Now that we are in November, many may associate this month with the events linked to Movember.
In case you have been living under a rock, let me break down what Movember is exactly.
Movember is the mustache-growing charity event that occurs all throughout the course of November. The people who choose to participate in Movember donate to charities that support Men’s mental health initiatives. As well as bring awareness to men’s physical health issues like prostate cancer.
Now you might be asking yourself, Movember sounds great but how can I support these events as a student here at Concordia?
This is where the JMo’SB team at Concordia comes into play. In case you have never heard of JMo’SB, they are a non-profit sub-committee within the Commerce and Administration Student Association (CASA) cares. Their entire purpose is to raise money for men’s mental health initiatives throughout the month of November.
The team first started back in 2011 when a group of JMSB students came together to raise funds for Movember.
Fast-forward to last year, the JMo’SB team raised over $42,000 for men’s mental health initiatives. This year the team is aiming to raise over $50,000. If you would like to donate, please visit this page.
The president and co-president of JMo’SB, Liam Pinsonneault-Emond and Andrea Valcarcel gave The Concordian the inside scoop on what’s happening for Movember.
“We don’t actually have an event on November 19th for International Men’s Day but we have a lot of other events happening throughout the month,” Valcarcel said. “For example on November 18th we have a mental health day and it’s going to be at HIVE cafe, and it’s in collaboration with John Molson Women and Leadership. There’s going to be a lot of relaxing activities at that event, like decorating cookies, painting tote bags and there are also going to be panelists.”
The Nov. 18 event will be especially special because speakers from the Movember foundation itself will be among the panelists.
“We are also doing a comedy night which is going to be on November 20th at Montreal comedy club. We are actually in contact with the people from the comedy club and we asked them if the comedians could do a Movember theme. They said that they would try and find comedians that could do that,” Valcarcel explained.
Over the course of Nov. 7-11, the team also hosted two bake sales to further advance their fundraising efforts.
The month of November is an exciting time for the JMo’SB to further incite students at Concordia to participate in their events. Emond made a point to emphasize not to forget about one important thing during this month.
“For the people that this could sort of resonate with, if you have men in your life that are close to you, check in with them from time to time,” Emond explained. “Talk to them and make sure that they are okay, it doesn’t sound like much but just asking a guy how his day is going or how he’s doing, it would mean a lot to them.”
Workshop facilitator and herbalist Hunter Cubitt-Cooke has been a collective member of Le Frigo Vert for eight years. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
On Nov 2. 2022, Le Frigo Vert hosted a mushroom workshop where participants can learn about how to use mushrooms in a variety of ways.
Workshop attendees learned to make their own mushroom tinctures from red belted conk, birch polypore, chaga, and reishi mushrooms. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
Different mushroom tinctures. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
Different herbs, spices, and mushrooms that participants can choose from. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
The participant is seen putting mushroom tincture into their container. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
John Molson School of Business brings home the first big win at an international case competition since 2019.
This year, the University of Münster Case Challenge (UMCC) took place for the sixth year in a row. Twelve schools from around the globe participated in the event, including the John Molson School of Business representing Concordia University.
The Concordian had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Lecchino, one of the members on the JMSB team.
“The way JMSB sends delegates to international competitions is you usually have to be a part of JMCC. The JMCC is the John Molson Competition Committee. Once you are a part of this club, you take a case competition course and it teaches you how to do case cracks and get better at these case competitions,” Lecchino explained.
When a student at JMSB gets involved with the JMCC, they often get sent to regional competitions, like the Jeux du Commerce, for example.
“I was able to participate in and go [to the UMCC] with three other academic delegates. My colleagues were Émile Martel, Dylan Ross, and Taylor Graham. We ended up going to the case competition in Münster, Germany, two weeks ago. There are some case competitions that happen in Australia, Alberta and many more, however they fall into the winter semester,” Lecchino said.
Lecchino also broke down the competition for The Concordian.
“From when we arrived in Münster, our first case came in on Thursday. This was the shorter case, it was a four-hour case. We crack it and create a presentation and we pitch it to a panel of judges on that very same day,” Lecchino recalled.
