Volume 51 Issue 4

The Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Toronto Mississauga Since 1974

Issue 4 Volume 51 September 23 2024

themedium.ca

Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal

A SUMMER OF AI MYSTICISM AND THE RECORD-BREAKING HEAT CLIMATE CRISIS

WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

In the past year, Canada has seen one of the most devastating wildfire seasons in the country’s history. According to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Canada has seen more than 5,000 wildfires over the 2024 season, with more than 600 active fires as of September 7.

The use of artificial intelligence products, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and DALL-E, has exploded in the past few years, and their environmental impact is becoming apparent.

Addressing climate change is a struggle many of us know as the urgency of the crisis becomes increasingly clear. Before, we saved the trees by using as little paper as we could.

>> read more on page 03

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NEWS

NDP breaks off its supplyand-confidence agreement with the Liberals

Editor | Samuel Kamalendran news@themedium.ca

Climate change triggers record-breaking megatsunami in Greenland, study reveals Scientists believe landslide tsunamis will occur more often, especially in the world’s polar and mountainous areas.

Celesta Maniatogianni Contributor

Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal

The breaking of the supply-and-confidence agreement sparks the possibility of an early federal election which could see the Liberal Party replaced.

Arjun Saini Contributor

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n September 4, the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) officially pulled out of its supply-andconfidence agreement with the Liberal government via a video released by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

Singh stated that the NDP is the only party capable of preventing the Conservative Party from winning the next federal election, noting that the Liberals are “too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people.”

The Liberal government was meant to be informed of the NDP’s decision an hour before the video was scheduled to go live.

However, a senior government source told CBC News that the prime minister’s office was only notified eight minutes before the video was posted on social media.

Established in 2022, the supply-and-confidence agreement required the NDP to support the Liberal government in Parliament votes and ensured the government’s commitment to promote NDP priorities.

The deal helped establish a national dental care program, which the Liberals described as one of the largest social programs in the country. Passed in June 2024, the Pharmacare Act is committed to launching coverage for diabetes medication and birth control. Other accomplishments of the deal include the emergence of the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act and the Housing Accelerator Fund, which incentivizes cities to increase housing.

The conclusion of the deal puts the Liberals in a precarious position since they can no longer depend on the NDP for their imperative support in Parliament, given the Liberals’ status as a minority government.

The million-dollar question which arose from the ordeal was whether the deal’s termination would expedite the next federal election. Canadians will receive an update on that note in the second week of Parliament’s fall siting after Members of Parliament vote on conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s motion—which will decide whether Canada will hold an early election.

If the Conservatives achieve a positive result after the vote, Poilievre will be able to make the most of his rising popularity.

According to an Ipsos poll conducted between September 5 and September 9, 45 per cent of Canadians have Poilievre as their top pick compared to 26 per cent in favour of Justin Trudeau and 23 per cent for Singh.

This news is another setback for the Liberal Party, which lost two federal seats in recent byelections: one in a Toronto riding they had held for thirty years to the Conservatives and another in LaSalleÉmard-Verdun in Montreal to the Bloc Québécois.

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2024 study published in Science revealed that standing waves in Greenland’s Dickson Fjord caused a rockslide, leading to a 650-foot high mega-tsunami last year. One of the highest ever recorded, the megatsunami lasted nine days last September.

During the tsunami, seismometers detected odd single-frequency vibrations through the ground, which carried a monotonous hum, unlike the sounds of typical earthquakes. Its long duration baffled geologists and was “completely unprecedented,” according to Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at University College London and one of the study’s authors.

After being tracked to Greenland and pinpointed to the Dickson Fjord with the help of Danish seismologists, an international team of 68 scientists and the Danish Navy collaborated, using satellite imagery, on-the-ground evidence, and seismic data, to understand how and why the vibrations occurred.

Their findings revealed that the melting of a glacier at the base of a nearly 4,000-foot-tall mountain destabilized the mountainside and caused the landslide. The event saw 25 million cubic metres of rock and ice poured into the fjord, causing the largest recorded tsunami since 1980.

The resultant waves became trapped in the fjord and ricocheted off its sides every 90 seconds.

Within a few minutes, the waves reduced in height to seven metres and then a few centimetres in the following days.

This type of tsunami is classified as a seiche, which is when water oscillates rhythmically

in an enclosed space. Unlike past seiches, this event defied geological theory and shocked researchers with its unprecedented duration. According to Kristian Svennevig, another author of the study, “Had I suggested a year ago that a seiche could persist for nine days, people would shake their heads and say that’s impossible.”

Dr. Hicks echoed that sentiment, stating, “We’ve never seen such a large-scale movement of water over such a long period.”

While no injuries or fatalities were reported, the tsunami washed away a cultural heritage site and an empty military base. However, the fjord is a common route for cruise ships, with one vessel being freed after being stranded in mud near the fjord two days before the landslide.

Researchers also discovered evidence of at least four previous smaller landslides and one which occurred after the mega-tsunami in the Dickson Fjord.

While a tsunami of this scale and nature is unprecedented, the root cause of the landslide is linked to the consequences of climate change.

The melting of the glacier which held up the mountain’s rock and ice was the result of a warming climate, which “is increasingly predisposing polar regions to large landslides,” according to the study.

Despite being the first recorded landslide tsunami to occur in east Greenland, scientists predict it won’t be the last, as the glaciers and permafrost residing on steep mountain slopes continue to melt in the Arctic region. These events can be expected to occur more often and on a larger scale across polar and mountainous regions in the world.

“Even more profoundly, for the first time, we can quite clearly see this event, triggered by climate change,” stated Anne Mangeney, a landslide modeller at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France. “Those vibrations travelled from Greenland to Antarctica in less than an hour. So we’ve seen an impact from climate change impacting the entire world within just an hour.”

On September 18, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet said that his party would vote against Poilievre’s motion, indicating that he is “at the service of Quebecers,” while also stating, “Conservative values are not Quebec values.”

The NDP has not declared a clear intention so far. While Singh stated on September 17 that the Liberals “don’t deserve another chance,” he also explained that his party will make their decisions on a “caseby-case” basis.

Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal

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A world ablaze:

looking back on Canada’s 2024 wildfire season With more than five million hectares of burned land and nearly one billion in insured losses, Canadians mourn the destruction of its deadliest wildfire seasons yet.

Samuel Kamalendran News Editor

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n the past year, Canada has seen one of the most devastating wildfire seasons in the country’s history.

According to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Canada has seen more than 5,000 wildfires over the 2024 season, with more than 600 active fires as of September 7.

Of those fires, more than 200 are in British Columbia, followed by more than 80 in Alberta and Saskatchewan. So far, Nova Scotia is the only one among the provinces and territories that is not experiencing an active fire. Due to the out-ofcontrol wildfires burning in the province, residents in British Columbia are being warned about the poor air quality caused by the smoke.

To date, over five million hectares of Canadian land have been burned.

