Alanna Mitchell explains the numbers in her one-woman show, Sea Sick. Photo by Alejandro Santiago
Last Wednesday evening, I made my way to The Cultchโs Historic Theatre to witness Alanna Mitchellโs โSea Sickโ, a production of Theatre Centre (Toronto). The show runs from February 9th-19th as part of the Femme Festival. I wasnโt quite sure what to expect outside of realizing the play was based on Mitchellโs bestselling book, โSea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisisโ (2009).
The Formative Years
Descending from Norwegian seafarers, Iโve always felt my blood was a mixture of both saltwater and plasma. Thus, anything referencing the ocean had my attention. As the house lights slowly faded into stage lights with a 10-minute introduction, Alanna brought us into her life of wonderment and curiosity. Everyone soon learned she was the daughter of a University of Regina professor, George Mitchell. Therefore, Alanna Mitchell was both genetically predisposed and nurtured to chase scientific truths.
Her honest and vulnerable narrative led the audience around the globe on a truth-seeking adventure. These trips were initially derived to revisit Darwinโs life path. Charles Darwin was the highlight of many dinner conversations during Mitchellโs formative years. We also learned that through her investigative journalistic travels, she started to uncover some hard truths about our planetโs existence.
The Journey Begins
A 10-minute excerpt from Alanna Mitchell’s one-woman show, Sea Sick, performed at The Theatre Centre in Toronto, Canada in October 2014.
For Mitchell, this became the inception of the book. As she tagged alongside notable marine scientists such as Sylvia Earle, Nancy Knowlton, Stu Ludsin, Joanie Kleypas, Carol Turley, Tim Flannery, and Amy Wright, Mitchell recounts the path that brought her to this date and time.
Like any truth seeker, the more information that was unearthed the harder it was to turn away. The scientific facts were so surreal that at one point, Mitchell struggled. This was when the play brings us to Mitchellโs existential crossroads.
Where to Now?
In a last heroic gasp, as she struggles with so much newfound information, an email arrives. Amy Wright invites Mitchell to join her deep-sea exploration which originally eluded the journalist. Wrightโs communication became a wake-up call.
Going into some of the deepest depths of the ocean, a kilometre deep in a submersible, was a first for any journalist. How could she decline? Suddenly, some lightness at the end of a dark tale. It was the comedic interlude that brought everyone back. Mitchell brings us into this twinned bathtub capsule as she submerges into the ocean with three other scientists.
Reconciling the Truth
Meanwhile, in the 3-hour journey downwards, she reconciles her dilemma and draws the conclusion, that โhope is quintessentially humanโ. In the end, she points out that there are two things we can do to tackle this existential threat to our existence. Number one is to โforgive yourselfโ since, individually, we can do little to change the status quo. Mitchell recognized that forgiveness is the first step towards inner healing which is necessary for change. As this act can truly reshape our existence on this earth.
Early in the 2021 spring/summer season, my daughter started talking about “Fairy Creek”. My daughter, a new-age naturalist and movement therapist, often has a unique diaspora in relation to her field. I thought it was one of those instances. Then, I started getting posts from other Vancouver Island friends and acquaintances.
To my surprise, the area they were discussing is part of an old-growth forest reserve on Unceded Indigenous land. A portion of the area had been licensed out to a predominant logging company named Teal Jones. Over the last year and a bit, there have been serious land defender interventions due to the possible felling of 1000-year-old trees by the company. What really started to bring this conflict to light was the use of aggressive American-style police tactics by the RCMP on protesters. The repeated use of pepper spray, physical as well as verbal intimidation, and the banning of media literally brought the issue to the forefront of the news. Suddenly, the world was listening.
I told my daughter that I needed to be there to witness what was happening firsthand. As an educator and journalist, it would be my act of solidarity for the Indigenous people, land defenders, and the trees. My schedule finally opened. The first October weekend after the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I had arranged with a friend weeks back to go up there together. He had connections with the Rainforest Flying Squad.
As an Onlooker
As the weekend drew closer, news hit that the courts struck down any further protest injunctions put forward by Teal Jones. This happened on September 26th, the day the previous injunction would expire. Mass jubilation hit the social media feeds. Following the announcement, a celebration and honouring ceremony was planned for Saturday, October 2nd at 12:00 pm. The same weekend, I was heading across. I was so excited to be able to witness so much in one visit.
During that weekโs lead-up to the trip, I read and updated myself with all the Rainforest Flying Squad news. One post mentioned a forest installation in honour of the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW). I knew I needed to see and document this during my trip.
MMIW Environmental Installation at Red Dress Camp MMIW Environmental Installation Detail
Leaving on a 6:30 am ferry on Saturday, we had enough time to get to Port Renfrew area with time to spare. We made a quick stop at a viewing area right before hitting “the Port” township. Here we saw a small sample of one old-growth forest before arriving at our destination. While we were taking in the majesty of one of the trees, a young woman dressed in a brilliantly coloured outfit which included a crinoline Tutu crossed our path. She said, โThey were part of a support crew for the land defenders. We donโt do the tough work that they do. Instead, we go and support them in any way we can.โ They were riding in a large blue bus called the Action Bus. Her demeanor was light and airy, reminiscent of her fairylike costume. Such warmth on an otherwise cool and damp day was a welcome feeling. We wished her and her crew well and motored on.