This case was regarding a business called lemon.markets. The business wanted to establish a go-to market strategy and acquire business-to-business customers. The JMSB team successfully pitched it to the panel of judges.
“The next day on Friday, we have a ten-hour case. So we spend ten hours going through the case, creating a presentation and we don’t present. We presented on Saturday morning,” Lecchino said.
The ten-hour-long case was a sustainable urban development strategy for the city of Cologne.
On Saturday morning, the winners of each division were announced. These winners faced off in the finals with their respective presentations for the second case.
“It was the first time we won and we podiumed at an International case competition since 2019,” Lecchino said.
The UMCC was a great experience for Lecchino, and he recognized it as a huge honour to be able to represent JMSB alongside his colleagues.
How one student’s initiative is bringing the Concordia community together
Among the many clubs to choose from at Concordia, there is one that takes communal building up a notch.
The Concordian spoke with Asma Kattan, a human relations major and founder of the roller skating club, about how she got the idea to form it.
“I am the founder of the roller skating club, I’ve curated it and put all my heart into it. [I wanted] the community to have a place where people can get together to share one hobby and interest and gather to rollerskate,” Kattan explained.
When Kattan was looking for a club to join at Concordia, there was nothing that was remotely close to what she was looking for.
She made a call to the CSU and got all the information she needed to start her own club at Concordia. Kattan was told that she had to write up a cover letter, a constitution, and petitions.
“We needed around 50 petitions and we exceeded that amount. It was so fulfilling. There is so much big interest for our club now and it is getting bigger and bigger,” Kattan said.
For Kattan, the main goal of the club has always been to unite people and allow them to truly learn from each other.
Roller skating is a great way to improve your overall fitness level because it is essentially a full body workout.
The CSU roller skating club is extremely active on their social media. Their Instagram handle is @rollerskatingclubmtl. On their feed, they have posted many photos and videos from their events that were held in August before school started.
The Concordian was curious to know what the club’s future plans are, going into winter.
“We usually in the summer head to open tennis courts. In the winter, which is about eight months in Canada, we have it in private indoor safe-gated venues,” Kattan explained.
Kattan has planned four big roller skating events for the winter months.
For newcomers who want to join the club, Kattan reassured The Concordian that there are full safety measures put in place.
“Precautions are important. We have first of all a tutor that makes sure what level each person is at. So if you’re a beginner, we definitely recommend wearing the protections for roller skating. Most of the people that are members have their own equipment. They’ve been around,” Kattan said.
The club makes all participants sign a waiver of the terms and conditions that outline that the participants are solely responsible for their own safety and security.
If you’re looking for free food, music and lots of good times, look no further. Sign up for the club using this link!
Countless tables can be found with handmaid jewlery made out of all kinds of differnt rocks. Kaitlynn Rodney/ The Concordian
Hobbyists and collectors flocked to Montreal’s Palais des congrès for the 61st annual Gem and Mineral Show show.
Between Oct. 28-30, the Palais des congrès was the host for the 61st annual Gem and Mineral Show.
This event was hosted by the Montreal Gem and Mineral club.
A brief history
Founding members Dick Britton and Ernest Windisch met at The McGill’s Redpath Museum in 1957.
The rock and mineral display caught the attention of both Britton and Windisch. They bonded over their shared interest in mineral collecting and brought up the idea of forming an official club.
The club was eventually created on Feb. 14, 1957 at Britton’s home, and it has been growing ever since.
The club’s active board of directors were present on-site for this year’s show and were very gracious to serve as our guide.
Constance Guignard, the vice president of the club, met up with The Concordian and explained how the show works and what her own role in the club is.
“I do volunteer work here, and we organize this show every year and use it as our fundraiser. We’re making a comeback after three years. We missed 2020, we missed 2021, so now we are coming back,” Guignard said.
Guignard made an interesting statement about all the different things one could do with gems and minerals that not a lot of people might know about.
