jmazurikworld-blog

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Sustainable Well being

Part #8 - Wealth 

1.      Exercise

October 20th

-        I started working out again. One of my favourite pass times is working out because it not only clears my mind but also helps with my mental health.

October 27th

-        I feel more energized and capable of waking up at a decent time. Its helped me feel more like myself and kept me active enough to help my asthma.

November 3rd

-        I’m now 2 weeks into this challenge and I feel better than ever.  It’s helped me feel incredibly confident and helped me become more productive. My grades are doing much better than they were weeks before and my work life is starting to get better.

November 10th

-        I’ve lost 30 pounds! I feel incredibly healthy and so much more confident.

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Sustainable Well being

Part #8 - Wealth 

2.  Work

I was having a very hard time being comfortable at work with a change in management. I was having a hard time trying to find a place at work and decided I wanted to take care of myself and find a job suitable for me and my personality.

 October 23rd

-        I applied for a new job, closer to home, better pay and better benefits

October 25th

-        I got called for an interview/training shift for the week after

October 28th

-        I went for the interview, got the job and I start in the next 2 weeks!

November 7th

-        I had one of my final shifts at my old job, Nuburger. It was one of the best shifts I’ve ever had and I’m glad that it gave me closure.

November 15th

-        I started my new job! I’m looking forward to seeing where this place takes me.

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Sustainable Well being

Part #8 

Areas of wealth

1.      Friendships

I wanted to create a good foundation with my friends after school had taken a toll on me, I lost connections with many of them due to my own concerns. I wanted to try to see them again, creating a good group of friends again to ensure everyone has a good group to lean on during their hardest times

 October 10th

-        We decided to create Stella’s brunch every Saturday as a group, we invite as many people as we can and everyone who can make it, comes.

October 13th

-        We had our first Stella’s weekly brunch. It was very intimate, with only 4 of us but it was very last minute, still keeping our heads up!

October 26th

-        My friend Brittany had a friends night, we sat around a fire, played some drinking games and then all headed to a social together. This night was incredible, we all felt like we had reconciled relationships and made our group so much stronger.

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Mindfulness

Part #8 - Sustainable Well being

When I enter the great outdoors, the first thing that crosses my mind is the fresh air. The difference between my safe space of being inside with stuffy air and the explosion of scents from leaving my house. When I think about the environment of Canada, I’m incredibly grateful for the fact we HAVE fresh air to breathe.

My favourite place in the whole world is the cabin, and spending the days out there in the sun, swimming and going on the boat makes me the happiest I could ever be. So, for this activity as well, I did at the cabin.This time it was raining. I left my window open and put on a playlist that I made for myself when I feel sad or not in touch with myself.

When I lay in bed when it’s raining, I always put on music to enjoy the moment. This entire experience felt like a Sunday morning, with tea and a warm blanket. The thunder was making the cabin shake a little bit from the strength and the lightning was lighting up the early morning sky. Because I did this so early in the morning, I was very tired and just wanted to crawl back into bed, but I remembered in the winter when all I wanted was to listen to the thunderstorm through my window on the lake side. For me, practicing mindfulness is like meditating or doing yoga. It puts me in touch with my body and lows down my brain to the point where I can analyze all the thoughts that have been stored in my mind. I can feel my heartbeat slow down and I start to appreciate the thoughts that I once pushed out

I have extreme gratitude for whenever I get the chance to slow down and think about everything going on in my life. I find that the lake is the easiest place to do so because the busyness of the city is gone. I become very thankful for the moments I can spend alone, listening to the rain and the fact that whenever I do get to experience this, I feel at peace and completely calm.

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My Happiness Network

My happiness network connects each part of my life together 

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Oceans

Part #7 - Oceans 

Oceans

What are your primary concerns about the oceans?

1.      Ocean warming/rising

Some concerns that come along with ocean warming is coral bleaching, CO2 levels rising and ocean salinity changes.  

With coral bleaching becoming more prominent, there becomes a loss of habitat for thousands of species.

With CO2 levels rising, the water becomes suffocating for marine life, which would cause a lot of loss of habitat and marine life populations.

