The space where art and environmentalism collide is a space where hearts become inspired. In the art project titled 1,000 Flyers, anyone can participate and add a contribution to the art piece, giving an opportunity for others to learn and become aware of an important environmental issue, while having a personal and meaningful interactive experience. 

“1,000 Flyers is an ongoing participatory eco-art project drawing attention to threats to bird populations worldwide. There are currently over 1,400 bird species at risk of extinction globally, and this project honours and memorializes them through the intentional folding of paper cranes for each of these species,” shared Jessica Marion Barr, the founder of this project, who notes that the number of species has increased by more than 100 since the project was started nine years ago.

“There are currently over 1,400 bird species at risk of extinction globally, and this project honours and memorializes them through the intentional folding of paper cranes for each of these species,”

“Participants are asked to select an at-risk bird species from a list provided by the artist and then, in the spirit of the Japanese tradition of senbazuru (the folding of 1,000 paper cranes to aid in the healing of someone who is ill), to fold an origami crane as a prayer for the healing and survival of this species,” Barr explained.

1,000 Flyers at the Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference, Hart House, Toronto (2013). Credit: Vincent Luk

“The title of the project is a play on words – ‘flyers’ refers to the birds as well as to the material from which we make the origami; instead of traditional origami paper, we use junk mail – the flyers that appear unbidden on our doorsteps, and whose existence speaks to the threats to bird and other living populations worldwide: consumerism, factory farming, deforestation, pollution, and on and on.”

1,000 Flyers at the Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference, Hart House, Toronto (2013). Credit: Vincent Luk

Not only is the message of the art environmentally conscious, but the material that it is made of contributes to the same message. Upcycled paper is a more sustainable option that also, as Barr explained, comments on the nature of consumer culture, tying in the awareness of the threats of the birds as an integrated part of the art itself.

“Participants label their creations with their chosen species’ name and then add them to the growing ‘flock’ of 1,000 Flyers. When the project is complete and all threatened species on the list (from the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, see www.iucnredlist.org/) have been commemorated, the piece will be displayed as a unified installation, hopefully outdoors in a tree, tying the project literally and metaphorically to existing bird habitat.”

1,000 Flyers installation at Lady Eaton College, Trent University, 2020. Credit: Alyssa Diatel

The most recent participatory installation of 1,000 Flyers occurred in March 2020 just prior to pandemic lockdowns, at Trent University’s Lady Eaton College, where the project was hosted as a part of the college’s annual Marjory Seeley Women in Leadership event. However, as an ongoing and interactive project, participants are always welcome to contribute and pay their own respects to this growing memorial for endangered birds. 

1,000 Flyers at the Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference, Hart House, Toronto (2013). Credit: Vincent Luk

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Growing up, like most kids, I liked fantasy/adventure series – like Narnia, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings – and I read some of those books back then. But as I grew up, I became less interested in this genre and preferred to read more realistic stories. However, lately, I’ve been craving adventure and I’ve felt drawn to reading about these magical worlds again more than ever.

The pandemic has had me cooped up in my home for quite some time now. I don’t have my own car (not like there is anywhere I am allowed to go if I did), so the majority of the time when I want to get outside, I am restricted to a distance equal to as far as my legs can take me. As a result, I’ve been walking around my neighbourhood… a lot. Trust me, I’ve become so acquainted with the surrounding streets that I could walk them blindfolded. Although I appreciate all the moments I can spend outside, and being within walking distance to parks and green spaces is a privilege, I long for the excitement of travelling to new places, exploring natural areas, and having adventures. Since I can’t do that these days, I have started journeying to fictional places in my mind as much as I can through reading.

Source: Masterclass 

My fantasy novel reading kick started this year in 2021 because, after one year of the pandemic, I was feeling more antsy than ever. Like I said, I grew up liking adventure series, but they have a whole new effect on me these days. They provide a window into a new world, full of gripping adventures, in a time where we physically can’t do any of that in our own reality. 

More and more I’ve been feeling like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit – comfortable in my house and neighbourhood but feeling like there is a part of me aching for something more, for adventure. And sadly, a wizard is not going to come to my house and send me off on a journey, so it’s up to me to push myself out the door (metaphorically) and enter the fictional worlds that exist on my bookshelf. 

I typically read contemporary fiction and literature because I like realistic stories that can offer me insights into my own life and the real world. I always viewed fantasy as more of an escape from reality – just something fun to read to forget about real life and be immersed in a new, magical world. But the more I read fantasy novels, the more I realize that these stories might actually be helping me cope with my own changing, unpredictable world rather than distracting me from it. Sure, they sometimes provide oversimplified, utopian-esque reflections of life, but I genuinely think this literary genre can provide tools and insights that can aid us in the environmental movement. 

