Course:IGS585/OK2019WT2/SpeakerLeanneMelissa
Leanne Bilodeau & Melissa Feddersen - Sustainability Practice at UBCO
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This is a reflection on the presentation by the guest speaker.
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The following table are the pairings for commenting on each other's reflections. These pairings are unique for each reflection.
| Nicole Bamber | Aditya Shingvi Chandrakanth | Maria Correia | Madeline Donald | Stephenie Hendricks |
| Ian Turner | Ariele Parker | Jeffery Nishima-Miller | Nadia Mahmoudi | Amarpreet Kaur |
Ariele Parker
Similar to Madeline I found it challenging to focus on anything other that COVID-19 during the presentation. As I watched the presentation my email inbox was continuously updating with letters from different departments cancelling in-person lectures, changing end of term course requirements etc.
I think that it is worth touching on the fact that our entire class still showed up for this lecture albeit an incredibly stressful time. I think that this shows a deep level of commitment to not only this course but to the subject matter being taught. While part of me had a hard time focusing on the lecture with everything that was happening outside of our virtual classroom, I was continuously struck (and am still struck) by how dedicated our class is to learning the subject matter so that each of us can do our part in mobilizing sustainability knowledge beyond the classroom upon graduation. What I took away from this lecture may be quite different than other students but it is a deep sense of dedication to the subject matter and respect for my peers.
During this current time, I continuously make comparisons to how climate change parallels a pandemic and found this article in the NY Times to be particularly interesting: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/opinion/letters/coronavirus-climate.html.
Summarized below is a portion of the article that is written by a teacher in Environmental Law from Rutgers:
Like climate change, a pandemic is outside the experience of today’s population. Like climate change, a pandemic develops gradually, with small effects at first. Like climate change, a pandemic has effects that must be predicted using scientific concepts that many people do not understand.
Like climate change, a pandemic has effects that are predictable in general but somewhat uncertain in detail. Like climate change, a pandemic must be controlled by decisive action taken long before the worst effects are felt, with immediate pain to vested economic interests.
The time scales are different, but the traits are similar. Our policymakers have not been good at making costly changes today to avoid dramatic harms in the future.
While the timing of this class made it challenging to remain present and engaged I am glad that the information was provided by both Leanne and Melissa and appreciate that Nahid provided a copy of the presentation slides after class for those who wanted to re-review the information at their own pace.
Aditya:
Hi Ariele. Drawing parallels between a pandemic and climate change is quite interesting and deep. These are events which affect us not only on a global scale but also in our day to day lives. Both of these can cause long term irreversible damages to our health,environment and the economy and can be bought under control only during the initial stages.
The link seemed to be broken but I would definitely try and delve deeper into these topics. Thank you for the insight!
Nicole Bamber
I enjoyed listening to Leanne and Melissa’s presentations about sustainability and well-being initiatives on campus. I always like hearing about efforts the school is doing to be sustainable, and seeing signs up around campus. One thing that I noticed (or rather, didn’t notice) in their talks was a focus on food sustainability. Since that is what I focus on in my research, I am obviously biased toward thinking that food should be a key focus area for sustainability efforts. Clearly all the other efforts mentioned are important as well. That being said, I have definitely seen many efforts in the cafeterias around campus to improve the sustainability of the food service. They discourage single-use dishes, cups and cutlery, and provide recyclable or compostable ones when needed. There are many plant-based options at most of the food vendors. One initiative that should be good is the “Green To Go” reusable take-away container program. This program was designed so students could use these green reusable plastic containers instead of the single-use take-away containers, then bring them back for the food service staff to wash and reuse. They were also intended to provide a discount as an additional incentive for students to use them. In theory, this sounds like an excellent example of a sustainable policy that benefits the environment, and the citizens (using the campus as a “living lab” microcosm for society at large). However, in practice, I have found this program to be worse than useless. One of the only things I frequently buy from the cafeteria in UNC that would require a take-away container is salad from the salad bar. Normally, a large salad costs $9 and they have a sign up at the salad bar saying something along the lines of “use a Green To Go container and save 20 cents, or use a single-use container and destroy the planet”. However, the GTG container actually just costs a $15 flat rate regardless of what food is in it. Now, this might be beneficial if you’re buying a more expensive meal (but even then, I don’t think many meals there are that expensive). But for a salad, that’s almost double the price, plus a $5 deposit to buy the first container. Therefore, the system they put in place is literally disincentivizing me from using a more sustainable option, and then shaming me for it. To relate back to the theme of knowledge mobilization in sustainability policy, this is an example of not using available information to create a sustainability policy. In theory, the policy is good but in practice it does not make any sense given the prices of food products (especially healthy, sustainable options like a salad). If in the creation of this program, they had used the prices of the food items to more appropriately guide their pricing scheme (or simply given a percentage discount rather than a flat rate), and communicated the savings more effectively, this sustainability policy would be much more effective.
