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Oceans

a. What are your primary concerns about the oceans? 

One of my primary concerns for our oceans is overfishing. Overfishing leads to extinction of species which some other specials are dependent on for survival. Its already estimated that many seas need to implement fishing bans in order to recover certain species. Coral reefs dying are also a concern. Coral reefs provide habitat for over one million species, the reef can also be a food supply for people living close by. The coral reef can also act as protection, acting like a barrier to protect beaches and coastal cities. Finally, plastic is another major concern. Its estimated that 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean yearly. If animals eat this plastic, it can be very toxic and could pass up the food chain. Approximately 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds are killed from ingesting plastic. All this plastic can have negative effects on humans, especially if we are consuming marine beings that have digested this plastic. Plastic contains many substances that are harmful, some studies have linked plastic to cause cancer and birth defects.

b. What, if anything, do you plan to do about it? 

Since some fish populations are being depleted due to over fishing, I can watch how much fish I consume in a week and I can do research on what fish I should avoid buying, so I don’t contribute to a fish species being wiped out. At my cabin in Lake Winnipeg on weekends there is many people at the beach. Saturday and Sunday mornings there is lots of beer cans and plastic, so I collect the beer cans and return it to the vendor for a refund and I distribute the plastic at home. Even though this is not an ocean, the effect on lakes are similar. Almost every year I go on a vacation somewhere tropical. These good habits of mine have contributed to me walking down the beach while on vacation, picking up garbage and throwing it out in its appropriate location. With all the knowledge I’ve obtained on Oceans I plan on educating friends and family, hoping that next time they come across litter at an ocean, lake or any water body that they’ll clean it up.

Benefits of Coral Reefs. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2018, from https://www.icriforum.org/about-coral-reefs/benefits-coral-reefs

Heimbuch, J. (2018, February 05). The ocean has issues: 7 biggest problems facing our seas, and how to fix them. Retrieved June 24, 2018, from https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/the-ocean-has-issues-7-biggest-problems-facing-our-seas-and-how-to-fix-them.html

Rethink Plastic. Save Our Seas • Plastic Oceans Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2018, from https://plasticoceans.org/

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Consider your food system

a. What do you like about it? 

What I like about my food system is the cost, taste and nutrition. Almost all the food I consume within a day are fruits and vegetables. Not only are these foods healthy but they have a great taste. My favorite snack of the day is a smoothie. One scoop of protein, cup of blueberries, handful of strawberries and one banana. I’ve also recently started a garden in my backyard. I’m really looking forward to saving money on the many vegetables I enjoy, and it’s a bonus knowing my food was not sprayed with chemicals.

b. What do you dislike about it? 

Two things that I don’t like about my food system are the cost and unknown chemical entering my body. Being a university student, makes it very hard to make lots of money. I find that all the healthy food I buy is relatively expensive compared to if I just bought a frozen pizza. I also don’t like, how on most food I buy it does not warn the consumer of how the product was made. The fruits and vegetables are more than likely being sprayed by chemicals. These chemicals can have detrimental effects on human health and species. I’m hoping the garden I planted helps me save money and contributes to a healthier lifestyle.  

picture of my garden at home 

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Part 7. Zoos

a. What role if any. should zoos play in conservation/education? 

I think zoos play a limited role in conservation. The zoo holds a small amount of species. I don’t think this is enough to make a change. Also I don’t think the zoo offers much education. When you go to the zoo you usually are busy just staring at the animals not taking the time to learn about them. I think protected parts play a bigger role in protecting species. They protect their actual habitat, unlike the zoo.

b. Is it ethical to keep animals in zoos?

I think deciding if its ethical to keep animals in the zoo depends on many factors. If an animal is facing extinction, then yes I think brining that animal in to the zoo and protecting it is necessary. Also if an animal is sick I think it’s okay to keep them in the zoo, till they’re healthy again. Once healthy they should be released back into the wild. Other than those two factors listed above I don’t think its ethical to keep animals in zoo. I think the artificial setting of the zoo restricts the natural behavior of the animals.

c. Do you enjoy visiting zoos?

When I was younger I really enjoyed visiting the zoo. I thought it was so fascinating seeing all these different animals that are from all around the world. Now that I am more educated about zoos, I feel sad for the animals. I believe keeping a healthy animal captive is cruel. animals are just like humans, they have thoughts and feelings and should be cared for. I believe their habitat is too small and consent visitors contribute to stress and depression.

I think this picture speaks for itself. keeping healthy animals confined behind cages, is similar to prisons. 