If ocean salinity changes, it disrupts our water cycles and our heating cycles within the ocean which can cause extreme weather changes and complications like extreme floods, droughts and other dangerous natural disasters.

2.      Shark populations/marine life extinction

Sharks play a very important role in the ocean ecosystem. Without them, there would be an unstable system across the globe with thousands of overpowering species, killing many other smaller species.

Any extinction causes a disruption in the ecosystem and if coral bleaching, shark finning and many other human impacts continue to become prominent, it will disrupt the oceans way of life.

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

1.      Avoid harsh chemicals

Avoiding products with harmful chemicals can go a long way. For example, shampoos with sulfates and phosphorus create huge build ups in fish and make them unsafe.

2.      Avoid seafood

I don’t really eat seafood besides tuna and shrimp, but I try to limit my consumption to once a week or even one every 2 weeks to decrease the demand at least a little. Every small amount counts.

3.      Avoid plastics

I don’t use plastic bags or Ziploc's and I try to avoid most plastics unless its recyclable, so they don’t end up in the ocean or in a landfill, ruining the soils around it.

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Food

Part #7 - Food

Consider your food system:

Consider taste, nutrition, cost, equity, and environmental issues

What do you like about it?

1.      Healthy eating

I eat pretty healthy for the most part. The only time I really eat out is when I’m on dates or out with friends with for our weekly friend date. If I’m just hanging out at home, most of the time I’ll have 2 eggs and some homemade hash browns or a quesadilla, nothing too crazy.

2.      Not picky

I eat lots of rice, cereal and oatmeal. I also eat a lot of vegetables with hummus or fruit with yogurt. I enjoy most foods so its easy for me to eat a lot even when I’m not hungry or if I’m just bored.

3.      Cost is low

Costs for groceries, monthly, is pretty low. I think groceries for myself monthly by myself is about $100. This is considerably low for the amount that I eat and the fact I barely ever eat out.

4.      Eco-friendly

I try my hardest to find eco-friendly alternatives such as recyclable packaging, no single use plastics and compostable foods. I’ve also invested in reusable Ziploc bags called “Re-zips”, silicone bowl covers to prevent my family from using plastic wrap and we’ve also purchases beeswax cloth paper for wrapping up sandwiches for example, instead of using plastic wrap or bags. We also own a ton of glass containers instead of the microwavable plastic ones due to the chemicals and unhealthy plastics. Recently, I’ve switched from Q-tips to reusable silicone Q-tips which saves an incredible amount of money and a lot of unnecessary waste.  

What do you dislike about it?

1.      I wish I cooked real meals more often

I often find myself cooking smaller meals and not meals that keep me satisfied until the next morning.

2.      I go through phases

I go through phases of stuff I want to make, for example, sometimes I’ll go through phases of only cooking breakfast meals for breakfast and lunches. Other times I go through phases of cooking chicken breasts and vegetables for each meal.

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Zoos

Part #7 - Zoos

Part #7 - Zoos

Zoos

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

I think zoos should not be about captivity and should be more about the process of conservation, healing and releasing. I think that they should also only focus on the animals that can no longer be released or animals that were born in captivity. Many zoos in the United States, import animals from other countries across the world such as Russia, China and Vietnam.

Is it ethical to keep animals in zoos?

If so, what size / type of animal or zoo?

I don’t believe in it because I think animals get depressed easily and sheltered when they don’t the opportunity of having a real habitat. They also lose their abilities to hunt and mate naturally, which puts stress on them and can result in premature death or birth defects.

Do you enjoy visiting zoos?

I don’t enjoy going to zoos because they make me feel sad for the animals. A lot of them are aggravated and you can tell they’re very used to visitors which should not be the case.

I watch a lot of the news and this BBC article really intrigued me.

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Actions: Part D

Part #6 - Part D 

Food System 

As apart of this course, we had to do an analysis on our household waste for 7 days. To my surprise, our household waste was actually considerably good for a family of 3. My parents recycle and compost everything they can.