The Blue Action Bus that a Support Crew arrived in
On the Outside Looking In
Finally, we arrived at the entrance area of the protest site. Many people were milling around while a small number were busy filling a trench that was dug by Teal Jones excavators a couple of days earlier. The logging company decided to make it more difficult for vehicles to make their way up to the land defenders’ main camp, which was 7 km up the road. However, today became an exception, and vehicles were being allowed through the companyโs main barrier gate. The primary reason for the RCMP’s latitude that day was based, in part, on who was visiting the site. A variety of Indigenous leaders would be arriving to pay respects to the Pacheedaht, Chief Bill Jones, and the indigenous and non-indigenous land defenders. They have been sacrificing their livelihoods and comfortable lives to defend the land and forests for well over a year.
Paying respect to Quatsino First Nation Hereditary Chief Sonny Wallas
The preceding ceremony held all aspects of Indigenous ceremonial traditions, such as offerings to the chief, beautiful regalia, dances, and inspirational words from many leaders. After the ceremony, there was a sharing of food and tea. Much of what I have witnessed during other First Nation ceremonies, such as potlatches. It was a truly magical day.
One More Lesson to Learn
In the end, I realized that this is one more area where non-indigenous people could take some lessons from Indigenous peoples. One lesson would be โhow to look towards relationship buildingโ. Many of the speeches discussed honouring nature as a relation like an aunt, uncle, or, in most cases, a mother. Showing respect towards these relations is tantamount in Indigenous culture. Protecting and respecting, not using and abusing, is the main mantra. For us all to witness a livable future, companies, governments, and other non-indigenous settlers need to recognize that every living thing deserves and has the right to be respected; plants, animals, as well as humans, full stop.
Thank you to Paul Chiyokten Wagner of the WฬฑSรNEฤ people within the Coast Salish Territory
Theresa K. Howell
Myself at Avatar Grove
Much gratitude and respect to the Pacheedaht and Didadaht people for allowing me onto their territory to witness this special event.
In this current series, I have moved away from WATER and decided to look at FIRE. In The New Normal PART I, I discussed personal reasons for this redirection. It is important that this website stays relevant to current viewpoints and situations. In part 2, we explore possible options and introduce a couple of Changemakers creating sustainable environments as it relates to FIRE management.
Perspectives on Fire and Land Management
Diversity and inclusivity are tantamount in dealing with most economies in Western culture nowadays. However, these concepts have been an ongoing philosophy of indigenous peoples for time immemorial. Before colonization, trade and land management involved these fundamental aspects to create harmonious exchanges interweaved with environmental stewardship. This was not of primary concern to the colonizing cultures. Trade would be based on extraction only without reference to environmental management.
Certain settlers (alias Colonizers) started recognizing the errors of this ethnocentric mindset back in the late 20th Century when social scientists started to enter new territories with humility. Instead of imposing their will and ideas on the local population, they learned to ask for guidance and instruction. There was recognition and respect of indigenous knowledge for the environment and its management.
However, business and politics would take time to grapple with this humility. These are not natural pillars of practice for either of these branches in western settler culture. Fortunately, in recent years, circumstances have forced an immediate reassessment of these ideologies due to the global pressure from climate change. Living in harmony with the environment is a necessity for survival.
Listening to the CBC August 5th podcast of โWhat on Earthโ, Laura Lynch was interviewing and discussing concepts of regenerative farming practices. These methods help remedy the extreme heat and warming temperatures known to affect crop production seen in current traditional farm practices. Regenerative practices and strategies look at site-specific ecosystems through time to determine how the interaction of all factors interplay to maintain and sustain thriving environments. As stated in โThriving Beyond Sustainabilityโ, proponents of these practices understand that a local environment requires an interconnected web of relationships such as the ecological, social and economic.ย
Regenerative practices have been at the center of indigenous teachings from the beginning of time. This interplay of relationships is part of the cultural knowledge and teachings handed down generation after generation. That is why it is imperative that indigenous knowledge keepers be part of the conversations and policy construction involved in land and fire stewardship.
It was a routine indigenous practice to do mindfully navigated burns in spring to stave off runaway wildfires during the summer months. At the same time, these prescribed spring burns regenerated soil fertility and early growth. However, after colonization, a European lens of centralized land management which outlawed localized indigenous practices was imposed. Fire suppression was about increasing timber values for global trade.
From that moment onwards, it brings us to our current situation of runaway wildfires, drought, and nutrient-depleted soils. Currently, governmental fire management agencies are seeking out indigenous fire knowledge keepers to help curtail and reduce wildfires. Yet, the belief that fire is the enemy is still prevalent amongst settler mentality.
APTN News – Amy Cardinal Christianson is a fire research scientist with Canadian Forest Service who specializes in Indigenous wildfire stewardship. (April 2021)
Amy Cardinal Christianson has become a prominent figure for Canadaโs Fire Management systems. She is a Mรฉtis woman from Treaty 8 territory, currently living in Treaty 6. As well, she is a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada. Christianson also co-hosts the โGood Fireโ podcast, which looks at Indigenous fire use around the world.
