The Community Edition: January 2019

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 4 • JANUARY 2019

OUT WITH THE OLD

UPTOWN AND DOWNTOWN PAGE 7 GARBAGE BLUES O’CHRISTMAS TREE, CAN I RECYCLE YOU?

PAGE 12

TEN YEARS AGO IT WAS 2009.

WHAT HAPPENED?

THE SIDE HUSTLE: MIISERYLOVES ANONYMITY

IF STREETS COULD TALK: RALGREEN CRES

PAGE 5

PAGE 6

PAGE 8-9

JANUARY 2019 // @THECOMMUNITYED

IN THIS

ISSUE

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 4

JANUARY 2019

THIS ISSUE OF TCE WAS FUELED BY HANGOVERS. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

2

FEATURE

8-9 IF STREETS COULD TALK: RALGREEN CRES.

EDITOR’S PICK 6

THE SIDE HUSTLE: MIISERYLOVES

3 4 4 5 6 7 7 10 11 12 13 13 14 15 14

IN BRIEF FAT SPARROW GROUP GROWS ELIS ORIGINAL: CLOTHING MEETS ADVOCACY A LOOK BACK AT 2009 SITTING DOWN WITH STEVEDAVE GARBAGE WARS IN CITY CENTRES 519 SCHMECKS: EATING LOCALLY IN JANUARY TRAVELLING WITHIN THE REGION TCE POETRY CHRISTMAS TREES AND AFTERLIFE NEW FILM CELEBRATES KW ARCHITECTURE EASY BEING GREEN: SUSTAINABLE RESOLUTIONS SEXPLANATIONS: ON BIRTH CONTROL HARU NOON // EVENT LISTINGS EVOLV1: AN ARCHITECTURAL GAME-CHANGER

INSIDE

COVER BY BRIT KOVACS

Volume 7, Issue 4 Next issue: February, 2019 75 University Ave. W Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5 519-884-0710 x3564

All advertising inquiries should be directed to Care Lucas at 519-884-0710 x3560 care.lucas@wlusp.com

THE COMMUNITY EDITION TEAM

WLUSP ADMINISTRATION

Editor in Chief Beth Bowles beth@communityedition.ca

President TJ Mroz

Publisher Lakyn Barton lakyn.barton@wlusp.com Social Media Coordinator Brit Kovacs Social Media Coordinator Ramona Leitao Web Manager Care Lucas Photo Editor Nick Stanley Photo Editor Paige Bush General Inquiries info@communityedition.ca

Executive Director Lakyn Barton Advertising Manager Care Lucas Treasurer Garrison Oosterof

CONTRIBUTORS

Nick Benninger Stacey Danckert Brian Douglas James Gowland Safina Husein Bashar Lulu Jabbour Stacey Jacobs Cameron Klapwyk Nicole Langlois Kaitlyn Severin Matt Smith Jordan Snobelen Cara Vandermey Racheal Walser

Vice-Chair Shyenne MacDonald Directors Rosalind Horne Shyenne MacDonald Maiya Mistry H.G. Watson Corporate Secretary Maiya Mistry

TWITTER @THECOMMUNITYED INSTAGRAM @COMMUNITYEDITION

The Community Edition is an alternative monthly intended to engage and inform the community.

Started in 2012, the Community Edition is an editorially independent newspaper published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications, Waterloo, a corporation without share capital. WLUSP is governed by its board of directors.

Opinions expressed within the Community Edition are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board, the Community Edition, WLUSP, WLU or Centra Web. All content appearing in the Community Edition bears the copyright expressly of their creator(s) and may not be used without written consent.

The Community Edition is a member of the Ontario Press Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns.

For additional information or to file a complaint, contact info@ontpress.com or call 416-340-1981.

Preamble to the Community Edition Constitution The Community Edition will keep faith with its readers by presenting news and expressions of opinions comprehensively, accurately and fairly. The Community Edition believes in a balanced and impartial presentation of all relevant facts in a news report, and of all substantial opinions in a

matter of controversy.

The staff of the Community Edition shall uphold all commonly held ethical conventions of journalism. When an error of omission or of commission has occurred, that error shall be acknowledged promptly.

When statements are made that are critical of an individual, or an organization, we shall give those affected the opportunity to reply at the earliest time possible. Ethical journalism requires impartiality, and consequently conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest will be avoided by all staff. The only limits of any newspaper are those of the world around it, and so the Community Edition will attempt to cover its world with a special focus on the community of Waterloo Region.

Ultimately, the Community Edition will be bound by neither philosophy nor geography in its mandate.

The Community Edition has an obligation to foster freedom of the press and freedom of speech. This obligation is best fulfilled when debate and dissent are encouraged, both in the internal workings of the paper, and through the Community Edition’s contact with the community. The Community Edition will always attempt to do what is right, with fear of neither repercussions, nor retaliation. The purpose of community press is to act as an agent of social awareness, and so shall conduct the affairs of our magazine.

JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

If you’re into sustainability and neat architecture, check out page 16 for a story about the new evolv1 building.

NICK STANLEY PHOTO

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IN BRIEF NEWS

ARTS

URBAN

GOOD BOYS FIND SUSPECT

MIXING MUSIC AND TECH

OLD DRAWINGS DONATED

On Dec. 30, a canine unit helped track down a suspect who fled from a stolen vehicle. The dogs, who are the goodest of good boys, were from the Guelph Police Service. It only took 50 minutes to track down the suspect, a 24-yearold man who was arrested. We hope the dogs get unlimited treats!

Local piano teacher, Emilee-Mae Feely has developed a web-based business called Feely Piano School that allows you to book an in-home piano teacher. She describes in as the “Uber for music lessons.” She wishes to push it to the next level in 2019 by developing an app in efforts to make it more accessible.

Decades old architectural drawings were recently donated to Laurier. The drawings were

by Karl Kruschen, who passed away in 2000. Kruschen and his business parter were hired as the principal architects of Laurier in the ‘60s. The drawings show a very different layout of the school.

BODY FOUND IN CAMBRIDGE

NEW ARTIST-INRESIDENCE

90 DAY CAMP OUT

On Dec. 30, a body was found near the Cambridge Park Hill bridge.

First responders were called to the area around 5 p.m. and a team in orange suits were also seen walking towards the Grand River.

The person’s identity has not been released and officials say foul play is not suspected.

Ahmad Meree has joined JM Drama Alumni and The Registry Theatre as artist-in-residence.

After Meree presented a work-inprogess entitled “I Don’t Know” last June, it became clear that he was an ideal fit for the program.

Meree has thus become coproducer of Playground 2019.

Paul Tavares of Cambridge is embarking on a mission to bring awareness about homelessness.

Over the next four months, he will sleep outside in 13 different Ontario cities. He’s hoping to compile a report to present to Regional council, comparing his experiences in each city.

NEW DISTRACTED DRIVING LAWS

RIPLEY TO BE IN CBC SHORT DOC

PARIS MAN FIGHTS CANADA POST

As of Jan. 1, all distracted driving fines and penalties are getting more severe. First conviction drivers will receive a fine of up to $1,000, three demerit points and a three day suspension of their license. A second conviction faces a fine of $2,000, six points and a seven day suspension. Is any of that worth texting and driving?

A new CBC Short Doc about the world of competitive balloon twisting will include none other than Kitchener’s favourite balloon artist, Drew Ripley. Fit to be Tied will be a 13 minute documentary following a group of balloon artists to the 2018 World Balloon Convention in San Diego.

David Kirby of Paris, ON was recently told by Canada Post that the curb near his residential mailbox is unsafe, and thus cancelling delivery to his rural home. Kirby is confused as to why, after a long period of time, the area is suddenly deemed unsafe.

He was given 15 days to move his mailbox about 45 metres away.

JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

4

FAT SPARROW GROUP

GETS A BIT FATTER KAITLYN SEVERIN CONTRIBUTOR Kitchener-Waterloo based restaurant group, Fat Sparrow Group, is expanding into well-known territory after officially announcing their agreement to purchase Stone Crock Inc., located in St. Jacobs.

