Tag: sustainability

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Student Life

Lights of All clothing brand sheds light on sustainability

Lights of All held a pop-up shop at Escape Pop this past weekend. Photo by Mia Anhoury.

Local designer Katia Hagen launches fall collection with her all-vegan, cruelty-free brand

The photograph of a nebula, an interstellar cloud of dust, is what inspired the fall collection of the Lights of All clothing line. Launched in April by 25-year-old local designer Katia Hagen, Lights of All is Montreal’s first sustainable vegan clothing brand.

The entire collection illustrates the seasonal essence of fall. Among the collection’s pieces is the “Envelope” winter coat. This thick, belted garment was named as such because Hagen wanted customers to feel like they were laying in a sleeping bag in the woods, looking up at the stars. The vegan suede hoodie and vest are called “Fawn” because the designer pictured wearers coming across a baby deer.

Lights of All’s first pop-up shop ran from Nov. 10 to 12 at Espace Pop on Park Avenue. It was Hagen’s way of getting to know the people who are interested in her brand and to receive first-hand feedback. Hagen is a fashion design graduate from Lasalle College and has interned in New York City at Peter Som, Marchesa and Jason Wu.

“When I moved back to Montreal, I realized I didn’t know any vegan, high-quality brands or local designers that are specifically vegan and sustainable,” she said. So Hagen decided to be that designer. Although she had never dreamed of creating her own clothing brand, she put her life savings into Lights of All. “I made all of the patterns, fit it, test it, then I cut and sewed it. Everything is handmade,” she said, adding that all the work was done in the extra bedroom in her apartment.

When Hagen was struggling with depression, sayings such as, “the light at the end of the tunnel,” and other light symbolism made her hopeful. This is why her brand name includes the word “light.”

“I also wanted the name to represent that I’m vegan, and ‘of all’ is the essence of light in everybody, the planet, even pigs and cows,” Hagen added.

All of the clothing designed by Katia Hagen is
vegan and handmade. Photo by Mia Anhoury.
All of the clothing designed by Katia Hagen is
vegan and handmade. Photo by Mia Anhoury

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegan clothing is made from fabric and materials that are cruelty-and animal-free. No leather, wool, suede, down or silk is used. A little black dress in Hagen’s collection is made of tencel, a fabric made from wood cellulose. “It’s soft like silk but without any cruelty. It’s also very breathable,” she said. A blue tie-dye dress, named “Nebula,” is made from a combination of organic cotton and hemp. This is where the sustainable part of Hagen’s brand comes in—organic cotton is made with less water than regular cotton, and without the use of pesticides or harmful chemicals.

Using excess fabric from the brand’s apparel, Hagen also makes tote bags. While creating a particular shade of grey she had envisioned, Hagan realized she enjoyed using fabric dye. “With a hand-dyed piece, it’s super unique for you and a little work of art,” she said. According to Hagen, the dye she uses is eco-friendly because it uses less water than natural dyes and is also better for your skin.

Instead of following fashion trends, Hagen said that “part of being eco-friendly is that I want my clothes to last and focus on classic styles.” As one of the first designers to create a line of vegan clothing in the city, Hagen is optimistic about the future. “Down the line, I have big dreams,” she said. “I want to open a shop in Montreal with a studio upstairs where I make everything with other people.”

To learn more about Lights of All or purchase the latest collection, visit the website.

Photos by Mia Anhoury

Categories
News

In the run for the ASFA presidency

Former ASFA president Jonathan Roy. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Candidate advocates for sustainability, LGBTQ+ representation and mental health resources

Following interim ASFA president Julia Sutera Sardo’s announcement that she will not be running for re-election, Concordia student Jonathan Roy has stepped into the spotlight.

As VP internal and councillor of the Concordia Classics Student Association (CCSA), VP of finance of NDP Concordia and member of the Concordia Senate, Roy is heavily involved in student politics at Concordia. On Monday, Nov. 13, he announced his candidacy for the ASFA presidency.

His posters, plastered on the university’s walls, feature his campaign slogan: “Empowered together.”

“You can’t just leave the decisions of an organization to a single individual. They need to be worked through by a collective,” Roy said. “I’m doing this because I want to support the rest of the executives. I want to support all of our associations. I want to support our students. This isn’t about me.”

This sentiment is echoed in his platform of empowering the member associations (MAs) and ASFA executives to fulfill their mandates. Roy has proposed moving away from the traditional, hierarchical order of the executive.

“Yes, I’m running for the presidency but, in my mind, the spirit of that office is that of a general coordinator,” Roy said.

Roy’s other campaign promises include making ASFA more sustainable, increasing LGBTQ+ representation in student governments and a complete collaboration with Concordia’s mental health services.

In terms of environmental sustainability, Roy plans to put a compost bin in every MA lounge, if elected, and plans to continue his work with Waste Not Want Not, Concordia’s composting campaign.