In one of the “Good Fire” podcasts, โFire Ecology and Indigenous Knowledgeโ from October 28, 2019, Christianson and Matthew Kristoff, interviewed Dr. Frank Lake from the US Forest Service. Dr. Lake speaks to the idea of regenerative practices that relate to fire management. He discusses how the use of fire stewardship becomes imperative for biodiversity and fire management. Another important point discussed was the formation of respectful partnerships between indigenous and settler communities. In this partnership, settler communities learn how fire can been seen as cultural medicine as well as recognize the intersection of it between people and place.
In the podcast, Lake discusses how smoke works as a fumigation technique and a cooling effect for salmon streams. He further elaborates on how certain US states are now utilizing prescribed burns for regenerating soil nutrients and the growth of food resources. Also, relearning that fire is not an evil but a necessity for our environments. These ideas become a matter of reframing perspectives to see the fire through a stewardship practice versus a negation perspective. Once Canada recognizes and respects the vast resources in their indigenous knowledge keepers, then it will see changes for the better.
To learn more about this and other ideas on indigenous fire management go to:
And because a community is, by definition, placed, its success cannot be divided from the success of its placeโฆits soils, forests, grasslands, plants and animals, water, light, and air. The two economies, the natural and the human support each other; each is the otherโs hope of a durable and livable life[1].
-Wendell Berry
Give me the facts
My aunt and I were on a morning walk during a July vacation I had started. As we meandered our way up to Old Mission Road in Oyama, BC, we talked about the current weather anomalies hitting BC this summer. My aunt has lived in the Okanagan Valley for over 50 years. Summer after summer, I would see her tidying up the deadfall around her lot. She has always been conscious of how the hot dry summers inevitably stoke wildfires in the valleyโs arid environment. However, what hasnโt happened before, from her perspective, was the early onset of the extreme heat and ongoing drought conditions.
During the end of June and beginning of July, BC was under an extreme heat dome with temperatures in the 40โs. This was unprecedented. Even though one of the warmest places in Canada is Osoyoos, BC, they still had never seen temperatures past 33 degrees in June. On the news, the number of wildfires has outranked last year by 5 times what was seen previously. By mid-July, they had recorded over 1000 wildfires compared to a previous statistic in 2020 for that same time was just over 200. Up to now, 2018 was BCโs difficult fire season, we are not at the end of this one but it will be sure to break some records somewhere. Outside of the obvious heat dome and climate change discussion what other outlying factors are involved in this yearโs intense wildfire season?
The Ongoing Challenges
As the conversation evolved and our movement propelled us into what environmental factors have led to this relentlessly dry environment, Auntie June told me about the pine beetle ravaged trees and the lack of rain. We talked about why the provincial government tried to harvest these diseased trees with little immediate value for time and money spent. She then told me how much time she spends cleaning and clearing her own 8-acre hillside lot of the potential fire hazards. These vary from dry brush, fallen pine needles to discarded aerosol cans left by vagrant youth. She points out that โThose aerosol cans can explode.โ Then, she bends down to pick up a cigarette butt off the ground saying, โwho the heck is smoking out here!?โ I hear the frustration in her voice. Year after year, tourists flock to the Okanagan area in hopes of a beach escape. However, many are oblivious of the delicate balance this environment is teetering on in the summer.
Taking Time to Understand
I, myself, remember when I was younger thinking how old-fashioned and prudish my elders sounded for poo-pooing people for these behaviors. Now, as I hear of people losing their homes, sometimes their whole communities, such as Lytton, BC, and in the recent past, Fort McMurray, AB; these cautionary statements paint a whole new image for me. My aunt walks out amongst this environment as a grand elder wondering when we all will learn to respect and protect what we have before it, too, is gone.
Working on Solutions
After coming back from this small trip eastwards, I started to reflect on how, I, as a glocally minded individual, can help reshape this thinking about the changing environments, temperatures, and times. Glocally as an adjective means to think locally as well as globally. While reading various statistical data websites, I came across a BC Government funding initiative that was started back in 2018. Iโm guessing it was in reaction to, or in anticipation of the intense wildfire season that year. The initiative is called the FireSmart Program. The highlights of the funding and support portion of this program are:
100% funding of up to $150,000 across a suite of FireSmart activities.
Regional, multi-jurisdictional applications are encouraged
Incentives have been added to undertake FireSmart activities on private land.
Funding opportunities are available for fuel management projects on First Nation reserves.
Wandering around the website, I was especially impressed by the free educational materials created for anyone to utilize to initiate community projects or utilize in classrooms before schools are let out for the summer. Like the beach clean upโs, practiced here on the West Coast, I envision forest and community fire starter clean-ups. As the adage goes knowledge is power. In the end, all people need to be aware of what we can do prevention-wise, to live more sustainably in this other new normal.
By Theresa K. Howell
FireSmart BC Educational Materials- https://firesmartbc.ca/ember/
[1] Excerpt from: Chapter 2 โGoing Glocalโ – Thriving Beyond Sustainability; Pathways to a Resilient Society by Andres R. Edwards (2010)
June 8th is World Ocean’s Day. What will you do to celebrate your connection to the Earth’s greatest contribution to our humanity? This liquid lifeforce covers 70% of the earth’s surface and supplies 50% of the oxygen that we breathe. Unfortunately, 90% of big fish populations have been depleted and 50% of the coral reefs have been destroyed. Humankind has made an impact and not necessarily for the better. So what can we do to change direction?