Owned and operated by chef Nick Benninger, his wife Natalie, and various business partners, Fat Sparrow acquired the Stone Crock after signing a definitive agreement in early December. Fat Sparrow is a collection of four restaurants — Nick and Nat’s Uptown 21, Taco Farm, Marbles and their newest restaurant Harmony Lunch. All are primarily located in uptown Waterloo.

The Stone Crock, located in the heart of St. Jacobs, was founded in 1975 by Milo Shantz and his wife, Laura. The Shantz family has overseen the Stone Crock since the 1990’s and will be staying on with Fat Sparrow Group.

The Stone Crock restaurants have been a popular destination for St. Jacobs visitors for over 40 years.

The company has grown to include numerous restaurants and catering services such as Stone Crock Bakery, Stone Crock Restaurant, Jacobs Grill, Salad Division, and more.

While Fat Sparrow Group officially took ownership in early December, Benninger noted they will not begin to implement any changes until the new year. “[The Stone Crock are] all very successful restaurants that do well and have a rather long-standing history of doing what they do, so we’re not going to rush it,” Nick Benninger said. “But we do intend on making internal and subtle changes.”

After Nick and Natalie previously worked at Benjamin’s Restaurant for four years when it was owned by Stone Crock, Benninger believes he has a deep understanding of what St. Jacobs wants to see from Fat Sparrow Group. “[I think] we are the right people to carry on the impact that the Stone Crock has had and we’re super excited about that too,” he said.

According to Benninger, the feedback from the St. Jacobs

community and within the Region, as a whole, has been overly positive.

With the combination of the Stone Crock Inc., Benninger and Fat Sparrow Group will now employ more than 180 people.

“The big thing for us is we now own a rather large bakery, and we have six restaurants and multiple other catering outlets, so we now have the ability to make our own cakes [and] make our own pastries,” said Benninger.

“I think people know me and know our business and we know what we do and what we’ve brought to the community and uptown Waterloo and I think they’re excited to see us take the Stone Crock down the road further.”

For now, St. Jacobs locals and tourists still have the opportunity to enjoy Stone Crock’s restaurants and services as more changes will be set in place for the beginning of 2019.

Nick Benninger is a contributor for the Community Edition.

A little over a year ago, Fat Sparrow Group bought and re-opened Harmony Lunch, an uptown Waterloo staple.

LAKYN BARTON PHOTO

Lee Skovsgaard, founder of Elis Original, is aiming to increase mental health awareness with his clothing brand. BRIAN DOUGLAS PHOTOS

USING CLOTHING TO PROMOTE SOLIDARITY RACHEAL WALSER CONTRIBUTOR “Mental health has had a great impact on my life, ever since I’ve been a teenager,” said Elis Orginal’s creative force and founder, Lee Skovsgaard.

We were sitting in a space with really high ceilings, and despite all the airflow and the busyness of things around us I could hear the world momentarily come to a stop.

“It’s pretty close home,” he

admitted. “I, myself, am diagnosed depressed, and I have had mental health issues and suicide in my family.”

It’s a sobering moment — the one where someone you don’t really know admits that they struggle. It is vulnerability and strength — and hope and solidarity. But at its core, that moment is hard and there’s no denying it.

But Skovsgaard has that part figured out.

“I started Elis Original earlier this year,” he said. “It’s an independent clothing line designed to raise mental health awareness.”

“The idea is that if someone is wearing an Elis Original shirt,

they’re showing support for people living with mental health challenges, whether or not they identify as living with mental health challenges themselves, or knowing someone else who does. This clothing lets them take that stigma, change it to acceptance and wear it with pride.”

That’s a consistent in Elis Original’s messaging; their instagram proudly boasts “If You Feel Alone, You’re With Us.” The shirts say things like “Hopeless Ro-manic Depressed” and “Born to Lose, Dying to Win.” They’ve attended events like Hopefest 2018 and hashtag their posts #mentallosersclub. They acknowledge the overwhelming

power that is mental health and the resiliency of people living through it.

Elis Original is reclaiming the stigma.

“I had a graphic design company, before this,” Skovsgaard said. “And I liked it. But I felt like I needed my work to stand for something. I want to give back to the community instead of just being a business.”

Right now, Elis Original is in the midst of its Red Lid Project.

“We’re partnering with CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association) to raise money for toques to give out to the homeless. I know how much mental health can impact every part of your life and we really want to give back,” Skovsgaard

explained.

Fifteen per cent of Elis Original sales goes to CMHA, specifically the Waterloo-Wellington branch.

“I want to help the community come together,” Skovsgaard said.

“I find that a lot of people that have supported me in the past have either had mental health issues of their own, or people who know people who do. So I call it Elis Original, because my designs are unique, but also, everyone who lives with mental illness is facing their own original, unique battle and they shouldn’t have to feel alone in that.”

JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

MOVING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK

WORDS BY BETH BOWLES AND LAKYN BARTON

Holy crap, can you believe it’s already 2019? So much has happened, but simultaneously our relationship with time passing is a complex one. I promise I know basic math, but in my mind the ‘90s were only ten years ago.

They weren’t. So, in an effort to make you feel old alongside me, let’s take a little trip together down memory lane.

Here’s what happened in 2009, ten years ago.

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• • • • • •

• • • • • •

LOCAL CARL ZEHR WAS THE MAYOR OF KITCHENER, UNTIL BERRY VRBANOVIC WOULD TAKE OVER IN 2014.

BRENDA HALLORAN WAS THE MAYOR OF WATERLOO, UNTIL DAVE JAWORSKY WOULD TAKE OVER IN 2014.

THE WATERLOO REGION IS LABELED THE “HATE CRIME CAPITAL” OF CANADA AS STATISTICS CANADA RANKED THE REGION NO. 1, WITH 93 INCIDENTS REPORTED IN THE TRI-CITIES IN 2009. IN 2016, THERE WERE 19 INCIDENTS REPORTED. CONSTRUCTION OF UPTOWN WATERLOO PUBLIC SQUARE FINISHED AND ITS OPENING CEREMONY WAS IN MAY. PLANS FOR THE CIGI WATERLOO CAMPUS WAS ANNOUNCED, CONSTRUCTION WAS COMPLETED IN 2011.

REGIONAL COUNCIL APPROVED, IN PRINCIPLE, LIGHT-RAIL TRANSIT BETWEEN CONESTOGA AND FAIRVIEW PARK MALL.

POP CULTURE “BOOM BOOM POW” BY THE BLACK EYED PEAS WAS THE TOP CHARTING SONG. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE WON THE OSCAR FOR BEST FILM. I’MA LET YOU FINISH ... AT THE 2009 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS, KANYE WEST INTERRUPTED TAYLOR SWIFT’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FOR BEST FEMALE VIDEO TO SAY BEYONCÉ SHOULD HAVE WON. ICONIC.

• •

MICHAEL JACKSON DIED ON JUNE 25.

RU PAUL’S DRAG RACE AIRED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FEBRUARY. LET’S FORGIVE THE HORRIBLE ‘GLAMOUR’ FILTER WE ENDURED FOR SEASON ONE. THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O’BRIEN PREMIERED IN JUNE WITH WILL FERRELL AND PEARL JAM AS THE SHOW’S FIRST GUESTS.

•

GLOBAL BARACK OBAMA WAS SWORN IN AS 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. THE 2009 SWINE FLU CAUSED A PANIC IN ONTARIO. IN APRIL 2009, FOUR CASES OF SUSPECTED SWINE FLU WERE IN ONTARIO. THIS NUMBER GREW TO TEN CASES IN FIVE DAYS. AN AIR FRANCE JET CARRYING 228 PEOPLE FROM RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, DISAPPEARED OVERNIGHT IN AN AREA OF STRONG TURBULENCE CRASHED INTO OCEAN. THE AIRCRAFT’S FLIGHT RECORDERS WERE NOT RECOVERED FROM THE FLOOR OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN UNTIL NEARLY TWO YEARS LATER IN MAY 2011.