Végan, M. (2014, February 27). Zoo prison. Retrieved June 25, 2018, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mouvement-vegan/12814592365

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Part 6. Action  B. Do an analysis of your purchases for one week, record all products, food, beverages and services purchased over this period. Create screening criteria to categorize all items as “Good”, “Bad” or “Ugly”.

GOOD

Half Pints 6 pack bottles

Extra Old White Cheddar Bothwell Cheese

Price

Beer: $13.54

Bothwell Cheese 170g: $5.00

Total: $18.54

Half Pints beer is in my good category because the product is local and the bottles are returned and reused for a refund. Bothwell cheese, I also consider a good purchase. I’m supporting a Manitoba local company, price was reasonable and packaging was limited.

BAD

Strawberries

Tomatoes

Price

Strawberries 454g: $3.97

Tomatoes $3.98

Total: $7.95

Both strawberries and tomatoes are in my bad category because I bought these from a grocery store (Sobeys). The products never stated if they were chemical free, so I’m assuming these items were sprayed which will have negative effect on the land and to human health. One way I can turn this purchase from bad to good is support local. Next time I plan on going to the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market and buy from a local vendor called D & M Vegetable growers. They state that their farming operation is chemical free.

UGLY

Backwoods Cigars

Gasoline

Price

Backwoods Cigars $16

CO-OP Gasoline: $55

Total: $71

Backwoods cigars is an ugly purchase because all the negative effects smoking has on the environment like deforestation, pollution & contributes to second hand smoke/bad for my own health. Gasoline is also a bad purchase because it contributes to air pollution. I also could of took transportation options that are more environmentally friendly like, public transit and biking.  

My decisions on deciding If the product I purchased would be good, bad, or ugly was based on positive and negative environmental factors and if the product was bought local or from a corporation. After looking at each category and seeing how much money was spent per category, I now plan on making changes. The products in my ugly category cost $52.46 more than my good category. My goal is to cut this price in half. Ways I can easily do this is, don’t buy cigars. This will save me $16 and I won’t be contributing to the negative effects smoking has on our environment. I also plan to take public transit to school more, and to use my bike more to get to places such as my friends place. Also to change my good from bad I plan to support local vendors instead of buying from corporations. Below is a link to St. Norberts Farmer’s Market.

http://stnorbertfarmersmarket.ca

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Part 5. Questions  Describe 3 challenges and 3 opportunities that you see in the slow movement. Do you want to slow some aspects of your life? If so, what concrete steps can you take to achieve this?

Slow movement is an idea that talks about encouraging are “speed-obsessed society to slow down the pace”. One challenge of the slow movement is the social norm. We live in such a fast paced life. Everyone thinks this is normal. People tend to judge you when you try to implement a slow movement in your life because they think behaving like this is un-normal. Another challenge is finding other people who live a slow life or want to implement a lifestyle like this. Most people fall under the pressure of social norms and think living a fast life is correct. Therefore, it will be hard to find someone to live a slow lifestyle with you. One final challenge is finding the right tempo in how you’ll pursue your life, trying to find a balance between your schedule and others can be extremely difficult. Three opportunities I see in the slow movement are, dining with others without electronics, the podcast states by doing this I’ll enjoy and get to know others better. Another opportunity I see in the slow movement is better mental health. Slowing down in life will give me more time to relax/reflect on myself. Lastly, by following the slow movement I think I will have greater relationships with people, because I’ll have more time to engage with others. One approach from the slow movement I’d like to implement in my lifestyle is, use my phone less. Some steps I can take to achieve this, is having my phone off during school hours, and when I’m hanging out at my cabin enjoying nature. During these times I’m going to try and leave my phone on silent and only check it once every 2 hours.

Honore, C. (2015, June 1). Come Dine With Me, Slowly. Retrieved June 24, 2018, from http://www.carlhonore.com/unlock-slow/podcasts/ 

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Part 4. In-class blog questions

1a. What promotes human connection with nature?

In order to make a connection between humans and nature, your first step must be to spend time in nature. Getting away from urbanization and spending time in nature, is the best way to accomplish human nature connections. Within an urban setting you are most likely to get a false representation of nature. You may live around parks or areas with an abundance of trees, but to truly experience natures finest attributes you must leave the city. Participating in activities like fishing, hiking, camping or going for a walk, are all great activities to promote human nature connections. By doing these activities and spending time in nature, I think you’re more likely to have a positive attitude towards our environment. Having a positive attitude towards nature can really make you appreciate how great nature is, which will make you more likely to contribute to sustaining a healthy environment.

1b. What promotes disconnection from nature? 