Rage Against the Machine
Currently, Seaspiracy is the movie to see relating to oceanic advocacy documentaries. It raises important issues about the current health of our oceans. The documentary brings attention to the global fishing industry plus the ocean pollution and degradation which affects this deep water ecosystem. Like Michael Mooreโs film, โRoger and Meโ that discussed the car industry’s effect on the health of Flint, Michigan, Seaspiracyโs use of directional storytelling doesnโt mince words. Ali and Lucy Tabrizi, the director and filmmaker, hit the audience and its interviewees with dramatic footage and intense film bytes. I personally believe we need harsh โin your faceโ pieces like these to take the rose-coloured gaze off our day-to-day feel-good environmental placations. HOWEVER, this Blogcast intends to have you โINSPIREDโ not โFIREDโ up. So, make sure to come back here after you have balanced out. Hopefully, we can talk about where to go from there.
A Small Fish Swims Upstream
Back in 1992, Canada’s International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) proposed the concept of World Ocean Day at the Earth Summit in Brazil. It took years of building and focus before any substantive global involvement took hold. Finally, on June 8th, 2008 the UN officially recognized World Ocean Day. Now, in 2021 after rising out of the dim days of COVID, we can see the brilliant possibilities and new pathways that envision a future based on respect and sustainability.
An Oceanโs Chance
For 2021, World Ocean Day is focusing its attention on the 30×30 direction. What this means is cleaning 30% of the Ocean by 2030. It is ambitious but doable. These numbers arenโt unreasonable when people work together collectively. Whether you are an individual or an organization, there are ways to make a difference. OceanWiseโs Youth to Sea is one of those organizations. About a month ago, See Change MAKERS interviewed Michelle Bienkowski, Youth to Seaโs program facilitator. She discussed many initiatives this remarkable group of young leaders has taken on such as their Shoreline Cleanup.
Another organization that is making waves, is Plastic Oceanโs. Its mission is to inform, inspire, and incite action to solve plastic pollution. Both Ocean Wise and Plastic Oceans are signatories of the Canadian Ocean Plastics Charter. The charterโs aim is to bring together government, business, and civil society to redefine how plastic enters our ecosystem.
One of Plastic Oceanโs Canada initiatives is education. Teaching and informing viewers about the impacts of plastic trash collected, what changemakers are doing, and an extensive array of data-based research and information. This non-profit organization is moving rapidly to hopefully make an impact. Currently, they have listed 35 ocean cleanup projects taking place globally. ย Other initiatives are collaborative education projects where they engage youth to be the voice for their generation. They work alongside educators and students to inspire circular economy solutions. As an educator, one of my favorite youth-based initiatives is the Short Film: Earths Ekko ย
Smaller Ponds
These non-profit organizations spend every day working on what they see as pathways to a healthy ocean. However, there are others that come at it from different directions such as environmental, photographic artist, Benjamin Von Wong. Currently, he is in the process of developing a large installation that is based on a week’s collection of plastic garbage within his local Montreal community.
โWe’re building a three-story-tall art installation with plastic flowing out of it, and on top of this is a giant faucet,โ Von Wong told CTV News in a recent interview. โThe idea is to tell people that we need to turn off the plastic tap.โ This project is intent on reminding people of the pollution that is plaguing society and the oceans.
Plastic pollution was also one reason that Kevin Hinton, Brad Liski, and Ryan McKenzie, Tru Earthโs founders, started their business back in 2019. Now, Tru-Earth ships packets of its laundry eco-strips around the world. These little 2X4-inch laundry eco-strips have prevented more than two million plastic laundry jugs from being thrown away. Due to their amazing marketing acumen and their desire for change, the Port Moody company won a 2020 award for being the fastest-growing start-up. Liski told Tri-City News, โConsumers don’t want plastic anymore.โ He went further by saying, โItโs just the beginning for the planet.โ Itโs no wonder they have been the fastest-growing start-up, consumers are recognizing they want to be part of this global change.
Recently, we interviewed Ryan McKenzie, co-founder of Tru Earth. Check out the article then interview onSee Change MAKERS People Page.
By Theresa K. Howell
See Change MAKERS respectfully acknowledges that all of the works we do take place on Coast Salish land, home to the Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, Stรณ:lล, and Squamish nations.
This week, people around the globe recognized March 22nd as World Water Day. This important day of acknowledgment brings up stories of limited water resources in many countries, due to droughts, limited rainfall, or contaminated water supplies. However, we also see areas that are impacted by deluges of water brought about by floods, overextended dams, and sometimes limited infrastructure. โGlobally, floods and extreme rainfall events have increased by more than 50% over the past decade, occurring at a rate four times greater than in 1980 (EASAC, 2018). Climate change is expected to further increase the frequency and severity of floods and droughts (IPCC, 2018).โ states the United Nations World Water Development Report 2021 On Valuing Water.