Inspiration for Fighting Our Battles

The courage that these fictional characters display can inspire us in our own stories.

First of all, the characters in these novels overcome great feats – and also small feats, too. They fight in battles, learn skills from their mentors, travel on long journeys, face harsh climates, and do all sorts of other “adventure trope” things, generally to save their world from evil. But their feats are not entirely unlike the ones we face in our world. The courage that these fictional characters display can inspire us in our own stories. Besides the fact that our world does not have fire-breathing dragons, centaurs, elves, and other magical beings, our world is not so different from many of the fictional worlds we can read about. Sometimes it just takes a closer look to see the similarities.

Source: The Almighty Guru

I put a Lord of the Rings quote in one of my other articles to emphasize the courage that we, as environmentalists, will need on the long road to fighting for a better world, and I’m putting another one in this article. Maybe it’s LOTR overkill, but the story of Frodo and the ring has so many relevant quotes that can give inspiration to environmental and social justice activists, and particularly youth, who feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. It’s not easy to face these issues every day, but we continue to fight every day nonetheless. Looking to fantasy stories for inspiration and courage would likely benefit all of us who find ourselves feeling the ever-present weight and discouragement of the state of the world.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Connecting with the Natural World

A lot of fantasy novels take place in the outdoors and the characters often get intertwined with the elements of nature. The setting of these stories, often being in very natural places, provide a lot of natural imagery and a mystical quality to nature, which the characters experience in awe, curiosity, and wonder. The natural aesthetic of these worlds can evoke in us a greater appreciation for nature. Keep in mind – the nature in these books is not altogether fictional… it’s based on the nature of our own world, just in combination with a bit of imagination.

But many fantasy stories also include the force of nature and the environment almost as a character itself. In the book, The Name of the Wind, only the most skilled individuals in the story who study the wind know the name of it, which basically means they can call on it with their minds and control it. The point is, the wind – and also other elements, like iron or stone – are great forces that come alive and become vital pieces to the story, almost like characters. The human characters are very intertwined with their natural world – just as we are with ours.

Source: Alicia Ochoa via Art Station

Rediscovering the Magic of the World

Although reading about these magical worlds can still be a form of escapism for many, these stories can also help us rediscover the magic within the real world. I know what you might be thinking – there is no magic in our world. Well, there is definitely a magical essence of nature. Nature is full of life, energy, and beauty – and it’s so complex. Humans have probably only scratched the surface of understanding the planet and the nature around us, but being in nature is far more than understanding – it’s also feeling and experiencing, which goes beyond merely thinking about it. 

When I go into nature, I feel at peace and inspired. When I travel to a new place and experience a whole new ecosystem, I feel shocked and amazed. When I see fireflies, starry skies, colourful sunsets, beautiful birds, the list goes on and on, I feel a way that I imagine magic would make me feel – in awe. There is so much in nature to appreciate, feel, and draw energy from, and I think it’s worth rediscovering the magic in our own world to feel more connected to nature and more motivated to better protect it.

Overall, I have a much greater appreciation for this literary genre than I did before the pandemic. Now that I’ve given it more of a chance without making presumptions about it, like that it would be childish or too “far-fetched” or irrelevant to my own life, I’ve come to realize that many of these books are none of those things. They are simply a look into another world that we can experience, find delight in, and also learn and draw inspiration from. The magic of our world is all around you and maybe picking up a fantasy or adventure book will help you rediscover it.

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Far from discussing fish biology, the film speaks to the legacy of colonial oppression experienced by indigenous communities from the 16th century when Chile became a settlement of the Spanish Crown to this day. The film focuses on a Mapuche community in the south of Chile. The Mapuche people make up 84 percent of the indigenous population in Chile. They remained independent throughout the colonial period and were forced to join the Chilean state in the 1880s, under siege by the Chilean army. It took about a century for the Mapuche collective land rights to be recognized by a 1993 Indigenous Law, yet there are recurring confrontations over collective land and water rights and human rights abuses. To this day, Mapuche people record some of the lowest social and economic indicators in the country. It is no surprise to see in the film a wealthy settler family vacationing in their rural estate serviced by Indigenous employees in the house and on the property.

Chile // Source: Audley Travel

Settler colonization is a distinct form of colonization that “covers its tracks” (Veracini, 2011, p. 3). To succeed in their colonial project, settlers need to extinguish or erase the former inhabitants of the land. One of the film’s scenes illustrates the engineered amnesia that permeates the contemporary settler’s consciousness. In a casual conversation among male settlers, one of them contends: “What I don’t understand is this idea of ‘recovering the lands’. They talk about the historical debt. What historical debt? They have never owned anything!” To which another responds: “But their ancestors have.” The first man disagrees: “Noooo. They were collectors and hunters. The agricultural activity was minimum. They walk through these woods. They usufruct the woods. They were not owners.” The conversation went on as a trifle and ended in laughter.