As a gay man, Roy said he is all too familiar with the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in politics—especially in Concordia’s student associations. He said he plans to take concrete steps toward solving this issue.

“I want to propose setting a specific spot on ASFA’s advocacy committee aside for a representative of Queer Concordia to be a voice on behalf of our community,” Roy said. ASFA’s sustainability committee already holds a designated spot for a representative from Sustainable Concordia, which has been an extremely positive experience, according to Roy.

As for working with Concordia’s mental health services, Roy said this collaboration is deeply important to him. After suffering from severe depression and attempting suicide five years ago, he said helping people through mental illness is especially important to him.

“I was at the lowest point in my life,” Roy said. “I’m always candid about my mental health issues because it’s important to talk about it. That’s how we end the stigma around it.”

Having used the services himself, Roy said he hopes to further relations with the Concordia chapter of jack.org—a national mental health network—and ensure Concordia’s psychological services are better advertised, if elected. Roy plans to push for more open dialogue about mental health within the university so students and their academics suffer less.

“People don’t deserve to feel the way that I’ve felt, and I want to try to help them,” Roy said.

ASFA presidential candidate Jad Abi Semaan. Photo courtesy of Jad Abi Semaan

While Roy said he feels confident in his ability to win the election, he is not running unopposed. Jad-Faraj Abi Semaan told The Concordian he is also in the running for the position. Semaan is a political science student at Concordia. He said that, if elected, he plans to strengthen the relationship between ASFA and the MAs by improving communication and establishing a plan of action which will allow MAs to reach their full potential.

“In a world polarized more than ever, […] we need platforms that bring people together,” Semaan said. “I will make it a personal priority to give an equal voice to students from all backgrounds, religious affiliations and ethnicities, such as the LGBTQ+ community, Muslim students and students with disabilities.” Semaan also said he wants to ensure the ASFA community is loving, accepting and respectful.

According to Roy, Semaan has had no previous involvement with ASFA, apart from acting as a polling clerk for the association last year. However, Semaan told The Concordian he would “be more than happy to have a constructive conversation with [Roy] at any point during this campaign and put to bed all his concerns about [his] legitimacy.”

Overall, Roy said his priority throughout the campaign and, if elected, his presidency, will be to empower the student body as a whole.

“The way I see governance, especially student governance, is not about catering to the needs of one person. It’s about coming together to work to help everyone,” Roy said. “That’s something that I’m a huge proponent of and something that would be reflected in the work I would do as president.”

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins

Categories
News

ASFA ratifies sustainability policy

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) ratified its first sustainability policy during a council meeting on Nov. 9. Photo by Mackenzie Lad

Unanimously passed motion outlines guidelines for federation, MAs

The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) has just ratified its first sustainability policy.

The policy, which was passed at a regular council meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, lays out sustainable practice guidelines for the federation and its member associations (MAs). The motion was passed unanimously by the council.

The policy was first drafted in the 2016-17 academic year by interim ASFA president Julia Sutera Sardo, who was vice-president of internal affairs at the time, and Agunik Mamikonyan, the former vice-president of external affairs and sustainability. After being reviewed by ASFA’s policy committee, the policy was ready to be ratified at the federation’s final council meeting of the year in May. However, Sutera Sardo said the ratification process was delayed until this year so it could be approved by the new council and by the interim vice-president of sustainability, Bianca Bruzzese. The policy was also reviewed by ASFA’s sustainability committee before being ratified by council.

The four-page policy defines sustainability as “the process and outcome of achieving social activism, economic equality and environmental health by reducing our ecological footprint and empowering communities to meet their present needs, and then, their future aspirations.” Following this definition, the policy is divided into sections addressing environmental, social and economic sustainability.

The environmental sustainability section includes commitments to minimize material consumption, support environmental justice initiatives on campus and beyond, and establish relationships with Indigenous communities directly affected by resource extraction projects. The social sustainability section includes a commitment to “promote a strong, safe and empowering community by seeking to minimize systemic power imbalances within society and fostering a culture of anti-oppression as well as encouraging a culture of self-care.” The economic sustainability section states that ASFA will, whenever possible, support local businesses, refuse unsustainable corporate sponsorship and advocate for fossil fuel divestment both on and off campus.

The policy includes a number of strategies to encourage MAs to adopt sustainable practices. ASFA will encourage MAs to create their own vice-president of sustainability position; workshops on sustainability will be provided to all ASFA and MA executives by ASFA’s vice-president of sustainability; MAs will be provided with a copy of Sustainable Concordia’s Sustainable Event Guide and encouraged to follow its guidelines; and finally, MAs will need to fill out a sustainability checklist when submitting a cheque requisition to be reimbursed for events.

When asked if MAs could be refused reimbursement for not adopting sustainable practices, Sutera Sardo said this is possible but unlikely because of the importance ASFA places on MA autonomy.