The science of water
Water is a powerful life force that all living things depend on. I recall going to ROMโs (Royal Ontario Museum) โWater: The Exhibitโ a full decade ago. It was the most informative and interactive exhibit I’ve seen about the global communityโs primary resource. Entering the main hall, I saw a circling sphere. Suspended from the central ceiling hub of all related activities, it illuminated the blue and green of the earth, asking viewers to reflect on “why” this exhibit is so important. It is the world we live in, the only one which supports us due to the existence of water. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson states in a recent interview on PBSโs Amanpour & Co. โโฆevery place on Earth where we find liquid water, we find life, even the dead sea.โ
Everyday Water
As I toured the exhibit, I learned many things that day. One resonant point that stayed with me to this very day is the amount of freshwater that exists on earth. For the entire globe, โfreshwater makes up only 3% of the planetโs surfaceโ. Consequently, freshwater is what we depend on to survive. So, โhow do we manage it?โ was a question that made me pause. Since gaining this piece of knowledge, I have constantly been cognisant of how I use and misuse the water that runs through my life. This is a list of activities I have direct control by me. These activities keep the resource at the forefront of my mind:
Brushing my teeth/washing my face
Showering or bathing
Boiling water for tea/coffee/dinner
Washing clothes
Cleaning floors/walls/etc.
Watering plants/garden/lawns
Flushing the toilet
Washing a car
Power-washing
Going swimming
Each time, I do any one of these things, I remember that I am extracting a portion of the 3% freshwater that we all need to share. Now, I am mindful of how long I run the water and how much I am using it.
In the end…
It has contributed to one of the reasons this website was initiated. Thus, I decided to find and connect with others who have this same respect for water and the world; people who want to make a difference. In the coming months, I will be searching for those who are making this difference.
We are all broaching a New Year and a new way of looking at our future. As the Spring blossoms let us look for new ways of seeing our world.
The holiday season is fast approaching. Not surprisingly, COVID numbers are rising. It makes for a new twist on a much-loved charitable time. This time is symbolized by gift-giving and socializing. As the news is telling us, we need to take a moment to rethink this. Thankfully many of us have learned to use ZOOM and FACETIME to keep in touch with our loved ones. So, we now socialize with each other online or socially distanced at a park or parking lot.
However, our ideas of charity and gift-giving need to be reframed to consider our struggling local businesses that are having such a hard time this year. Enough of the big box stores like Walmart, Costco, and other such multinationals which raked in record profits. For example, the three Waltonโs, heirs to Walmart made 35.7 million increasing their net worth by approx. 22% during the crisis and gave back less than .01% of that gain to the pandemic crisis relief as stated in a Yahoo article.
Charity starts at Home
Letโs show our giving and charity to those community businesses that need our support during this holiday season. They need to pay the rent, employ their workers and basically stay afloat. These Changemakers are trying to create change from the bottom up. Sometimes, it is about changing their childrenโs lives for the better. Sometimes, it is about creating incremental change. These are the unsung heroes in our community who are wanting to make a small difference for themselves and their families.
Symbolically, this whole scenario reminds me of the story, A Christmas Carol. We see Scrooge, alone in his household, crouched over intensely counting his fortunes. Meanwhile, Bob Cratchit is barely piecing together a meager amount of income to take time off with his family during the holidays. At the same time, Cratchit tries to do his best to take care of his physically challenged son, Tiny Tim. ย So try imagining these mega-corps as Scrooge and our local businesses as Bob Cratchit. This may help you to rethink how you want to show your gift-giving to others.
Here is a WIKI compilation outlining local links listing local businesses from across Canada.
BUY LOCAL and SHOW YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY!!!
Here are some tips put up by Vancouver Best Places article โBC Buy Local Week in Vancouverโ posted on November 30th. Also the main feature on BC Buy Local Website. They are celebrating Buy Local Week from November 30-December 6th.
BC Buy Local Weekโs Seven Ways for Seven Days
BC Buy Local Week lists seven ways to support local businesses on its website. The seven things you can do to help include the following:
Buy Local Online (instead of doing all your online shopping with giant corporations like Amazon or major big box stores)
Shop in Store (because itโs fun, you can try things on, and doing so saves on unnecessary shipping and packaging; keeping in mind masks are mandatory right now)
Promote and Share (by telling your friends about your support of buying local and using the hashtag #BCBuyLocal in your social media posts)
Support your Community (by shopping at bricks and mortar stores near your home wearing a mask)
Put Local on your Table (by using locally grown ingredients in your cooking and treating yourself to take out meals from locally-owned restaurants)
Buy Local Made (by buying products that are made in the Lower Mainland or BC, or at the very least somewhere in Canada)
Buy Local Gift Cards (instead of buying gift cards from big box stores and multinational corporations, buy them from your local coffee shop, restaurant or small independently owned retail store)
A COVID Christmas Story from ABC News
ABC NEWS The Akenhead family in Corrales, New Mexico, have set up a holiday tree lot with donations going toward local businesses that have been hurt during the pandemic.
Vancouver Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2021 will be held on October 24 and 25, 2020. Fashion has been undertaking a huge rethink in how it navigates itself. During COVID, most retail outlets have been shuttered, especially those that sell non-essential items such as apparel, sporting goods, furniture, and most anything outside of the basics. Over and above this, the climate as well as human rights are becoming paramount issues.
Waste a Lot, Want Not
If fashion retailers werenโt proactively using online sales and marketing, they soon had to pivot their companies or fall by the wayside in the race for a shrinking global consumer. As well, over the last decade, the fast fashion industry has reluctantly come face-to-face with its impacts on the environment.