However, some ways to make our food systems more sustainable would be

1.      Shopping locally

I love farmers markets because they remind me a lot of the enjoyment of summer and how everything around me can be sourced locally. This supports local farmers and businesses and helps the economy on their side while also lowering my carbon footprint by avoiding the big corporation stores and their transportation foot print.

2.      Growing our own food

We grow a lot of our own tomatoes, if they didn’t go bad so fast, we could probably last through winter. My mom makes a lot of tomato sauce to store with the tomatoes we don’t consume on time. We also grow tons of carrots and green onion/chives, which we give a lot of to our neighbours when we know we can’t consume them fast enough.

3.      Lower paper towel usage

We have 5 dogs and we also foster a lot of puppies so it’s hard for us to not consume paper towel like crazy. However, instead of using them to clean up a spill (water, coffee, tea, etc.), we can use reusable cloths that can be hand washed to save paper and water.

 By now you should know, I’m obsessed with Ted Talk’s. So here’s another one talking about how to cut down on food waste and save money. 

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Actions: Part C

Part #6 - Part C 

Household E-Waste

My mom is very conscious when it comes to electronic usage and recycling of electronics. Louis Riel Library in South St. Vital has a great recycling program for electronics. You can bring in batteries, laptops, iPod's, phones, etc. and they manage it with local electronic businesses.

Another great option is Best Buy. They take ANY electronics and send it back to their manufacturers to take it apart and recycle the parts they can use.

Best Buy also has options for “econ mode” televisions. When you turn them off, they disable power, so they’re not using as much electricity when being plugged in.

My family has also saved a lot of electronics in order to recycle them properly, so they aren’t thrown into a landfill.

Attached is the link for Best Buy’s Electronic Recycling program. 

 https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/help/bltb13feb03a319a964/blt00b0b3db02656195

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Actions: Part B

Part #6 - Part B 

Analysis of purchases for 1 week

Good – Chiropractor & Stella’s

I categorized these two together as good because they are the most sustainable things, I spent money on this week. Although they both have small emissions from energy use or for Stella’s, meat consumption, they are the least invasive. Stella’s has a lot of sustainable options and their packaging is all recyclable if you want to take out, which deserves some respect. They also use a lot of local meats and produce.  

 Bad – Gas & Stella’s

I put gas as bad because my gas consumption is very little. I have a very efficient car and it only costs me about 70$ in gas a month. I know that fuel consumption is a very unethical purchase, but I live in the country and if I had a better option, I would use it.

I also noted Stella’s in here because they have some options that are not as sustainable, therefore its harder for me to justify Stella’s as completely good.

 Ugly – Dynamite Jacket & McDonald’s

I only buy a new jacket when I need a new jacket, and this year I really wanted a heavy duty, long term winter jacket that looks nice for work and other winter occasions, such as dinners and family events.

McDonald’s is not something I purchase often due to their environmental effects and their health concerns, but I really wanted chicken nuggets one day after a night out and I paid for my friends meal as well. I feel like even if it’s rare, this one of the worst purchases I can make.

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Actions: Part A

Part #6 - Part A 

Personal Care Product Ratings

 Using the product guide from the Environmental Working Group, I found lots of my products to be moderately hazardous. 

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Slow Movement

Part #5 – Slow Movement

The “Slow Movement” view for life has many benefits as well as complications. For example, lots of people view this movement as something that can improve your life quality, something that promotes health benefits and keeps culture alive, if you practice it. However, it also creates issues such as retraction of being spontaneous, self esteem issues due to overthinking or it consumes a lot of energy.

Do you want to slow some aspect(s) of your life?

Throughout high school and half way through university, I had always been someone that has said “get in, get out”. I have always been someone that’s just wanted to finish a task so I could move on to the next. Because school is very important for me, I have decided to take a year off because I want to slow down the process of moving on from that aspect in my life. I don’t want it to feel like I just have to get it done instead of enjoying my time in university and appreciating how much it has to offer me in life.

Another thing I want to slow down is my career process. I have no idea what I want to do yet and I think overthinking it and throwing myself into it too fast has put me in an uncomfortable position where I feel as if I have to decide at 19 years old, when I really don’t.