Sustainability Concordia spoke out in favour of the policy. “We’re really glad that ASFA has taken this step,” said Sustainability Concordia’s external and campaigns coordinator Emily Carson-Apstein. “Sustainability is a huge, ongoing discussion in our office and among all the student associations, and it’s really a fluid and changing document. It’s not a one-time thing. This is a great first step, and we’re really excited to see where ASFA takes this and how we can help them.”

Photo by Mackenzie Lad

Categories
Opinions

Students practicing sustainability at Concordia

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin.

In light of Concordia’s first Zero Waste Week, we at The Concordian would like to take a moment to remind our peers of some of the ways we can effect positive environmental change in our communities.

Achieving a more environmentally sustainable society requires effort on the part of both the individual and larger institutions such as governments, universities and corporations. While it may seem intimidating and difficult to instigate large-scale change, it is important to remember the resources we have access to in a democratic society.

Voting for politicians with green platforms, reaching out to your member of parliament or protesting against public policies that hurt the environment are all ways that we as individuals have the power to shift our society to be more sustainable. If enough people voice their priority for the environment, it will bring these issues to the forefront of our country’s politics and force our leaders to either adapt or lose support.

Nonetheless, changing our broader society’s stance on environmental issues is an extremely slow process. For this reason, The Concordian believes supporting sustainability is equally, if not more, important on a personal level—by that, we mean taking action in your own life. This includes finding ways to ‘green your home’ to minimize energy consumption, eating less meat, refusing to invest your money in environmentally unfriendly corporations and buying local foods with as little packaging as possible—check out the grocery store LOCO in the Mile End where you bring your own containers to buy food that uses zero packaging.

While your impact will obviously be greater if you commit to doing more of these things, some people seem to have a faulty all-or-nothing mentality about living a sustainable lifestyle. According to CBC, Florence-Léa Siry, the co-founder of the Zero Waste movement, “doesn’t expect anyone to be an extremist in their habits.” People have different limitations, such as time, money and dietary restrictions that affect their ability to live sustainably. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still have a positive impact. For example, it takes between 6,810 and 9,460 litres of water to produce a single pound of beef. Imagine how much could be saved simply by cutting your weekly consumption of beef in half.

There are also many ways you can act more sustainably here at Concordia. You can support groups like Concordia’s Greenhouse, Sustainable Concordia, People’s Potato and Divest Concordia by attending events and volunteering your time. You can shop at places like Le Frigo Vert—a green foods store run by Concordia students—or donate money to any of the groups listed above. If you are part of an organization on campus, you can consult the Dish Project and the Sustainability Action Fund when organizing events to find out how to make them as environmentally friendly as possible.

As individuals, we can reduce our ecological footprint by changing the way we go about our everyday lives. Simple things like buying food with limited packaging, taking public transportation and using less electricity all have a positive impact on the environment and send a message to producers and politicians that we as consumers and citizens value sustainability. We at The Concordian hope each and every one of you understand the importance of taking at least one of these steps towards living a more sustainable life. One person’s actions may not seem like a lot, but as a community of over 45,000 students, there is little doubt that we have the power to make incredible change.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

 

Categories
Student Life

Sustainability and creativity harvested into one

Photo by Cristina Sanza

Concordia farmer Elizabeth Chernichenko is bringing small-scale farming to big heights

Nearly four hours away, on the Quebec island of L’Isle Aux Allumettes, resides 26-year-old Concordia student Elizabeth Chernichenko. The island borders the Ottawa river and is home to less than 1,500 people. There, Ontario-native Chernichenko owns a small waterfront property, about two acres large. It carries a stretch of marshland, various trees, and a humus vegetable field. A variety of potato plants, beans, peppers, zucchini and herbs, among other produce, flourish on the land. Chernichenko calls it Classic Eve Gardens—her very own farm, where she is in charge of all aspects of it: from the growing and harvesting of produce, to the business aspects such as pricing and selling.

“I think that this project was an effort to do what I loved as a job—to be self-employed,” said Chernichenko. She said she wants to learn about ecology, agriculture and the business side of small-scale farming, in conjunction with her undergrad degree in human environment from Concordia. “I’d like to have a very well-rounded practical and university theoretical education,” she said. She stays at the farm Thursday through Sunday, and comes back to Montreal for school the rest of the week.

Chernichenko said she was interested in environmental issues and sustainability from a young age. She worked with environmental stewardship organizations after high school and volunteered at farms in her early adulthood. After working full-time at an organic farm last summer, Chernichenko realized how much she enjoyed farming.

Photo by Elizabeth Chernichenko

“I found that I hadn’t been exhausted like I had been at other jobs, like in the service industry or in the movie industry. I could work countless hours [at the farm] and still find myself really enjoying my time and myself,” she explained. “I found out last summer for sure, that organic farming and gardening was an area that I could find my growth, knowledge-wise, entrepreneurial-wise and personally.”