JANUARY 2019 // @THECOMMUNITYED

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MIISERYLOVES ANONYMITY NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN AGENCY PUTS THEIR WORK AHEAD OF THEIR IDENTITIES

THE SIDE HUSTLE

The founders of miiseryloves wish to be known for their work opposed to their name recognition, which is why they remain anonymous.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CAMERON KLAPWYK COLUMNIST The graphic design world is dominated by eponymous agencies that place their founders front and centre. With an intentional anonymity, miiseryloves company is bucking that trend.

“I’d rather someone comes to us because they are really excited about a project we did and not because of our name recognition,” said Lana Mistri, who founded the creative studio along with Markus Little*.

“Being anonymous also offers a sort of mystery and intrigue that people are drawn to,” she added.

Not to mention, it has proven very amusing at times.

“We have both been in situations where somebody is talking about our company either at a coffee shop or to our faces and they don’t know it’s us. It’s great. I love it,” Mistri said.

Officially launched in July 2018, this Banksy-esque side hustle is already well on its way to becoming a major influence in the Waterloo Region design world. This is quite remarkable considering that both Mistri and Little work demanding day jobs.

One has 18 years of industry expe-

rience and works in an executive position driving a company’s marketing department. The other has five years of industry experience and works for an agency that is part of a large print conglomerate.

“We’ve both won awards and we’ve had some pretty great experiences and recognition in the industry but we never truly felt like we were exploring our full potential when it came to design and never felt fully satisfied,” Mistri said.

“We both felt this kind of misery in our lives.”

Once they discovered they held a shared sense of longing for something more, the pair began to discuss what it might look like to open up shop together. Starting in early 2017, they began to lay the groundwork towards the launch of their ambitious side hustle.

In the summer of 2018 they revealed their baby to the world with the unveiling of branding for the Crumby Cookie Dough Co. and Hustl + Flow.

“We were excited about these two brands and the passion, creativity and culture behind them,” Mistri said.

The old Field of Dreams maxim, “If you build it, they will come,” rings true for Mistri and Little.

“Since August, we really haven’t had to seek out anyone. It’s all been word-of-mouth, Instagram and referrals. Through this we’ve been constantly busy,” Mistri said.

This busyness, while a blessing for miiseryloves as a brand, presents a challenge when it comes to balancing competing life priorities for the pair. One is newly engaged, while the other has a family. For both of them, life is a continuous hustle.

“We always joke around that we have two jobs and with our second job, the hours of operation run from 7 p.m. till 3 a.m., Monday through Sunday,” Mistri said.

“If we didn’t have to sleep, we wouldn’t. That’s how insanely passionate about this work we are. You know the way an artist or a painter feels when they sit down and put brush to canvas, it’s the same feeling for me when I take my pencil and start sketching ideas.”

2019 is going to be a pivotal year for this fledgling enterprise with big ambitions.

“We are hoping to do a lot more to get the miiseryloves brand out there in a more in-your-face rather than behind-the-scenes way,” Mistri said.

Currently, they are focused on engaging the Waterloo Region design community. But their ambitions are much greater than that.

“Our goal is to become a global agency,” Mistri said. “We have big plans. We have high hopes.” *The names of the founders have been changed to respect their desire to maintain anonymity.

LOCAL RAPPER ANTICIPATES SECOND RELEASE

KURTIS RIDEOUT, ALSO KNOWN AS STEVE DAVE, RECOGNIZES THE POWER OF NEW-WAVE HIP-HOP ON POUBELLE BLANCHE

JAMES GOWLAND CONTRIBUTOR The evolution of the musician can be just as important as the cadence they create. The journey that ignites these rhythms can become a wave that is forever ridden, gaining momentum, without ever breaking or rolling back.

Combining a matured sense of self with fierce emotional honesty, local hip-hop artist Kurtis Rideout, AKA SteveDave, is set to release his second album, Poubelle Blanche, on Jan. 26.

The 23-year-old Drumbo-bred writer, Laurier grad, and self-taught producer acknowledged that his refined rhetoric and laid back approach on his new “mixtape” was evidence of a burgeoning identity coupled with a more organic lyrical process, something that didn’t necessarily require witty wordplay or explicit humour this time around.

“With my new music, I let it breathe a lot more,” Rideout said. “I wanted to make a song that creates an emotion, and an album that conveys that same kind of vibe.”

Rideout’s first album, released last February, was a marriage of over 20 “sprawling” songs that stem from his days of merging as many metaphors and similes as possible into a song, while “rapping 60 bars straight.”

Many of the songs were written when Rideout was 15, then recorded at 17, and finally released last year.

Now, in an attempt to expand on and perhaps transcend classical hip-hop and witty pop culture wordplay (one

of Rideout’s early lyrics weaved A Clockwork Orange director Stanley Kubrick’s name with Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee in a rhyme — “Stan Lee Kubrick”), Rideout has recognized the power of new-wave hip-hop and started paying attention to pop lyricism and more viable song structure.

Aligning with new-wave hip-hop, many Poubelle Blanche (translation: White Trash) verses have increased tempos while the choruses are broken down to spread the beat out, something Rideout proclaims to be more of a “cloudy and ethereal” feel.

“That was the number one thing that led to more of a pop-structure feel,” said Rideout.

Lyrically, Rideout also challenges the hetero-patriarchal-bravado appeal of mainstream hip-hop. Refusing to embrace the narrow minded, yet omnipresent guns/tattoos/ drugs rhetoric, Rideout has made a conscious effort to go further and also reject arbitrary swearing and boasting, which he admits can make it tougher to connect to an audience when inclusion steps up to take bigotry’s place.

While Rideout’s awareness was no doubt inherent, he was grateful to be immersed in a culturally progressive city like Waterloo when the time came to run Laurier’s student newspaper, The Cord, where he was editor-inchief for the mandated one year. He was also welcomed with open arms in the KW hardcore scene when he released his first album last year, and played a few punk-rap-metal hybrid shows where he revamped one of his hip-hop tunes.

Rideout has always had punk in his blood, especially during his time in

PAIGE BUSH PHOTO Drumbo. Admitting that his family has always been supportive and empowering, Rideout originally found his musical roots in punk music with bands like The Cure and Iggy Pop, as well as later punk rock like Nirvana. By the age of 14, he was spending hours per day playing music with his friends.

“It was punk because we couldn’t play anything else,” said Rideout. “You

have to make good use of your time.”

With a special affinity for Nirvana, Rideout developed a distant but tangible bond with Kurt Cobain, coincidentally sharing a name and the customary long hair of the era.

Conversely, Rideout admits no one can imitate Cobain’s voice.

“I’ll never have that enthusiasm in my voice. I feel like I’ve very much

developed this not-trying ethos,” said Rideout. “It felt intentional for a long time, but now it just feels really natural.”

Kurtis Rideout is the distribution manager for the Community Edition and occasional writer.

JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

7

LACK IN GARBAGE COLLECTION IN CITY CORES

GARBAGE COLLECTION FOR BUSINESSES LOCATED DOWNTOWN AND UPTOWN CAN BE A HEADACHE

SAFINA HUSEIN CONTRIBUTOR

BRIT KOVACS PHOTO

Local businesses in uptown Waterloo and downtown Kitchener (DTK) are looking for support from the Region of Waterloo to implement consistent, efficient waste and recycling services.

For businesses, waste services differ greatly from the procedures and policies pertaining to KitchenerWaterloo residents.

As a result, some local businesses have been experiencing lack of consistent waste and recycling pick up, while some businesses are completely on their own in terms of finding a way to dispose of waste.

According to Shane Gysbers, coowner of Jane Bond, most businesses in uptown Waterloo located along King Street get consistent garbage and recycling pick-up from the Region of Waterloo. “[In the past, Jane Bond’s] cardboard would go out and our garbage would go out … it was free; it was included. There was never any issue it had been that way for 23 years,” Gysbers said.

Once construction in uptown was finished and King Street reopened, Gysbers explained that the Region reevaluated their waste collection routes, where and to whom they provided services.

Jane Bond was one of the small handful of businesses who was affected by the new routes. As a business in a free-standing structure on a side-road, Jane Bond’s waste and recycling is not currently being picked up by waste management.

“We’re sort of at this point where we’re like: how are we going to handle this?” Gysbers said.