The film is not about fish, but rather the treatment of invasive species reminds how in settler colonization projects, binary language is used to establish and justify a society of deserving “haves” and undeserving “have-nots” (Harding, 2006), of us-who-belong-here vs them-who-do-not. In one of the scenes, a boy tells Pancho that the carps “come from another place.”  Pancho explains: “Look, the carps are originally from the Amur river that divides China from Russia. They brought them here to exterminate the algae, but they didn’t tell them that they reproduced very fast.” The ironic similarity with Indigenous people’s extermination by the European settlers was not brought up in the conversation which, again, ended in laughter. In face of the threat posed by over productive invaders, Pancho justified their extermination by all means necessary, including detonating explosives in the lagoon. The violence of the method soon triggered concerns in his daughter Manena.

Violence is an underlying theme throughout the film. Pancho’s choices seem to indicate a form of internalized violence; in addition to bombing the carps, he also installed an electric fence to protect the family lakeside estate. Latent violence grows in the Ovalle household as the movie progresses with Manena realizing that not only is the carp population aggressively controlled, but their Indigenous neighbours are also being dispossessed of their land and ways of life. The film depicts institutional violence led by the state police, los carabinieros, in a raid against a Mapuche village. Inter-community violence is also visible though lopsided, as animal and human casualties are only recorded on the Mapuche side: first, a Mapuche farmer loses a sheep against the electric fence, then a Mapuche worker, Manena’s friend, loses his life, also by electrocution.

Los carabinieros de Chile // Source: Illustrado Noticias

Although this film brings to the foreground the colonial legacies the Mapuche nation faces in Chile, there are certain limitations in this representation. One of the most questionable aspects is the viewpoint from where the audience accesses the story, in this case, Manena, a settler teenage girl that in her vacation begins to perceive the injustices indigenous communities endure in her father’s land. Even though Mapuche women and men appear on screen, the privileged voice is Manena’s. This can lead us to question which voices have the power to be heard, not only in the film but in the public sphere.

Mapuche men are the indigenous characters with most presence throughout the film; in fact, Manena’s friend is the common thread that opens and closes the film. However, this is not the case for Mapuche women. Dedicated to the care work within the settler’s household, they seem to be voiceless presences with no agency whatsoever. This representation falls short given the central role indigenous women have across Latin America in standing up against both environmental injustices and gender violence, up to such a point that scholars have observed a feminization of these fights, this is, more and more women join activist manifestations. Even more so, although the protagonist of the film is a girl, the representation of all the women is an aspect that deserves consideration. Manena’s mother is a character stripped of agency by being constantly silenced by her husband who diminishes her. She drowns her sorrows in alcohol and plays no part in the family business or her children’s education.  

The Summer of the Flying Fish takes place in southern Chile, but its message is global. It speaks to institutionalized violence and systemic racism in other settler colonies including Australia, the United States, and Canada. It compels viewers to turn a critical eye on themselves. To some viewers, maybe, this could be an unsettling exercise to examine their privileges and realize their complicity in perpetuating colonial ideology. About her interest in filmmaking and politics, filmmaker Marcela Said shares that she wants to “shoot what’s invisible, atmospherical… the tension.” The film ends leaving the viewer to know more. How far will Manena go in her standup against her father? How will the Mapuche community react to the loss of one of their youths?  Said can be commended for casting light on the invisible in this atmospheric and politics-laden drama.

This article is part of our March 2021 Western Student Editorial Series – a series that showcases the works of students in the Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Sustainability program. Read more articles from this series here!

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Our goal is to challenge readers to think about the climate crisis in a different way and start thinking about what they’re going to do in their individual lives and communities to strive for that possible future; we want people to envision the journey. We’re not looking for false hope or optimism, but rather, diverse stories that are grounded in the views of people. We want to share the pathways people have taken and their ancestors have walked, and translate those into a new perspective of looking back from the future, as a type of “letter to our past, 2021-inhabiting selves”.

A\J is seeking volunteer writers who may be interested in contributing a cli-fi, futuristic, intergenerational, utopian/dystopian-related piece for this upcoming issue, 2071. We are looking for NEW VOICES: pitches from BIPOC storytellers, new grads, and most importantly, young writers – the ones who will be living in that future… We want diverse perspectives, new ideas, and interesting story angles to present this vision of 2071.

Opportunities to contribute to a variety of different topics for online articles are also available.

Those who may be interested are asked to email: Siobhan Mullally at siobhan.mullally@alternativesjournal.ca or David McConnachie at david@alternativesjournal.ca.