Zombie fires Canada’s 2024 wildfire season sprung back in 2023 since some of the country’s fires survived last year’s winter and reignited early in the 2024 season.

Though Northern fire managers prefer the term “overwintering fires,” many news outlets, including Global News and The Conversation, have classified these fires that smoulder over the winter months under the snow as “zombie fires.” These fires burn underground during the winter months and remain undetected until reemerging in the following spring season.

The escalating hazards and costs of wildfires Wildfires are rapidly impacting the health of Canadians across the country. Canadians are at risk for facing symptoms and health effects including headaches, mild cough and sinus irritation, dizziness, wheezing, chest pains, asthma attacks, shortness of breath, heart palpitations and in some severe cases, stroke, heart attack and premature death.

According to Environment Canada, “There is no known safe level of exposure for some of these pollutants. This means that smoke can impact your health even at very low levels.” Environment Canada has ranked Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon as being “very high-risk” cities.

The fires are not only impacting Canadians but affecting other countries as well. Smoke from the active fires has drifted all the way to the United States. North Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and Wisconsin have reported smoky skies and poor air quality from the fires.

Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal

The destruction from these wildfires has cost Canada hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance losses. The wildfire from Jasper National Park this summer is estimated to have cost the country C$880 million in insured damages, including homes, businesses and vehicles. The destruction in Jasper’s townsite ranked as Canada’s ninth most expensive disaster for insurance payouts.

Of Jasper’s 1,113 buildings, 358 were destroyed by the fire. The wildfire resulted in entire neighbourhoods on the southern side of Jasper being lost and the rebuild is expected to span over years.

On July 25, Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland released a message expressing the town’s collective sorrow. “The destruction and loss that many of you are facing and feeling is beyond description and comprehension; my deepest sympathies go out to each of you.”

A summer of record-breaking heat Older adults, children, pregnant people and those with medical conditions are more vulnerable than others as temperatures are rapidly rising across the world.

Vanessa Bogacki Contributor

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his summer, global temperatures soared to an average of 16.8 degrees Celsius, officially making it the hottest season ever recorded. This year’s average is only 0.03 degrees Celsius more than last year—marking the last two summers with the highest seen averages in global records since 1850.

Research on ancient tree rings indicates that recent years have been the hottest in the past 2,000 years, with some climate

Photo credit: Sara Li

scientists suggesting these temperatures may be the highest in 125,000 years.

July has seen record-breaking heat waves in all parts of the world, including the US, Mexico, and China, making it climatologically the hottest month on record.

According to Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the European Union’s Copernicus, “The string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest (calendar) year on record.”

One contributor to this summer’s extreme heat waves is El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon or pattern linked to the warming of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. However, El Niño only accounts for 0.2 degrees Celsius variation in global temperatures and, by itself, cannot explain the rapid climate changes the planet is currently experiencing.

Richard Allan, a climate science professor at the University of Reading in the UK, told CNN, “The record global warmth this sum-

mer is expected given the lingering heat from the subsiding El Niño event that has added to the continued heating by emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities.”

The impacts of rising temperatures Increasing temperatures are contributing to extreme weather events across the globe, including Hurricane Beryl—the earliest category-five hurricane to ever form in the Atlantic.

This rise in temperatures also has significant impacts on polar regions. In July, the daily extent of Antarctic sea ice was the second-lowest recorded for the time of year, significantly lower than the levels seen in all years before 2023. By mid-month, it nearly approached the record-low levels recorded in 2023.

Additionally, wildfires have been devastating regions in Canada and Brazil. In Brazil, fires have burned more than 1.3 million hectares in the multi-national Pantanal wetland, one of the most biodiverse areas in the world.

These record-breaking temperatures also have major impacts on humans all over the world and are especially threatening for older adults, children, pregnant people and people with medical conditions. This summer, more than 1,300 people died during the Hajj pilgrimage, which occurred during extreme heat.

In Mexico, at least 124 deaths were reported due to the heat this year, with more than 2,300 people experiencing heat stroke, dehydration and sunburns. Emergency services in Veracruz, a city in Mexico, experienced an increase in heat-related emergencies, especially in areas with openair spaces and warehouses.

Dr. Burgess warns that with temperatures and their effects at unprecedented levels, conditions will worsen if humanity does not take action to address climate change.

“The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

MASTHEAD EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Hannah Wang editor@themedium.ca

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Opinion Mashiyat Ahmed opinion@themedium.ca Features Madhav Ajayamohan features@themedium.ca A&E Keira Johannson arts@themedium.ca Sports Joseph Falzata sports@themedium.ca Photo Sara Li photos@themedium.ca Design Buket Simsek Baykal design@themedium.ca Copy May Alsaigh may@themedium.ca Maja Tingchaleun maja@themedium.ca

WRITE FOR US

What binds art and science together Imagination is the essence of what ties artists and scientists together in a world that continues to emphasize their differences.

Madhav Ajayamohan Features Editor

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came to U of T to study Computer Science. Along the way I picked up a Mathematics major, as most in my program do. But when I mention my Professional Writing and Communication (PWC) minor, people do a double take.

“Why?” they ask, with an expression equal parts confused and curious.

There is a consensus that art is separate from science. While science deals with objective facts, art focuses on self-expression. While science discovers the truth about the world, art discovers truths about society and self. Both are different, but not as much as one would think.

From a practical standpoint, it follows that science influences art. What one finds visually pleasing or not is dependent on the science of proportions like the Golden Ratio. Even in writing, readers love tricolon: a series of three parallel words, phrases, and clauses.

However, despite the obvious differences, art and science are both united by the mindset of the creator — be it the artist or the scientist — and certain attributes such as creativity, a questioning nature, and a desire to communicate.

Writing and coding exercise the same muscle Writing code is a time-consuming process. I must face the question, “What is the purpose of this code?” Then, I must consider what tools I should use, and how to use them efficiently. As I test my code repeatedly, I change small pieces here and there, continually refining it to make it the best it can be.

Writing for The Medium is not too different. I must, again, face the question, “What is my article trying to say?” The delicate act of choosing words and stringing them together to convey my desired message, and the tedious editing that follows, is practically indistinguishable from the process of coding. I agonize over writing code the same way I agonize over my articles. This painstaking method of looking at your work is the creative process.

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Editor | Mashiyat Ahmed opinion@themedium.ca

Editorial

Managing Editor Aya Yafaoui managing@themedium.ca News Samuel Kamalendran news@themedium.ca

OPINION

Problem solving and creativity are two sides of the same coin It is difficult to see how mathematicians create proofs, and how programmers create programs. Problem-solving and critical thinking define a successful mathematician or computer scientist, but despite the evident rift between science and art, so does creativity. When starting a math problem, you only know two things: your starting assumptions, and your end results.

Everything in between is the blank space that we need to fill up to find the answer. Somehow, we need to transform what we have in the beginning to get to what’s at the end.