“As of right now, because of the former partnership between Jane Bond and Starlight, we’re still able to put our waste out front of [Starlight], for now.”

However, this option is temporary and only a short-term solution for Jane Bond. Moving forward, the small business will have to look into

other options for waste removal.

“The Region did try and suggest a few things, such as reaching out to local farmers to take our compost and stuff like that,” Gysbers said.

“However, the longer the compost has to sit around, the more risk there is … of bad smells if it doesn’t get picked up often enough — all the usual things that are associated with garbage sitting around for too long.”

For Jane Bond, the business will have to look into an independent company to collect their waste on a consistent schedule.

“And if you look at the rates of these kinds of things, they’re not cheap. For a business our size, this is a big hit,” he continued.

“

THE LONGER THE COMPOST HAS TO SIT AROUND, THE MORE RISK THERE IS.

”

-SHANE GYSBERS, CO-OWNER OF JANE BOND

“We’re not in a terrible spot at the moment, but at any point we could have to curb a huge monthly expense to deal with this situation.”

In DTK, however, more businesses are struggling with lack of both services and infrastructure to properly dispose of their waste and recycling.

Tyzun James, owner of Cafe Pyrus, said that the majority of waste services in DTK are catered to residents. For businesses producing industrial sized loads of both waste and recycling, the options are slim.

Currently, for all businesses in DTK, there are three communal bins available outside to collect waste and cardboard. However, these bins are not nearly enough room to fit all the garbage and recycling that needs to be disposed of on a daily basis.

“They get filled and they are overflowing; for a lot of places,

unfortunately, garbage is just garbage to them. They don’t see anything bigger, so it’s just put on the ground and there’s no recycling happening. What would be better is if we had a way to do a large recycling and infrastructure for it,” James said.

As a result, Jane Bond looked into other options, such as using alternative bins outside of their establishment since the region was unable to pick up waste daily as they have in the past.

“We went looking for all sorts of solutions. We had recycling bins put in the back, and unfortunately because of where they are and the current climate of downtown, we were filling them and then picking them all up because people would go through them for any kind of deposit based recycling, so that would end up all over the ground and it was causing a big issue for us,” James said.

Cafe Pyrus’ current solution is a partnership with Full Circle Foods, with whom Cafe Pyrus shared the cost to get consistent recycling and compost pickup.

However, for DTK’s future, James believes proper infrastructure and a collective service that all businesses can pay to participate in is a feasible way to ensure waste and recycling is disposed of correctly and effectively.

He also hopes that businesses have access to services that assist them in efficiently disposing of their waste.

“I’m a business. I get that that’s a part of your operating cost,” James said.

“We should have a program that’s unified, that I can participate in and other businesses can participate in.”

The Community Edition reached out to the region of Waterloo but did not receive a response at the time of publishing.

EATING LOCALLY DURING A 519 WINTER

519 SCHMECKS

NICK BENNINGER COLUMNIST Eating local has increasingly become trendy, but how does one eat local twelve months a year — especially in the deepest darkest parts of winter? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not hard, and with some effort and planning, you can put together quite the colourful menu without eating beyond the limits of the 519.

Learning what’s grown locally is a challenge all year long, especially in a climate such as ours. The average person may not know that greenhouses and hoop houses can support agriculture right into the

coldest months of the year. It isn’t difficult at all to find local produce like peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and more on grocery store shelves 365 days a year thanks to greenhouse technology.

Hoop Houses are a way farmers provide greens throughout the year.

When temperatures plummet, the hoop house will keep the coldest air and the deadly frost and moisture from hitting the ground. Coupled with propane heaters, this means farmers can bring to market salad greens, fresh herbs or even radishes when the rest of us are scraping snow from our windshields. Having the luxury of eating peppery arugula grown in the earth in the middle of the winter is truly a treat that the imported stuff can’t hold a candle to!

One visit to such a farm a few years ago led to yet another amazing discovery under the cover of snow.

Hearty greens like kale or collards can even continue to grow long after

the snow falls. Of course, the rate of growth slows dramatically, but these fierce veggies will not just stay alive but they will grow even under a couple inches of the fresh white stuff. Not a super effective way to farm, but for the home gardener it’s a great way to keep that patch producing into the early winter.

Another often surprising fact to learn is just how long the fall bounty will last into the year to follow; cabbage, root vegetables, garlic, onions and apples (to name a few) can be harvested, cured and stored in either temperature controlled rooms, or better yet, oxygen deprived rooms.

An eye opening trip to Martin’s Family Fruit Farm in Waterloo a few years back had me marveling at the technology used to create “zero oxygen” storage rooms for the apples to sit in and “not ripen” or slow the ripening down to a snail’s pace so that large quantities of the fruit can

be held and sold throughout the year. Simply amazing.

Do me a favor and never buy another apple that’s not from Ontario. You certainly never need to!

The last resource is maybe my favorite: the home garden.

After a few years of gardening myself, at home, I realized it’s not “my best plan” to plant a garden that we, as a family, plan to consume as it’s ready. It simply comes on too fast and we can’t keep up with eating it all while it’s fresh.

It took me a few years to figure out, but now the plan each spring is to plant a few crops of items I know my family loves and that I can easily preserve. Basil pots become pesto, green beans are pickled, garlic gets cured and stored, hot peppers into jellies and sauces, tomatoes simply tinned and cucumbers into the best hotdog pickles ever.

It’s a bit of work processing all of this as it comes out of the garden,

but it’s totally worth it and really sets a meal apart, bringing the summer feeling rushing back when pulled out of the pantry and onto the table.

After all this talk of local food, I’m feeling sunshine deprived and hungry, so off to the kitchen for me. Tonight’s menu will be breaded eggplant steaks, stewed summer tomato ragu, arugula-crisp kale salad, roasted garlic sour cream, “house” grown paprika and sweet pickled cucumber! Check us out online for a full recipe.

Nick Benninger is a local restaurant owner and chef

NICK STANLEY PHOTOS

IF STREETS COULD TALK GROWING UP AND GRIEVING ON RALGREEN CRESCENT WORDS BY BRIT KOVACS

Author Brit Kovacs and her mother.

CONTRIBUTED IMAGE FROM THE KOVACS FAMILY.

We used to own a fish tank; it was large and neatly tucked into our living room cabinets. The wash of blues and greens danced across our prepubescent cheeks as the water routinely folded under the pressurized thrust of the filter and we tapped the tank to entice what swam inside. Although I don’t remember the distinct moment in which we exchanged the tank for a TV, retrospectively, it may have been one of the subtle signs surrounding the turn of my mother’s diagnoses and the later deterioration of her overall health.

In 2006, the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control released a piece outlining strategic directions for the preventions of skin cancer. It stated that the age-standardized incidence rate for melanoma, per 100,000, in Canada was 9.5 in 1992 compared to 11.40 in 2001, demonstrating a 20 per cent increase in over one decade.

Later in 2014, the Canadian Cancer Society Statistics were released highlighting melanoma as one of the fastest growing cancers, accounting for three per cent of new cases, and while it still proves the deadliest form, it only represents 1.4 per cent of all cancer deaths due to the benefits of early detection.

In women, the incidence rate increased 1.5 per cent per year between 1986 and 2010 and from eight to 12 cases per 100, 000. The death rate increased by 0.4 per cent per year. Further, the study showed that one in 73 Canadian women will develop melanoma in their lifetime and one in 395 will die from it. My mother was the one in those 395 cases.

This piece reflects upon a home, overwhelmingly average in its appearance, and yet palpable in its narrative. It illustrates a fragment of our story, of the last years during my mother’s diagnosis, and the ways in which a home can physically remain and yet vastly change. The history of this home is inextricably interwoven with that of my childhood, serving as the permanent backdrop of our home videos and a preservative of our memories. It was where she sipped her coffee on our truck’s tailgate evading the intrusive inquisitions of our elderly neighbors with ease as we traced outlines of our hands with rainbow colored chalk. It was where I learned that sleeping proved impossible if I hadn’t meticulously arranged my very own Great Wall of Stuffed Animals, and that if you didn’t own a water gun, you could simply replace the contents of a bottle of Windex with H2O before you headed out for battle.