About A\J

A\J, or Alternatives Journal, is Canada’s national environmental magazine and has been independently publishing intelligent & informed environmental journalism since 1971. A\J is published by Alternatives Media Inc, a registered Canadian charity that is dedicated to publishing hundreds of stories, inspiring thousands of meaningful actions and engaging with millions of Canadians, each and every day.

The post 2071: The Journey of How We Avoided Dystopian Outcomes appeared first on A\J.

I don’t express my love for you enough

But I’m so grateful for all that you are

You do so much for me

You provide for me

I appreciate all the gifts you give

The air I breathe, the water I drink, the food I eat

My survival depends on you

You are beautiful

You are wild and vast and magnificent

You are a great force and a silent stillness

You fill my soul and give me peace

You ground me

Never failing are your natural cycles of sunrises and sunsets

And phases of the moon in the night sky

And the physical ground beneath my feet

You support all life

You do so much for me that I cannot see

To regulate the climate and cycle nutrients and water through the earth

You make my life livable

You teach and inspire me

I’ll never get close to knowing everything about you

Nevertheless you continue to teach me lessons every day

Of connectivity, resilience, complexity, and healing

You are a wonderful host

You’re hospitable and serving

Even when your residents are destructive at best

You are home

I’m sorry for not loving you enough

or at least not protecting you nearly enough

You deserve better than what has been done to you

You deserve all the love we humans can give

And I love you for more than just what you do for life on Earth

You are intrinsically valuable in and of yourself

I love you for simply existing

You mean the world to me

The post My Valentine to Nature appeared first on A\J.

My first few days on the job were filled with uncertainties as I was just beginning to understand my role and didn’t know what to expect for the coming weeks. I was, in every sense of the word, a newbie. But it was not long before I dove head first into the sea of work and was carried off with the current, learning as I went. Bear with me as I further use this ocean metaphor.

Some days at A\J are choppy waves – full of energy, meetings, interviews, emails, busyness. Some days are calm waters, when I can float with careful planning, inspiration, and most importantly, writing. David (A\J publisher and my supervisor) always tells me to learn the ebbs and flows of my work, and that I am. For lack of a more unique pop culture reference, I feel very much like a young Jedi learning from the Obi Wan of A\J. David shares many of his pieces of advice and wisdom with me in the form of metaphors and catchphrases, and they are all valuable lessons that fuel my growth as a writer. I’ve learned how to “use the force” of environmental journalism – you need lots of input before you can produce the output. I am being filled to the brim with inspiration, having meaningful conversations with environmental leaders on the daily, and learning how to tithe to myself in the process in order to produce my best work.

I was recently tasked with writing an article on what I’ve learned so far at A\J in just 4 weeks, but if I included everything, it would be way too long for anyone to read (and for me to write!) So, I will do my best to sum up my key takeaways from this work experience so far.

The A\J Team

First and foremost, meeting the A\J team was a huge positive. It has been wonderful to work with a team of interesting people who are all different, yet share a common purpose. Everyone at A\J is driven to share environmental stories with others, to plant seeds and inspire them. We all work together with each other’s ebbs and flows, and I have observed how dedicated these people are to their work. I’ve experienced so much support, encouragement, and collaboration from the team that has kept me moving forward.

Skill Building

During the past month, I have enhanced my existing skills and established many new ones. I’ve built upon my interpersonal skills, and I don’t just mean “customer service” or people skills. I’m talking about the ability to sustain meaningful conversation and genuinely listen to others in order to gather and absorb important insights and stories from them. Along with that, I’ve greatly practiced and improved my existing communication skills through speaking (and listening), writing, emailing, interviewing, and the list goes on.

My work as an A\J intern has also given me a real experience of what journalism work is like. There are always several different projects on the go and multitasking is the way of life. I’ve had a lot of space to work on time management and self-regulation by prioritizing tasks, working with deadlines, and working around meeting times. There is no shortage of tasks, but it’s not draining, it’s actually empowering! I get to be actively involved in everything, and maybe it’s just me, but I really thrive when I have lots on the go and can be a part of everything all at once.

Creativity

I’ve also been given the opportunity to hone in on my creativity, which is something I didn’t have a lot of practice doing before this job. My writing and learning style has always been quite organized, academic, and structured. For me, the most conceptually difficult type of university assignment I’ve ever had to do (out of math, sciences, and the arts) is writing an English essay. In first year, I had to write an essay on a super short, abstract poem, and I had no idea what it was saying. It took so much original thought and effort to come up with a thesis and write a full, meaningful paper on just 14 lines of confusion. Of course, I’ve come a long way since then, but I find these assignments challenging because I have to generate fresh ideas. I have to be inspired. It is through these exercises that I improve my creative thinking. At A\J, I am challenged to think for myself in everything I do. Right from the get-go I was asked, “What do you want to write about?”, “What are your stories to tell?”, and “Who do you want to talk to?” I’m starting to answer those big questions, slowly tending and listening to that creative autonomy in my work. By doing so, I’m discovering lots about myself and know that I’ll continue to do so.