Many things today can promote people having a disconnecting relationship with nature. Such things as video games, iPads, cellphones and social media are all things that lead to people being less associated with nature. Technology is so advanced today, kids have so many different options available. Today kids would rather stay inside, instead of playing outside. I’ve noticed this everyday over the last few years. My mother has a home daycare of 12 kids, and I notice they are nothing like I was and my daycare friends when we were their age. When we were younger we were always spending our time outside, playing in the sandbox, digging up mud for worms or playing sports in the field was always the most exciting part of our days. We’d always chose being outside over inside. Nowadays the kids would rather stay inside and play games on the iPad.  

1c. Is there a danger to a growing disconncet from nature?

Being disconnect from nature in my opinion is very dangerous. As mentioned above I think people are less connected with nature today due to technology. If people are growing up with less connection to nature, I think this will lead to less appreciation of nature, and less appreciation will lead to careless actions towards our environment. With not being connected to nature you don’t get to appreciate the true beauties of our surrounding environments and are less likely to care for our environment. Littering, cutting down trees, and pollution might all be actions kids today perpetrate due to their lack of awareness and compassion towards nature. We must have a generation that cares for our environment and understands it’s in danger it order to sustain a healthy environment. Below I’ve attached a link to one of my favourite songs that talks about our enviornemt. My favourite line in the song is

 Don’t care what the governments say “they’re all bought and paid for anyway” Save the planet for another day “hey big oil, what do you say?”

It’s evident that many governments do not make proper decisions in protecting our environment. Many decisions are made on what’s the best financial gain. We can’t expect our government to save the environment, so I think education and awareness is the best approach to start. Changes must start with the individual and education is the first step. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfvabXIlXaw

Worldviews

2. Where do your environmental ethics lie? 

My personal ethics towards the environment lie towards biocentric. The reason why is because I believe every living thing deserves to be treated equal. No matter the size or abundance of a species on earth, they all have an important role in our ecosystem. Biocentric considers all life has an ethical standing. All life in an ecosystem is the main reason for the functioning of the ecosystem. All different kinds of life will depend on each other for survival. Each species roles are important for the balance and function of the ecosystem.

Wildspaces 

3a. Can parks meet its dual mandate of access and protection? 

I think this goal is achievable. I think humans should be kept in mind, but protection should be the absolute first concern. If we can reduce commercial development and still appeal to humans, I think this will create an okay balance. I think this could be achievable if we educate tourists on the species who inhabit the park and also if we have many conservation officers to make sure the park and species are being respected

3b. How can this be achieved in Wapusk? 

I believe Wapusk National Park is working towards the right direction towards dual mandate of access and protection. This step is shown with the people who serve on their management board. Having many people working on this allows for many different views, which I think it important when making big agreements. This can also be achieved by having officers making sure tourists follow the rules such as, fishing/hunting laws, educating tourists on current protection plans/strategies and holding our governments accountable, to make sure resources are not being depleted and commercial expansion is minimum.

Wapusk National Park. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2018, from http://www.daisygilardini.com/on-location/artcic/wapusk-national-park/#/0

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Part 3. Question 1. Describe where and when you spent your time in nature. 2. What did you experience in your time in nature? What did you see, hear, smell, feel? What effect did this time in nature have on you?

On Saturday June 23 I went out to my cabin located in Matlock Manitoba. Matlock, Manitoba is a community that comprises the southernmost part of the Village of Dunnottar, Manitoba, on the southwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg. I decided to spend my time at “The Cove” aka the beach. The reason why I call this beach “The cove” and sometimes secret beach” is because it is very secluded and not many people know about its location and the shape of the beach represents a cove. In order to get to this location, you must go through approximately half a kilometer of bushes. Every time I spend my time here I have a great experience, It’s such a small beautiful location. At this location I like to read a book on the beach or fish off the rocks. I find fishing to be such a great way to connect with nature and the most relaxing leisure activity. I spent a total of 3 hours at this location and made many connections with my surroundings. Within the first hour I was there, I caught a fish. Sounds of the water splashing as the fish hooked on my rod, and reeled up was exhilarating. The texture of the fish was slimy and its gills were sharp and rough. I stayed at this location to sunset, the sights were beautiful. No one else was there but my brother and I. Many studies have shown that nature and ADHD have a positive link. A study conducted at the University of Illinois found that just 20 minutes with nature can reduce your symptoms. Being someone with ADHD I can assure you this is correct. Being in nature reduces my symptoms and makes me the happiest.   

Nature and ADHD. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2018, from http://untappedbrilliance.com/nature-and-adhd/

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Part 2. Question  1) How did the information presented in the talks above affect how you think about nature?  What aspects of nature and biodiversity do you feel are most important to protect? How can you take action to protect this aspect?