Ian Turner
I agree completely. Your point of the Green to Go program as it currently exists disincentivizing you from using it is particularly salient for me, as I have one of those containers sitting on my desk that doesn't get used for precisely the reasons you brought up here. It's clear from this program, as well as others implemented by food services that the university is trying to move towards more sustainable food options. However, to be successful, there clearly needs to be a better job done of knowledge mobilization to make sure these programs actually work.
Madeline Donald
I find it difficult to reflect on anything other than COVID-19 at the moment. And in thinking that, I find myself flooded once again with the realization that everything that was going on in the world, anything I might reflect on in the context of last week's class, has not gone anywhere. All of our ecosystem-degrading lifeways are still alive and well, if momentarily dormant. This situation may prime us for system wide change in a sustainabler direction, though I do not think the movement in that direction will happen spontaneously. There is work to be done to maneuver this moment into a value-questioning exercise, an exercise that I think is sorely needed. Do we need these things? They won't be available for a while, will we be aright without them? What is really important right now? What histories do we employ in the process of answering those questions? Beyond asking this small subset of questions here, rhetorically, for at most a handful of people to read, what that work looks like is not clear to me.
Naomi Klein has been speaking publicly in the last weeks about how the question, "who's going to pay?" is not being asked, pointing out that even if the money is not "there" it can be manufactured as debt and we're off to the races. Or, back to the races, back to moving money around to make our world turn. Leanne Bilodeau spoke last week about the importance of "land[ing] plans on the ground," in reference to the sustainability planing by the university, so often presented in what Melissa Feddersen delightfully termed "shiny documents." I wonder if crisis is an effective way to land value questioning on the ground. Because while PhD thesis and Slavoj Žižek books are not what I would quickly term shiny, they, like the university's lofty plans, also abscond themselves in un-grounded formats. While Slavoj himself is a bit old and should probably stay at home, perhaps it is in light of COVID that knowledge (and value) mobilization (and questioning) and sustainability policy (change and grounding) become as important as they have ever been. And perhaps that means the conversations we have in this space are as important as they have ever been.
Donna Haraway brought the world the phrase: “it matters what thoughts think thoughts, it matters what knowledges know knowledges, it matters what relations relate relations, it matters what worlds world worlds, it matters what stories story stories.” My research is about the attentions that attend to attentions, and I believe those matter too. It is paramount that we attend to this moment at large while attending to each other on the ground. And, though they may not seem that way, perhaps these are one and the same process. Maybe Melissa Feddersen, working on well-being in the offices of student services, and Leanne Bilodeau, the associate director for sustainability operations at UBCO, do the same work now more than ever before. No wonder they were brought to speak together in class.