Conversations

In just four weeks at A\J, I’ve met many new people (virtually, of course), beyond just the A\J team. I’ve been able to have conversations with individuals who are highly experienced, accomplished, admired in environmental fields of work. I’ve been given opportunities to network and listen to these people’s stories. I already feel much more equipped with connections than I did before starting this job, but I’ve also realized how easy it can be to talk to people. You never know how much in common you might have with a university dean or sustainability leader until you have a conversation with them!
How to BE a writer

On top of improving my writing, I’m also learning how to be a writer. There is a difference, trust me. I think you can be very skilled at writing but not be a writer. Dipping my toe into the world of environmental journalism has taught me that…

1. The work doesn’t stop when you sign off for the day. Your work is on the news, on social media, in almost every conversation, and it is literally in your mind all the time. I’m starting to see everything as a potential story. When work aligns with your passion, it doesn’t fit into a 9 to 5 day because passion doesn’t turn off once the work day is done.
2. In order to be a writer, you have to understand yourself to a tee. Understanding the ebbs and flows of one’s own writing is so important – as David told me from day one. I’ve been befriending my inner muse, inner critic, and inner storyteller, and I’ve practiced wrangling them up and getting them all working at once. It’s not always easy, but when it happens, it’s a beautiful thing.
3. I need to find a healthy balance between the busy times full of meetings and emails, and sitting quietly with my thoughts. Sometimes in order to write, I need zero distractions, otherwise I’ll never produce anything valuable. But other times, those distractions are important to pay attention to because they might spark an idea (and they’re also part of my job). I’m learning how to balance this and how to capitalize on my opportunities to write. For example, if I have a free moment to write but have a mental block, taking a break to walk in nature does wonders.

Pathways uncovered

The most common question I receive as a young adult is “What do you want to do after you graduate?” and I’ve always struggled with pinning down an answer. I’ve never known what exactly I want to do, and I still don’t, but in many ways, working at A\J is allowing me to see that I don’t need to choose one specific pathway. I can merge my passions and do lots of things with my future career. This job has introduced me to many people and many pathways I never thought of considering before, so it has only added more options to my uncertainty of the future – in a good way! I feel driven, more than ever, to continue dipping my toes into as many places I can and keep writing and having conversations with people wherever I end up.

Published Accomplishments

Now, this article is not just a spotlight on my work, because ultimately, this is about my experience at A\J and how the team has facilitated this growth for me. But, I do want to highlight a few of my physical accomplishments on top of all the lessons I’ve learned. I’ve published 4 of my own articles and put together 4 WTF (Week This Friday) columns, and that’s just on the A\J website. I’m working on a lot of behind the scenes pieces that you’ll see in our next print issue, Playbook for Progress! This is all to say that being an A\J intern is not without its many opportunities to get your name out there and publish as much as you have to offer.

Going Forward

Clearly, I’ve experienced a whirlwind of growth and excitement in the past 4 weeks and I don’t expect it to stop now! I’ve still got 3 more months left – lots more to do, to learn, and to be a part of. I know that even once my work placement with A\J is over, the experience and lessons I’ve learned will stick with me and carry over into whatever comes next for me. Who knows – maybe I’ll find myself back here one day! I don’t know where I’ll be in a couple years from now, let alone 4 months from now, but I hope to stay connected to A\J in some capacity, and if I’ve learned anything from my time here, it’s the power of planting that first seed.

The post Opening Paragraphs appeared first on A\J.

The selected candidate will assist the A/J Editorial Team with magazine layout, creation, and accompanying graphics of our next issue, 80 pages plus cover and back. The ideal candidate should have an interest in environmental issues as well as a high proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and working in a Mac-centric environment.

Interested candidates are encouraged to send their resume, cover letter and a sample of their work (this can include a link to an online gallery) to siobhan.mullally@alternativesjournal.ca

We’re looking to fill this position immediately and this posting will remain open until filled.

Alternatives Journal is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically seeks to employ individuals from a variety of backgrounds, identities, and experiences.

The post Call for Designer! appeared first on A\J.

Well, times have changed, and now this is the time to keep questioning the status quo of the industries we are working within, and to understand that foundation ideas and suppositions about the right way of doing business with outdated mentalities just won’t cut it anymore. If the ‘customer is always right’, then we are the leaders, we have the voices, and we need to ensure that we’re leaving a legacy that with enough will may move mountains for our future. This is especially seen in the fashion industry time after time. From unsafe working conditions to landfills piled to overflowing with textile waste. It is a problem we all contribute to, but it’s time to step up and do better.