With a little bit of luck and the right connection at the right time, she was able to acquire a property in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes. A co-worker at the farm where she worked was looking to give up land they had recently inherited. They asked Chernichenko if she would like to take it over, and after a long bout of thinking, she took up the opportunity and started her own business. It took over six months of planning before she moved.

“I had to prepare myself for the complete unknown. I’d never lived alone in the country before, let alone so remote,” she said. Upon telling friends and family her plans, they weren’t too optimistic. “It was a really hard thing to overcome. Very few people were supportive, either skeptical or negative about me doing it,” she said with a laugh. “I showed them.”

The Classic Eve Gardens logo features a sketch of a woman’s face, wearing a floppy hat and sunglasses. Chernichenko said the somewhat feminine look of her logo was intentional. “I wanted to say that yes, it’s a pretty little farm run by a ‘pretty little girl,’ but the products and business should speak for itself when a person looks at the fruit of labour,” she said.

Farming involves a lot of physical labour, as well as thinking outside of the box, Chernichenko said. “Farming is a career of problem-solving,” she said. “You have goals, you have a vision, and you take whatever resources you have. You have to be extremely resourceful and creative.”

Creative she has been. Chernichenko’s farm doesn’t have a water infrastructure—instead, the water is sourced naturally, from a springpool on the upper part of her property. “It was this beautiful, fresh, ground-filtered water that was coming out and pooling. It was home to a lot of frogs,” she said. Since her property is on a slope, she had the idea of creating an aqueduct to feed the water down to the plant field by digging a trench.

Photo by Cristina Sanza

However, with the dry weather, the water would get absorbed. “I ended up having to put a hose in, build a dam and let gravity feed it down the line into a hole that I dug by my field. That was my water source the entire summer: good old-fashioned gravity,” she said with a laugh. For her, learning the practice of farming is largely a matter of trial and error.

While Chernichenko’s produce is organic, she hasn’t been able to afford an official organic certification—she’s still debating as to whether it’s really necessary. “I might just stick with non-certified organic,” she said. “My efforts have been organic. I think if people are cool with that, then the certification that the province does is irrelevant.”

She does not use pesticides or chemicals on her plants—instead, she physically picks the bugs off of them, which usually takes about an hour per day. “On a small scale, these things are manageable,” she said. “You do that every day, and you actually get rid of them.”

Her ultimate goal is to find a way to make small and medium-sized farms work from an economical and sustainable standpoint. “That’s my goal and dream, to see how to teach people and myself a way that it can work,” she said. “I find that you can take away a lot of the abrasive, unnatural methods [used in farming] by sizing down and being efficient and profitable on a small scale.”

Photo by Cristina Sanza

Chernichenko was particularly impressed, upon coming to Concordia, with the various groups engaged in urban agriculture or advocating for food-related issues, such as food production and security. For the average student interested in food sustainability, her advice is simple: “Your money is your voting power, so it’s important to make the right decisions. Ask questions about your food.”

She has recently started a new business venture: cooperative pricing—or Pay What You Can (PWYC). For those who can’t afford to pay the full price of her goods, she’s opted to let them pay as much as they can afford to, and encourages those who can afford the products to subsidize someone else’s costs. The products range from $2.50 to about $13. This year, she harvested beans, peas, pumpkins, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, beets, a wide variety of herbs, 24 kinds of heirloom tomatoes, and much more.

Chernichenko currently sells at three markets: Cobden Farmers Market and Eganville Farmers’ Market—both located in Ontario, and the Concordia Farmers’ Market, which takes place every Wednesday from noon to 6 p.m. in the mezzanine of the Hall Building. The market runs until the end of the semester, and resumes at the start of the winter semester. Visit Facebook to learn more about Classic Eve Gardens.

Categories
News

Indigenous community members visit Concordia to discuss climate change initiatives

Photo by Ana Hernandez.

First Nations communities are rallying the public to join them in defending the land from the North Dakota Pipeline

On Sept. 13, Divest Concordia and the Concordia Student Union (CSU) invited three Indigenous activists to discuss the effects of climate change and why they oppose oil companies, which they say are destroying their communities.

The speakers included Vanessa Gray, a youth activist from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, Ont., and Kiona Akohserà:ke Deer and Onroniateka Diabo, who are both from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. Akohserà:ke Deer and Diabo recently returned from Standing Rock, where protests over the North Dakota Pipeline are taking place.

The discussion began as Gray outlined the challenges facing the Aamjiwnaang First Nation community. She said the area is surrounded by over 60 high-emitting facilities which make up over 40 per cent of Canada’s petrochemical industry. Even then, it is “impossibly hard,” she said, to mobilize the 800 residents against climate change.