Nadia
Madeline,
In my perspective, the level of uncertainty is so high at the moment, that no one seems to be willing to do something productive based on the status quo as the risk is so high. I think it is not only us who is thinking about that this situation is an excellent opportunity to take some significant measures toward a globally beneficial goal. Yet, I think everybody is just waiting for a more stable time to take the initiative. I really liked the sentence by Donna Haraway that you brought up, it took me a while to understand, but I really appreciate your point about it, it is of high importance to attend the moment that we have and make the most out this moment. I think that it is a good idea to at least get prepared to have plans to implement once this dust settles.
Ian Turner
As a food sustainability researcher, like Nicole I was also disappointed by the lack of discussion around food options and availability on campus, and their contribution to sustainability initiatives on campus. As I indicated above, I staunchly agree and hold many of the same opinions and gripes with the green to go program as Nicole mentioned in her reflection. For their part, I do think the green to go program, as well as the increasing number of plant-based options being made available, and the increased emphasis placed on composting of food waste around campus do indicate that the school recognizes that food plays an important role in society moving forward in a more sustainable manner. What I wonder, however, is what role does environmental sustainability actually play in these decisions, in particular the decision to offer more plant-based, vegan options.
Specifically, I wonder if providing these vegan options is a result of their (often, but not always) greater degree of environmental sustainability relative to other animal-based alternatives, or rather is a result of actions to increase inclusiveness and accessibility in campus food services, in the same way that Kosher, Halal, etc. options are also be offered. This is where I think this issue relates back well to the reframing of the word sustainability that Alison Shaw talked about in her presentation. If you look at the campus food system as having the underlying value to ensure everyone has the opportunity to choose a meal that suits their personal dietary preferences, it becomes a no-brainer that vegan options should be offered on campus, which will have the off-target result of a campus food system with a greater degree of environmental sustainability.
Nicole Bamber
Given your reference to my reflection, I obviously agree with your points! I think your ideas about vegan options are thought-provoking. It is interesting how veganism exists at the intersection of ethics (animal rights, sustainability), health, and preference. While it is interesting to wonder for what reasons food services is providing vegan options, it is also beneficial that regardless of the intentions, veganism has so many co-benefits. Also, I like the way you flipped the narrative, by re-framing plant foods as foods, and animal foods as alternatives.
Nadia Mahmoudi
I have always known that our campus is working towards sustainability, but I had never knew the scope. It was great for me to hear about the details. I really like the talks that Leanne, Melissa, and Lan, provided us with. It was apparent for me that waste management and transportation are developed towards sustainability, but I was unaware of having green buildings, sustainable food services, water management, and ecological landscape.
However, somehow, I feel like that in some of the mentioned aspects, there are no progressive efforts. For example, there were no details about sustainable food management online, and I am under the impression that the only effort is about the packaging and not using plastic straws, for which we could see the poster all over the campus.
I went through the UBC website to explore the projects that were mentioned in our previous session. I found that there is an ongoing project about carbon footprints and environmental impacts, and it had some reports and results about reducing carbon emissions over the years. Also, reading about recycling energy and rainwater management sounded very cool to me.
For me, who is not studying sustainability as their main theme, and as someone whose project is only partially relevant to some areas of sustainability, finding out that our campus feels responsible for sustainability and supports the regenerative community was excellent. Of course, I believe that it is not enough, because I can see so many flaws in their publicities to encourage collaborations from students and faculties, and so many gaps in their activities. Still, reading through their reports, I am positive that in not so distant future, we can have a better and more sustainable university.
Madeline Donald
It is interesting for me to read your statement about the posters that we can see all over campus, which apparently encourage us to use re-usable containers and eliminate plastic straws. I had not noticed these posters. The best part of this reflection exercise for me has been the illumination of aspects of a period of time spent together, our three hours in class, that I either completely didn't notice or did not stop to think about. From that stopping and thinking comes connections to all manner of things I had, again, never noticed, or never stopped to think about. And when we all go back to campus I'm sure I'll be seeing anti-straw posters left, right, and center.
Jeff Nishima-Miller
It was great hearing about sustainability initiatives at the university, I was delighted to hear that there are people dedicated to making our campus more sustainable.