The current consumer generation is making companies take notice as their buying habits shift. In 2019, Nielsen conducted a survey on consumer habits. They found that younger consumers were concerned about their effect on the environment. According to the survey, 53% of those aged 21 to 34 said theyโd give up a brand-name product in order to buy an environmentally friendly one, compared with 34% of those aged 50 through 64. Meanwhile, in a recent European survey done on consumer trends, a majority of shoppers are concerned about how their habits would affect the current COVID crisis, while just over half of that number were choosing to shop locally, putting less strain on the supply chain as well as supporting their local businesses.
A Pioneer in Sustainable Fashion
In a recent Amanpour & Company episode, Christian Amanpour interviewed Stella McCartney.ย During the interview, McCartney discusses her brand of fashion in the current era. The fashion house is about “doing more with less,” says McCartney. Challenging the current standard in fashion houses, where if there is excess in a production run, it is buried or burned to maintain design integrity. However, McCartney is always striving to reach the pinnacle of sustainability. No longer considered the โeco weirdoโ, McCartney reflects on how to make her vegan-friendly, sustainable fashion house better. McCartney created her own fashion label using principles based on ethical consumption practices back in 2001, as she launched the self-titled fashion house with Kering, previously Gucci. Finally, in 2018, she bought out Keringโs stake in the company and took full control of the helm. In December of the same year, she collaborated with the United Nations to come up with a new fashion industry charter for climate action.
Following quickly behind McCartneyโs footsteps, Keringโs CEO, Franรงois-Henri Pinault, gathered together a group of fashion industry leaders to create the 2019 Fashion Pact. The coalition of companies discussed how they would proactively reduce their impact on the climate. The Fashion Pact was presented to Heads of State at the G7 Summit in Biarritz by President Emmanuel Macron. However, in the list of signatories, there are only 2 manufacturers. Meanwhile, some of the biggest impacts on the environment come from this area of the industry. At the Copenhagen Fashion Summit (CFS+) held on October 12-13, the Fashion Pact had a live panel discussion. However, they failed to establish quantifiable targets. There was also no talk about how the brands are failing the garment workers and suppliers during this global pandemic. One of the panel speakers, Paul Polman, says things need to be โpushed as aggressively as possible,โ although โthe industry alone cannot enact the change needed,โ referencing governments and policymakers about the other aspects of the industry.ย
Reframing Fashion
Determined to make change happen, grassroots fashion retailers and designers are reenvisioning their industry from the ground up. Many of the sustainable and ethical fashion innovators are local grassroots businesses. Of course, this should be no surprise, but what is surprising is the holistic nature with which they approach their business. Each company chooses a focus and envelops it with complete fervor. For example, the Girlfriend Collective prides itself on its transparency. The collective produces sustainable, ethically made activewear that also focuses on inclusive sizing. The materials include recycled plastic bottles and recycled fishing nets. Meanwhile, the manufacturing is performed in an SA8000-certified factory that guarantees fair wages, safe and healthy conditions for employees, and absolutely no child labor. Learn the specific details on their โaboutโ page.
Another local design collective with similar aspirations will be presenting its designs at the upcoming Vancouver Fashion Week. Faun Studios of Calgary, AB, manufactures sustainably and ethically in the designerโs motherโs home country of Vietnam. Marisa P. Clark, the designer of Faun Studio, also launched BOCCA Imports. Likewise, this passion project donates 100% of the proceeds to her motherโs charity, B.T. Mekong Education Association, which supports education in rural Vietnam. It appears our current generation is paving the path for all to follow. ย For more information on other conscientious fashion choices, check out the Sustainability’s Magazine feature โ10 Sustainable Clothing Companies.โ
On March 20th, 2020, Canada enacted a strategy to fight COVID-19, in most, if not all provinces. The way we lived our lives changed overnight. Usually, at this time of year, gardeners and farmers alike would be making efforts to prepare lands, collect seeds, or begin seedlings to be planted in the next couple of months. This would not change for the local agrarian culture. However, access to these food sources would become somewhat complicated. Global supply chains became accelerated overnight as people went into a survival mode.ย Many started to hoard random products for fear of missing out (FOMO). Products such as toilet paper, sanitizer, Lysol wipes were hard to come by. As self-isolating households learned to cope with no access to outdoor entertainment, baking products then flew off shelves to the chagrin of grocers ill-equipped to handle the demand.
Soul Food Street Farms @ Trout Lake Farmers Market. Photo by Theresa K. Howell
These unique times put everyone on high alert. In May, community garden membership requests surged sparkingCommunity Garden Builders to create an app that could help regional managers with their needs. Also, a request for food supplies through charitable organizations increased such as was experienced on the North Shore by the Food Bank with one of its suppliers of fresh produce,Edible Garden Project. This may have stemmed from the self-isolation or from unemployment due to the shuttering of businesses. Local food production and its lower costs and immediate access became instantly appealing. However, in June through to August people started going back to their previous habits as grocery stores were easily stocked and opened up for longer hours.
This brings us to the idea of how North America can revisit food production and its many pitfalls. As Winston Churchill and others have insisted one must never let a good crisis go to waste. So how is it that the COVID-19 crisis and the future of our climate can help municipalities and local governments rethink their local populations’ needs and the resources they have access to?