“Climate change is not the subject people want to talk about in Sarnia,” she said. “In a place where education is shared—let’s take Concordia for example—talking about climate change might be easier than [in] a place where everyone’s livelihood is based off [gas companies like] Shell or Suncor.”

Companies that are not being held accountable for negligence are damaging the environment, said Gray, and the population is also affected by it.

According to Gray, thirty per cent of women in Aamjiwnaang have experienced miscarriages or stillbirths within their lifetime. “This is just based on where they live—not based on diet or what the mother is doing,” she said.

In an ongoing court case, Gray said she is facing heavy charges for her role in the December shutdown of Line 9—a pipeline with the capacity to carry 300,000 barrels of oil a day between Sarnia, Ont. and Montreal. This year, the pipeline turned 40 years old.

“We cannot survive a pipeline rupture like Line 9 because there’s no way of cleaning it up. This is why I’m facing life in prison—because there is no other choice at this point,” Gray said. “It’s just one of the many issues that connects us all. It connects me to you, because this pipeline starts in my backyard and ends here [in Montreal].”

After Gray, Akohserà:ke Deer shared what changes she recently noticed taking place in her Kahnawake community, and what she had learned since returning from Standing Rock.

She said she had been approached by young people outside the community who were looking for a way to work together. A lot of the elders are still reluctant to welcome those not of Indigenous descent, Akohserà:ke Deer said, however claiming she believes her generation is more open.

She further encouraged people to get the word out via social media, about the social injustices facing Indigenous communities not just locally, but globally as well.

For anyone looking to get directly involved, Akohserà:ke Deer said: “Try to educate yourselves a little bit before you walk into somebody else’s community. There’s different protocols everywhere. In Kahnawake, how we mobilize is completely different from how they mobilize now in Standing Rock.”

Categories
Concordia Student Union News

What’s new with the CSU

The CSU executives preparing for one of their biggest year yet

For the Concordia Student Union, one thing is clear—students’ needs come first. Here is what you can expect from CSU’s coordinators this year.

Orientation Concordia

Orientation is the first big project for the CSU this year, as it will welcome students from all different programs starting next week. Rachel Gauthier, the student life coordinator, is currently organizing the 30 events that will be taking place from Sept. 6 to 16. These 10 days of activities include concerts featuring local bands, club fairs, a hip-hop show and a special night out to the OUMF 2016 festival.

It’s the first year that the CSU will be partnering up with the OUMF “Gala humour de la rentrée,” taking place on Saint-Denis street. “This festival is completely french, which is really cool because it’s something that was never done before, and Montreal is a bilingual city,” Gauthier said.

Another major event during orientation will be “Wellness Day,” which will include workshops focusing on mental, social and physical wellness. Gauthier said she wants students to know what resources are available to them, and to partake in activities that make them feel better.

For more information on the CSU’s orientation week, visit their website: csuorientation.ca.

Divest Concordia

The CSU has also partnered up with Divest Concordia, which aims to divest from the university’s investment in the fossil fuel industry.

“Concordia still has investments in fuel companies that are extremely harmful to our nature,” said Aloyse Muller, the head of the campaign and the CSU’s external affairs and mobilization coordinator. Muller said he wants to create social discussion about the issue through multiple avenues, one of them being from a financial point of view.

He also wants to put an emphasis not only on climate change, but on the communities that are affected by it daily. Open to all, Divest Concordia is looking for people to get involved  in various ways, such as discussion of the issues through art, demonstrations and petitions.

Sustainability at Concordia

Sustainability coordinator Lanna Galbraith said there are different projects in progress aimed to make students feel more comfortable and included at Concordia.

Starting in September, she said she hopes that the number of gender neutral bathrooms for students will increase.

Galbraith said there will also be emphasis on having a CSU that is more representative of the various cultures and ethnic backgrounds present at Concordia. She said the goal is to create workshops on social issues, now that environmental and economical topics have a good framework.

“I think it’s time to start a couple of social projects so that, when we think of sustainability, we don’t only think of it as environmentalism,” Galbraith said. In fact, sustainability is a balancing act that includes environmental protection, social responsibility and good economic practice, she said. Additionally, the CSU is working to make their office space more accessible for all students.

Affordable Housing for Students

Coming to Montreal for the first time to start university can be a bit scary, which is why HOJO, the CSU’s Housing and Job Office, helps students find safe, clean and affordable housing in Montreal. The union will be partnering up with UTILE (Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant), a non-profit organization based in Montreal dedicated to creating affordable student housing. Their goal is to build student housing with below average rent that will be managed by students, said the CSU’s General Coordinator, Lucinda Marshall-Kiparissis. “By building cooperative student housing that is not beholden to commercial interest, we’re able to say that we want affordable housing for students, and we want it so we’re not being a detriment to the neighbourhood,” she said. UTILE already purchased land on the plateau, but the project will take two to three years to really take off, she said.

