This week on Green Bean Tuesdays, I invite you to watch this short video clip:

and read this Grist article

They both have almost  everything that needs to be said about the topic of food activism and our rights to a healthy world. Once you’ve watched and read, please comment below. We will bring you a full report in next week’s posting, and a good old fashion story about one woman’s struggle with no longer being a vegetarian.

A serious look into our industrial food systems. Wanna see what your food really looks like?

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The earthquake in Haiti on January 12th of this new year was another devastating blow for the country and the environmental problems before the quake pose further threats to the country now. We can learn some valuable lessons about long-term environmental planning, poverty and conservation from Haiti.

With less than 2% forest cover remaining, there are extremely high risks of landslides occurring. Having no vegetation to hold the soil back, the chances of recovery from environmental damage become less hopeful. This deforestation is largely based in tree to coal conversions, used for household fuel.

Before the quake, UNEP had planned projects for resource conservation, including forests and coral reefs, beginning in 2010. Thousands have died annually due to flooding in hand with erosion. Hurricanes have also had a larger impact on Haiti than on neighboring Dominican Republic from the severe lack of trees, which originally served as a natural buffer.

Satellite image of the border between Haiti (left) and the Dominican Republic (right) showing deforestation (source: NASA)

Haiti’s history of strife appears to be long and stricken with natural resource mis-management. The events of January 12th are acting as a headlight to look deeper into this unfortunately troubled country. Haitians are no stranger to disaster.

For more information on the history of Haiti’s environmental problems, please visit the following links:

Times of Malta

Excerpt: “Long-term efforts to help Haiti recover from the earthquake will have to reverse environmental damage such as near-total deforestation that threatens food and water supplies for the Caribbean nation, experts say.

The focus is now on emergency aid — Haitian officials estimate that between 100,000 and 200,000 people died in the January 12 quake. But President Rene Preval urged donors to also to remember the country’s long-term needs.

Experts say deforestation in Haiti stretching back to the Duvalier dictatorships — leaving the nation with less than 2 percent forest cover — contributes to erosion that undermines food output by the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.”

Grist online environmental magazine, “10 things I Haiti about you”

Excerpt: “More than 90 percent of the country of Haiti is deforested. If you think that’s depressing, consider that the lack of trees to hold soil in place has left Haiti’s rural residents vulnerable to periodic floods in which torrential rainwater tumbles down mountains, picking up gravel and boulders that slam into villages.”

Al older posting from a Latin America studies website, dating to 2003, on Haiti’s environmental disaster.

Excerpt: “The environmental crisis is very real and entails much suffering,” says Glenn Smucker, a cultural anthropologist who has worked in Haiti for two decades doing studies for the U.S. government and other organizations. “It’s about soil and water erosion, agrarian and population pressures on the land, political crisis and ineptitude, and erosion of many, if not most, of the formal structures of society.”

A small final note: pity does not always lead to progressive change. Empowering Haitians to help Haitians is one of the most sustainable ways to get this country strong enough to stand on their own feet. Please choose to donate to organizations who will help to empower Haitians so that help can also come from within, and encourage governments in the wealthier minority world to forgive Haiti’s debt so that they can have a fresh start.

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The pit of an avocado, the black dots in your banana, the gushing of watermelon seeds as you spit them out, the acorn scurrying away in the firm grip of a native red squirrel, or, as an old professor of mine said, a tiny tree in a box with its lunch. Seeds are incredible things.

Seeds, in a nutshell, branched off from its original design millions of years ago. As with the famous question of whether the chicken or the egg came first, the same question can be asked of flowering plants and their pollinators. There are two basic types of plants: (gymnosperms {gymno = Greek for naked} and angiosperms), all somewhat determined by the type of seed it has.

In extremely basic simplified terms, one makes some specific types of evergreen trees and the other is a large category for flowering plants. It would be too much to go further into classification and the different types of seeds and that’s not the point here. Just as long as you can appreciate the long history of greenery is good enough for now.

Seeds and pollinators go hand-in-hand (or, petal in … pollen sack?). The plant makes itself attractive so that another life form can plant its seed for them. Sticky burrs (the inspiration behind Velcro) are really just seed transportation vessels designed to cling tenaciously to a passer-by until they are shed and planted again. Fruit is just a sweet package that will be excreted in some mighty fine fertilizer. The bigger the seed, the bigger the intended pollinator.