From fast fashion to luxury goods, there are opportunities to use our platforms and consumer power to demand innovation and creativity from our designers, manufacturers and fashion retailers to make more sustainable goods produced with better conditions for its workers. It really is that simple. With the ever-changing and evolving trends, consumers would be very appreciative and supportive of the designers, the ‘architects and artists’ of the industry, taking this an extra step forward and using sustainable textile as another form of artistically expressing themselves and the vision for our future.

We decided to hold a Q/A with Brana Dane on the idea of sustainable fashion. Brana is more than a model and activist. She has seen firsthand the negative environmental legacy and injustice that can be left behind in the name of fashion and believes in being the changemaker from inside out.

Brana is a Model and Activist. Brana is also one of the leaders of the activist group, “Model Mafia”, which promotes fair working conditions, more sustainable fashion practices, and promoting a more inclusive fashion and modelling industry. She was honored to speak about the importance of sustainable fashion at the annual NYC public Earth Day rally in Union Square April 2019. Brana has participated in and led numerous social media campaigns to reduce plastic consumption. For example, she collaborated with Lonely Whale to reduce single use plastic and again with Rainforest Alliance to help get the plastic bag banned in NYC.

Brana has helped organize members of the fashion community during many environmental marches and several public events. In fact, she created and led the recent NYFW rallies for the climate strike that went viral on social media and was even reposted in Vogue Brasil, proving that customers want more than garments – they want ethics in the workplace and they want it now.

Growing up on the ocean in Vancouver, Brana feels a deep connection to nature and is motivated to preserve it for future generations. While using her platform to shed a light on the needs of our planet and the plight of the modern garment worker, she seeks to inspire a light to as many people as possible as her heart and soul is intertwined in two seemingly opposing worlds: Fashion and Sustainability. Below we take a look through Brana’s lens on the industry.

***

GV:  What is your definition of ‘sustainable fashion’?

BD:   Fashion is a means of expressing oneself. Sustainable fashion goes beyond the surface and expresses concern for the lives that made the garment as well as a concern for our shared environment. The benchmarks to asses this for me are threefold. Firstly, is the garment produced with a long life-cycle? Secondly, does the production use renewable resources while creating minimal waste? Lastly, is the piece produced using labor that is responsibly treated and paid fairly? 

GV:  From your perspective , what is the biggest environmental concern in regards to the fashion industry? 

BD:  The amount of textiles burnt or that end up in landfills is astounding. At around 92 million tons of textile waste across the globe annually, it adds up quickly.

GV:  Are there any main culprits that fall into this?

BD:  Big names need to take responsibility for setting the example. Unfortunately only some hear this call. Chanel is still burning it’s unsold garments, but other brands like Burberry have recently stopped this practice. It’s a good first step, but to truly make a difference so much more is needed. 

GV:  What can brands do to promote sustainable fashion practise?

BD:   Brands need to be very clear about how they are different. They need to help raise awareness along with the rest of us to expose the cost of fast fashion. Simply being a sustainable brand creates more demand for sustainable solutions within the industry and will have a great effect to decrease production costs for the future. 

GV:  What can we do as consumers to lower our carbon footprint associated with fashion and textile waste? And how do we promote a more conscious mindset when shopping?

BD:  As a consumer the first question I always ask myself is, “do I need this”? Buying less is the single best thing we can do as a population. I love fashion and support artistic expression but more often then not we are buying things on a whim and not because we truly love or need them. You can always take an old garment to a seamstress or an artist to create a unique fashion piece no one else will ever own. This is great for the environment and supports the artist and craftsmen of the world locally. I think it’s up to the new generation to define what makes us worthwhile people; is it having the newest brand name item or is it honoring the lives of those making the garment? What do we value? Ourselves and our world or branding and labels? 

GV:  Do you see the problem getting better or worse? What is the leading factor of this change?

BD:  There is definitely a subtle shift happening in fashion. It’s been coming for a long time. As a climate activist, I see the overlap between environmental concerns increasing and the surge of demand for sustainable brands. Retail itself is in the midst a major transformation with many large fast fashion companies, such as Forever 21, filing for bankruptcy. It’s slow moving but we have been making some headway. Since COVID some major designers such as Giorgio Armani have even vowed to stop following the fashion week calendar of production and instead produce simultaneously with the actual season. It’s a time to truly wake up to what’s important and embrace our green hearts. 

