the "First" Nations

Land dispute struggles between Euro-centric Canadian's and the First Nations people of Canada is obviously not a new concept, it has been occurring since the white people first arrived on this land. Even by attending Wilfrid Laurier University we are participating within the dispute, as Six Nations owns the land surrounding the Grand River, which is exactly where we are right now. These disputes and fight just continue the oppression and the cultural ignorance that is seperating our two cultures, because they are so different it makes understanding and accepting so much more difficult. Our guest speaker Alex, who discussed his work at Grassy Narrows brought up an interesting fact that the relationship that the First Nations people have with the land and the environment is one that we may not even be able to understand for years. He discussed how he worked directly with them and still does not understand their ideas on the environment and the important relationships they hold. This is an important concept as I completely understand what he is saying, as I myself do not feel as if I could understand their ways of thinking.
For example, their idea's of 7 generations for land preservation. I do not feel as if this concept is realistic within our society, as it's the 21st century and I don't think that shit will fly, and it isnt. This concept of 7 generational land is at the forefront of disputes like the ones seen at Caledonia, where cultural dispute and ignorance is at it's highest. Perhaps we can learn something from the First Nations people in terms of the environment, but it may take some more time, and the elimination of cultural ignorance and racism. Once this happens, perhaps we can all live in the same country free of segregation and seperation, but it may take some compromise from both sides.

North vs South?

To start from the beginning, our "global south" is suffering from disadvantages they simply do not and cannot have any control over. The majority of the world's land mass is located above the equator within the northern hemisphere, alond with the majority of the world's wealth. This has resulted in countless examples of exploitation of the south by the north, ultimately resulting in death and disparity in these countries. It is incredible how large northern (and in most cases Western) powerhouses choose to go to these developing countries in the south to exploit resources. These people have so little to begin with, not even enough to feed and water their own citizens without these large corporations walking in and taking even more of these precious life resources. Currently there is a crisis with water within the global south, so much so that water has become one of the most valuable resources in the world. Blue gold! people are calling it, and right now countries in the global south have chosen to put a price tag on water. In some cases even privatising water, putting it far out of the reach of the people living there. How can you justify making something so scarce already even more difficult to get your hands on for these people? Privatising water is a joke. Water should be a right not a privilege. In saying so the right to water should be added to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because we can no longer allow for these people in the Global South to suffer anymore.

Undeniable

It is simply undeniable that our world is experiencing climate change. Whether or not we choose to use vague terms such as "global warming" to describe it or not, our world climate is experienceing fluctuation. For those sceptics out there just look at the glaciers not only at the poles but all over the world as they are drastically disappearing resulting in multiple consequences. Whether or not we choose to believe it now or later, eventually our lives will change due to climate change and in most cases it will be for the worst. It could be an increase in sea levels, drought, green house gasses, or even plague, but at some point our lives all over the world will experience devestation. We need to stop arguing about certain climate change scenarios and start looking at it in the big picture, at a global scale. Because it will not only be certain area's affected, we may not all be affected in the same way, but we will ALL be affected. All those ignorant people out there denying the changes to our climate saying how a couple of degree changes can't be enough to make any sort of difference need to snap out of it. We need to look at the professionals and scientists who are able to measure the change in climate instead of our past beliefs for guidance. If we do not act globally and united then our future generations will not have a planet to worry about. Worth the effort?

New Orleans - Whatta joke!

The way that the municipal and federal government have handled the city of New Orleans after the disaster is a disaster initself. It is a joke. The city of New Orleans is so far below sea level that the possibility of flooding from strorms is inevitable. So many experts knew that this was going to happen, and the city officials essentially left the citizens to drown. It is a joke the way that the New Orleans people were prepared for disaster in terms of protection and evacuation. The question of whether or not the amount of damage that occurred could have been prevented is in no doubt in my mind 100% that it could have been prevented. The levee system along the Gulf Coast was only enforced to stop category three hurricanes, where Hurricane Katrina was a category 5. The worse thing is that this was not a surprise hurricane, as so many people predicted this storm coming. There have also been several hurricanes to hit New Orleans over the past few decades, and for the city levee's not to be built to protect from category 5 hurricanes is non-excusable. And even now while rebuilding the levee's after Katrina, they are only building them to category 3 hurricane once again. The fact that the city has no money to rebuild these levee's is also a joke, as they rebuilt the NFL stadium immediately, and Canal street, one of the largest tourist attractions has also been rebuilt. They are putting the joke tourism industry of New Orleans as first priority and leaving thousands of people homeless and with nothing.
The federal government should quit it with these billion dollar bail-out investments into large corporations like the auto-industry, and put the money into restoring the city of New Orleans and other cities along the Gulf Coast. They cannot allow this to happen again, and should never have happened in the first place. Whatta Joke.