The evolution of seeds is utterly fascinating. Animals have devised clever ways to transport seeds. A multitude of birds actually eat stones so that they can break the tough shells of seeds in their gizzards (a pre-stomach sac for better digesting tough foods).

Animals develop specific tastes. Why? Because plants want their seeds to live on! They evolve so that they can flourish. The better looking the “food”, the higher chance there is of transmission.

Pockets of people in different corners of the globe have recognized the uniqueness and importance of seeds and have set up seed banks. This is especially pertinent since there has been a severe, devastating decrease in plant biodiversity since the onslaught of biological tampering. Monstrous corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill have attempted a monopoly on certain crops, making food more vulnerable than it’s ever been.

A healthy ecosystem, even a farming system, needs a healthy amount of biodiversity in order to thrive. It’s like eating peanut butter sandwiches day after day, year after year and expecting to stay healthy and productive.

You need more, or else the internal flora of your intestines will just be coated with sticky glutinous, moldy peanut-bread mash. Seed banks are here to look out for our future by providing healthy alternatives for plant propagation.

Another way to allow seeds to do what they are intended to do is to compost. This permits the plant in question to fulfill its purpose in life, giving it at least a shimmer of a chance to be transferred into a living force.

Placing your discarded seeds, specially if it is from an organic source, is an act that allows the seed to be a creator and do what it was intended to do. A mere tiny seed is all it takes to ward off hunger is the majority of the world. We take it for granted since we don’t see the process and miracle of life.

Another way that seeds can be used is in metaphor. Planting the seeds of a new future is a cheesy, but commonly used term and helps us visualize the reality of what could be.

A great tragedy has befallen one of the poorest countries in the world one week ago today. I hope you will take personal initiative and help sow seeds of healing for the people of Haiti. The CBC has provided a list of organizations on their website through which you can donate money for relief efforts.

This sudden change is devastating, but the wheels of time do not stop. Not for pity, not for vanity. I urge you to help, in whatever capacity you are able. The mighty sequoia began, after all, as just a little nut like you.

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Pope Benedict XVI, the 82 year old leader of the Catholic church, has recently denounced world leaders for their failure in signing a climate treaty in Copenhagen last month. He says that the way to peace is through protecting the Earth and has referred to the climate problem as a moral issue out of respect for “God’s creation”.

His most recent announcement, concerning the underwhelming results of the COP15, was given during an annual speech to Vatican ambassadors. During these speeches, the pope reflects on issues that are primary importance to the Vatican and what is referred to as the diplomatic corps.

On Dec. 6, 2009, the Pontiff called for world leaders at the summit to “identify actions that respect creation and promote sustainable development.” Additionally, he said that “in this sense, to guarantee full success at the conference, I invite all those people of good will to respect God’s laws of nature and rediscover the moral dimension of human life.”

The pontiff said that it is the “self-centered and materialistic” mindset that has resulted in endangering all of creation. As Peter Brown said in an earlier post on Green Bean Tuesday, the pope also stated that what we need is a new way of thinking about the environment and our morality if we are to save ourselves this time. A long term review of our current economic model is needed to help encourage a more “sober lifestyle” that respects all of God’s creation.

“The protection of creation is not principally a response to an aesthetic need, but much more to a moral need, inasmuch as nature expresses a plan of love and truth which is prior to us and which comes from God,” he said.

During another address on January 1st, Pope Benedict stated that climate change and natural catastrophes threaten people’s rights to life, food, health and access to peace. He has expressed that it is those living on islands who have the most to lose – considering their proximity to sea-level and the catastrophe that rising sea levels will have on these regions.

Pope Benedict has been referred to as the “Green Pope” for frequently raising environmental issues publicly since his appointment. Some of his noteworthy contributions have been overseeing the installation of photovoltaic cells in the Vatican’s auditorium which converts sunlight to energy and several reforestation projects which cut down on CO2 emissions.

Say what you will about the Pope’s address, the Catholic church has a very long history of environmental and human exploitation and many may feel that this address is too little, too late. Others may also agree that much more could be accomplished by the Pope and the Vatican in promoting human rights and environmental protection. Other points of view may find that religion is not the best approach to solving the climate crisis.

It can difficult to be skeptical of a pope who delivers a speech entitled “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation”, where he asked “can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions? Can we disregard the growing phenomenon of ‘environmental refugees’, people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it – and often their possessions as well – in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement?”

A speech now and then reiterating what scientists and activists have been saying for years – decades even, may feel as significant as a pebble being thrown into a waterfall, but there is much to celebrate in having the Pope as an ally in the climate change struggle.