Concrete steps I can take to achieve this

1.      Get a full time job

In order to maintain motivation, I would get a full time job instead of part time, so I still feel like I have responsibilities.

2.  ��   Withdraw from classes

I might take 1 or 2 online classes to ensure that I still feel like I have to fit school into my schedule, however I think a couple months off would be better for me.

3.      Figure out my passion

Brain storm on the topic of what would interest me enough, that I’d want to do this for the rest of my life – take it slow though.

4.      Shadow people I look up

Shadowing people in certain industries that I’m interested in may help me create a better understanding of what I want to do and what I wouldn’t want to do for the rest of my life.

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Human Environment Connections, Wild Spaces & World Views

Part #4 

Human Environment Connections

               What promotes human connection to nature?

Everyone finds different ways to connect with nature. For some it’s hiking, some it’s the lake, some its swimming. Not everyone connects with nature all the same. However, when you surround yourself with people that have connections in different ways and see things differently, you find yourself starting to open your mind to find ways to appreciate it the same way they do. The more people around you promote human connection to nature, the more prominent it becomes in your life.

For example, the Winnipeg Folk Festival is a great place to start. For thousands of people in not only Manitoba but Canada, Folk fest is a great way to connect with nature. This community brings so many strangers together by spending time outside for a few days. Camping at folk fest, you meet hundreds of new people, who all have 1 thing in common with yourself. The way they enjoy life is the same. With enjoying music, spending all day, everyday outside, you feel like you belong in the sun. Even when it rains, everyone’s still happy and lots of people even dance in the rain.

I feel like inclusiveness with certain activities promotes human connection to nature and it’s a very important connection to have in your life.

What promotes disconnection from nature?

I feel like everyone is going to say this, but technology creates a harsh environment where people become disconnected from everything, including themselves. Travelling, being with friends and living without stress is very prominent on social media, which is why people have such a hard time living by themselves outside.

I know many of my friends who care more about going out to bars or out to eat and taking pictures than enjoying days in the sun or hiking to new places. It becomes an issue when social media takes over your life and you see people becoming disconnected from the world outside of their phones.

Is there a danger to growing disconnected from nature?

I strongly believe that if you have a good connection with nature, you will be a happier person. If you feel comfortable spending time with family and friends outside, going for hikes, swimming, feeling the sand under your feet or even just listening to the birds outside your window early in the morning, you have a good connection with yourself. A lot of the time people say they have no time to be outside for extended periods of time, but this allows you to become distant from the earth and your surrounding areas which can also lead to a loss of sense of self and creates distractions in you life.

 Worldviews

Where do your environmental ethics lie?

I believe my ethics are viewed as both biocentric and ecocentric. I feel as if every part of the environment is important, even the smallest bacteria. I believe every individual is important to the ecosystems, every tree, every animal, because it enables the ecosystems to thrive.

However, I also believe that the world is very powerful and can readapt to many changes, the same way humans have very strong adaptability insights. For example, when we have forest fires, as sad as it is, it gives room for new ecosystems to form and prosper all new vegetation and the environment replenishes itself.

 Wild spaces

Can parks meet its dual mandate of access and protection?

Parks across Canada are usually pretty reasonable when it comes to conservation and protection but still allowing access. Canada is known for their spectacular parks and nature views, so why would we want to jeopardize that? In order to mandate access and protection, measurements must be put in place to prevent environmental degradation and plan to assure safety to all visitors.

One way to protect parks while also allowing access is to make sure we have enough boundaries to allow the environment to prosper. Boundaries for the ecosystems should be respectful while recognizing goals for the growth of the park.

Another way is to put a cap on how many permits are issued each year for industrial development and ensuring there is a limit to how much industrial development can occur each year.

How can this be achieved in Wapusk?

Wapusk National Park holds a diverse home for thousands of species of birds and plants. It also has the name of holding the most polar bear maternity dens in the world and holds great value for the country when it comes to this species.

As we know, polar bears have been on the endangered species watch for many years. In order to protect these beautiful animals, some measures have to be considered to prevent the loss of the species.