“People can sculpt with the gems and minerals. At our club, you know, sometimes people will buy big rocks. We have saws so that people can cut big slabs and do whatever they want with them,” Guignard said.
Walking around the show, one could see all the dealers and vendors present on site. It was easy to get lost in the things to see, touch and learn about.
One interesting kiosk featured a coconut geode visitors could look at and have cracked on-site. The vendors guaranteed a hollow crystal centre.
Another interesting booth allowed visitors to get forever bracelets welded onto their wrists.
Our Community Editor went through with getting the forever bracelet, and spoke with Ash Charania, the owner of Rainbow Minerals.
“Forever bracelets is a trend that just hit Canada. In the past in the US, there have been lineups outside the boutiques for people that want to get this. It always takes a while to get to Canada but it’s finally here. It’s really new so no one really understands it yet,” Charania said.
The look of the bracelet is very dainty and wearers can barely feel it against their skin. The bracelets are custom-measured to the wrist, and visitors can choose between sterling silver, gold, and rose gold for the metal.
While most of the vendors on-site were experienced Gem and Mineral show-goers, this year’s edition was a first for some.
The owner of Petite Plume, Chloé Strum-Thibault, expressed her thoughts about her first time at the show.
“There are so many beautiful things to see that I feel that my eyes hurt. I already spent a lot of money and I know I am going to spend more,” Thibault joked.
Thibault takes inspiration for her jewelry creations from growing trees. Over the pandemic she was truly able to take her inspiration and turn it into her business.
The Gem and Mineral Show not only provided shoppers with gems and minerals from all over the world, but also gave them valuable insights to use towards their hobby.
What: It’s a night from the past, with scientists from different eras coming together to focus on different topics and explain their research and answer questions.
What: An old style arcade with a twist, this space doubles as an art gallery that exhibits different local Montreal artists each month and an arcade to kick some butt at Pac-Man.
What: The South Asian Youth Collective is organizing a party in celebration of Diwali, a day celebrated in many cultures to shine bright and be with loved ones before the cold winter months come in.
What: A ghost-hunting tour where you will learn about the past events of the area, and even learn about some strategies and tools that are used to communicate and track paranormal activities.
What: Similar to a pub crawl, this event involves going to five different breakfast locations around Montreal where you will receive a beverage/meal at every stop. All proceeds go to charity.
Justin Philippe practices breakdancing at Concordia every week. VERONIQUE MORIN/The Concordian
New faces appeared on the Hall Building’s walls last spring
A project initiated by the CSU financed two murals that were painted in May. Artists Monosourcil and Teenadult were invited to embellish the downtown campus. Colourful and detailed, the artworks’ aim is to represent all aspects of campus life. The student group who initiated the project were finalists for the Forces AVENIR provincial awards in the Arts, Letters, and Culture category.
The seventh floor of the Hall Building is always full of life. During the day, students chat and study while others wait in line for a meal at The People’s Potato. In the evening, a completely different crowd, and groups of dancers gather, in the open space.
Cristobal Perez-Boudon comes to campus almost every day after work to practice breakdancing. “People come to dance here all the time. Sometimes we are more than 30 people. There are the K-pop dancers and the B-boys,” he explained.
Perez-Boudon witnessed the production of the murals, and for him, they added new energy to the space. “Since they are here, it feels like having our own studio. Before it was just an empty white space, you could think it was a cafeteria, but now there is something more.”
Plain, white walls are what stayed in Christopher Vaccarella’s mind when he started studying at Concordia in 2017. “Everything was the same colour, no life, no personality,” he said. When he became a councilor for the CSU, adding art to the campus walls was one of the projects he wanted to propose.
Former CSU coordinators, Shivaane S. and Camina Harrison-Chéry both joined forces with Vaccarella to secure the funding needed to produce the murals.
Their goal was to feature female and BIPOC artists. “We all wanted the same thing where it focuses on diversity and people you don’t often see at festivals,” said Vaccarella.
Art on campus
Painted beside the CSU office, Maxilie Martel-Racicot’s mural reflects the artist’s unique style while integrating elements from Concordia’s faculties. Depicted in contrasting shades of colour, the detailed work presents a large group of characters. Their identities are unclear, neither human nor animal.