In my experience, finding the answers requires the same inventiveness we see in art: step by step, we employ our mathematical tools to build a bridge between our original assumptions and the result. The beauty of it? There are multiple, maybe even infinite ways, to prove a proposition — or build a bridge. Each method is unique, using different theorems and branches. And in the process, new knowledge is created.

That’s how all science works. Every day, scientists strain their brains to advance what we already know by discovering new knowledge. How is that different from an artist, who works to design something new from the world?

While scientists focus on creating knowledge about our world, artists focus on creating knowledge about society and the human experience. Both groups are trying to create something new. That creative process will always require imagination and the willingness to question the world around you.

To Question Albert Einstein is one of the most famous scientists in history. His research on physics and the universe revolutionized the world and threw out conventions. The key component to his success was his rebellious and skeptical nature.

According to biographer Walter Isaacson, a recurring theme in Einstein’s life was his impulse to question everything around him. He questioned his religious beliefs, the system of learning in Germany, and other commonly held beliefs of the time. It was this nature that caused him to question the absolute nature of time and led him to the theory of special relativity.

Einstein’s personality represents the nature of all scientists: to constantly question the world around them. The same is true for artists.

When the world wanted natural and photorealistic paintings, Picasso, much like Einstein, questioned the necessity of such things, and ushered forth a new age of pushing the boundaries artists commonly used to express themselves at the time.

Through paintings like the Guernica, he challenged authority and conventions.

While the domains of science and art differ, a combination of skepticism and relentless curiosity drives both artists and scientists to produce new knowledge.

Different Languages The only difference between scientists and artists is the language they use. Artists use paints, musical notes, words, photos and instruments, to influence the world around them.

Scientists use numbers, equations, theorems, and precise measurements to describe the same intricacies of the world that artists aim to capture and express. However different their methods, everything behind the scenes is the same, fundamentally.

With divisions like Arts and Sciences in education, many artists think they can’t be scientists, and vice versa. Many people in either field even think it’s a pain to learn about the other subject — a prominent example is how students groan about having to take distribution credits.

However, with the right mindset, you can easily switch from one to the other. All you have to do is use your imagination.

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AI Mysticism and the Climate Crisis AI is damaging our planet far worse than we care to think or assume.

Urban gardens are lush spaces of radical change

Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal

Erin Sauvé Contributor

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he use of artificial intelligence products, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and DALL-E, has exploded in the past few years, and their environmental impact is becoming apparent. AI uses machine learning models that process massive amounts of data, and therefore require massive amounts of computing power to run.

This makes AI prompts significantly more powerhungry than a traditional browser search. A prompt to ChatGPT uses 10 times as much power as a typical Google search. Multiplied across ChatGPT’s hundreds of millions of users, ChatGPT consumes as much power as a staggering 180,000 American households every day.

Using large amounts of power means that the computing equipment heats up and must be cooled down using water. Each conversation with ChatGPT consisting of 20 – 50 questions uses 500ml of water – as much as a standard water bottle. xAI, Elon Musk’s AI venture which created the chatbot Grok, is projected to use almost 4 million litres of water each day, or about 1.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

In addition to their environmental footprint, these data centres can have devastating effects on the communities they are situated in. xAI’s new data centre, located in south Memphis, Tennessee, installed 18 methane-gas generators without permits. Together, the generators can emit up to 130 tons of nitrogen oxides every year – a family of chemicals that can lead to respiratory diseases with exposure. In Granbury, Texas, the fans used to cool a data centre used for Bitcoin mining are generating so much noise that they are giving the residents of the neighbouring town sonic damage, with symptoms including loss of hearing, violent headaches, and nausea.

Yet, none of this is apparent when interacting with AI in our busy student and professional lives. Consumers of AI only see a clinically sleek interface, a bar where a prompt is entered and AI’s response to that query. The consumer is completely alienated from the physical processes of AI , and consequently, the trail of environmental and health damages it leaves in its wake.

The tech industry invites us to see its creations as immaterial. Putting your data on ‘the Cloud’ feels almost mystical, as if PDFs are being sent to some ethereal file void. Using AI chatbots seems more akin to consulting a friend than executing complex computer programs. This kind of language and attitude obscures the material basis for and environmental externalities of this technology. This perceived immateriality makes users less inclined to consider the very material consequences of using these so called “digital” platforms .

However, mysticism and suggested immateriality are not by-products of tech like AI but its foundation. To understand the development and creation of AI, it is crucial to situate it as a technology within the economic system that has incentivized and enabled its creation. Capitalism is an economic system based on infinite growth and can only exist where profits can perpetually be made and, therefore, capital can be accumulated. It is also a system that is in

direct contradiction to the fact that Earth is a planet with finite resources — once the resources have been depleted there is nothing left to turn a profit off. This fundamental contradiction is becoming increasingly starker – and more dangerous — with the worsening of the climate crisis.

Technocapitalism, a term coined by political scientist Luis Suarez-Villa, attempts to grapple with this contradiction by commodifying intangible things like ideas, creativity, and research, instead.

Under industrial capitalism, the resources exploited for production are overwhelmingly physical materials. However, the move to regard intangible resources in the same way considerably extends the list of exploitable resources, something that tech companies are more than eager to explore. These intangible things are difficult to quantify but are things that should not run out as long as humans are around.

AI seems to follow naturally from technocapitalism’s doctrine. With the rise of the internet, people are able to freely share their artistic creations and what’s on their mind. From illustrations to poetry, the internet has become an almost endless trove of creative resources that generative AI can tap into. With an enormous and free source of the intangible resources it requires (creativity) AI offers the prospect of endless and efficient production. Digital products can be created with what seems like significantly less human intervention and raw material input, marking a divergence from industrial production. The seemingly elusive nature of the material basis for AI is, to some extent, because some of the resources that it uses are indeed intangible.

However, it is a fallacy to believe that technocapitalism, and its products like AI, is truly distinct from the industrial and traditional means of capitalism can completely break with the industrial capitalist way of production. Just like industrial capitalism, the production of AI combines raw materials — such as fossil fuels and water — with human labour, such as programming, engineering, servicing data centres, and data labelling.

Therefore, it is ultimately subject to the same constraints, and riddled with the same problems, such as the exploitation of natural resources and labour in the Global South. For example, in response to ChatGPT spitting out inappropriate responses, OpenAI outsourced its data labelling and moderation jobs to a firm in Kenya. Workers were made to read graphic and disturbing scenes described in detail for less than $2 USD per hour.

These issues are not aberrations, but fundamental features of the production of these digital products.

Despite AI and the tech industry’s attempt to break from industrial capitalist-style production, it is ultimately unable to transcend the basic fact that products cannot be created without combining raw materials with human labour — that is, that something cannot be created out of nothing.

We must remain critical of AI’s environmental and social implications and look through its façade of immateriality. Although AI has some exciting and promising applications in fields such as weather forecasting and biology, it is also just another product that plunges the Earth deeper into the climate crisis.