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There is enough hope, it would seem, from a leader like Brana, to sustain our efforts to fast-forward our efforts to green our less-fast-fashions. We, the buyers of fashion, have the power within our hands to demand more – and to uplift those who are doing more in the process. With changemakers within the industry like Brana, we hope more can take similar footsteps in leaving a positive impression in their industry, as this is much more than just fashion. There’s an old saying that ‘clothes make the person’, if so it could be looked at as ‘you are what you wear’. Today, at the grassroots level of young citizens (and consumers, there’s a change of mentality and lifestyle. Oftentimes, fashion and textile waste are overlooked as a not-so-silent climate offender. With fast fashion giants (and their industries silos like retailers and designers) contributing the trash that’s fueling the growing waste problem in landfills, it brings us as consumers to a crossroad: what drives our decision-making? What’s more important when it comes to our fashion choices: how to be more conscious when purchasing or staying on top of the latest, hot-now apparel? If we all work together as citizens AND as consumers to demand a greener alternative THIS FASHION SEASON, the industry can’t afford to be offering goods and services labeled as REDUCED TO CLEAR, OUT OF STYLE and SO LAST YEAR.  

The post You Are What You Wear appeared first on A\J.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2020

My neighbourhood 7-Eleven convenience first supplied me with hot fried foods to snack on during the movie, and then I made the 1-kilometer walk, on un-shovelled sidewalk, sprayed by icy slush while the snow found its way underneath my scarf onto my neck, to the bus stop. The bus was understandably 25 minutes late and brought me to the theatre at warp speed with no regard for human life. I arrived just in time to order a quality genmaicha tea and get my ticket to Fantastic Fungi, the only movie playing on the one screen in the quaint, independent Hyland Cinema.

In 2009, the BBC released their Jungles episode of Planet Earth in which parasitic cordyceps infiltrate insects’ bodies and brains, causing them to exhibit strange behaviours. Suddenly, cordycep fruiting bodies erupt from their heads, releasing deadly spores into the air capable of infecting and killing insects in the vicinity! “How cool”, I thought–invisible spores able to bring down a colony of millions of ants in a matter of weeks. So began my amateur mycophilia, or love of mushrooms.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2019

If anything, hundreds of millions of ants living in organized, hierarchal underground colonies deserve a worthy predator. Like ants, fungi also live underground; extending their mycelia networks trillions of miles all over the planet. But they also live within us, in the deepest oceanic trenches, within Antarctic rocks, and maybe on Mars. Fantastic Fungi presents the magical, mysterious, and sometimes mystical world of mushrooms through stunning visuals. Using CGI, time-lapse, and mesmerizing fractal animation, Brie Larson occasionally narrates from the point of view of the collective Fungi kingdom.

As you may recall, according to botanist Carl Linnaeus’s hierarchy of biological classification, the fungi kingdom is the most populous and diverse. With an estimated 2.2 million to 3.8 million species, ranging from unicellular organisms to bioluminescent mushrooms, Fantastic Fungi illuminates how little is actually known about this beautiful kingdom.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2019

The mysterious nature of fungi leads to fear in some cases. Fungi are primarily associated with death and decay; imagine a decomposing mouse or moldy cheese. But different species of fungi return that mouse slime to the soil in the form of beneficial nutrients, and others work together with bacteria to produce the veiny, intentional mold in blue cheese. Fantastic Fungi seeks to shift the fungi narrative from one of death and decay to one where fungi represent rebirth, rejuvenation, and regeneration. While plants and animals die every day, fungi, working as the digestive tract of the planet, feast on this death and enable rebirth. Without fungi, there wouldn’t have been space on the Earth for humans to evolve alongside the epic piles of dead plant and animal matter.

No discussion on mushrooms is complete without mention of the psychedelic variety. This is another quality of mushrooms that has been largely ignored by the scientific community due to government controlled substance acts. However, certain advocates hypothesize that early human’s contact with psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in ‘magic mushrooms’, caused the rapid evolution of cognitive abilities. This so-called ‘Stoned Ape Hypothesis’ may offer an explanation for the unusually rapid doubling of the human brain somewhere between 2 million and 100,000 years ago. Certainly any modern human with experience with psilocybin can attest to its consciousness-altering effects. In fact, Fantastic Fungi’s human hero, passionate mycologist and mushroom entrepreneur Paul Stamets, unlearned his childhood stutter after a somewhat misguided (read: dangerously high) dose of psilocybin.

Fantastic Fungi is a mesmerizing, brief foray into the fungi kingdom of unrealized potential. Considering humans would be much more vulnerable to disease without the various antibiotics derived from fungi, one might be curious to learn more about them.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2019

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Sources

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/thames-river-floods-after-nearly-70-mm-of-rain-1.5424630

https://globalnews.ca/news/6433339/snow-storm-squall-london/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038s7y

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/fungi-in-space/

https://www.inverse.com/article/34186-stoned-ape-hypothesis

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The cottage on the lake, the cabin in the woods – these are the trademarks of an iconic Canadian summer. Cottages are our own personal slice of the wilderness that defines Canada, and those lucky enough to own a cottage also feel a connection to that place that holds so many family memories. It is easy to see that we love cottages for the natural beauty that surrounds them, the recreation opportunities they provide, and that home-away-from home feeling. However, when you look deeper into the history and traditions cottage culture is built on, the story is a little more complicated. I want to explore that story, as well as why we need to, and can, do better. 