One thing I noted that may help, is making the visiting area smaller or the hours shorter. By doing this, it would promote more reversal of the biological loss that could occur and would give more room for the animals to flourish in a larger habitat with more supply of food, shelter and mating grounds.

I also looked into “conservation tours”, something that would allow visitors and researchers to enter the park but in a more respectful manner, with a tour guide, loading them with all the information they are looking for while perhaps collecting profit to put back into the park or into the conservation of polar bears.

Attached is a video I found interesting due to the nature and relation between the park and a different part of Churchill. This allows visitors to see everything while still respecting the space and environment. 

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My Hour Outside in Silence

Part #3 – Spending an Hour in Nature

After a hard break up, I decided to make the trip out to the cabin for the weekend to be by myself. I think this part of the project really helped me because even though I had to do it, I wanted to do it. It gave me a lot of time to look into myself and create a foundation for healing.

It was early October, right before the snow hit us, so it was kind of chilly, but the wind was refreshing. I sat on the dock with a cup of tea, wrapped in a blanket, and started to feel very insightful about my own life. The smell of the lake water, which a bit of dirt from the wind made me feel at home and in touch with myself. After you spend a day at the beach, you feel very burnt out from the sun even though you had been relaxing the entire time, and this is exactly how I felt in that moment. I felt burnt out by life and needed a moment to sit back and just feel gratitude for everything I have in life.

This part of the assignment is very personal to me because it helped me recover after a hard week. Being at the lake feels like I’m home. If I could ditch the rest of my life and live out there for the rest of my life, I would. Being outside by myself, with my feet in the water, made me feel open to new thoughts and had me thinking of all the new beginnings that were going to come with every new door I opened for myself.

I watched the sunset for the first time in forever, and as I sat there, I felt like as if the world kind of slowed down. Watching the sun go down slowly, made me think about how even your worst days only last 24 hours and you can’t let them affect your whole life. My experience with this felt rejuvenating. I’m a very sociable person so putting my phone away and sitting there by myself, just thinking and feeling everything around me, made me feel a lot better than I did on the way out there.

Break ups are hard, no matter what the circumstances and having the chance to slow down your life, take a step back and just recollect yourself and think about your future, is not something people have the chance to do everyday. I felt very in touch with myself, as I mentioned before, for the first time in a very, very long time I felt free of stress and refreshed.

On my way back up to the cabin, I remembered a quote that still sticks with me to this day.

“Act kindly, walk humbly and no matter what happens, remember who you are.”

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How Trees Talk to Each Other & Why I Love Vultures

Part #2 – How Trees Talk to Each Other & Why I Love Vultures

How did this information affect how you think about nature?

When I watched these Ted Talk’s for the first time, I was captivated by the way these two speakers were so passionate about what they were talking about. It made me feel interested in the values they were sharing, and their ideas stuck to me.

In “How Trees Talk to Each other”, Suzanne Simard made some very interesting points. She stated that trees have a sort of a “Ying-Yang” effect. They are complex systems with thousands of networks and connections, which allows forestry to blossom and prosper. As I was listening to this Ted Talk, I had some sort of epiphany that blew my mind. I related it to the freeways across the world. They are all connected, they all allow new routes for people to move around, they all have a specific purpose. I also thought about how our brain works, which makes less sense, but our cells are all connected, sending transmissions and signals to each other and if one stopped working properly, the rest would fall apart.

It made me think about the fact our ecosystems would not be the same without every different species of trees. There would be a huge decrease in oxygen and accessibility for forestry and ecosystems to bloom. It changed my view on nature due to its compelling, eye opening view on how everything is connected in the world. Without one thing, the whole system would fall apart.

In “Why I Love Vultures”, I recognized that without some “ugly” things in the world, our world would not be where it is today. Vultures give way for a natural clean up and as Munir Virani states, they act as “natural garbage collectors”, which is relevant to many parts of our ecology. Without microorganisms, our soil would not be as valuable. Without sharks, the oceans fish populations would sky rocket, making other species go extinct. Its weird to think about how everything in the world and nature is connected. Its extremely weird to think about how our earth revolves around each and every species of animal, plant and bacteria.