Photo credit: Mashiyat Ahmed

With a history of empowering marginalized communities, gardening in the city is a way to build solidarity with our bodies, neighbours, and extended communities.

Mari Khan Contributor

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y concept of urban gardening is that it’s another way to get me excited about eating my vegetables through the growth of local leafy greens. Canada Grow Supplies defines it as “the practice of growing plants in a densely populated city using modified techniques and approaches due to limited space.” But urban or community gardening is bigger than either of these definitions.

A video from Vox details how in 1960s New York City (NYC), citizens used urban gardening to build and improve their community against fiscal hardship, increasing suburbanization, and racialized policies. In the 1960s, Hattie Carthan, a resident of Bed-Stuy — a struggling neighborhood in Brooklyn — noticed that her street did not have as many trees anymore. Initially, Carthan decided to take matters into her own hands by planting trees and throwing seeds wherever she could. But soon, others joined in on her mission to revitalize a neighbourhood with local history and culture.

The local governing board did not see the value of having trees like Carthan did. She pushed through and lobbied for the city to provide a tree-matching program. She was successful. For every four trees she planted, the city would provide six. The youth of the community began to help Carthan, and her vision of a treelined neighborhood and streets shaded with green succeeded. Hattie’s story definitely goes against my vegetable-pushing association with urban gardening, and instead urban gardeners as stewards of local greenery and urban change.

Liz Christy, a resident of the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York, wanted to build more green spaces in the city.

Left in urban ruin, with mass joblessness, increasing crime, and dwindling morale, seeds of hope are exactly what the city needed. Christy gathered her friends, neighbours, and other community members to organize the dispersal of “seed bombs” — packets of seeds that, when thrown into abandoned lots, would grow into vegetation. Transforming a destitute lot into small garden, they spent a year clearing out urban debris to build an infrastructure to support the community and by extension, uplift the neighbourhood through providing fresh produce and a third place to gather, socialize, and work. This was a small, but radical change, and thus, did not come

without resistance. The City tried to stop the idea, because apparently protecting property full of trash is more important than improving it. But soon, other neighbourhoods struggling with similar problems followed suit, resulting in a local movement that was hard to ignore.

Feeling inspired? Great. You and your friends can start one too! In Mississauga, you can start a community garden by filling out a form on Eco Source’s website, which also outlines a list of nine community gardens for participants to be involved in. Toronto has 72 community gardens that residents can enjoy or contribute to, and also allows you to start a garden of your own.

The UTMSU also advertises a community garden — next to the McGrath Residence, close to parking lot 10 — as part of their efforts to reduce food insecurity and empower students to have control over their food.

But Mari, how economical is this?

Trust me dear reader, I researched this.

The answer: I’m unsure. George Ball — chairman of the Burpee Seeds — claims it will save you $25 for every $1 you spend. This value seems excessive to me. So, I went down a Reddit thread to gain unfiltered thoughts. There were not many clear answers. But there is a strong consensus that it is worth the effort, as there are many mental and physical health benefits and the quality of the crop is significantly improved.

Depending on whether you decide to start the garden on your own or use a community garden, costs might look different. So, although the economic benefits are unclear, in a world of rising inflation and dropping quality, what is there to lose?

So, is urban gardening worth it? I believe it is! Urban gardening is less about promoting the eating of leafy greens and more about building connections with nature and community, especially in neighbourhoods that receive less funding. As a student, you can use it to gain control over what you eat: this doesn’t mean growing vegetables and fruits but also something as simple as herbs that you can use to season dishes. More importantly, it builds mindfulness of the spaces we occupy. Urban gardening asks us to think of the dying or non-existent foliage around us and look after it. Our neighborhoods, backyards, and balconies are all spaces that can be filled with lush greenery meant to serve human health, and challenge the ways we conventionally interact with our urbanized environments.

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Photo credit: Sara Li

Third spaces are not declining, but our access to them is Designing alienation in our urban planning.

Mashiyat Ahmed Opinion Editor

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n 2005, my grandfather — who I call Nana — made an unexpected visit to the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil. Known for its bustling and boisterous medina, Erbil is a haven for Kurdish culture and nationalism. The city is only explorable on foot — and through its coffee houses!

Whereas now popular coffee shops like Tim Horton’s and Starbucks are mere pit-stops on our daily commute to work, coffee shops in Erbil — according to the memories of my Nana — are places of slow living, long and aimless conversations, and most importantly, cultural preservation and celebration.

The Third Place: a “community’s living room” Dawn awakes and Kurds funnel into the busy medina for their morning tea and coffee — a minimum of three glasses of tea to be exact — and spend whatever time they have engaged in lively conversation with their fellow neighbors, tea or coffee gently steaming in their hands.

The mass production and consumption of coffee as the dominant drink, as opposed to alcohol, changed the very fabric of social communication and how cities were built. Coffee houses were an invention of the Middle East. In the Global North at least, the lack of coffee houses prior to the 17th Century meant that people — especially the well-off — would only interact with other socioeconomic classes in a bar, dingy tavern or brothel, eliminating the possibility of any sober or fruitful conversation. The growing popularity of coffee gave rise to coffee houses where people from all sects and societies could, more or less, gather and engage in dialogue which challenged social norms and authority. Soon, coffee houses evolved, specializing to be places where artists, thinkers, scientists, stockbrokers, and politicians could convene, cups clinking in their hands, and discuss the prevailing issues of the time.

Coffee houses are third places, a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, to describe easily accessible physical spaces for informal and jovial socializing, which he believed was essential to democracy and free thought. The concept is simple.

It denotes a place outside of the banality of routine life — often work and school — where individuals gather to drink, share, discuss, challenge, relax, reflect, connect, and transmit the culture(s) of the time. Parks, book clubs, libraries, community centers, churches, stoops, and even the sidewalk are all examples of thriving third spaces. Or are they?

Where is your third place?

Loneliness is undoubtedly on the rise. As students, we don’t need statistics or elaborate studies to prove this point. A stroll through the busy and often impersonal halls of campus emphasize to us just how distanced we can feel from each other, despite poring over the same assignments and sharing the same learning space. The prevailing rhetoric is that third spaces are on a decline. But, in my humble opinion, it’s much more than that.

This summer, my friend went on a backpacking trip to southern Europe — Portugal and Spain. Returning home with a wealth of observations about how certain cultures and nationalities differ, they commented on how common plazas, squares, medinas, and similar third spaces were in that part of the world.

But back home, cities like Toronto, New York, or Chicago are dense urban jungles, flowing with residents and denizens of all kinds, using the arteries of the buses and trains to weave in and out the city. And sure, these cities are charming in their own right, but that sense of intangible “togetherness,” facilitated by third spaces, is truly missing.