Under her artist’s name, Monosourcil, Martel-Racicot created a world of her own in which she mixes sci-fi inspirations with references to everyday life. For the muralist, the themes of coexistence, tolerance, and multiculturalism are always central to her work. “We are all humans, social animals, so it’s this idea that I represent, that we live in a group and in a community in a certain way,” she said.
On the CSU’s Art Nook walls, artist Kezna Dalz (who also goes by Teenadult) replaced the seventh floor’s light grey walls with a creation full of flowers and butterflies. Dalz included the words “art heals” in her work. In the center are two black faces, as the artist aims to include diversity in all her creations.
With this specific one, Dalz also wanted to create a positive atmosphere in the space. “The faces are tilted upwards, so it’s about being confident, and just feeling good and creating in a space where you are feeling yourself,” she explained.
“People gravitate towards colour,” said former CSU coordinator Shivaane S.. She sees this addition to the Art Nook as a way to make the space even more inspiring for students, and to “cultivate more student-life as well.”
For more public art
This is the first public art initiative to be fully student-led at Concordia. As the University is currently developing a new public art policy, the colourful murals engage a reflection on what art can add to life on campus. The new policy should be delivered this fall and then implemented in winter 2023.
Even though the project’s organizers have now left the CSU, the initiative is to be continued. A new mural should embellish the ceiling of Loyola’s G-Lounge this winter.
Loyola’s new CSU coordinator, Sabrina Morena, believes art is meaningful to campus life: “To me, it means that we are not just here to study, we are also here to create a culture of care, and community.” She hopes to have even more murals painted at Concordia this year.
An online forum to bringing Fine Arts students together
Fine Arts Stories is a space where Fine Arts students can openly share their in-progress work and projects. The initiative was created by installation artist and Fine Arts coordinator Tricia Middleton with the help of Gabriel Castelo, a Computer Science and Electroacoustics student.
The idea of creating a space to share thoughts and ideas was born during summer.
“I realized that something semi-centralized that could encompass all forms of making and doing, thought and conversation – perhaps in the way architecture might function as the support for our peer-to-peer relationships within the institution – would probably be needed,” said Middleton.
While working with Fine Arts’ student-run organizations, Middleton generally attempts to bring all students together through organizations focusing on relationship building within the faculty.
With the pandemic being out of anyone’s control, it seemed like a great opportunity to create a space to foster relationships.
“I wanted to see if I could facilitate a semi-centralized, hybridized outlet that could help people connect in new ways that takes into account [that] many of these people have not yet met one another and will not have the social space of campus to do so this year,” she said.
So far, the initiative has been well received. Fine Arts Stories creates organic engagement through a website, where students can share what they are working on, leaving platforms such as Facebook and other social networks secondary.
“I think people are ready to try something more gentle and fluid in a non-brand dominated format, and the wider internet is still a place to find connection and intrigue,” said Middleton.
There are unlimited spaces for submissions. Submissions are non-juried and are being accepted on a rolling basis. The goal is to facilitate engagement between students. Students send their materials to Castelo, who is also helping shape the project, and uploads the works to the website.
Once physical distancing is no longer an issue, Middleton is looking forward to continuing the initiative. For the moment, Middleton is flexible and open to any good ideas to further develop the project.
“Art and thought is the mediator we usually use to conduct such relationships in our faculty, and this online forum is intended to facilitate this if possible,” said Middleton.
Students can submit their work to Fine Arts Storieshere.
Building a community for artists and entrepreneurs
“Community, empowerment and innovation,” I say to myself three times for luck after I end my interview with Sam Tenenbaum and William Lande. I repeat it as a mantra because after our talk I, as an artist, feel excited and hopeful for the future of the art world that they have helped create. Its name is Bidgala.
You may be wondering, what is Bidgala? Co-founder Tenenbaum explains it as “An online community and marketplace that empowers artists to take charge of their careers and their artwork.” What better way to describe the project than that?