This home was where my brothers and I once slid notes underneath our bedroom doors as our only vehicle

for communication during our punishments and where we’d plunge into a mountain of couch cushions from the top stair of our basement.

We learned how to ride our bikes, the art behind baking the most delicious banana muffins and which route to take to school so that we’d surpass all our friends earning ourselves a few extra minutes on the swings.

Yet, after the passing of my mother, the turbulent flow of my grief exhausted itself in the sea of testosterone that had begun to consume my home. I quickly learned that my femininity would straddle the boundary between existing as a reserve of power and as a weapon during efforts to assassinate the legitimacy of my voice amidst arguments with my younger brothers.

I began to learn of the wicked ways in which my jealousy would slither in and out of my psyche as I watched my friends be embraced by their very own mothers — with it inevitably evolving into a rage and thwarting much of my relationships. This fury was provoked by an elusive adversary, cancerous in its nature, which skillfully eluded my grasp, frequently shifting the target onto my father’s back. Again and again, he fell victim to a barrage of my irate monologues, which plowed into him with relentless fervor, and yet he greeted them with compassion as he slowly began to learn how to navigate through the tempestuous waters that followed my five stages of grief.

Evenings often presented an air of tranquility as I skillfully encapsulated the varying shades of my sorrow within the bed I had forged on the floor next to her now vacant mattress.

Months later, I reluctantly returned to my own bed, forfeiting my habitual desire to erect the tower of plush toys, as they had evidently failed to protect me against a fear I had overlooked all along.

I’ve since discovered a song by Camp Cope titled ‘I’ve Got You,’ which embodies these sentiments precisely, “I know that when you go / Part of me will go with you to the infinite unknown / And we’ll stand at the edge of the divide / I will hold your hand and together we’ll dive” In writing this piece, I’m cognizant of the fact my memories possess a fraction of holes that have been fastened together by the aged reflections of my relatives and by the grainy projections of the VHS tapes we’ve since resurrected from storage.

For me, these maturing strips of magnetized plastic immortalize the sound of her voice calling out my name in song and act as one of the rare mediums capable of transporting her from my memory into physical form. For me, this always begged the question: how do you continue if an integral piece of the structure of your

home, of your family, only remains in your memory? A collection collapsing under the repressive efforts your brain continues to execute as a coping mechanism. I have yet to stumble across the answer in its entirety.

For my family, the memories embedded within the concrete that borders our previous home are melancholic in nature, however, they are contrasted with a sweeping archive of joy.

Eventually, we adapted, revising the production of our daily routines, as my brothers and I were forcefully propelled into previously foreign maturities. These included learning how to pack our own school lunches, how to go about doing a load of laundry and which feminine products were required for a 12-year-old experiencing her first period without her mother’s guidance.

The home began to sew together a different storyline, one that told tales of resilience, strength and the unbreakable bond between siblings.

It began to unveil the everlasting stoicism my father possessed, a trait I’m eternally grateful for, and who taught me how to become generous, appreciative and how to nurture my independence in the face of hardship.

I learned that the love I have for my younger brothers is immense, at times even reading as maternal and that the remaining women in my life, especially my godmother, were intrinsic in my development. I learned that I could survive.

Nearing the final months of 2017, shortly after my brothers and I had moved out, my father finally chose to sell our home forfeiting a 25-year reign over that piece of the crescent.

Despite my fervent disapproval of the sale, in hindsight, I recognize that I had bestowed the very foundation of that home with a potent pool of power over my emotions. During those moments, it proved impossible to navigate through the fury and come to the realization that beyond the brick, the mortar and the pale purple walls that once covered our entranceway, my memory would prevail and so would my sense of home.

It would prevail without the possession of 24 Ralgreen Crescent, the house that maintained a fixed presentation of white shutters and pine trees, of a rusted basketball hoop and a poorly tended garden, and it would show me that it was capable of flourishing elsewhere.

Thus, the structure of our family has always proved vulnerable to change, showing me that we will inevitably forge different paths falling far away from their initial address but in the end, they are capable of resulting in a beautiful outcome.

JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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PAIGE BUSH PHOTO

WATERLOO REGION THROUGH A TRAVELLER’S EYE JUANITA METZGER CONTRIBUTOR I have this fantasy of being able to jet off to far flung destinations at a moment’s notice.

Of course, time and money would be no object. Environmentally friendly airplanes and completely sustainable hotels would exist to reduce the impact of my wanderlust … this is a fantasy after all.

Sadly, this is not my reality and I doubt it will be anytime soon. But, I do find creative avenues to satisfy

that travel bug with local adventures in and around Waterloo Region.

Throughout 2019, I will be writing a column in the Community Edition about travelling in our own backyard. Each month, I will feature a unique excursion, day trip, weekend getaway or hidden gem, all of which can be found within our four rural townships and three cities.

Waterloo Region has many of the sites we tend to love about travelling to another city or country: museums, top rated restaurants, urban and rural natural areas, rich cultural history, outdoor adventure, art galleries, a vibrant coffee and café scene, creative annual events, historical sites and walking tours.

Local travel has some genuine benefits; visit destinations in your

own community with a traveller’s curiosity and sense of adventure and there’s a good chance you will see things from a different perspective.

Guaranteed, you will find places you didn’t know existed.

Local travel can be a lot cheaper than jumping on a jet. Maybe you get limited time off or have commitments that make long haul destinations inconvenient. Staycations can tide you over while you save up for the next big trip.

Local travel can also mitigate the darker side of international journeys such as increased pollution, pressure on countries with minimal infrastructure and over-tourism in many popular cities.

Based on a report from the United Nation World Tourism Organization,

we racked up 1.3 billion international tourist visits in 2017. That’s a 7 per cent increase from 2016. The same report shows another 6 per cent increase within the first half of 2018.

As we travel more than ever before, our desire to see the world is having some detrimental effects. Due to overcrowding, cities like Venice and Barcelona are considering tourist caps and schemes to redirect visitors to other nearby destinations.

Many national parks in the United States are being “loved to death” by rapid increases in visitor numbers.

Officials there are increasing entrance fees and implementing internal park transit systems to reduce human impact on sensitive natural lands.

I’m not suggesting you close that

browser with your latest flight searches or cancel those travel deal alerts. Rather, this year, I hope this column encourages you to expand your traveller’s palette with some local flavour.

Just because you live here doesn’t mean you can’t learn from or appreciate what we have with a traveller’s eye and thrill. If you are new to Waterloo Region, these columns will introduce you to activities and experiences to help you learn about your new home.

At the very least, by the end of 2019 you will have the best list of what to do in Waterloo Region when friends and family come to visit!

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JANUARY 2018 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

ON WHATSAPP MY MOTHER REMINDS ME THAT I HAVEN’T VISITED IN THREE WEEKS WORDS BY BASHAR LULU JABBOUR PHOTO BY NICK STANLEY TCE POETRY She is making yebra for dinner, will I come home for that at least? Yes, I will, I say. I stand in the hallway untying my boots. My father under the living-room lamps sits cross-legged, the blue hues of the TV dance on his brown corduroy pants. Clashes in Douma continued today.

I struggle for a hanger, open the garage door, find a bag of extras. The TV drones, another peace conference in Geneva starts Thursday. I hang my coat, wrap my scarf gently. Look in the mirror. Adjust my shirt. My mother announces dinner, and we gather. Our conversation flows Mohammad got relocated to Salimyeh // Oh, that’s close to the front.

Right? // I need your help translating a refugee statement, it’s for Samar // Have you seen this new app to monitor troop movements? It updates every 24 hours. // Did you hear about Ali? His mom had a heart attack. 68. So young. // How is work? Have you been busy? You haven’t visited in three weeks.

Blue hues of the TV dance against the empty couch. I do not visit for another three weeks

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JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

O CHRISTMAS TREE, O CHRISTMAS TREE

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU’RE THROWN OUT? JORDAN SNOBELEN CONTRIBUTOR Since the first Christmas tree on record was burnt to a crisp during the 14th-century in the former Baltic town of Livonia (now modern-day Estonia and Latvia), after members of the ‘Brotherhood of Blackheads’ danced around it, the tradition of harvesting a living tree and decorating it as the centrepiece by which Christmas celebrations revolve has endured.