As a self-proclaimed coffee addict, my third place is, of course, White Squirrel Coffee Shop, a quaint little shop opposite Trinity Bellwoods Park — another third place! My friend’s third place of choice is the climbing gym, and another’s is the community skating rink. Third places are not exactly on the decline, as most people conclude. Instead, the design of our local environments, namely cities, makes them increasingly inaccessible and, more often than not, financially burdensome.

Designing alienation: modern culprits for the death of third spaces Cities and regions surrounding them should be vivacious, robust, and integrated epicenters of economic, cultural, and social capital. And they are. Increasingly, however, it feels financially irresponsible to use common third places in cities like

bars, movie theaters, and even your local restaurant down the street. Building a shared notion of a third space requires regularity: perhaps going to the same bar every Friday night until the bartenders know you by name; or joining a climbing gym where it’s more about congregating with like-minded people than it is about the sport itself. Historically, these languid activities were relatively cheap. Now? Well, it definitely starts to hurt one’s wallet.

Suburbanization also kills the need to access third spaces. If you have a patch of greenery in your personalized backyard, why go to a shared park in the first place? In cinema culture, there is a common trend that associates the suburbs with alienation, lack of creativity, anonymity, and an indistinguishability that balances on the brink of existential crisis. Each semi-detached home looks the same as the one before, and most suburbs used cars. As much as we students complain about MiWay’s occasionally egregious performance, we must admit that even in our very lifetimes, public transport was a place to strike up a spontaneous conversation with a stranger, bump into an old friend, or greet the same people everyday. The design of our public spaces can work to promote opportunities for creativity, learning, and social meaningfulness. But the suburbs — forever growing in popularity — are the very antithesis of what makes third places so valuable.

Beyond just the physical, shifts in ideology are also important to the fall of third spaces. In the past, churches, mosques, and synagogues were spiritual, emotional, and social outlets for people to voice their hearts and share connections with others.

Faith enriches our lives spiritually, but places of worship go a step further to facilitate emotional and social security, which effectively unites people. Sure, these spaces can also represent all that remains toxic about certain ways religion is practiced and abused, but it is undeniably true that religion and spiritual sects provide the ideological structures we need to build belonging and speak a common “language” with others potentially vastly different from us. In my opinion, faith can be personal, but religion — as evidenced by recorded history — is most powerful when practiced together with members beyond just our immediate family.

This is not to say that finding a third space will be a magical panacea to social disconnectedness. But third spaces, in whatever capacity, remain essential to the health of any democratic society and the individuals that run it. Don’t let the impending Canadian winter demotivate you from venturing into the city to find your third place. It takes time and patience, and perhaps a bit of coin too, but you’ll thank yourself for it.

07

features

Editor | Madhav Ajayamohan features@themedium.ca

The unspoken bond between religion and ecological thought and action A new anthropology course at UTM spearheaded by Professor Stephen Scharper explores how religion and the environment are inextricably linked.

Yusuf Larizza-Ali Contributor

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any religious practices and cultures have long highlighted a deep relationship with the environment. One course at the University of Toronto Mississauga’s (UTM) Department of Anthropology, World Religions and Ecology (ANT368) introduces students to ideas of how religious topics are linked to environmental realities. The Medium spoke with Professor Stephen Scharper, the developer and current instructor of the course, to get more insight into what the course offers.

Professor Scharper explained that the idea for the course came to him during his time pursuing his PhD at McGill University, where he took a class that followed the intersection of religion and ecology. From there, Professor Scharper inherited a course titled “Religious Ethics and the Environment” from a fellow PhD student and worked on adjusting it over the years.

When it comes to how religion relates to something physical like the environment, Professor Scharper explained that “religions have consequential ideas,” and said, “the environmental crisis is of such a profound nature that it forces us to rethink our fundamental philosophical, religious and ethical presets.”

Professor Scharper elaborated that 85 per cent of the world’s population follows religion and argues that if religion and environmentalism aren’t seen as interconnected or complementary, then as a society, “we’re not going to [be

thinking deeply] about the social change at the values level and the spiritual level that we need to have.”

When we’re thinking about the environment, it’s important to consider the related religious, spiritual, political, social, cultural, and philosophical ideas according to Professor Scharper.

“Religious ideas, in some cases, have powerful consequences [on] social and cultural change,” Professor Scharper said. They can influence how individuals, communities, and intuitions handle contemporary environmental crises. For instance, common global issues such as deforestation can be handled in unique ways with religious ideas.

Professor Scharper refers to the example of Redwood rabbis in California who united as a group of concerned Jewish rabbis to advocate for the preservation of these trees by petitioning the state government and paper companies.

Even in Thailand, some are sharing concerns over the preservation of trees. According to Professor Scharper, the Green Buddhist Monks organized to protect the trees of Thailand by wrapping saffron sashes around them.

“In that Buddhist tradition that is [a] sign of the sacred, so it deterred loggers from cutting them down,” Scharper explained. Their actions led to open negotiations with the government to preserve parts of these trees in the watershed.

Professor Scharper also emphasizes practical learning beyond the classroom by inviting guest speakers, using readings from different Indigenous authors, and incorporating practical exercises. For example, Professor Scharper invited Lenore Keeshig, a traditional

Photo credit: Sara Li

storyteller, poet, and naturalist of Ojibwe origin who worked with Parks Canada from the Bruce Peninsula National Park. She will be sharing her poetry with the course via Zoom and discussing her relationship with the land inscribed in language.

University of Toronto Professor John Johnson will also be taking ANT368 students for an Indigenous walk where students will learn about the historical lands they tread and about Indigenous practices that relate to the food and land. Professor Scharper emphasized how Professor Johnston, who also works within Toronto’s Indigenous community as a lead organizer for First Story Toronto, shared a unique and personal connection to the history of Indigenous people at UTM. “When we did it in the past, we were kind of grazing through the UTM campus because this food is used for [stomach problems] while this particular nut is used for easing stress [and so on],” Professor Scharper reminisced on an experience through UTM on how food is used in Indigenous practices. “This [food] was used for winter to keep the hunters and trappers sustained with protein, we’re kind of eating as we’re walking.”

Professor Johnson will guide students in exploring these land experiences and help them actively engage with the environment through religious traditions and practices.

Professor Scharper said he’s even taken students on walks outside class regularly to experience the nature trails while integrating classroom material with physical aspects like the trees and birds.

Professor Scharper noted that environmental awareness is growing within our collective consciousness. “Just as some political leaders are becoming aware that they have to at least pay lip service to environmental concerns in order to get elected, religious leaders are also realizing that their respective faiths must somehow speak to our present ecological crisis if they are to remain vital, and if they are to assist in the planet’s survival.”

Through this course, Professor Scharper hopes to raise awareness of how religious traditions that date back can serve as important ways to increase our environmental consciousness.

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What we can do about climate change Carpooling, planting trees, and calling out dishonesty from companies that vow to reduce emissions are some of the many ways we can act to save our climate crisis.