After watching the video how trees talk to each other by Suzanne Simard, I am astonished how interconnected trees are. My understanding towards nature will forever be altered. I’ve always known that trees supplied us oxygen and they’re very crucial for our survival. However, throughout my life I’ve never considered the trees alive. Suzanne Simard demonstrates how trees have interconnecting pathways, which supply and take from another just like humans. During the study they grew mother trees with Kin and stranger’s seedlings and the evidence was shocking. The mother trees would colonize their kin with larger mycorrhizal networks. Sending them greater amounts of carbon below ground. The mother trees when dying or injured would even send singles to the other seedlings. this video makes me want to care for our environment even more. Now being aware that trees can recognize their kin and pass on their nutrients and wisdom it makes me have more compassion for our trees. Now when I’m in the forest I’ll be extra careful of my surroundings. 

Virani, M. (n.d.). Why I love vultures. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/munir_virani_why_i_love_vultures#t-381930

Why I Love Vultures, a Ted Talk by Munir Virani was a great reminder of the importance of all individual organisms. Learning the significance about their influence on our environment was very interesting.  I think if this vulture looked like a dog or a “cute animal” people wouldn’t be so reluctant to kill these creatures. I’m guilty of this myself, if I see a spider I will kill it. I notice if people in the country catch foxes they’ll just simply kill it. after watching this film, I now have a different perspective towards species that are not considered cute. Each species in our environment plays a beneficial role in our environment, leading to a healthier world. Through more education and public awareness, I think we can help lessen the chances of an animal like this from being extinct.

Virani, M. (n.d.). Why I love vultures. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/munir_virani_why_i_love_vultures#t-381930

2) What aspects of nature and biodiversity do you feel are most important to protect? How can you take action to protect this aspect?

I think all aspects of nature and biodiversity are important to protect, but one that particularly stands out to me is our forest ecosystem. These forests are important for our well-being. Forests supply many crucial ecological services. They are the habitat for an abundance of species, helps purify our water and air and also holds large amounts of carbon. Some cities in Canada like Vancouver and Halifax even have their drinking water safeguarded by protected forests and watersheds. Forests are more than just trees, they help us breath. Oxygen is pumped out by forests that we need to survive and absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale. Studies have shown that a single mature leafy tree approximately produces a day’s supply of oxygen for up to as many as 10 people. It’s evident that forests are one if not the most important ecosystem in this world. Some ways in how I can take action to protect this aspect is taking the knowledge I have learned in my university studies and spread the word. Before I was in university I did not know how important forests were but now that I’ve been educated and I can share this knowledge. I have also gone paperless for all assignments and notes I’ve taken in my two years of university. By doing this simple task you’re saving trees and forests. My future goal is to buy recycled paper.

This photo is one of my favourite, it speaks so much truth it’s actually sad. Imagine if people cared for the environment as much as a wifi signal. We’d be living in the healthiest world. 

breathe. (n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2018, from http://www.thethingswesay.com/imagine-if-trees-gave-off-wifi-signals-we-would-be-planting-so-many-trees-and-wed-probably-save-the-planet-too-too-bad-they-only-produce-the-oxygen-we-breathe/

Kraus, D. (2016, September 25). Why Canada's Forests Matter. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/dan-kraus/canadian-forest-conservation-_b_8190424.html

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Part 1. Question  How does Truth and Reconciliation in Canada relate to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals?

Truth and Reconciliation in Canada places major emphasis on educating society on the horrible acts Canadians have perpetrated in the past. By sharing knowledge of the immoral ways of the past that still has detrimental effects today, we can work towards educating future generations to not make the same mistake as the past. Hopefully through this action, reconciliation will be achieved. The goals of The UN Sustainable Development are very much alike to the goals the Indigenous people in Canada desire to accomplish. Peace between cultural groups, gender equality, equal opportunity to health care, and improved education are just a few of the things the United Nations promotes daily. Truth and Reconciliation in Canada has created further awareness that Indigenous people in Canada were deprived from all of those opportunities the UN promotes. Through more education in classrooms and residential school survivors speaking about these atrocities, it’s evident that many if not all of their rights were disregarded. Kids were stripped from their families and given a poor education, health care was not a concern, many Indigenous people lost their natural resources and relationship between the two culture groups were awful. Today, Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and the UN are working towards learning from past mistakes and moving forward to promotes all of these goals for the future.

The white man wanted to strip indigenous people of their culture. 

10 Terrifying Truths about Canadian Residential Schools. (2017, October 02). Retrieved from https://www.wonderslist.com/10-terrifying-truths-about-canadian-residential-schools 

Honouring the truth reconciling for the future. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=905 pg 1-23