Christmas trees comprise a multi-million dollar industry, which sees more than a million trees purchased every year across Canada, in addition to the over two-million Christmas trees Canada exports across the planet.

Christmas trees are so quintessential to the season that in 2015, the Ontario legislature introduced the Christmas Tree Day Act which proclaimed the first Saturday in December as Christmas Tree Day, in an effort to recognize the economic impact and societal importance Christmas trees have in the province.

This past season, Benjamin Tree Farms in Waterloo sold around 4,000 trees, according to Pat Doyle, who has been with the farm for over a decade.

The farm, which spans 50 acres and is home to 60,000 trees was still seeing customers — Doyle had counted over 100 people — vying for a tree with only a couple days left before the December 25 deadline.

Chickadee Christmas Farms in Cambridge is home to around 10,000 trees, having just completed its 17th season with reported sales of around 1,000 trees. Owner Alison McCrindle said the appeal for customers lies in the traditions and the recent season brought a lot of new families seeking to start their own.

Not long after presents have been claimed, decorations stowed and the coniferous scent faded, the trees having served their purpose, are seen lining the streets of residential neighbourhoods, signaling the arrival of a new year.

But what happens to all the waste created by the curbed trees?

In 2002, the responsibility for garbage collection was transitioned from the municipalities to the Region of Waterloo and off the bat, a Christmas tree collection program was initiated.

Though it wasn’t until 2017 when the program was expanded to include all rural areas of outlying townships in addition to the tri-cities.

The program sees trees collected at curbside — at an annual cost of four or five dollars per household, including yard waste — and turned into mulch during springtime. The mulch is distributed for free at the Cambridge and Waterloo landfill sites from April until October, or sold to local nurseries.

In 2018, 250-metric-tonnes of Christmas trees were collected at the curbside, according to data provided

by Susan White, manager of waste collection and diversion with the Region. If an average tree weighs an estimated 22-kilograms, that equates to approximately 11,363 trees.

Next to having a potted tree, kept alive and replanted each year after Christmas, mulching is the best option for the environment, with the least greenhouse gas emissions. All three municipalities in the Region have their

“official” Christmas trees mulched and used for either local plant beds, trail systems, or nurseries.

If a tree is discarded outside of this season’s two week collection period between Dec. 31, 2018 and Jan. 11, 2019, it will be counted as a bulky item and enter the landfill as garbage where it will sit and decompose while emitting sequestered carbon dioxide and methane as a result of decomposition.

The Carbon Trust in the UK estimates a carbon footprint of 16kg CO2e for a two-metre real tree left in a landfill.

In comparison, an average car would need to be driven for 106 km to emit the same amount.

At the centre of anthropogenic climate change are carbon dioxide and methane, both green house gasses which trap radiation from escaping the earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a warming planet. Methane is 21 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat, but only remains in the atmosphere for 12 years, compared to carbon dioxide’s 50 - 200 years.

“

IN 2018, 250METRIC-TONNES OF CHRISTMAS TREES WERE COLLECTED AT THE CURBSIDE. - DATA PROVIDED BY SUSAN WHITE, MANAGER OF WASTE COLLECTION AND DIVERSION, WATERLOO REGION

”

“[The Region’s landfill produces] approximately 2,000 cubic feet [of gasses] per minute,” White said.

Thanks to gas extraction wells, 70 to 80 per cent of those landfill gasses are trapped and diverted for other uses.

Gerdau Steel uses landfill gasses from the Cambridge facility to offset costs of Natural Gas use, while Toromont Energy converts the gas from the Waterloo facility into electricity for up to 4,500 homes.

Using the estimation of 11,363 trees collected in 2018, and the estimated carbon footprint from The Carbon Trust, of 16kg of CO2e per 2-metre tree, those trees diverted from the Region’s landfill amounted to 181-metric tonnes worth of CO2e.

It’s a small fraction which has contributed to a reduction of 22,000 metric tones of CO2 over the past seven years, resulting from the Region’s green bin program, according to White.

While hucking Christmas trees in the garbage won’t bring an end to our planet, they take up space in the Region’s only landfill, which is forecasted to reach capacity within the next one to two decades. The green bin example proves that with combined participation, significant environmental impacts can be made to keep from further contributing to the the already oversaturated level of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere.

PAIGE BUSH PHOTO

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JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

NEW FILM

C E L E B R AT E S

KW ARCHITECT BETH BOWLES EDITOR IN CHIEF In 2005, The Waterloo Region Record moved office buildings. It moved from its home on Fairway Drive to where it sits now, on King and Scott near the Kitchener Market.

Months after the move, the Fairway Drive location was demolished. That building only stood for 30 years.

Local filmmaker Dwight Storring worked for The Record as a photojournalist in the Fairway Drive location. He was impacted, both personally and professionally by what he experienced inside that building.

The idea of how people interact with the buildings and spaces around them became of interest to Storring.

When the building was demolished, he wondered how the building’s architect, John Lingwood would feel.

After moving through his career as a photojournalist, and then working as the director of special projects at CIGI, Storring is now filmmaking full- time.

His first full-length film came out last

year — a film for Idea Exchange in Cambridge that he created alongside a colleague. He also works on several commissioned short films.

Now, Storring will premiere his first individual full-length film Finding John Lingwood at Princess Twin Cinemas in Waterloo on Jan. 17.

“The idea of storytelling and how people interact with their community is very much in my blood, I would say,” Storring said.

This aligns with Lingwood’s work, as the Kitchener-Waterloo based architect designed close to 700 projects before passing away in 1996.

Storring’s film focuses mainly on three of Lingwood’s projects in Kitchener: the old office of The Record, 20 or so houses on Manchester Road and Carmel New Church. He hopes the film will bring Lingwood’s projects into a contemporary context.

“I think through [researching for the film], I started to realize that buildings are much more than just this oedipus, this structure. They embody people’s dreams and ideals and they become part of everyone who touches the building. Originally, it starts with an architect,” Storring said.

While this film is about Lingwood, Storring said that the film is not just

Dwight Storring’s film Finding John Lingwood is premiering at Princess Twin on Jan. 17.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

simply a chronology of his life. The idea is much bigger than that.

“This is more about trying to find out what inspired him and how did his work inspire other people, or bring other people together. How did his work create community?” Storring said.

Storring has been working on Finding John Lingwood for roughly two and a half years. While this was primarily a solo project, he did have help from a few colleagues, including his son who is a composer. Lingwood’s family, especially his daughter Lisa,

also helped Storring tell the story.

Additionally, Storring received funding from Region of Waterloo Arts Fund, Grand Valley Society of Architects and WalterFedy to help propel his project forward.

“One of the things I decided to focus on in my work is this idea that there’s this larger community narrative that’s going on, on a day-to-day basis,” Storring said about the film.

“I just sort of decided I wanted to focus on the mundane. I wanted to focus on ordinary people, because I think, for me, it’s the stories of

ordinary people that are really foundational to this larger community narrative that unfolds day-to-day.”

Storring hopes to continue to tell the individual and unique stories of the Region in future projects, but for now, he’s looking forward to the premiere.

“I think it’s going to be a bit surprising for some people because it’s not a story about architects and buildings and how they’re made, it’s a story about a guy, and his life, and his hopes and dreams, and his family. I’m really excited to hear the response to that aspect of it.”

MATT SMITH PHOTO

NEW YEAR, NEW GREEN RESOLUTIONS

EASY BEING GREEN

STACEY DANCKERT COLUMNIST Another year has come and gone, and with it come resolutions for self-improvement and personal change. Following recent reports on the importance of bold and immediate climate action, I am going to describe how to make the typical New Year’s resolutions fit within our sustainability goals. I know change can seem overwhelming, especially with the degree of change we need, but if you break it down into manageable chunks, it becomes much easier.