Daycare

With a daycare already available at Loyola Campus for faculty and staff, CSU is taking the initiative to bring a daycare to the Sir George Williams (SGW) downtown campus for students with children.

Sophia Sahrane, the academic and advocacy coordinator, is currently working on this project. “This project was launched eight years ago when the university conducted a study to see if the undergraduate and graduate students needed a daycare,” she said. “The study yielded positive results and earned municipal approval, however, the initiative faded and nothing happened.”

“Not only do these parents have a job, but they have a kid, classes to attend and homework to do,” the CSU’s general coordinator, Marshall-Kiparissis, added. Sahrane receives emails from parents interested in the daycare on a daily basis. “We need the paperwork from the government, which should arrive soon, and then we will start demolition and open registration,” Sahrane said. She mentioned that the daycare will be located on Bishop street, focusing on undergraduate students’ children, but with some place for graduate students’ children as well.

For more information on these projects, the CSU encourages students to visit their website, csu.qc.ca. They have offices on Sir George Williams campus (H-711) and at the Loyola Campus (CC-426).

Categories
News

Student Congress reaches consensus

Large-scale support comes out for sustainability and engineers

Concordia’s Student Congress met on Friday, Nov. 21 to discuss and come to an accord on several issues among the assembled student groups, ultimately passing motions concerning student space, engineering minors, and sustainability.

Since the congress represents the largest assembly of student groups it was decided to adhere to high voting standards, by asking for a 90 per cent voting threshold. This meant several motions did not pass, but several big ones did.

The Engineering & Computer Science Association (ECA) successfully argued to allow engineering students to take a minor should they want to. Up until now, the 120-credit engineering bachelor program has denied engineering students the possibility of choosing minors or taking classes outside their department.

An initiative to add a mandatory 200-level course on sustainability to each program was initially rejected because of concerns it would needlessly overlap with existing courses in certain faculties. There were also criticisms that adding an extra course would delay graduation for some programs (such as biology, in which students have difficulties as it is graduating on time) by up to a full year. The proposal was later passed after amendments agreed to the necessity of the idea, but left the actual details—such as the level and nature of the course—open to future discussion.

The successful motions aren’t binding in any way to the university administration but they do signal a strong desire of the student body, via their student group representatives, of the direction they would prefer the school to pursue.

Categories
News

Holy blooming botanics, Batman!

Botanical gardens get bookish with conference

Concordia is organizing a conference on sustainability and botanical garden biodiversity in partnership with the Montreal Botanical Gardens on Oct. 23-25.

“Leaders in Conservation: Botanic Gardens and Biodiversity in the 21st Century” by the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre will feature local and international scholars, experts and leaders in the field of botanic garden biodiversity conservation to discuss the role that botanic gardens, zoos and natural science museums play in the socio-environmental governance of biodiversity.

The conference claims to be the first international scholarly event on botanical gardens, eco-citizenry and socio-environmental governance and is run by principal conference organizer Dr. Katja Neves and co-organizer and director of the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, Dr. Peter Stoett.

Dr. Neves has been researching and working in biodiversity for over 20 years, spending much of the ‘90s on the transition from whale hunting to whale watching. This will be the first time that a biodiversity conference brings the social sciences and humanities together to discuss the issues surrounding biodiversity.

“Botanics have their own conferences, but they are very specific to botanics,” Neves said. “What we’re hoping to do is to bridge the world of scholars and botanics.”

The conference is just the beginning for Neves, who is looking at long-term goals for sustainability and biodiversity.

“I have three goals,” said Neves, “An immediate goal, the conference—here scholars and botanic workers start a productive dialogue; a medium goal—to produce a website and create a sort of webinar so the public who didn’t attend the conference can have access and create a greater depth of conversation; and a long term goal—a forum for access to ideas, debate and resources for scholars, botanic workers and citizens alike.”

This conference has been two years in the making and started with Neves researching biodiversity and sustainability. Once she presented the idea of a conference, she spoke with the Botanical Gardens and met with Stoett, who supplied her with the resources to make it possible.

“It’s a collaborative effort and it is quite unorthodox,” explained Neves. “Botanic workers must trust scholars, and scholars must be humble enough to take it in. I’m hoping this changes the relations between the two.”

The conference will be in three different locations during its run; Thursday Oct. 23 will be on the seventh floor of the Hall building, Friday Oct. 24 will feature at the Botanical Gardens and Saturday Oct. 25 will be at Loyola Campus. Although registration is filled in some cases, there are still tickets to the gala dinner at $25 for students and around $50 for professionals.

Day one will consist of a panel discussion about the meaning of biodiversity and finding practical solutions. Day two will have presentations from representatives of Botanical Gardens around the world, what dilemmas they’ve encountered and how they’ve dealt with them. Day three will be a more hands-on debate. The audience is encouraged to join in on the discussion on a variety of topics including eco-citizenship and gardening.