For more information about the pope’s address and some good commentary can be found here.

For other environmentally related news concerning Pope Benedict, please click here.

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Ah, Montreal winter weather.  Snow, freeze, melt, freeze, repeat.  Shovel, chisel, sand, salt, warm up the car, bundle up, etc.  Salt stains on your jeans and boots.  What’s up with all that salt anyway?  Is it bad?

Salt, or, sodium chloride (NaCl), is a crystalline compound that enhances flavor and increases the temperature of water molecules.  It’s a quick way to melt the ice that forms on your walkway and is often used in large amounts by the city of Montreal (and other wintery urban regions) to make our roads safer and cars rustier.  Oh, by the way, the salt used on our roads that prevent us from accidents isn’t exactly the same as what we sprinkle on our fries.

Although there are many claims that salt is a “natural” ice-decomposer with little impact on the environment, Green Bean Tuesdays says this is hogwash.  Why do you think the Romans salted their enemies’ lands after burning it?  So that they could no longer grow crops!  Salt can have some bad implications for the environment and we don’t really ever hear about them because a lot is invested in using it for a quick, cheap thaw.

Just a little salt

One of the main negatives is overloading the sewage system with salt (and petroleum) soaked melt-water.  Millions of tons of the stuff end up in landfills and the leachates, containing very high levels of chloride (which is toxic), contaminate the soil and ground.

The effects of over salinization is felt most strongly by those who can’t speak any human language.  Have you ever tried to quench your thirst with water from the ocean?  I bet at least some of you have tried and I bet it just made you even more thirsty.  Sure, us humans and our domestic companions have it easy with our sewage systems, giving us potable water, but wildlife who depend on meltwater to quench their thirst can get pretty sick.

Chloride (the toxic stuff) disrupts the osmotic pressure in animal and plant cells.  What this means is that it changes the balance of water pressure inside the body, moving water where it shouldn’t be, and putting substances where water should be.  Moving water around like this can make plants and animals more vulnerable to diseases.

In the winter, we humans have our mukluks, toques and take-out Chinese food.  The wilderness has no such luxury.  Winter is a time of stress and starvation for many animals and adding tons of salt is like a big, sloppy slap to the face.  Imagine a diet of pickle brine and chips with a side order of sea water.  Salt from the roads can alter the environment, damage trees and draw animals that are attracted to salt to roadsides where they can have unwanted encounters with car bumpers.

Connifer salt damage

Environment Canada has stated that there is no link between road salt and human health, however, there has been some attempt to put the components of road salt on a government list of toxic substances after a five year study of its effects on the environment.  The government of Canada absolutely refuses to ban the use of salt for road in the winter, putting safety before the health of the environment.

In Michigan, judges ruled in favor of reducing road salt due to the damage it was causing to blueberry farmers, where there were some instances of 100% bud kill.  Farmers in Ontario put up stream buffers to protect water sources from saline pollution   So, there may be no direct link to human health, if you ignore the effects on crop land and irrigation and the fact that farms mean food.

It’s a difficult thing to oppose, since there have been much more harmful chemicals used as de-icers in the past.  Comparatively, salt it a welcome substitute.  In Canada and other cold countries, it is hard to find something adequate enough to ensure road safety, giving us another bombshell of an environmental and social ethics debate.

My answer = get rid of cars and go back to horses.

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Well, this is going to be one bucket of sunshine, so strap yourself in and hear all the good we’ve been doing for the planet during the last year of the decade.

Having had my head buried in schoolwork for the past year, I have to admit that the topics I have chosen to write about since becoming a regular contributor on Forget the Box may not be the hot, burning environmental issues covered by regular media.  Maybe some of the problem is that the media doesn’t cover the hot, burning environmental issues that we should be hearing about.  The good thing is that many subjects regarding positive environmental action, no matter how big or small, is that it rarely has anything to do with “au courant” topics.

Elizabeth Penashue and her husband Francis

I try to write about environmental, or socially-related environmental topics that I find important.  One of the most significant experiences I had over the year was canoeing with Elizabeth Penashue, an Innu elder who is fighting tooth and nail to protect her land Continue Reading »

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I bet that if I wrote what the actual subject title of this post is, you wouldn’t have given it a glance.  This is because you go to sleep with Christmas music in your head. You wake up and see nothing but disgruntled shoppers looking for last minute items and you’re tired of cleaning the litter box and finding tinsel in your cat’s leavings.