Maria’s question regarding the universities land-conversion/landscaping/green-scaping practices got me thinking about the ecological benefits of artificial turf vs. natural grass- as Leanne mentioned that the university is moving away from planting more ‘natural grass areas’ (fields, etc.), mentioning that UBC OK Nonis sports field is indeed artificial turf.
Growing up playing field-based sports (rugby and soccer), I can remember when I started practicing and playing on artificial turf regularly in 2010. Since then, I have seen many of the ‘natural grass’ fields I once played on converted into artificial turf. By the time I was in university and playing rugby at UVic, we almost exclusively practiced on artificial turf, and played games semi-regularly on it. Which leaves me wondering what the motivation for this is? Function? Ecological/Sustainability? Or Convenience?
I can tell you from first-hand experience, it is not function. I have seen far more knee injuries (ACL and MCL tears) on artificial turf (myself included, having one which was followed by surgery). It is unforgiving and does not have the same cushion as natural grass.
Now I wonder if there truly are ecological benefits to artificial turf vs. real grass. I did some research which outlines the impacts and here is what I found:
Artificial turf uses no water and does not require maintenance, therefore avoiding fossil fuel inputs from lawn mowers, etc. Once installed, artificial turf has a life of 25 year (and is often not recycled). For these 25 year, the soil which was once used to grow grass is covered, blocking burrowing insects (i.e. solitary bees) and above soil dwellers (i.e. worms).
Natural grass on the other hand, requires significant water and maintenance to maintain the health of the grass- which can involve using scarce water resources, fossil fuel inputs, and harmful fertilizers. While saying this, natural grass also captures rainwater, regenerates soil (if practiced properly), and acts as a home for many different types of insects. With the global threats to insect populations, should this be overlooked completely? I can’t see sports/field recreation going anywhere soon, so what should be encouraged (from the perspective of enhancing sustainability)? Natural grass or artificial turf?
Anyhow, thanks for the platform that allows for the artificial turf rant- it has been many years in the making, as I see artificial turf as simply the convenient option.
Stephenie Hendricks
Since Maria fed back on Amarpreet, and Jeff fed back on Maria, I will feed back on Jeff. Apologies for my delay.
I agree that the issue of turf and greenspace is complex.
Another issue with the artificial turf is that lead and dioxin are breakdown products from the artificial turf, and even at low doses, lead is neurotoxic and dioxin is one of the most carcinogenic substances on earth. So on that level alone, especially with young people (the human brain/nervous system doesn’t stop developing until @ 23 or so), it is a bad idea. Also, green space areas can support living eco systems if done right – attracting pollinators and so forth. Sustainable sports fields should not be made of PVC.
As to other UBCO land use policies, it seems odd that there is not a community garden (or several) on campus and that animal paths are not in the design - or maybe they are and I missed it or we didn’t hear about it.
I also think it is a bit of a stretch to consider the UBCO housing for students “sustainable.” I have not seen solar panels, rain water catchments, places to dry clothes outside, gardens for growing food, workspaces near the living spaces, the ability to turn routers off in the residences, composting infrastructure or other elements I might think of when I think of sustainable residences.
Amarpreet Kaur
I thoroughly enjoyed the talk by Leanne and Melissa, regarding how UBC as a community also has plans to attain a good sustainable state in near future. Perhaps, they might lag in some of the sectors but they are trying to target every aspect related to the university.
After the session, I have a chat with a friend of mine, regarding the sustainable goals of university and he stated that university officials are highly motivated to make campus a net-zero campus by 2032. As the university is planning its expansion and making new buildings, so they are adapting well equipped and smart systems to construct net-zero infrastructure to conserve energy and reduce the carbon footprints and environmental impacts. Besides this, many sustainable infrastructural projects have already been implemented on the campus, like improved and smart heating, cooling and air conditioning systems (HVAC's), wall components etc. which already have made buildings more efficient. Even more, our Engineering, Management and Education (EME) building does not require any external heating, due to a established datacenter beneath it, which radiates ample amount of heat in order to keep the building warm.