EATING HEALTHY With the health implications associated with eating meat, particularly

lunch meat, changing to a plantbased diet is not only healthier, but is also more sustainable. There are different estimates of the total impact, but when you factor in the deforestation, fertilizers, water and methane emissions associated with growing cattle and its feed, not to mention transport, plant-based diets are more substantial.

EXERCISE We all know we should get more exercise, but how can exercise contribute to being sustainable? More active forms of transportation can replace driving. By walking, biking or even public transit it may take a bit more time, but saves you from having to fit exercise into your life otherwise.

My husband began walking instead of driving to work a couple of years ago and in addition to being fitter, he also saves $40 on monthly parking fees.Try starting with short distances and expanding from there.

Getting outside and being active can also help support good mental health. Even in winter, cross-country skiing, tobogganing and snowshoeing are all great ways to warm up and enjoy the outdoors.

SAVE MONEY Unfortunately, consumerism has become the status-quo, particularly in the west, an obsession that is impossible for our earth to sustain.

If you choose to buy only the things that will really make a difference to your life, you can either save money on the things you don’t buy, or spend extra to get sustainably made products. Cutting down on what we buy also cuts waste, especially plastic packaging that often ends up in the ocean and disrupts natural ecosystems.

Incidentally, consumerism also feeds issues of social inequity as it pushes demand for lower prices and leads to under-valued workers

throughout the entire product chain, which only works to widen the gap between rich and poor.

LEARN A NEW SKILL Perhaps making origami compost or garbage bags isn’t your idea of fun, but joining the maker community, learning how to repair items, or how to cook plant-based meals are just a few possibilities as you embark on the adventure of living more sustainably.

You could also have fun with it. In our family, we are challenging one another to learn “post-apocalyptic” skills such as canning, gardening, and collecting water, so that we can all get a better appreciation for our resources and how to use them efficiently.

MEET NEW PEOPLE Some of my favourite people are those that I’ve met through environmental advocacy and action. It has

been by far the easiest way to meet passionate, community-minded and welcoming individuals. They give a tremendous amount of their time and energy towards making positive change and are so welcoming to new people. The door is always open!

Everybody needs to take their own path towards sustainability. So do what you can, when you can. Maybe 2019 is a great time to start.

Stacey Danckert is the co-director of WREN.

JANUARY 2019 // COMMUNITYEDITION.CA

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PICKING THE RIGHT BIRTH CONTROL OPTION

CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO

SEXPLANATIONS

STACEY JACOBS COLUMNIST I often get asked: “What is the best kind of birth control?”

The short answer is the best kind of birth control is unique to each person.

However, the most effective form of birth control is hormonal birth control, the IUD with hormones being the most effective when you consider typical use (99.8 per cent), a vasectomy if you are considering a permanent form of birth control (99.9 per cent).

The longer answer is that each person

considering birth control needs to think about things such as: do you want to put artificial hormones into your body?

Can you remember to take birth control each day, week or month? Do you need to hide the birth control from parents or partners? Are you or your partner(s) allergic to latex? How long are you planning to use it? Are you comfortable touching your body? Do you have benefits that cover birth control? Do you know the side effects of the method?

Do you have a healthcare provider you trust to discuss birth control with? And do you have health concerns, including mental health, that may affect the type of birth control you use?

It is important to educate yourself when deciding what birth control is best for you. There are many kinds you have probably never heard of and many

side effects that are often not discussed.

Talk to friends and family, but don’t use something just because they are, use it because you think it is the best for you. In my opinion, many healthcare providers do not know much more about birth control than non-healthcare providers and may push something because they are familiar with it or have a relationship with a drug company.

Everyone has biases.

I often discuss birth control with groups and every time inevitably someone will say, “I got pregnant using that, it doesn’t work!” News flash — people get pregnant using birth control — often. No birth control method is 100 per cent effective, not even forms of birth control considered permanent such as vasectomies (which are 99.9 per cent effective) and tubal ligations (99.5

per cent effective).

Birth control methods have a perfect use and typical use effectiveness rate.

A perfect use effectiveness rate is often unachievable, while the typical use effectiveness rate considers human behaviour such as forgetting to take your pill, using expired condoms that may break more easily, and medications such as antibiotics interfering. The pill, the patch and the ring are all 92 per cent effective with typical use for example, whereas they are over 99 per cent with perfect use.

At the moment, if you have a penis, your options are vasectomy, condoms and pulling out. You can of course help pay for birth control, not complain about using condoms and educate yourself about the side effects of hormonal birth control your partner

may be experiencing. You can also use condoms with other forms of birth control to increase effectiveness and protect yourself, and others, from sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as condoms are the only form of birth control that can do this.

Birth control is often thought of as something you use once you are a certain age, or a next step in a relationship, however, birth control can affect your health in many ways. Take the time to find out what is the best method for you.

For more information please visit: shorecentre.ca/birthcontrol.

Stacey Jacobs is the sexual health educational manager at SHORE.

SO NO ONE TOLD YOU LIFE WAS GONNA BE THIS WAY...

FRIENDS TRIVIA NIGHT. JANUARY 24. 7 PM. CHAINSAW.

$5/PERSON • TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE & AT THE DOOR. VISIT COMMUNITY EDITION ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE INFORMATION

JANUARY 2019 // @THECOMMUNITYED

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EVENT LISTINGS

WE’VE HAND SELECTED SOME COOL UPCOMING EVENTS AND WRITTEN SOME WITTY COMMENTARY. YOU’RE WELCOME.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 3

SUNDAY, JANUARY 13

MONDAY, JANUARY 21

BATTLE OF TAPS & TAPAS B_DTK

TAROT: A BEGINNER’S JOURNEY 8 ELMA PLACE

GREEN NETWORKING NIGHT RAWLICIOUS KITCHENER

Are you still unsatisfied following your holiday binge? Head downtown and get your hands on a few delicious tapas! Two local craft breweries will compete with the winner recieving a permanent tap for six months, along with trophy!

Who doesn’t love beer and a little competition?

Have you always paid attention your intuition? Desired to hone the art of foreseeing people’s futures through a deck of cards? Well, you can learn how to interpret both the Minor and Major Arcana, the different suits and the stories they tell in this workshop. Don’t forget to bring along your own special tarot cards!

Do you work in environmental or green spaces? Fresh off the books and hoping to explore a career in this sector? Be inspired by this evening full of collaboration, plantbased meals and local beer! Make one of your resolutions to begin supporting local while uplifting green businesses and organizations.

Fun • Free • 11 am -11 pm

Workshop • $75 • 1 - 4:30 pm

Community • $11 • 6 - 9 pm

FRIDAY, JANUARY 4-6

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22

PSYCHIC FAIR & EXPO BINGEMANS

HUMANE SOCIETY FUNDRAISER KW HUMAN SOCIETY

PAINT ‘N BREW JACKASS BREWING

Forget making resolutions, find out what truly lies in your 2019 path.

Are you going to fall into a handful of money, experience the meet cute you’ve always dreamed of, or perhaps even meet your inevitable demise? Well head over, rub a few crystals and look into a transparent sphere or two. Tmes vary per date.

Who doesn’t enjoy immersing their face in pounds of plush fur? The KW Humane Society is calling all animal lovers to help raise money for the shelter. If you haven’t already pressed ‘order now’ on their event page, we’re raising a brow at you. A portion from each seat will go towards supporting the animals!

Channel your inner painter while attending this Paint ‘N Brew, where you’ll get cozy with a pint and master a wintery scene. Given the weather, you may not even have to include snow in this landscape. And don’t fret, the beer with make up for your inability to paint! Tickets include admission and one beer.

Fair • Free • 3 - 9 pm

Funraiser • $45 - 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Beer • $35 • 7 - 9 pm

TUESDAY, JANUARY 8

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24

BEER, DIVERSITY & INCLUSIVITY THE CAUSERIE

GROWTH FOR GROWTH KITCHENER PUBLIC LIBRARY

THE ONE WITH FRIENDS TRIVIA CHAINSAW

Marit Collective paired up with one of our favorite pals, Ren Navarro, for a “from talk to walk” session. Tired of white, cis-males mansplaining what hops are or their naive impression that women only enjoy wine coolers. We are, too!