Let’s start with Canadian wilderness identity in general. And by that, I mean when the world imagines Canada, when Canadians imagine Canada, they see the Rocky Mountains, the boundless prairies, igloos and polar bears, Mounties, beavers, and maple syrup. What’s pictured is the vast, open, and somewhat lonely wilderness portrayed by the Group of Seven. A place that is still remote and open to adventure; a wild west just beyond backyards and railways. 

Despite these images being far from what the average Canadian experiences daily, it is still how we define ourselves, and it is often part of what we are trying to capture in our cottage experiences. What is less obvious is how these ideals and images were born out a history of erasure, sexism, racism, and classism, as well as how this history shapes our current relationship with nature. It turns out there’s a lot more than meets the eye in those iconic postcard scenes. 

To keep this brief, historically, the narrative of Canada was written by white male settlers. Much of the art that is considered ‘Canadiana,’ like the Group of Seven, depicts beautiful but eerily empty, lonely landscapes. These sorts of images further promoted the idea that the landscape was devoid of people and in need of conquering. This is one of the many, many ways Indigenous people have been erased and dehumanized through our collective documented history. Early tales of this country describe places so wild only the most masculine of men could thrive – only men of superior northern (white) races. These tales are exclusionary of women, children, and other races. As our nation grew and we formed cities, our relationships with these ideas of wilderness shifted, but only slightly.

We began to see nature as separate from human society, but it continued to be a place to be conquered, and a place for the privileged to recreate. This is the colonial or postcolonial space we exist in. We view nature as outside of society, we try to conquer and shape the landscape as we see fit, and nature is still in many ways much more accessible to the privileged. To tie this back to cottage culture, let’s first consider how for most people the cottage is at least an hour’s drive from home, an escape from the city. And have you ever looked around a lake and wondered why so many properties have been turned into a manicured subdivision lot? This speaks to an ingrained desire to conquer and change wilderness. Lastly, the ability to own a cottage continues to be a privilege many cannot afford. 

Perhaps this history is the root of the disconnect between the beautiful, natural, and inviting spaces we want our cottages to be, and the elitist, hyper-manicured realities we often find ourselves in. Consider the common values cottagers collectively share: good water quality, natural beauty, and a healthy ecosystem. Yet their actions – keeping manicured lawns, removing plants, developing the shoreline, and not properly maintaining septic systems – do not support these values. This may speak to the last piece of the colonial mindset puzzle we have been building here, and that is the idea that our wilderness is so vast it cannot entirely be conquered, thus rendering our individual actions inconsequential. In this age of globalization and planet-wide environmental crisis, I hope it is becoming clear how wrong this mindset is. 

I don’t mean to suggest that these ideas are in the front of peoples’ minds or that they are consciously following in these traditions, but rather that colonial narratives have shaped our culture and social norms. They run in the background of our minds and our society, and it is up to us to acknowledge them, replace them, and move forward. This requires the deconstruction of the frontier mentalities of boundless wilderness and the drive to conquer, alter, and control. It involves confronting the notion of property as a right for the privileged and replacing it with the idea that property is a privilege with the burden of responsibility; a responsibility to maintain its ecological integrity, to preserve it, and to allow it to be part of the larger system owned by us all. 

Change involves accountability at an individual and community-scale. It involves seeing the lake as an ecosystem before a place to wakeboard and seeing your cottage as taking over a piece of nature, rather than seeing a seedling as taking over your lawn. A new mindset puts ecosystem priorities over recreation priorities and seeks to find ways to recreate which do the least harm. 

This new mindset needs to define Canadians as both part of the wilderness and keepers of the wilderness, and the wilderness as necessary, changing, and worthy of protection. Canadians being a part of Canada, not Canada being a part of Canadians. It needs to be inclusionary of all peoples, locations, and ecosystems. It is not a mindset that inhibits the enjoyment of nature, but one that sees the whole picture and does not seek to compartmentalize. 

We have been defining ourselves by a place, an idea of wilderness devoid of people and society. This has never been accurate, no matter how far we went to prove it through the attempted genocide of Indigenous peoples. It is time to define ourselves within – to find a connection that goes beyond propaganda, hype, and postcards. The narrative of the past is worn out, the narrative of the future is clear, and it’s up to us to get there, one mindset and one cottage at a time. 

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