Hasan Malik Contributor

Many stores offer emailed receipts for transactions, so opt for the greener option!

ddressing climate change is a struggle many of us know as the urgency of the crisis becomes increasingly clear.

Before, we saved the trees by using as little paper as we could. Today, we use paper bags and paper straws to minimize using plastic, leaving many of us conflicted on how to lead better, sustainable lives.

We can also reduce plastic water bottle usage and choose reusable ones instead. Our UTM Bookstore has everything you need to stay away from those Kirklan or Evian plastic polluters, including reusable water bottles and mugs.

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Campaigns to combat climate change are important as raising awareness is necessary for countering the rise of global warming. However, many people, including myself, are still confused about what everyday actions we can take. What are some practical steps we can take to make a difference?

Sharing rides, building bonds, and saving costs If you commute to the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), find some friends who share your route and carpool. Whether it’s one person or five, your car still consumes the same quantity of fuel. Not only is carpooling a great way to reduce carbon emissions, but it is also a great way to birth new friendships.

In high school, I carpooled with some of my classmates who lived nearby. Not only was it more cost-efficient to carpool, but the experience created some of my closest friendships. Give carpooling a try. You won’t regret the bonds you’ll make!

While we’re talking about transportation, let’s not forget one of our campus’s holy grails—the U-Pass. The pass, offered by UTM’s student union (UTMSU), enables students to use Mi-Way services for free on their phones.

Small actions, big impacts Tree planting sounds simple, but it’s something many of us overlook. Getting seeds, digging the soil, and watering the plant hardly require much time or money, but it benefits the world a lot more than you think.

From raising awareness to taking action Raising awareness and learning about issues like climate change goes a long way and is entirely free of charge.

According to a recent report and an article by The Guardian, only 100 companies have been responsible for 71 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, and more than 50 per cent can be traced to just 25 companies. Many of the companies recognized as the highest-emitting investor-owned entities are involved in oil and gasoline production, including ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron.

Not only should we be more aware of information like this, but we should also call out companies engaging in corporate dishonesty. For example, Proctor & Gamble, a consumer goods company based in the US, vowed to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. However, the company only counts emissions from their factories and vehicles, plus emissions from the energy they buy—which make up only two per cent of the company’s total emissions—not the emissions from the production of its raw materials and the use and disposal of its products.

Lastly, we should not belittle any contribution towards climate change, no matter how small. If your roommate prefers to dispose of their food in the compost bin and use reusable materials, encourage them and even join them. Every little step counts.

This article isn’t all-inclusive. There are many other small actions you can take to help fight climate change. Reusing plastic bags, taking notes on your laptop instead of using paper, opting for paper straws instead of plastic ones, and not leaving the tap running—each of these choices makes a difference

While we’re planting trees and saving paper, let’s also take advantage of technology.

Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal

Photo credit: Sara Li

UTM Farm:

A step toward a greener future The UTM Farm anticipates two to six tons of output annually to drive sustainability and transform food systems on campus.

Mariana Dominguez Rodriguez Contributor

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t first sight, the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) Farm seems like another shipping container nestled in the parking lot near the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre. But inside, you’ll find a high-tech hydroponic farming system pushing boundaries of sustainability, health, and local food production. Hydroponic farming refers to growing plants using nutrient-filled, waterbased solutions. This sets the farm apart by prioritizing sustainability and efficiency, generating resources with minimal use of artificial or external tools.

The UTM Farm, which started as a steel box, has now become a center for cutting-edge environmental innovation, focusing on a greener future. But how did this start and why is it so revolutionary?

The UTM Farm is a collaborative project between UTM’s Hospitality and Ancillary Services and campus sustainability advocates.

The project was motivated by a growing demand for healthier and more sustainable production options.

The UTM Farm grows over 60 types of produce, including kale, lettuce, thyme, arugula, cilantro, peppermint, basil, and parsley, while cutting back on the carbon footprint and environmental costs associated with food curation and transportation. Since the farm operates in a fully controlled and internalized environment, plants are not exposed to pests or diseases. This allows the farm to grow food without using pesticides, herbicides or other harmful chemicals, resulting in cleaner, healthier produce.

The UTM Farm is completely indoors and fully functional year-round. Its temperature and humidity levels are closely monitored and controlled, ensuring the maximization of a healthy and thriving environment.

One interesting component of the farm is that it uses high-efficiency LEDs to stimulate faster plant growth and increase production, which enables it to use less than five gallons of water per day for over 13,000 plants.

What makes this initiative even more exciting is where these crops end up. Instead of being shipped to distant markets, the produce grown at the UTM Farm is delivered directly to campus food services. From the Colman Commons to the Davis Food Court, UTM members can enjoy meals made from hyperlocal, fresh ingredients.

The UTM Farm isn’t just about food production but also about education. The farm serves as an example of how innovative technology can address some of our most pressing environmental challenges, inspiring students to think critically about food systems and their origins.

The farm is managed and overseen by a retail assistant and special-trained farmer, Pawel Wegrzyn. Wegrzyn is responsible for the seeding, growing, harvesting and even delivery to the food service locations.

The diversification of plant growth and resource cultivation among small spaces are popularizing among agricultural and food gardening landscapes. Each new crop represents an opportunity to expand the farm’s offerings and further reduce the need for outsourced food.

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GreenGrub: An app dedicated to food sustainability and healthy eating Users can scan foods, exchange food scores with friends, and participate in quizzes in an app dedicated to adopting healthier eating habits and inspiring sustainable choices.

Gisele Tang Contributor

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eveloped by the Google Developer Student Clubs (GDSC) at the University of Toronto Mississauga, GreenGrub is a free application that enables users to easily access sustainability and nutrition ratings of everyday food items.

In an interview with The Medium, the app’s developers, Adel Muursepp, Henrik Zimmermann, Isha Juneja, Razeen Ali, and Shivangi Pathak, and their supervisor, mathematical and computational sciences professor Rutwa Engineer, shared some of GreenGrub’s features, purpose, and its developmental process.

Interactive features for healthy eating and learning The main feature is its food scanner. Zimmermann explained that users can scan items using the app’s barcode feature, which provides detailed information about the product, including its nutritional content and sustainability impact. “Users can then move items into their shopping carts. As you finish up those carts, you are assigned a score based on the average nutrition scores of the products,” said Zimmermann.

Along with the food scanner, the club incorporated a unique feature where users can add friends and exchange food scores. Individual ranking is based on the nutrition and sustainability value of their food items.

The app also features games designed to inspire users to adopt sustainable habits. “That’s how we plan to make an impact. Starting small, and hoping [GreenGrub] will expand from there,” said Juneja.

“The app also has educational features,” Zimmermann elaborated. “There is a quiz mode where you can learn more about sustainability and additional facts.” Users can compare quiz scores with their friends and compete using their knowledge of food production and consumption.

With the food scanner and the food score leaderboard, GreenGrub transforms grocery shopping into a fun and educational experience.