Well, I’m sorry, but as a columnist whose mind operates on trying to save the Earth one word at a time, I have to give you my Green holiday spiel. It’ll be quick and painless, I assure you.  At its best, it will be both informative and entertaining.  It’s about trees.

Christmas trees: real or fake?

This is a dilemma I have grappled with for a long time.  After doing a bit of research recently, I have finally made up my mind when it comes to deciding between a real or fake Christmas tree.

I have likened the annual Christmas tree harvest with slaughterhouses.  We take a living thing, “nurture” it until it is ready for us to use (even going so far as to objectify them, like how “livestock” actually means cows. Live-Stock… ugh), then, without blinking, end its life so that we can consume it.

The flip-side of wanting that Christmas-y goodness and not wanting to partake in taking the life of a tree for the sake of tradition is to get an artificial tree.  Artificial trees are made primarily in China.

They are also made from a variety of plastics and other synthetic, non-recyclable, toxic materials (flame retardants… like the ones they put in pillow materials). When the life of an artificial tree wears out, the only place left for it to go is a landfill, where its toxins can leach into our soil and groundwater for several hundred years.

Since my family insists on having a tree in our home at this time of year, I have decided that a real Christmas tree is the way to go.  Why?  Well, I’ll tell you why:

• It’s always best to check ahead of time, but if you’re living in a nippy place like Canada, the chances of your tree is being harvested locally.  This gives the local economy a boost and there is a statistic somewhere that said that thousands of Quebecers are employed for the tree harvest.
• Trees are carbon lovers.  Even though the poor things are killed each year, the fact that there are large tracts of land reserved for the purpose of growing trees sequesters large amounts of carbon, which does, essentially, help to improve air quality.
• There are tree collections at certain times after the holidays.  The trees in my hometown are collected and placed around outdoor skating rinks or transformed into wood-chips and other woody materials.  The skating rink lining is a “cool” idea that gives city outdoor enthusiasts the illusion that they are a bit closer to nature and are nicer to look at then concrete and passing cars.
• There is a major decrease in your carbon footprint when you buy things locally.  If you get the China plastic tree, you are supporting cheap, potentially unfair working conditions and causing more harm to the Earth by using bazillions of gallons of fuel to get it to your home.

So that’s why.  It’s a bit of a twisted thing that we cut down trees just because of a tradition, but on the same coin, have you eaten food or worn clothes today?  Trees, like cotton and wheat, are plants, albeit more charismatic. (Hopefully, your clothes are made by workers with fair wages from organic cotton fields.)

If tradition isn’t your thing, but you still want a place to tuck your gifts:

• Decorate a house-plant with your decorations
• Get a Sapin de Noel that you can plant outside once the ground has thawed in the Spring
• Make one out of materials that you can stick on your wall like a poster and draw your ornaments in
• Get a ceramic tree that you can just plug in (unless it’s made form a far-away land, like their larger, plastic-ier cousins)

If you have other tree alternatives, please let us all know in the comment space!

Happy holidays, and please don’t forget about the Earth when your generosity is peaked.

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I am rather disappointed in having to cram for final exams.  It is preventing me from really exploring the important goings-on of the climate “negotiations” in Copenhagen, Denmark, which also puts a wet-blanket on what I am able to write for you.  Thankfully, I do have some friends and colleagues who are knee-deep in the melted ice-waters of this (can I also say, they are “current” with it… get it?).

As a special exam-cramming edition of Green Bean Tuesday, I will be presenting you with some links to articles that I hope will stir your imagination.  To learn more about what I think you might want to know about Copenhagen, please click on the stories that interest you.  They will lead you to a link on that subject.

Harper and the Conservatives haven’t  been that impressive at the conference as of yet (I hope you were sitting down for that one).  This has lead to many non-violent actions to call him to task.  Here is an important one regarding the tar sands.

There have been several hoaxes (and here) going around concerning some too-good-to-be-true legislation from Canada (to help the continent of Africa), which has left many Canadians angry.

There has been a messy situation where developing nations have been walking out of climate talks.

Oh boy.  And now I present you with my climate plea.

So much of the controversy over the climate change issue has to do with how it is presented in the media.  About 6 years ago, there was a gathering of over 1,000 renowned, accomplished scientists who released an official statement that we are in SERIOUS, serious trouble if nothing is done to reverse the climate change trend.