Now, you may wonder where my new mantra appeared. “Community, empowerment and innovation,” the founders replied when asked what three words describe Bidgala. All of this came from the idea of bringing innovation to an (already) powerful community of artists missing a better platform to rise.
This story starts with entrepreneurs and ends with entrepreneurs supporting other entrepreneurs. Long-time friends Tenenbaum and Lande not only grew up together and with the same entrepreneurial vein in them, but also weren’t interested in 9-to-5 office jobs, like many artists feel.
They went from making profit reselling shoes, school supplies and anything they could find, as teenagers, to being students at John Molson School of Business, as young adults. They are currently finishing their undergraduate degrees, while simultaneously founding the very first business of its kind that doesn’t need another platform to stand on its own. It will certainly break all the rules of what we know of the art industry.
What do I mean by that? If artists use many platforms to sell their art already and that the “rules” are constantly changing, what new does Bidgala bring to the table, you may ask? I may respond simply by saying there was never a place where an emerging artist could be representing themselves, creating connections and a clientele, exchanging with other artists, building their brand, fulfilling their own criteria and no one else’s, and making money all in the same website. Now there is.
The project, born from this friendship, started at the beginning of 2020 as they “saw all of these artists doing what they love to do but [not] generating any income with it,” said Lande. They realized that most of their artist friends were struggling to enter the art market and sell their work because the industry is very limiting and lacks the opinions of the artist themselves. Tenenbaum and Lande decided to change that by asking them about it.
They have conducted interviews and focus groups, and research on the different social media platforms that artists currently use to promote their work in order to identify the specific needs of artists. They assert that they will continue to do so to constantly improve the experience where the focal point is the artist’s agency.
Before Bidgala, artists wanting to sell artworks outside of their immediate circle often needed an intermediary that would link the buyer to them, like galleries do. This has been changing for a few decades as a result of artists’ centers, collectives and community-based exhibitions, as well as the arrival of social media and online marketplaces like Etsy, Instagram and Facebook. Tenenbaum and Lande thought of Bidgala as an original and independent platform that creates direct communications between the artist and the buyer with all the features of a social network. Those who create can now sell their artwork from the comfort of their homes while interacting with the community.
Bidgala will officially launch for sales at the end of October but is already available for artists to create their profiles. Artists have complete control of their uploaded artworks as they decide the prices, the descriptions and the handling of the pieces, as well as the general image of their brand. The site is designed to be easy to use for both sellers and buyers, and will include features of commenting, liking, sharing, bidding, and even live chatting with agents and curators about the artworks.
The commission of 30 per cent in each sale presents a competitive and fair option, not only to artists who are often imposed a 50 per cent commission in many galleries, but also to the creators and members behind the platform.
Bidgala aims to be a safe, accessible space that welcomes every individual that wishes to interact within the community, without any restrictions or criteria. There will be a section of the website where the users can exchange, interact and learn from each other about art and all its branches, as well as special features for different communities like LGTBQ+ people, Indigenous folks, and more.
Bidgala has also been selected to be part of District 3, a program that supports and empowers initiatives that create social impact because they consider it important to contribute to causes like Black Lives Matter through events, donations and fair opportunities in the industry, as a way of giving to the community they want to help build. Pre-quarantine, the launching of the website was planned to be an event with the goal of raising funds for different groups involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. Even though the physical event was cancelled, Bidgala still plans to donate part of its commission towards this cause.
“Artists need a community now more than ever, especially with COVID,” said Lande. “Artists are one of the most powerful communities in the world and when something resonates with them, they share it,” he told me, explaining why the community aspect of Bidgala is crucial in this new system. “We wanted to give artists the tools and support that they need to follow their dreams.”
When you say “Bidgala,” that is what the future of art sounds like. Now repeat with me: community, empowerment and innovation.
Bidgala is set to launch at the end of October. Visit thebidgala.com for more information.
The Concordian interviews Pamela Pagano about filming Kind Time season two
Kind Time, a YouTube channel founded and hosted by third-year Concordia Journalism Student Pamela Pagano, features inspirational Montreal community stories. The initiative started bringing positive stories to light at the beginning of the pandemic, and the channel even managed to catch John Krasinski’s attention.