A step toward promoting sustainable living The idea behind the app is to help people lead more sustainable lives. Juneja noted that many people are unaware of how to adopt sustainable practices, a factor that the developers considered.

“So, we narrowed it down, because sustainability is [a broad topic]. We decided that we wanted to focus more on food sustainability, not only because it helps the environment, but also because it helps the individual,” said Juneja.

Another component the team considered is food production, which according to Muursepp, has become an increasingly alarming issue. Muursepp explained that food production emits 26 per cent of carbon gas emissions. “We wanted to let people know, at the moment of shopping, if what they’re buying is sustainable or not,” said Muursepp.

Practicing food mindfulness can be complex and demanding for some people. However, GreenGrub makes it easier for users to learn and incorporate healthy food habits.

“A lot of times we impulsively buy things and [even though] there are nutrition tables at the back of the products, most of us don’t really take the time to read it. [Many] want a summarized version of it,” mentioned Pathak.

Muursepp stated that the team aims to address this issue by helping students integrate healthy and sustainable food practices into their lives.

Overcoming challenges with the creation of GreenGrub During the creation and launch of GreenGrub, GDSC faced several challenges during the design process, especially in terms of time management. “All of us were taking five to six courses, and the goal was to build it from design to finish within four months,” Ali revealed.

According to Ali, the team also struggled with determining whether a certain food is sustainable or not. With the help of opendata sources and research, the GDSC team collected information to identify which foods are sustainable and which are not.

Another challenge faced by the team was deciding how to design games for users in the app.

Unlocking the full potential of GreenGrub Although GreenGrub’s features are unique and beneficial for its users, this is not the end for the GDSC team. While the team was unable to further expand the app due to time constraints, opportunities to maximize its potential remain open. “Eventually, we would also like to add partnerships with other sustainable businesses so [students] can get coupons and discounts for it,” said Pathak.

As an open-source application, GreenGrub is available for other interested developers to contribute to it.

Despite the challenges faced during its development, the team has laid a strong foundation for future enhancements. Moving forward, Pathak suggested that GreenGrub could incorporate in-person challenges with friends where users can engage in sustainability-related activities around the community.

As GreenGrub continues to evolve, it holds the potential to empower more users to make informed choices, ultimately contributing to a healthier planet and a more sustainable future.

GreenGrub uses an open database to research food information and determine food scores on their app. The data is based on a life cycle assessment with two main portions: production and environmental impact.

“Some of the things in the production steps would be agriculture, the processing or the packaging of the foods. And then the environmental impact would be the climate change, carbon footprint, stuff like that,” Juneja explained.

Improving accessibility to information on food sustainability Muursepp mentioned that healthy eating and food sustainability are related to personal well-being. However, information on these topics is often not easily accessible. Even with this information, it can be hard for students to practice healthy initiatives.

“A lot of students, especially in the University of Toronto (U of T) are very busy,” Muursepp said. “So they do not have a lot of time to plan their meals, read [information on food] or even know what is sustainable, what is not, or what is good for them and what is not.”

Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal

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Arts

Poetry Corner My Neighbour’s Garden Maryam Raheel, Contributor My neighbour’s garden blossoms with summer’s palette, Her yard an assortment of each month’s ripest pick, But August 1st goes by with no fresh peaches on my porch, And July’s blueberries still brim the bowls by the sink.

My neighbour’s garden is absent of its attentive owner, Though who could argue against summer’s ceaseless sun, The heavy heat that lingers even in the darkening sky, Warns of an impending change that can’t be undone.

My neighbour’s garden scatters with fallen white flowers, Pollinated bushes sprout familiar blue along their branches, “The weather is changing, the bees feel it too,” she says, “Under the heat some flourish, others lose their chances.”

My tongue purples from the endless supply of berries, August’s peaches still absent from this summer’s selection, In the garden’s silence, nature shares a glimpse of alarm, Is this failed moment a one-off or a need for further inspection?

Whispers in the Rustling Trees Debbie Wong, Contributor Golden leaves fall, like memories lost in the breeze, Whispers of time, carried through the rustling trees.

Mother Earth, your beauty lingers, slow and deep, Cradling me in your arms while the world falls asleep.

Fires in the distance burn red against the night, Fading echoes of summer, slipping out of sight.

I walk alone beneath your shadowed skies, Kiss me hard before you go - autumn never lies.

Harvest moon hangs low, pulling tides of regret, Yet in your quiet, I find solace, I forget.

Thank you for this fleeting time, this delicate grace, For the love that blooms in every forgotten place.

Call of Mother Nature Milica Samardzic, Contributor

Editor | Keira Johannson arts@themedium.ca

Is art activism actually hurting the planet?

Discussing the impact of art activism and proposing alternatives to environmental initiatives.

Laura Luasu-Ludiazo Contributor

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nvironmental art activism has turned out to be a potent resource for creating awareness and stimulating change. However, despite the best of intentions, art activism may impose harm to the cause which these very activists are intending to support.

One such practice is yarn bombing, which involves covering public infrastructure with knitted materials. While this form of art can offer a comforting rhythm that encourages consumers to rethink waste, it has several environmental drawbacks. Most of the material that yarn bombers use is acrylic yarn, which in reality is plastic, and contributes heavily to pollution. Further, loose yarns often pose a danger to animals who surround the area when they swallow them or when they get caught in the airways. Wrapping strings around tree trunks or vines tends to fill the tree with moisture and create an environment fanatical to fungi, and hence can inhibit the growth of the tree.

Similarly, although large scale eco-artworks have their statements all over the place, these artworks love irony, for their impacts to the environment can be paramount.

Making practical, large sculpture installations requires lots of energy and resources, adding onto the resource depletion and increased carbon emissions. In addition, rapidly removed installations can be wasteful and energy unfriendly.

Political art, while effective in making views related to certain topics more visible, may also have negative effects. The problem stems from the pollution caused by the use

In many cultures, nature is worshiped.

Nature preserves life, nature is honored.

Tree’s sway, their colorful leaves admired.

Fish drift, their movements in the water graceful.

The animals play, the predators catch their prey.

The insects continue to buzz quietly in the summer air.

But as time passes, the world begins to change.

Mother Nature becomes concerned, she screams “beware!”

Earth starts to warm, the Trees cry as they are set on fire.

Storms become troubled; their anger takes them higher.

The land dries up, the people riot.

Food is gone, the situation is dire.

The Oceans are upset, the Corals want their revenge.

But like Pandora’s Box, there is hope at the end of the tunnel.

Humanity must come together if we want to end this struggle.

Protecting nature is our duty, the Mother’s beauty and life we must preserve.

Illustration credit: Ramiya Sureshhkumar

of paint or other materials. In addition, the removal of political symbolism from areas of public consumption is often accomplished through the application of chemicals or physical processes that are wasteful.

To reduce these impacts, there are alternatives that artists and activists can try out.