Additionally, I agree with the fact that presently they might lag behind in some of the aspects such as food management, but I also appreciate their motivation and initiative, that they are trying to make campus as sustainable as possible. In comparison to my country INDIA, we have started creating sustainable residential buildings in metropolitan cities like Pune and Mumbai, but the same is not applied on the university and institutional level. So I totally admire their initiative of making the campus sustainable. Moreover, we can't achieve sustainability in a single go, in my opinion its a slow process and it will take time to achieve a sustainable state.
Maria Correia
I always appreciate reading the experiences you share from your native India. And I can relate to some of your reflections because of the many years I covered India and worked closely with Indian colleagues. It is true that we tend to look to universities and places of learning as models for the rest of society, so I understand your disappointment about India's universities lagging behind in terms of creating sustainable buildings and promoting other sustainable practices. I believe that UBC Okanagan has had a real impact in Kelowna in terms of bringing an inspirational academic community to the city, in supporting research and innovation, and in general in modeling new forms of thinking and acting. The Okanagan Sustainability office is a case in point.
Maria Correia
Like Madeline, at the moment I find it hard to think of anything other than COVID-19. The presentation by Leanne Bilodeau & Melissa Feddersen, which took place a mere two weeks ago, is a distant memory. The world has changed completely in this period and I am left with questions and deep uncertainty. Is this the end of globalization and will countries retreat into isolationism? Will the pandemic lead to levels of insecurity the likes of which we have never seen? What will happen in the less developed world (and in so many of the countries I have worked in and have a personal connection with) given weak governance systems and the limited capacity of health care systems? What will the post-COVID-19 world look like? And on a personal level, what will this mean for our personal habits, what we buy, what we eat, how we shop, what we consume, how we work (if we work), how we travel, how we vacation, how we spend our time? The questions seem infinite, but the relevant question for this class is what COVID-19 mean for sustainability and the climate crisis. Is COVID-19 the stark message we needed that humanity cannot continue on unsustainable trajectory? I believe it is and I can only hope that we can learn from this period we are going through and get on a more sustainable path; that more resilient societies will emerge and that we see systemic change. There is too much in the media on this subject, but this article on the coronavirus and degrowth, which appeared in my inbox this morning, is thought provoking. [1]
But if it is too optimistic to hope that some of the systemic ills of society will be addressed when the dust settles, perhaps we can use the lessons of the pandemic on a personal front and reset some of our habits to be more sustainable. In the short term, I will need to accept that the only thing I can be certain of is uncertainty, and make the best use of this forced isolation to learn, think and reflect.
As for the presentation, my recollection is the university has taken on important initiatives in terms of recycling, saving energy and reducing solid waste. I was curious however to see how other universities tackle the issue of sustainability and found the concept of a green university. I learned that creating a green university requires running projects on organic food, renewable energy, gardening, landscape and biodiversity, low-carbon transport, clean water and recycling. UBC appears to be moving in that direction, although much more needs to be done in terms of low-carbon transport. Among other things, as I pointed out during the class, UBC has less than 20 electric car parking stalls and they are almost always occupied.
Jeff Nishima-Miller
I share many of the same feelings, but it is becoming easier every day to adjust to this new normal (even through it is a normal full of uncertainty).
I do think it is worth noting that almost every generation experiences a period of time where it seems like the world is ending or coming to a complete halt. Here, I find myself thinking about my great grandmother who contracted polio as a young woman with three children (one of which was my grandpa) during the polio epidemic of the 1940-50’s. I imagine the uncertainty she must have had when she was forced to leave her family to live in a hospital with an iron lung (a large apparatus which helped her breath), only to return back home crippled from the disease.
Luckily, polio was eradicated in Canada. Society moved on, developed new technologies to prevent the spread, and people’s lives went back to normal- in the case of my great grandma, this was a new normal.
In relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, I know we can find a new normal (post virus and post-industrial society alike)- people are forced to do it all the time. I hope society is able to take this as an opportunity, as you are, to revisit what normal should be, and seek out new ways of functioning which allows us to coexist with each other and the environment.
Stephenie Hendricks
Leanne Bilodeau & Melissa Feddersen were both very interesting, so great to get to hear from folks working right here on campus on sustainability issues.
My interest really perked up with Melissa working with the nursing and health care provider students to raise awareness on sustainability. After the discussion, I contacted Melissa and gave her the names of health care provider groups working on environmental health and sustainability policy, and she was very sweet in response.
It makes sense to invest in course content that has practical applications in the school. When I first came here, I was impressed with the robust presence of recycling, composting and waste collection bins. I am not sure that when students enter the university that there is any mention of sustainability policies in the orientation, or perhaps I just missed it. Even if there is mention of it, perhaps it could be more in the forefront with a one pager on how students can maintain and raise the level of sustainability practices on campus, to try and get them invested in it. I sure would hope that Leanne would be supported by the administration to be able to keep increasing the sustainable practices. One issue was brought up to me by one of my other professors – the buildings labeled “sustainable” on campus did not consider noise/sound pollution, and due to the passive solar design (glass), are very difficult for individuals with sound sensitivity to be in.
Also, it seems that the infrastructure for those who travel by bicycle back and forth to campus needs some more support, according to comments I heard from those who use it. There also seems to be a lot of plastic trash from the Tim Hortons, Starbucks and the food places. Post Covid-19, perhaps a campaign for students to get a discount with reusable food containers would be good.
Back to Melissa. Now with Covid-19 we are seeing how health care workers are at great risk from their environment. This includes from toxic chemicals and nonionizing radiation as wireless technology has taken over without adequate scientific review.
What would it be like if UBC took the initiative to support engineering students to create a more sustainable substitutions for things like latex gloves, drip bags, plastic tubing (all of which have toxic break down elements), and other common medical supplies that increase the plastic pollution exponentially? UBCO could take the lead in driving market shifts in the health care sector to more sustainable products. UBCO medical faculty could also verse themselves on environmental health factors in diagnosis, which could aid in treatment when exposures are identified. For example, people who are sensitive to non-ionizing radiation (often with neurological symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, “brain fog”) could have wired computers and be situated away from routers – even have shielded rooms on campus for people to take a break from the radiation.
There are many ways to go with helping the health care sector become more sustainable. It’s encu0raging to know that people like Melissa and Leanne are driving the sustainable policies here at UBCO
Aditya Shingvi
It was enlightening to learn about the various means through which sustainability is actually practiced at a university level. To have full-time staff on pay roll and a comprehensively defined sustainability charter with a long term vision such as the 2040 outlook really underlines the importance of incorporating it in the functioning of a university as big as UBC. It was fascinating to learn about how a university facilitates and influences the development of sustainability initiatives at a municipal,provincial, federal and even on the international stage.
One thing that really caught my attention was that UBC's Sustainability Emergent Priority Areas not only aims at developing sustainable cities and communities or reducing consumption (which are traditionally what comes in mind when you think of sustainability) but also addresses a whole range of important social issues such as eliminating poverty, providing quality education, gender equality etc. all of which can impede the implementation of a successful policy in the future if left unchecked.
While having 20-30-40 years plans is definitely the right first step, I am curious about how in practice does the Department of Sustainability Operations tracks its progress towards achieving the goals. I find it easier and more efficient to break them down in small work packages, that are geared towards the short term, easy to understand,implement and track.
Ariele Parker
Hey Aditya,
Thank you so much for your response. I appreciate your feedback on making small workable / tangible goals. I am very much the same in how I like to go about achieving goals and would think this would lead to higher job satisfaction and funding. Hope you have a great summer!