Pagano spoke to The Concordian’s News Editor Hadassah Alencar about Kind Time, John Krasinski, and how she managed to film her shows’ entire second season in one day.
Hadassah Alencar: How did you come up with Kind Time?
Pamela Pagano: My entire life, my parents and I have always preached be kind to others, and they’ll be kind to you, so when I discovered that I wanted to go into journalism I ended up figuring out that I love reporting, but I [felt] like there weren’t enough good news stories. I’m a very positive peppy person, and I wanted stories like [Kind Time] to be showcased in the news. Just like how there’s entertainment news, business news, there are so many different niches in journalism, and I was like, why can’t there be good news too?
In the beginning of the year, Kind Time came about in a conversation exactly like this with my mother and I, and we decided to just follow through with it, and then the pandemic happened.
So I started planning that, and started finding people in Montreal who are doing good for our community, and then after the pandemic happened I decided to continue with the initiative through Zoom — thank god for technology — and that was the first season, and now season two was just filmed on Saturday!
HA: So you filmed all in one day?
PP: Yes I did — season two was filmed all in one day. But season one was throughout the week because there was quarantine, and that was easier to manage because I would have the week to edit, and I’d have time to post it.
But [in] season two since we had an actual crew and it was in person and it was done at my home, being very very very COVID careful, we followed all the precautions to [a] T. We can’t do that every week [with a filming crew] at my home, so we decided to do a whole day of filming with the camera crew and volunteers, and yeah, that’s how season two is going to be!
HA: How did you plan that — are the interviews going to be done through Zoom like the first season?
PP: For season one, it’s exactly like you said it: I would research them and reach out to them and see if they were comfortable to talk about their stories, and when they would be, I would set up the Zoom call and we would talk and do our interview. For season two I also did research, and I found all local people who are sharing kindness in our community and they came in person.
You really appreciate television once you do everything yourself! It was a wonderful team, but it was a lot of work; from booking, to marketing, to sponsors, to food, to safety precautions, it was a very crazy experience, and I would do it again and again and again.
Once things started to be safer, where we could meet wearing masks and social distancing, [at a] maximum of ten people — which has now changed — the camera crew said, Pamela if you feel comfortable and your guests feel comfortable, we can do this in a very safe way next month. And so I was like alright, let’s do this!
HA: I learned that you were the international correspondent for John Krasinski’s Some Good News! How did that work, how did you get that?
PP: Oh my, that’s another story! So I had posted my first season of Kind Time [on] March 16, and then all of sudden, a few weeks later my friend sent me a DM on Instagram and she’s like, Pamela, check this out: it’s as if John Krasinski is following you! And I was like, what do you mean? He wasn’t following me. I looked [on his social media] and he had started this beautiful YouTube series called Some Good News with John Krasinski, and I was so proud to see a celebrity using his platform for good.
And then after the series was over, he was like, “by the way, we’re looking for global correspondents!” And I was like, this ties in so well with what I want to do in my life, I would love to be a global correspondent for Some Good News! So I made a video, and they saw it, and they contacted me and they were like Pamela, could you please make more videos like this and we’ll post it on Some Good News. And so I continued to do that along with Kind Time.
HA: How do you manage this — you’re a third year student, how do you manage Kind Time and university?
PP: Passion. It is truly passion. I believe that we all have [a] purpose in life and when you do, it’s such a magical thing, so I believe that I have found my purpose. My purpose is to share kindness. I feel like I have so many smiles to share with the world, and I want everyone to have a place where they can feel safe to share their stories. My passion is journalism, and my purpose is to share kindness — so I put those two things together, and this is where Kind Time came about.
The quote that I always say at the end of my videos was created by my mom, and it’s “remember to think happy and be kind.” So I just hope that everyone can remember to think happy and be kind. It’s a difficult time, but we’re all in this together.
Photograph courtesy of Pamela Pagano, Video by Lola Cardona.