Community Minded Urban Agriculture
In Dallas, Texas, Bonton Farms is an urban farm model that established itself to look at the community on a holistic level. How can urban agriculture affect communities of people who live in poverty?
This is what Daron Babcock explored when he first moved down to Texas. He wanted to make a difference for the community and the people who needed jobs. 25% of the population in America lives in poverty and many young men from those communities find themselves in jail before the age of 25 years old. Instead of dealing with the symptoms of poverty and racism, Babcock looked at how he could assist in getting people healthy food, housing, and employment.
Babcock says, โThere should be a huge shift in investment and energy from the downstream measures when they have fallen in the river and they are drowning and moving it upstream before they fall in and give them the resources, they need to become something special to give back to this world.โ
Currently, Bonton Farms is the largest urban farm in the U.S. with over 42 acres inside the city of Dallas. The community has over 1800 people coming down to visit them. โItโs no longer us and them, itโs we and things change.โ, says Babcock.
How Urban Farming Saved a Dallas Community by Freethink published on February 2020
Current industrial food production is also less than ideal for its variety, nutritional content, and environmental impact. This essential service has been managing in a less than ideal situation creating an imbalance in the system states Michael Ableman, co-founder, and director of Sole Food Street Farms in Vancouver, BC. He establishes that โthe system is way out of balance. You have 1.5% of the population providing nourishment for the rest of us.โ Ableman has been a social advocate for how to manage food production in urban settings with the intent of affecting populations living on the fringes of society, for over a decade now. Learn more about Michael Ableman and his current publications in our concluding edition of food production atHarvesting Ideas and Ideals. So where is this food production, currently?
Taking it to a Higher Ground
Produce found in our local supermarkets is selected for their ability to travel long distances and go through many changes before arriving. For instance, greenhouse tomatoes used to allow for a choice of 500 varieties. Now based on the industrial farm production and the supply model, they have been reduced to 12 varieties. To enable a lengthy transport and handling process, they will be picked while still green disallowing the growing process to nurture its full nutritional development. In the end, the process of industrial farming utilizes 70% water, 37% land, 30% energy while emitting 20% greenhouse gases to give consumers basic produce that could be grown on rooftop gardens, balconies, front or backyards. So how can food production be explored closer to home?
โNothing about urban agriculture is really revolutionary, itโs simply a recreation of something that is very, very old.โ says Mohamed Hage in his 2012 TEDxTalk.
Mohamed Hage, an agriculture and technology enthusiast, is the founding president of Lufa Farms, a company that designs, builds and operates rooftop agricultural greenhouses. It was to provide fresh, local and responsible vegetables to montrรฉalais consumers that he created the first commercial rooftop greenhouse in the world in the winter of 2011. Mohamed Hage supervises all of Lufa Farms’ daily activities, but is particularly interested in research, planning, construction and operation of the greenhouse environment.
His present goal is to help this new agricultural model be progressively integrated onto rooftops across major cities.https://montreal.lufa.com/en/
Looking at rooftop gardens, a variety of professors have been instrumental in creating the Ryerson University Green Roof project in Toronto. These same people have helped the municipality pass a bylaw that states that any new buildings over a certain size must include a green roof. Currently, buildings built before the 1950s were the only rooftops available for rooftop gardens as they have the load-bearing capacity to handle the weight of a rooftop garden. When fully saturated with mature plant cover, a thin extensive green roof can weigh about 13 pounds per square foot. A more typical extensive roof with 3 to 4 inches of growing medium weighs 17 to 18 pounds per square foot, and a deeper intensive system can weigh 35 pounds or more per square foot. These are some factors which are important to consider when considering rooftop farming. Listen for more details on how the Ryerson explored their venture with the Green Roof Project in this video:
Growing Food in the City – Urban Rooftop Farm in Downtown Toronto by Exploring Alternatives published Feb.2019
CBC’s Now or Never PODCAST explores“What it takes to Farm”in their September 23th episode. Trevor Dineen and Ify Chiwetelu interviewed six different farmers across Canada from BC to Ontario. Tune in to hear about the different farming traditions was uncovered during the PODCAST interviews.
During this global pandemic when the world was put on pause, we saw the wholesale effects of the inequities in our technological system. The most vulnerable were being bombarded with a need to catch up to a digital world that remained just at the edge of their grasp. Previously, schools, libraries, and public spaces provided the bridge between these digital realms. Suddenly, those were closed. These public institutions, with COVID-19, only became accessible through an internet connection and a digital peripheral. These distinct disparities are discussed in The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab. Schwab points out that โthe digital divide becomes ever more pressing as it is increasingly difficult for people to participate in the digital economy and civic engagement without proper internet access and/or without access to a connected device of sufficient knowledge to use the device.โ in his book.
Throughout modern history, humankind has witnessed, as well as instigated, these mechanistic and electronic revolutions. The first and second revolutions were earmarking by industry which brought about a carbon-based economy utilizing huge manufacturing plants run by coal. As time has moved forward, we have outgrown these modes of thinking and production. While the most current 3rd and 4th revolutions started back in the late โ70s, they were the beginnings of a technology-based digital economy. We are currently in the late stages of the 3rd revolution which revolved around the introduction of consumer-based computer internet technology which brought the world closer via communications. Moving rapidly into the 4th revolution, we are experiencing how to harness those specific digital attributes to create a systemic shift in the way we think about health care, education, and politics.