Hardly a peep was uttered throughout the world.  It’s simply amazing enough in itself that that such a gathering could produce something to agree on at all!

The role of the media is to present both sides of a story.  A major problem is in the representation that both sides receive and how the argument is framed.

If there are hordes of qualified professionals presenting one side, they get equal presentation of a small group of skeptics who may not be so well informed.  The public then takes this message and sees both sides as equal.  This cuts down all of the work done at the professional level at the knees.

We can see this so clearly with the climate issue.  I even have University-level educated friends and acquaintances who still deny that climate change is anthropogenically caused.  I personally find this maddening, especially after the irrefutable evidence, data and personal experiences of climate change that have happened in my lifetime alone.

It is my deepest wish that SOMETHING positive come out of these climate negotiations, at any scale.  The good news is that there are many empowered people across the globe who are working for change.

The bad news is that the effects of climate change are already in full force.  It may be too late to reverse this monster and it’s our own selfish, stupid, stubborn humanistic behavior that has landed us here.

The world will change, as it would change regardless of our presence.  It is the RATE at which these changes are happening is what’s scary.  The world and its plants and animals just can’t speed up evolution quickly enough to catch up to these changes and the result is a massive, enormous extinction.

This is happening in the forests.  Northern forest ecosystems live in the cold.  The ground is permanently frozen (called “permafrost”). The trees there are now slumping because of ground thaw.  Polar bears are too skinny to survive the long arctic winters, the ice is too thin and spread out for them to hunt seals.  Seal populations are hence left unchecked, which causes a decline in fisheries.

The ocean is changing, acidity is rising, which will weaken and kill calciferous animals, such as plankton, which feeds 80% of marine life.  Many rural farmers in developing countries (such as Ghana, where I had the privilege of living for four months) are experiencing shorter growing seasons and extended droughts.  They have heard of climate change, but say that this change is simply the will of God.

This is my planet just as much as yours, just as much as Wal-Mart and the rice farmers of Indonesia, just as much as the ants and wheat fields that feed you and the children who made your clothes.  What will it take to get things to change?  We’ve spoken about this so much that our voices risk becoming horse. The time for talk is so old and stale.  Will the next revolution please stand up?

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I don’t know about you, but for me, the “holiday” season is a time of year that is completely psychotic.  The music, the shopping… aren’t holidays supposed to be periods of respite from stress and the opportunity to rejuvenate oneself from the daily repetitive tasks of a hamster-wheel life?  The holiday season is a time of year where it can be easy to forget about best ecological and social practices.

An annual highlight of the fair is Brigette Z, Weird Bug Lady

Tempted by sales and the Christmas rush, citizens turned consumer-crazy often throw shopping ethics to the wind and overlook them for the latest in advertised shiny made-in-China gizmo crap.  This is why, for the past four consecutive years, Engineers Without Borders has been organizing the “Fair Trade and Locally Made” Christmas craft fair at the end of the fall semester on Macdonald Campus.  Thank goodness!

“We are trying to sensitize people to the issues of fair trade and how it applies to poverty,” said Carlo Primiani, a second year Bioresource engineering student at McGill University who was recently selected for a 3 month Junior Fellowship placement in Africa with Engineers Without Borders and one of the event organizers.

Back in 2007, this event was organized to give early-bird shoppers the opportunity to buy high-quality fair-trade goods from Dix Milles Villages, a fair-trade store in the nearby Pointe-Claire village and downtown Montreal that the McGill community may have been unaware of.  This event has now expanded to include student artisans, like Weird Bug Lady Bridgette Zacharczenko, the local Sainte-Anne’s Farmer’s market, Coop du Grand Orme, Punku Peru and many other local vendors selling hand-made jewelry and woven handicrafts.

Fair Trade is an issue that Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Canada has taken on in full force over the past few years.  Huge city wide events across the nation have been organized to promote fair trade coffee, chocolate and other daily consumer products by EWB  volunteers.

Overseas, volunteers also work with different African organizations and governments who produce fair trade crops and practices.  The fair trade and locally made event is an extension of this that the EWB McGill chapter has wholly embraced.

“It’s fine to talk to people about fair trade issues, but here we’re giving them an opportunity to act on it,” said Primiani.  This event is also an opportunity for McGill University to do some serious outreach into the community.

“We are hoping to diversify next year,” Primiani said, due to the fact that there were too many jewelry vendors at this year’s event.  A paramount component of the fair was achieved despite this challenge, which was to bring in a community of ethical businesses.  There are many fair trade and ecologically responsible merchants and individual vendors right outside the Macdonald campus doorstep.