“One day, I was browsing Reddit and I saw a lot of posts that were tagged #TrashTag; it was a picture of before and after of a trash cleanup,” said Lucas Hygate. “I saw that and was like ‘hey, I can do that.’ Then I thought I’ll do it way bigger and now it’s TrashTalk.”
Hygate, a 21-year-old philosophy student at Concordia, began TrashTalk Montreal, or TrashTalk for short, earlier this year. The idea started in February and has massively evolved from the stages that began in Hygate’s basement.
“Now, we’ve grown and evolved into a much larger, official organization that really tries to cater towards hosting these cleanups and inviting people to an event that is really something that we do, rather than just for helping the earth, the motivation is really to try to have some fun with it,” said Hygate.
Photo via @trashtalkmtl
The project came into fruition in April after floods devastated many communities in the West Island. Hygate recalls the intersection of Pierrefonds and Saint-John Boulevards was so flooded that it resembled a lake more than a street.
The organization is a non-profit that aims to pick up trash in public areas that’s been discarded and collecting for years – but why call it TrashTalk?
“One night I was telling my friend Sam about this idea, he was driving me home,” said Hygate. “Suddenly, he looks at me and goes ‘Lucas! I have the perfect name for you: TrashTalk’ and then it was TrashTalk.”
“We want to make sure it’s not just superficial talk, we actually want to turn that talk into action,” said Kayleigh Tooke. Tooke is the VP of communications for the Concordia club of the same name that was started on Oct. 7 to facilitate the non-profit’s activities, according to Hygate. She also works with the nonprofit by trying to connect to people to get involved with the organization. Also members of the nonprofit are Malcolm Adamson, Nicholas Tsibanolis and Nicolas Vyncke.
“Half of the name is Talk: more than just cleaning it up, it’s preventing it for the future,” said Angad Malhotra, a computer engineering student at Concordia. Malhotra is one of TrashTalk’s members, taking care of the visual design and marketing aspect. He and Hygate know each other from John Abbott College, where Concordia has a sister club, but it wasn’t until TrashTalk that the two became closer.
“I didn’t talk to Angad three years prior but I still had his number in my phone,” said Hygate with a laugh. “We don’t remember why. And now we’re friends.”
Diego Rivera, the VP External in charge of event planning for TrashTalk Concordia, is also a philosophy student, which is how he met Hygate and decided to join the club. He spent time in Cambodia over the summer and heard about Tijmen Sissing, the Trashpacker who backpacked across Asia picking up trash.
“Out of that, I really wanted to start some kind of movement that, when I met Lucas, I was like ‘holy shit, this is perfect’,” said Rivera.
Photo via @trashtalkmtl
On the note of international trash cleanup, 18-year-old Joseph Poulin, who recently joined the club after meeting Tooke, was also inspired. During his trip to Kigali, Rwanda over the summer, townspeople would congregate every week or so and clean the community. Not only has the movement inspired him to join TrashTalk to pick up trash, it has also inspired him and those around him to create less trash.
Native to a small town near Quebec City, Poulin’s family owns a sugar shack. “We started a garden right next to it so that reduces our amount of trash,” said Poulin. “Instead of going to the grocery store and buying packages, we produce our own stuff, like fruits and vegetables.”
“On the first cleanup, it was me and my friend Nick,” said Hygate. “We were going out and we went to this place right next to this very popular commercial area. We looked at it and we started picking up. We cleaned for a solid half an hour or so, not too long, and we found a $10 bill – our first piece of good karma came out of the very first cleanup.”
Since its founding, TrashTalk has conducted approximately 15 cleanups in various areas throughout the West Island. Each cleanup takes approximately four to six hours and can yield massive amounts of trash. To plan a cleanup, they usually scout a few areas that potentially have lots of trash, choose one, then tell city councillors they plan on conducting a cleanup. They’re well supported by the community in this respect: most of the cleanups attract local politicians, city district members, large groups of volunteers.