Join them this evening to discuss representation, beer and inclusivity.

Do you get a thrill while penciling in an evening of discourse over sustainable urban development and argricultural protections in WR? Us, too. Join in on this community forum regarding sustainable growth, where panelists will heir diverse expertise on agriculture, the local economy and much much more.

Isn’t this event kick-you-in-thecrotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?

So feel free to sing along to “Smelly Cat” while simultaneously arguing that Chandler does not work as a Transponster. So leave your beef triffle to set for the evening and channel your inner-Monica! Cause remember, Greens don’t quit.

Beer • $15 • 7 - 9 pm

Forum • Free • 5:30 - 8:30 pm

Trivia • $5 • 6:30 - 9 pm

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30

HARVEST DINNER STARK & PERRI

FINDING JOHN LINGWOOD PRINCESS CINEMAS

BEER & CORNHOLE MUSEUM AFTER DARK

They’ve paired with Muskoka Brewery to provide you with an evening that will make your seams rip! With a three course dinner, craft beer, and $20 from every ticket being donated to Cystic Fibroasis Canada, we’ve marked ‘interested’ on their event page. Pro tip: wear your stretchiest pants!

This documentary explores the life of John Lingwood, one of the most influential architects in the Region. f you’ve gone to any local schools, attended worship, or a civic building in your time in this city, chances are you’ve been in the presence of some of his work. Bonus: you’re also supporting a local theatre.

Despite climate change allowing you to play lawn games in January, forget your jackets and grab a teammate because there’s an indoor Corn Hole Tournament in town.

Corn Hole, Beau’s beer and some friendly competition? We all need this right now. You can even visit earlier to check out the exhibitions!

Food • $55 • 7 - 10 pm

Film • $12-23 • 7 - 9 pm

Fun • $40-50 • 6:30 - 9 pm

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2

KWAG FILM SERIES KITCHENER PUBLIC LIBRARY

WIRE FINDINGS CLASS IGUANA BEADS

INTRO TO SOAP MAKING SOCIAL ART

In their current exhibition, they’re exploring documentary themes of family. This evening they’ll be playing Stories We Tell, an investigative piece into the elusive truth buried within the family history of the filmmaker Sarah Polley. And hey, there’s nothing like basking in another families drama.

Imagine being able to look at your coat hanger and know you can twist it into a vogue-worthy piece of jewelery? Well, it’s in the cards for you this new year! Learn how to make eyepins, paddle pins, spiral pins, ear wires, clasps and jump rings in this workshop. All classes require a deposit to sign up.

It’s February and we’ve all forgotten our resolutions by now, so spend all your savings on the history of lye safety, the cold process method and the chemistry behind all things soapy. Each attendee will take home 2.5 pounds of plant-based soap, a wooden soap mold and an instruction book. Waivers required.

Film • Free • 6 - 8 pm

Workshop • $45+ hst • 6 - 8 pm

Workshop • $110 • 1 - 4 pm

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12

FRIDAY, JANUARY 19

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2-3

A CRATE NIGHT OUT PATENT SOCIAL

BACK TO THE FUTURE APOLLO CINEMA

INTRO TO BLACKSMITHING TWO SMITHS

The Souljah Sessions Radio crew have returned, pushing drum, bass, jungle and dubstep onto the FM airwaves since 2002. So, check the bassline out by joining them as they bring ‘90s hiphop into uptown Waterloo! You’d be hard-pressed to find another night as hot as this, it’ll be a hard knock life if you miss out.

Are you a keyboard warrior? A undiscovered film critic? Well, Apollo has an event made for you!

During Troll Time screenings, they encourage viewers to take out their phones and use their twitter to badmouth and even heckle some of the greatest films of all time. It’s MST3K and you’re the robots!

Try your hand at the art of fundamental forging techniques, enabling you to finish two projects: a toasting fork and a spoon. With this event you get to gain skills and add to your unique repertoire of cutlery! Further, they promise discussions around ergonomics and functionality. A dream come true.

Fun • $5 • 9 pm - 2:30 am

Film • $5-12 • 7pm

Workshop • $380 • 3 - 5 pm

COMMUNITYEDITION.CA @THECOMMUNITYED

JANUARY 2019 // @THECOMMUNITYED

16

YOU TELL ME THAT IT’S EVOLUTION

WE ALL WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD

GENERATING MORE ENERGY THAN IT CONSUMES, EVOLV1 IS A LANDMARK BUILDING IN THE REGION

NICOLE LANGLOIS CONTRIBUTOR “We wanted this building to help transform the industry.”

Coming from anyone other than Adrian Conrad, chief operating officer of the Cora Group, which recently opened evolv1, the company’s latest milestone on a path to revolutionizing commercial building in this country, that statement might sound overly ambitious, even hubristic. But the Cora Group’s track record is evidence that it takes its pivotal role in shaping the market for more sustainable building practices seriously, both responding to market demand and subtly shifting it toward sustainability.

Conrad is the second generation in the family-run Cora Group — his father, Manfred, started the company in 1978, and in addition to developing millions of square feet of Class A commercial real estate, has made substantial philanthropic contributions to the Waterloo Region — and is building on his family’s commitment to taking sustainable building to new heights, while still being able to offer rental space at current market rates.

Within the David Johnston Research & Technology Park, evolv1 is visually pleasing but understated — a highend, but fairly typical-looking, office building. Looks, in this case, are deceiving.

“You get the impression of leadingedge office space,” Conrad said. “If it weren’t for all the solar panels [covering much of the parking lot] and the 40-foot living wall, you probably wouldn’t know it was that different.”

In fact, evolv1 is a landmark. It’s not only heading for LEED Platinum certification, but is also the first building in the country to earn the Zero Carbon Building standard, newly created by the Canada Green Building Council.

As a “net positive energy” building, evolv1 generates more energy than it consumes. It does so via a geothermal well system that pumps water from aquifers about 150 metres below the surface to aid in heating and cooling the building, more than 2,000 solar panels, superior insulation levels and triple-glazed windows to minimize heat loss and a south-facing solar wall that uses sunlight to pre-heat air entering the building even on the coldest days of the year.

Design and engineering for the building was done by Stantec, which was able to provide a coordinated team of experts in sustainable building. Construction firm Melloul Blamey lifted the vision off the page and into three dimensions.

Supporting sustainable transportation choices to the building — a key component in the LEED credit system — also plays a role at evolv1.

Located just 80 metres from a new ION station, the building also boasts secure bike storage and showers for commuters and 28 EV charging stations.

Aside from being an obvious rental choice for leading technology firms, especially those in the clean-tech sector, evolv1 may find its most critical role is as an incubator for future development.

“We see this as a sort of living lab,” Conrad said, “a place where people can come visit, see what we’re doing, and [we can] tell our story.”

A public space within evolv1 is designed for engagement and learning, a task to be taken up by the

Cora Group and others who have been “partners in a collaborative vision” since evolv1 was first conceived in 2013.

Those partners include Sustainable Waterloo Region, whose executive director, Tova Davidson, had long dreamed of a net-positive energy building to be a flagship in Waterloo Region, along with the David Johnston R&T Park, and EY (formerly Ernst & Young) as a lead tenant for the project.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University will study and publish their findings on various aspects of the building’s sustainability, measuring the performance of its various components and looking at the culture of sustainability that’s being fostered.

Of course, it’s precisely through spreading the word about evolv1 (and the Cora Group’s new building, evolv2, set to break ground in 2019) that Conrad can really help to “transform the industry.” A one-off building, as remarkable as it is, can have little impact on an industry that accounts for some 20 per cent to 40 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions (depending on the source of statistics, and how totals are calculated).

But the example of a prototype that showcases innovative technologies and practices, paired with advocates who have a genuine passion for sharing the knowledge gained through the building’s design, construction and operation processes, has scalable potential. Making sustainability the industry standard is Conrad’s ultimate goal.

“We hope that through the efforts of Sustainable Waterloo Region, Laurier, Waterloo, and what we’re doing, that we can speak to the market [and that] millennials and others can send the message that sustainability is important to them.”

NICK STANLEY PHOTOS