The 4th Industrial Revolution
https://youtu.be/khjY5LWF3tg
World Economic Forum published on April 13, 2016
An Overview of Industry 4.0
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a way of describing the blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. Itโs a fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other technologies. Itโs the collective force behind many products and services that are fast becoming indispensable to modern life. Think GPS systems that suggest the fastest route to a destination, voice-activated virtual assistants such as Appleโs Siri, personalized Netflix recommendations, and Facebookโs ability to recognize your face and tag you in a friendโs photo. In a quote from the World Economic Forum:
โWhen compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.โ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
A Needed Pause
Meanwhile, much of humankinds need to create and progress is partially why we are in this global pandemic. Encroaching and opening areas that were previously frozen or untouched has made a global population vulnerable. For example, visiting wet markets to attain new culinary sensations or travelling to more sensitive areas are leaving boundaries between habitats mutable. So, it seems as though this pandemic reminds us to stop and take a moment. Be more mindful of the world around us. These times give us the opportunity to reflect on where we are at and what we are doing. It has also challenged our ability to be โagileโ in the face of immediate change. Suddenly, we needed to rethink how to approach education, business and the arts in order to stay healthy. Educators were being fast tracked to teach online through remote learning. Non-essential businesses were reimaging how to engage their consumers in new ways of physical distance and limited engagements. The arts were having to relook at how to perform and entertain through digital networks and social platforms. These challenges were met in many cases and we managed. This reminds us all, we can meet changes with success.
This is what brings me to the question, how do we move forward to be inclusive of everyoneโs needs?
Change Makers answer the call
Letโs look at one change maker that started reimagining industry 3.0 then the 4.0 world early on in his life and now revolutionizing the way we think about our lives in the 21st century. As a young man, South African born, Elon Musk started to imagine the world through futuristic eyes while reading Isaac Asimovโs Foundation series. His mother, Maye Musk says, โWhen Elon was young, I noticed that he read everything. He was always absorbing information. We called Elon the Encyclopedia. I guess now we would call him The Internet.โ He resonated with the idea that โyou should try to take the set of actions that are likely to prolong civilization, minimize the probability of a dark age and reduce the length of a dark age if there is one”.[i] From his formative years, it became a mission of his to assist in maximizing his capacity to influence creations that better humanity and prolong sustainability. Outside of being the CEO of Tesla, one of the most globally renowned electric vehicle companies, heโs also affiliated with SolarCity, SpaceX, Hyperloop, OpenAI and Neuralink. Each of these businesses revolve around industry 4.0 concepts.
For instance, SolarCity is a U.S. provider of solar power systems. Then in 2016, SolarCity was acquired by Tesla. The integration of the two companies seemed obvious as Musk says, โIf you have a great solar roof, and you have a battery pack in your house, and you have an electric car, that scales worldwide. You can solve the whole energy equation with that.โ (Oct 28, 2016 | Source)
The concept for HyperLoop creates a high-speed transportation system that builds reduced-pressure tubes using pressurized capsules as the mode of travel between large city centers such as New York to Washington, D.C. This transportation system has been cited as being cheaper than any other mode for long-distance transport. As well, itโs impact on the environment is nominal outside of the initial construction.
Meanwhile, a division of SpaceX, Starlink, is in the final stages of providing delivery of high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable. When putting tens of thousands of satellites in orbit and connecting them in a network with one another, he says he can ensure smart global coverage in a way no one ever has. Each solar-powered Starlink satellite will have sensors and thrusters so it can detect its location and stay in line. Musk also says these satellites will safely deorbit at end of life without leaving behind unnecessary space garbage. Currently, Starlink is in its beta test stage and looking for consumerโs be part of their large scale implementation process. In his book, Schwab suggests that by 2025, 90% of people will have regular access to the internet. As he says, โregular access to the internet and information will no longer be a benefit of developed economies, but a basic right like clean water.โ
With TESLA, Musk has also done what previous CEOs failed to do which is put priority in sharing the technology and making these all-electric cars affordable for an average consumer. As well, in 2014, Tesla allowed good faith usage of its patents to accelerate the development of electric vehicles. Then, in 2016, he unveiled the Model 3, Teslaโs most consumer-friendly electric vehicle coming in at $35,000 US and making it the worldโs best-selling electric car. Being a stickler for branding as much as technology, Musk originally wanted to label his newest addition, Model E. However, Ford wouldnโt release its trademark ownership. Interestingly, the dampening of the โEโ version caused Musk to rethink his spelling of all TESLAโs S, X, Y series to be S3XY instead of his preferred SEXY.
During this same time frame, in 2015, Musk announced his creation of OpenAI, a not for profit artificial intelligence (AI) company. OpenAIโs intentions are to develop artificial general intelligence in a way that is safe and beneficial to humanity. Which aligns itself with Neuralink, where the organization is looking at ways on how to create devices that can be implanted in the human brain.
Muskโs visions remind us all that anything is possible. These changes will advance North America into a cleaner and more empathic future. So, with the right investments and policies from other leaders, a shift in global civilization is just around the corner in this Fourth Revolution.