Sometimes it scares me to think about how if another species goes extinct, the affects it would have on our ecosystems. You have to take into consideration that every species has a purpose. Trees make oxygen, predators keep the food chain stable.

I have never really taken a step back to look at how we are living our lives and how everything works, but the bottom line is that it terrifies me. These Ted Talks opened my eyes to new views on nature and how they function. It also made me see everything a bit differently and how fast the earth comes back from natural disasters and other terrible things we put it through.

Attached is a video I found quite compelling, which relates to these topics. It’s a Ted Talk by  Ben Klasky, who talks about the importance of nature and the great outdoors. 

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How Truth & Reconciliation relate to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

Part #1 – The Link Between Truth and Reconciliation and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

 The indigenous people of Canada have had a rough go in the history of Canada. With thousands of people going through residential schools in the 1900’s, it’s hard for our indigenous population to forget about the torturous years.

Truth and Reconciliation is defined as acknowledging mistakes, making an appropriate public mourning and closing a book, to open a new one full of forgiveness and healing relations. Canada thus far has made an increasing effort on trying to fix the relations between our country and the indigenous population.

The UN’s Sustainable Development goals states a lot of things. It states that our future should be full of wealth in every category, such as good health, stable jobs, sanitation, clean energy, climate action and peace for all. A few of these things stood out to me once I read the statement of Truth and Reconciliation. For example, #1 on the list is “No Poverty” due to the fact about 25% of people of indigenous decent live in poverty to this day. Another issue is that 46% of indigenous households are food insecure. For sustainable development goals to follow through, indigenous people should most likely be one of our first priorities.

Most reserves in Canada have terrible sanitation and live their lives without clean water, if they have running water at all and they lack clean energy resources. When it comes to equal rights, Canada should be focusing on making this a priority. During the election, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP Party of Canada, came out with a statement when he was asked how he expects to fund the problems Indigenous people communities face, which I found incredibly interesting;

"Would you be asking this question if Vancouver did not have clean drinking water, would you be asking this question if Edmonton did not have clean drinking water? No, you wouldn’t."

“Why is it that we ask the question about whether or not Indigenous people should have clean drinking water. We’ve got to take a minute and think why is that a question.

“Yes, they deserve clean drinking water; yes, we can make it happen.”

For me, this opened a view that there is no excuse for Indigenous and First Nations Canadians to live with a lack of basic human needs, in this case: clean drinking water.

I believe that Truth and Reconciliation relates to the UN’s Sustainable Development goals because they are a huge part of our country. We as Canadians need to ask ourselves if we truly believe that people deserve to go without the same rights as any other person. Would you say that Alberta doesn’t deserve a healthy economy? No. Would you say that Manitoba doesn’t deserve to have great health care that’s accessible for everyone? No.

Indigenous people have gone through torturous pain and suffering decade after decade and deserve full rights just as much as any other person. We are an inclusive country with many benefits and Stephen Harper’s apology to indigenous communities in the House of Commons, is just the beginning.

Another issue we have to consider when talking about this topic, is the fact that we stripped Indigenous people from their rights and gave them no access to health care, freedom of religion and culture and every resource that every human deserves. Quality education, although for some may seem like a privilege, is most definitely a right when it’s accessible. With quality education being accessible, it opens up more opportunity for a greater economy, a smaller poverty rate and decent work.

As I’ve researched, I’ve noticed a trend in residential schools. They cared more about “killing the Indian in children” than educating them on valuable life skills. Many students came out of them without any social skills from being extremely segregated and separated from everything they knew. I watched a YouTube video, which I’ve linked below, about a man explaining how he felt so detached from the world, he suffered from terrible social anxiety which led to addiction. They also had Christianity forced on them, with their other religions and cultures being banned and if they were caught even speaking their own language, they were severely beaten, punished or had extreme labour forced onto them.

When it comes to Truth and Reconciliation, our main focus should be trying to fix our mistakes that our government has created in the past. I believe that the UN’s Sustainable Development goals are a great start, and because they are inclusive of everyone, we should deeply consider what we’ve done to our Indigenous people and what they deserve to have accessible to them from now on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zuRQmwaREY