“Citizens don’t need to be passive to biodiversity, they can be actively engaged. You don’t have to be a millionaire to make a significant contribution, it’s about empowerment, about learning how [biodiversity] should be done and how it should be legislated.”

Register and find our locations at leadersinconservation.eventbrite.ca

Categories
Arts

A look into what it takes to make a delicious burger

Cowspiracy delivers the often silenced effects of animal agriculture

God knows documentaries can be patronizing. Sometimes it is the almighty narrator who knows all, other times it is the gruesome images that try to guilt you into becoming something you are not. Well, that is not the case of Cowspiracy, the first film by director duo Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. In many ways, this documentary about the unsustainability of the current agricultural industry is very different from those said condescending documentaries seemingly made to make you feel stupid.

One of those key differences is the way the documentary feels personal and subjective in a positive way. The movie follows the thinking evolution of one of the directors, Kim Andersen. This shows his transformation into what we could call a “true” environmentalist. This is not as drastic as you may think. We are talking here of someone simply starting to change little habits, like taking shorter showers and using a bike instead of a car, to lower his carbon footprint. Then, he gets more and more interested in deeper environmental issues such as the effect of agriculture on the planet, and the odd fact that this problem is rarely addressed by any major environmentalist organization.

From there, he starts to investigate this incongruity by going up to worldwide organizations such as Greenpeace and Oceana, just to name a few. With him, you rapidly realize that there is something fishy about the fact that experts and huge pro-environment groups are simply looking the other way when questioned about the effect that animal agriculture has on the planet. It seemed much easier for them to pin Mother Earth’s health problems on cars and plastic bags than talking about one of the most unsustainable industries in humankind history. Just to give you an idea, a UN report cited in the movie states that animal agriculture causes about 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, while all transportation only account for 13 per cent. From there, the narrator and main protagonist of the documentary go on to interview an array of interesting people connected to the issue.

Cowspiracy is not only talking about a major environmental problem, but also critiques the forefront organizations that are supposed to help spread awareness. It denounces the rarely mentioned reality of environmental organizations choosing which issues to address in relation with the risk it involves. In this case, the agriculture industry is described as a very aggressive group, to say the least. It gives to the documentary a more nuanced point of view of the situation. It is not only about the good guys fighting the bad guys. Everyone is in a greyish moral zone. The movie also uses comprehensive graphics and animations to demonstrate the numbers that the narrator is often sharing with the audience.

The movie also has its weaknesses. Obviously set up scenes with Kim Andersen bringing his Al Gore poster down to show that he has lost the respect that he had for what was his inspiration to become an environmentalist shows a certain immaturity on the part of the filmmakers. It also uses a few cheap cinematographic techniques to put a sense of tension not necessary to the movie. Still, the way Cowspiracy is looking at the importance of sustainability and one of its worst enemies makes this film different than most other documentaries of this kind.

More importantly, this is the only movie that sincerely makes me think about becoming vegan. I am a carnivore, but since Cowspiracy, I have become a very confused bacon lover. Watch this documentary, and you will understand. Cowspiracy will be shown during a Cinema Politica screening on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in the D.B. Clarke Theatre. For more information about the movie and future screenings, you can visit the movie’s official website: cowspiracy.com

Categories
Student Life

Concordia addresses a myriad of sustainability issues

The organizers of Sustainability Concordia. Press photo.

According to external coordinator at Sustainable Concordia, Gabriela Polanco, our university is doing its part. Big time.

“We are dedicated at Concordia to push ourselves, to reduce food waste, and to raise awareness about food sustainability,” says Polanco. Having completed a BA in spanish literature combined with a minor in sustainability and diversity, Polanco is currently finishing her master’s degree at the University of Ottawa.

Since the University of Ottawa demonstrates a fair amount of skepticism about the people’s behaviour toward the planet, Polanco kept her foot in the door by joining Sustainable Concordia, which she describes as “full of energy.”

“Sustainable Concordia has been rather misunderstood by some people – is it a club or an organization? It’s both,” Polanco points out. “Although we are a student-driven organization, we have faculty members involved. We partner up with organizations like Food Coalition, Climate Justice, the John Molson Sustainability Group. We include as many voices as we can.” Although Sustainability Concordia was kick-started by students concerned about recycling (or, rather, the lack thereof), now the organization is open to all kinds of possibilities related to sustainability.

“Sustainability is so broad,” says Polanco. “We address a myriad of issues.”

The Montreal Community Security map, a project sparked by Sustainability Concordia, was brought forth in order to face the issue of clean eating and environmentalism.

“That is a very cool project,” Polanco explains. “We created a map of places nearby where students can go, places like farms, cafés or restaurants, where local and organic food is promoted. As such, we give power to people who feel that taking care of the environment is important. The map is currently at its preliminary stage but we are developing it. Students can also add places to the map,” she says.