One of the places that they’ve worked on is Angell Woods in Beaconsfield. Their most successful cleanup at this location resulted in 1,275 pounds of trash collected – in a space no larger than a couple of hundred square feet. After the trash is picked up and sorted and divided, it’s usually brought to the edge of the location and sectioned off until city workers pick it up and properly dispose of the various types of trash. The boroughs also often offer gloves and garbage bags to facilitate cleanups which, as Hygate explains, is already a solid blueprint for successful trash removal.
“At all of our cleanups, we’re able to find some very interesting things,” said Hygate. With the interesting trash they find – tractor parts, decomposing cars and 50-year-old 7-Up cans with branding that no one recognizes anymore – they plan to create art pieces such as sculptures. The aim is giving passerbys an incentive to keep the space clean and to not litter in the first place.
“There’s a lot of layers that add up to why TrashTalk is a fun thing to do and a purposeful thing to do as well,” explained Hygate. “People need the opportunity to come out and engage with the environment in a whole, very productive manner where the impact is direct and you see it right in front of you. When you’re done a trash cleanup, what will happen is you’re going to turn around and the place you’ve just been slaving at for three or four hours, and you took out a thousand pounds with another 20 people, you look back and that place really does look cleaner and it really does have a great difference to it.”
For more information about TrashTalk, how you can participate or to donate, visit https://trashtalkmontreal.org/about/.
A “stitch and bitch” brings knitters together to produce their craft while talking about life
A Stitch and Bitch session was held at Loyola’s Art Hive on Nov. 21, organized by CJLO station manager Francella Fiallos The event aimed to build a community among CJLO volunteers and Concordia University students.
The term Stitch and Bitch was initially coined in the 1950s. Participants teach newcomers, share tips and tricks on how to improve each others’ skills, and of course, bitch about anything and everything. Even though the event is knitting-oriented, anyone with a craft project, from crocheting to scrap-booking, is welcome to join.
Fiallos said she was inspired to create the event because most volunteers at the station rarely get to meet each other. After their shows, DJs usually leave right away. She wanted to create a sense of community between CJLO members and encourage all university students to come hang out and learn about the station.
“We’ve expanded it to anybody that wants to come because we’re a community radio,” said Fiallos. “We’re open to new volunteers and people learning about the station and just people who want to have a nice time.”
Fiallos came up with the idea following her passion for the art of knitting. “Knitting is one of my pastimes, it’s one of my favourite things to do, so I thought I would start [these events] with something I love doing,” she said.
Fiallos started knitting after her therapist recommended it as an activity that could help cope with the idleness of winter and the negative effects of seasonal blues. Knitting has been Fiallos’s main hobby for two years now. Her knitting achievements include mittens, scarves, and her current project, a long grey blanket requiring advanced knitting techniques.
“I just found it such a very meditative, cathartic, enjoyable activity that makes you feel really productive and really balanced,” said Fiallos. She described how the idea is to keep your hands moving but your mind concentrated and still; the activity has a calming and satisfying effect because you can produce something as you sit down, relax and listen to music, a podcast or, if you’re a pro, watch TV.
Knitters were offered how-to instructions, knitting needles and plenty of different colours of yarn, donated by Concordia University’s Centre for Creative Reuse.
Even though everyone’s eyes were on their knitting needles and yarn, conversation came effortlessly. Frustrations some were having trying to get their stitches to work turned into rants about school, work, bad choices, their personal lives, childhood memories, and funny habits. Members flowed in and out of topics, as they changed from quiet pauses to focus on their projects to laughter.
Stitch and Bitch seems to work for any personality. For introverts, the knitting project provides a shield and allows you to engage only when you want to. Others fill in when you don’t have much to say. For extroverts, your audience is open for conversation and won’t be moving any time soon. The CJLO volunteers are easy going and helpful, and the event proved to be a good way to engage with and meet other students.
While this event was centred around knitting, Fiallos said the purpose of events like these is about building the community and introducing Concordia students to the CJLO radio. Any future events will feature new activities to promote that end.
“Right now it’s a Stitch and Bitch, maybe next time it will just be like a very good old-fashioned pizza night or movie night,” Fiallos said.