Oink Oink

We have this fairytale idea of where our food comes from. It's this idea of a happy little farm where all the animals can roam free, they have a barn to themselves, and they all talk and smile when the farmer isn't watching. Wow thanks Disney, you have definitely succeeded in pulling the Meatrix over so many of our heads, giving us this false reality of where our food comes from. In reality our food comes from these heavily populated factories where the animals are forced to stand in a stationary spot and are fed antibiotics so they don't get sick. However, it is no only the food that these animals are produced for that are being contaminated but it is also the environment around these corporate farms that are being destroyed by this mass farming. The waste alone from these pigs is astronomical, and the way that they are collected, in "lagoons", is destroying the landscapes around these farms. These huge corporate farms need to be held responsible the damages they are causing to our planet. We have already seen Smithfield Farms being punished for its environmental responsibility in North Carolina, it was charged $65 million for the damages it was doing within the Pork industry.
We as consumers also need to be more aware of the food we are eating and where it comes from. We are fortunate living in Waterloo as we have access to rural areas to buy local food, however we also need to be more careful when buying from grocery stores. Let's not contribute to the problem of mass farming, let's be the solution. Buy local.

Take it to the Next Level!

During the presentation Susan mentioned more than once the importance of getting political when dealing with Environmental inequalities and injustices. Her story alone shows how when you feel passionately enough but something there needs to be a change in the policies and laws that are standing in the way of those justices. I personally feel that simply organizing outside of the formal structures of polity is not enough to make change and in order to get results you need to take it to the next level. I feel like this point is a vary important aspect of many fights against inequality, not only within the Environmental movement realm but for every social movement. If there are formal policies that are in place against you within the political institution, then the fight needs to be taken to that same political level in order to see change. Susan believed there needed to be a formal ban against the use of pesticides, and in order for that to happen she saw it necessary to take it to the courts. I am extremely impressed in the results Susan and her team were able to accomplished and i think she is an inspiration to everyone.
On another note, i work for a lawn care company during the summer, and this will be my 4th summer doing so. I only work with Irrigation, so only sprinklers, I have never used herbicides or any form of pesticides in my work, and I agree with Susan when she said you do not need these pesticides for your lawn and garden. It is true that people are OBSESSED with their lawns, for many people (men specifically, women like gardens mostly), they will do anything to get a good lawn, and usually the easiest and cheapest is to use spray. However, i know if you just add water and dont pick up your grass clippings when you cut your lawn and mayber fertalize you will have a great lawn and garden. You definitely do not need sprays for a nice front lawn. People are just lazy and looking for a quick solution. Gash we're lazy.

We are the Generation of E-waste

It is pretty clear that we as Westerners are a key player in the arrival of the e-waste generation. We are the largest consumers in the world, and with the vast majority of our products being manufactured in developing countries, consequently, they end up in the landfills and neighbourhoods of those same countries after we've had our fun. As our society continues to be centred around consuming and developing new technologies and electronic devices it is only going to make the situation overseas worse. It would not be wrong to place part of the blame onto ourselves for seeking the newest toys and ultimately contributing to the problem, however I dont feel as if we should be that hard on ourselves for playing the role of consumer.
If manufacturers developed products that were designed not to harm the environment to the same degree, it would put them at a huge advantage over other manufacturers. We're already seeing this with Sony, as they have issued its own list of restricted hazardous substances and the result is the disqualification of hundreds of suppliers who do not meet those requirements. The more green your manfacturing is, the more green your pockets will be ;)
Same goes for the producers and the large corporations. If they distributed green products they can jack those prices through the roof! They can internalize the shit of their products with waste managment costs!
Let's not get mad at ourselves for buying products, and let's not get mad at ourselves for not buying the most eco-friendly products... let's not overdue it! but there is way more incentive for producers and manufacturers to change then there are for us.