On the organization’s agenda this year is changing the governmental structure at Concordia.

“Sustainability issues have been student-driven,” says Polanco. “That needs to change. We are discussing with the higher levels of administration so that they are also involved in the meetings we are having. We have three priorities this semester: coming up with a policy for the long-term, climate change, and food-related issues.”

Among all, Sustainable Concordia’s main focus is on food security and management.

“We want to reduce waste, make sure that we use plastic that is recyclable, and we are negotiating with Chartwells, which is a large food company that feeds our students.”

Polanco highlights that Chartwells needs to change its habits when it comes to food quality, proposing alternatives for students.

“Ultimately, we want to cooperate with Chartwells, but so far we have set up the Hive café above the library and we are promoting local food and when I say local food, I mean within walking distance.”

“No one is imposing a lifestyle here,” says Polanco. “We are simply encouraging students to go to city farms, go to workshops we give on growing plants and vegetables, that kind of thing. We set up a greenhouse which became a huge project, for instance.”

Polanco believes leading a responsible, food-sustainable lifestyle is not a radical step that will zap your wallet. “Eating local and organic food does not have to be expensive,” says Polanco, “We want to demystify that notion. It is not a radical change.”

With World Food Day quickly approaching on Oct. 16., the question remains: what will you be eating?

Categories
News

Greener buildings on the horizon

A research endeavor to create more energy efficient buildings, carried out by a Canadian initiative and directed by Concordia professor Andreas Athienitis, has recently received further funding.

Created in December 2011, the project is being fulfilled through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada’s Smart Net-zero Energy Buildings Strategic Network (SNEBSN).

The network is made up of 29 Canadian researchers from 15 universities, with professor Athienitis from Concordia’s department of building, civil and environmental engineering, acting as scientific director. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Hydro-Québec are also involved in the effort to ensure buildings become more environmentally friendly.

This past May, the research initiative received $1 million from NRCan. New research funding of $2 million has been provided by NSERC, NRCan, Hydro-Québec and Régulvar, while the network’s five-year budget from 2011-2016 is about $7.5 million.

This research effort is especially relevant in Canada since temperatures often reach extremes, causing buildings to consume high amounts of energy. Athienitis explained the goal is to transform buildings from being energy consumers into becoming producers of energy.

“Substantial savings can be achieved through reduction of energy consumption for heating, cooling and lighting,” said Athienitis.

As he writes on his website, “My long term vision is the realization of solar buildings operating in Canada as integrated advanced technological systems that generate in an average year as much energy as they consume.”

Athienitis is the Concordia University research chair in Integration of Solar Energy Systems into Buildings and was also the founding Director of the NSERC Solar Buildings Research Network from 2005-2010. He served as Associate Editor of the ISES Journal “Solar Energy” and played an important role in the engineering design of several award-winning low energy solar houses and green buildings. In an article published in Actualité in 2009, Athienitis was deemed one the most important innovators of Quebec.

SNEBSN researchers from Concordia include professors from the civil and environmental engineering department Paul Fazio, Theodore Stathopoulos, Sheldon Williamson and Radu Zmeureanu.

“It has been recognized in the last few decades that buildings consume about one third of the country’s energy,” Concordia buildings engineering professor Fazio wrote in his research. Fazio founded the Concordia Centre for Building Studies in 1977.

Fazio’s research currently focuses on the building envelope and its impact on building performance and industrialization. Problems with building envelopes can result in insufficient insulation and the growth of mold, which is a serious problem since it not only damages the building envelope, but also contaminates the environment inside.

SNEBSN’s website outlines that the research project’s vision is for key regions in Canada to have zero-energy buildings – those that don’t consume energy or release carbon emissions – by 2030.

This is hoped to be accomplished by establishing ‘smart’ controls in buildings such as integrated solar systems, windows that control solar gains and different types of energy storage.

“We will be developing novel techniques for predictive control and optimized operation of buildings so as to reduce peak demand for electricity – essentially making buildings “smart” so as to predict continuously their upcoming response to predicted weather,” said Athienitis.

The research is currently aimed towards improving commercial and institutional buildings.

Athienitis and his graduate students will carry out case studies in the EV and JMSB Concordia buildings and other public buildings in Montreal.

“Right now we have five graduate building engineering students and a postdoctoral fellow,” said Athienitis. “And similar numbers are expected to join every year.”.

 

http://www.encs.concordia.ca/news-and-events/entry.php?a=2013/05/in-a-climate-as-prone.php

http://www.solarbuildings.ca/index.php/en/home/vision

http://www.concordia.ca/news/releases/2013/09/03/buildings-of-thefuture.html

http://www.bcee.concordia.ca/faculty-and-staff/faculty/bios/AthienitisA.php

 

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