“It’s a small part of a bigger scheme,”Primiani said, “we’re never really sure what our impact is and this event is just a drop in the bucket.  The point is not to change people’s behaviors, but to get them to change their shopping habits.”

The fair trade and locally made fair is held annually on Macdonald campus in Sainte Anne de Bellevue. To do some ethical and responsible shopping, please visit some of the links in this article and mark the last Wednesday of November in your calendar for next year’s bonanza.

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Jonathan Glencross gets things done.  He is an inspiring McGill student studying environment & development and minoring in philosophy who spends twice the effort on some amazing projects that have helped bring McGill up to speed regarding sustainability and bridging the gap between students and administration.

The Sustainability Project Fund (SPF) is his most recent contribution, which was a voting record breaker for McGill.  It saw more than twenty-six percent of the undergraduate student body (5700 students downtown) going to the polls, with 79% in favor of the sustainability fund downtown and 88% on Macdonald campus.  This was the second biggest turnout for a vote in SSMU history.

Nineteen percent of the students who voted were against the fund and to this, Jonathan said  “An overwhelming majority has voted for this. I would love to see Stephen Harper get 79% on anything he ever did.”

Jonathan Glencross presenting to a crowd of over 400 McGill students on a Tuesday night about the McGill Food Systems Project

Jonathan has also also taken a lead role in the McGill Food Systems Project, is the coordinator for the Sustainable McGill project, is involved with the sustainability working group, attends SSMU environment commission meetings and sometimes goes to the four classes he is currently registered in.

“I skipped my class this morning to work on this fund because it’s clearly more worthwhile, and I will continue making decisions in the sense of asking where I am most effective,” he stated, “I find it hard learning things in the classroom when you’re not effecting change locally, too.”

Jonathan’s 215 person campaign team for the SPF contacted about every environmental and social group on campus and made over 100 class announcements.  The team also created a 2450 member-strong facebook group in 6 days during the campaign, which is impressive in itself.

“There has been an overall positive reaction from everybody,” he said, noting that “there have been reservations and hesitations, but no significant opposition.”

The fund will charge a $0.50 per credit, non-opt-out-able fee through tuition over a three year trial period.  Funds will be available to students, administration and staff alike.  All funds from students will be matched to the cent by the University.

“If students are willing to pay up front, it needs to be recognized that it’s a meaningful thing and to do that is by a matching component,” he added.

The SPF concept was initially put on the table by Jim Nicell, associate vice principle of University services and James McGill engineering professor.  He first proposed for students to have the capacity of creating their own fund, similar to Concordia University’s sustainability action fund.

“The real question came down to, ‘how do we create a culture of sustainability at McGill?’. It became increasingly obvious that we needed to create incentives and avenues of creativity and involve it at the scale that affects behavior and operations,” Jonathan said, asking: “if you’ve lowered your footprint but you haven’t changed perceptions, then what have you really changed?”

Further development of SPF took place when Jonathan began researching the different ways other universities have run sustainability funding projects and then began forming a proposal which led into negotiations.

“It became obvious that as students, we weren’t going to move forward on a self-operating model,” he argues, “we felt it was more meaningful to have a matching component with administration.  The polarized culture of “us vs. them” that we have right now at McGill is less than trusting and the proposal addresses this.  Trying to break down this mentality will bring out the best in people.  Trust is integral, and consensus and parity are really important aspects of the fund.”

As Albert Einstein had once said, “great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds.”  The opposition Jonathan received was not borne of violence, but of an unwillingness to change.

“I was told that this fund wouldn’t be possible, but no other issue has gotten students out to vote to this degree.  People will tell you all the time that you can’t do something, but no is never a reason for me.”

With this, he quoted a professor who asked if we are just rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.  “What is it that we are doing?  Are we getting to the fundamental issues or not?”

Regarding Jonathan’s future plans, he shared that “If I had a choice right now, I’d like to take a nap.” He spends at least double the amount of energy on projects outside the classroom, “It’s what I’m passionate about.”

This is something that McGill has needed for quite some time.  Speaking for myself, it has always been an embarrassment to see how much further other schools were in terms of making their campuses more sustainable. Jonathan isn’t comfortable taking all of the credit, but as a major catalyst for this leap forward, I send a big thank you to him.  Thank you, Jonathan.

To learn more about funding details, and about the project itself, please click here.

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