packaging and transport.

This is so interesting! I think we have seen glimmers of this energy in Vancouver, but the initial friction can be rather significant...something I hear often is that people just cannot be bothered to remember their containers. I wonder if it was just a sudden switch, with no option to buy single use, if people would just start remembering as a function of the inconvenience of forgetting!

I really reccomend the book "Caliban and the Witch" by Sylvia Federici! Really interesting feminist analysis of the roots of capitalism. I have a copy you are welcome to borrow :)

I agree, katie! I wonder how this will influence future generations, to expect these sorts of high smoke events as "the norm". As time goes on, fewer and fewer people remember a time where this was not an expected part of each summer. I think that reminding people of climate baselines could be important in establishing realistic goals for management :)

hey maia :) amazing points!! I feel that sharing more about the specifics of how fire can be life bringing can change the discourse that sees fire as always destructive....perhaps this misunderstanding also speaks to a lack of scientific literacy within the wider population.

This is such a lovely connection, Lisa! I wonder how seeing these stories will influence future generations- this is certainly not a future that I am interested in seeing, and I know that stories such as the Lorax were important foundations that set the tone for a life of engagement in environment and sustainability. I definitely think it can be helpful to think backwards in this way...what is it that we definitely do *not want*, and how can we avoid such fates?

thank you for bringing up how to bring in Justice! Farming is a historically discriminatory industry, but relies heavily on the work and knowledge of minority populations :) supporting the education and outreach to a wide variety of farming communities would aid in food security and more equitable food systems.

This is an interesting idea! Maybe the issue is with our system is that we use an unhelpful dichotomy, and need to change the rule book. I think what you're saying is that all food production should utilize more organic methodology...either way, it is interesting to rethink the perspective that we approach the issues from.

I think about lots of this as well!! Where I grew up, food gardens were actually outlawed by the HOA bc they were "unsightly". Challenging this type of thinking is integral to making change, as well as shifting the disconnect between our communities and our food systems

Inez, I love how you have approached this week! So much of what I look forward to and want to foster in my community is what you have described here...giving people the tools to farm in more ecologically aware ways, and giving support in going through this process.

I love this! I babysit for a family, and every single weekend I go with their 2.5 year old and we spend *hours* in the local community garden, where a plot costs all of $15 for a whole year. He can now identify nearly all of the plants, and is so excited about the idea of growing and eating his own food. I think using seed literacy and community gardens to educate and get people excited is such a unique and important initiative, and I would love to see more of it!

hi sophia! This also bring up interesting notions of how to share "resources" among a global community- especially when the need is *so far* from the source. Water is heavy and hard to transport- should we be shipping it from water rich to water scarce areas? I am not sure...

Hey Meagan! This is a good point, and also exposes the flaws in how we talk about water, and suggest it is this magical renewable resource that will self correct for usage, no matter how much. So much of the world's water supply is not accessible, is marine, or cannot be moved to where it is needed- leaving much, much less than most think is around for consumption. A great place to start would be improving widespread understanding of the water cycle!!

I am so interested by this sorta dooms day approach to conservation- is a threatening deadline what people need to make big and purposeful changes?

good points, hunter! in addition, pricing water would worsen an already huge issue of water insecurity, even in very wealthy and water rich places like the US and Canada. Something that was noticeable during COVID was a lack of access to hygiene - would it not be a huge threat to human rights to make securing clean water even more dangerous? In this case, I think we see where the role of government should come in .

hey inez! these are great points- here is where a market might be a really useful tool to change the status quo...If people won’t stop eating meat purely for an environmental reason, then why not use cost as a way to structure norms of consumption?

this is explored in an LFS class here, Indigenous Plant Use! The reality is, Indigenous knowledge systems often have arrived at the *same conclusions* as western systems, they just don't call it "science"... remaining open minded to hearing other stories and learning about other systems and having them be right (or at least equal) to your own, is so important.

to add onto this...we also have very high emissions, per person...just because there is ample resources to frack or build hydropower, does that mean we are entitled to uncapped energy use and profit? I'm not sure, but I am inclined to say no....