Using biodegradable or recycled resources can help minimize environmental harm.

Measures of art activism can be addressed through platforms that are virtual. Putting together pieces that can be taken apart and leave nothing behind will keep pollution at a minimum. Involving communities in ecofriendly projects can promote and motivate respect for the environment. Lastly, making art out of waste helps use potential waste in a more creative way and develops a circular economy.

Despite these setbacks, art still plays a role in environmental action. A 2021 study drew attention to how art-ivism helped defeat the construction of a coal-export terminal in California by broadening the scope of the campaign and targeting those who make decisions. In another study published by the American Psychological Association Journal, artworks depicting the glory and connection of nature have the strongest impact in their quest for climate action from the general audience.

Art activism plays an appropriate role in the ecosystem initiatives. However, the environmental consequences of such practices must be weighed. Artists have the responsibility to enlighten the public while at the same time, use methods and materials that are not harmful to the environment. Creativity will be an important ingredient to this process as we imagine new approaches to making art that will change the world without harming it.

11

Is thrifting really as sustainable as we think?

Despite secondhand shoppers’ best intentions, thrifting may cause more harm than good.

Photo credit: Sara Li

Skyler Piskoroski Contributor

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hrifting has become an incredibly common trend for its affordability and environmental benefits. Between 2021 and 2023, the market increased in value from $138 billion to $211 billion, with the online thrifting market accounting for up to $20 billion. However, as the popularity of thrift shopping continues to increase, is it still as sustainable as shoppers believe?

One issue affecting the sustainability of thrifting is the rapid pace at which trends cycle. Because trends change so quickly, people buy far more than they need and wear only about 20% of their wardrobe at a time, in hopes of keeping up with these trends. However, once the trends change, last season’s items are forgotten, replaced by something else, and the cycle continues.

These items tend to be from fast fashion brands, which make cheap clothing and sell it at a low cost to keep up with these everchanging trends. Fast fashion brands damage the environment by mass-producing items from poor quality materials, as well as tend to rely on underpaid labourers, some of which include child labourers. These brands quickly populate thrift stores as shoppers donate their last season’s clothing when clearing up space for the next new “thing”. Due to such large amounts of donations, many do not end up

being given a second life at thrift stores as only about half of all donations are actually put out for sale. The rest is sold to other stores or is thrown out, thus further contributing to the consumer’s carbon footprint.

Another rising issue with the popularity of thrifting, particularly with the popularity of finding vintage pieces while thrifting, are resellers. Resellers are people who go into a local thrift store and buy up all the good quality pieces for thrift store prices, only to resell them at an enormous profit. This defeats the purpose of thrift stores being a more affordable option and disadvantages those from low-income communities who shop at thrift stores by necessity. It can also result in increased spending on fast fashion brands due to their inexpensiveness, thereby continuing the unsustainable fast fashion trend cycles. Despite shoppers’ good intentions, the growing popularity of thrifting has resulted in increased demand in the secondhand shopping market and has seemingly negated the financial and environmental benefits on which thrifting prided itself. So, what is the solution?

Buying higher-quality clothing may be a start. Despite the higher costs, it pays off in the long run as the prices reflect the quality and the amount of wear time a piece actually has. Some suggest upcycling your current wardrobe with some cutting, sewing, and perhaps watching video tutorials. There are many ways to turn something you already own, but don’t wear, into a new staple.

The main goal is to reduce the amount of spending on non-necessities to reduce the total amount of clothing being produced and thrown into landfills. It may be difficult, but it is sure to help better our environment, and your wallet!

Scroll, spend, repeat: Social media and overconsumption Exploring social media’s involvement in overconsumption, microtrends and fast fashion.

Zainab Khalil Contributor

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e heavily rely on social media — whether it be food recipes, connecting with friends, or online shopping.

With access to methods of buying directly within an app, it becomes much easier to fall into the rabbit hole of purchasing what we don’t need, resulting in both microtrends and overconsumption.

Microtrends and overconsumption are advertised on social media through companies that send packages to different influencers. Influencers then produce product reviews and promotional videos that showcase the products as “life-changing”.

Once the trend dies out, the product typically goes to waste and is never used again.

Further, social media embeds shopping into day-to-day scrolling. For example, on TikTok, influencers push their viewers to

We as humans care about what other people think and perceive us. To fit into this box, people partake in these trends to look cool. For example, younger kids are massively purchasing Drunk Elephant skincare products. The product’s packaging and advertising were initially geared toward millennials but appealed to younger children even though many of their products can damage their youthful skin. Older influencers reviewing these products result in younger generations’ obsession with these products and their excessive use as well. It forces those using social media to think that they have to fit into these trends to stay relevant.

Overconsumption, social media, and fast fashion are not only damaging mentally and financially but also environmentally — contributing to millions of overstocked products, pollution, the production of greenhouse gasses and, most notably, using the resources available to us faster than we can regrow them. This is also related to the price of the product. Since the clothes are made of cheaper material, we end up with more plastic materials in our oceans, water, and soil.

Today, a new community is emerging on social media, labeled the “de-influencer”.

De-influencers encourage consumers to

Illustration credit: Ramiya Sureshhkumar

click on product links in their content, so the influencer can be paid. This makes the consumer more susceptible to unnecessary purchases.

Fast fashion is also connected to this endless cycle of overconsumption. With shopping hauls, outfit of the day (OOTD) videos, and new styles emerging, companies produce many clothes for low prices.

Low prices, paired with social media and trending videos, result in an incentive for a consumer to purchase. Companies like SHEIN, Temu, and TikTok Shop offer various discounts and coupons on their products, making it easier for consumers to buy more for cheap.

reduce their purchasing habits and overconsumption. Their viewers are influenced to reuse, reduce, and recycle. They are also spreading the message that you don’t need all of these products that are being advertised in order to fit in.

Instead of reducing, reusing, and recycling, we tend to scroll,spend, and repeat.

As consumers, we have to learn how to manage our shopping habits. When looking at a product you are tempted to purchase, ask yourself if you really need it or if you can live without it, to protect both our planet and your wallet.

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sports & health

Editor | Joseph Falzata sports@themedium.ca

Eagles take flight in season opener UTM’s men’s and women’s tricampus soccer teams kicked off their outdoor seasons this past Sunday.

Pietro Arrigoni Contributor

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he 2024 tri-campus outdoor soccer season began this weekend, and our UTM men’s and women’s teams hosted St. George Reds in an exciting pair of matches.

UTM women’s fall short The women’s team first had the chance to entertain fans with a midday kick-off time. The reigning champions were looking to defend their title, but they were unlucky and came up short against the Reds.

The Reds captured an early lead, but an equalizer from Eagles striker, Princess Saladino, came shortly after through a beautiful longrange chip from outside the box, leaving the goalie with no chance. Reds would then go on to take another lead, adding a triplet of goals to finish the half up 4-1.

In the second half, UTM veteran Amelia Caron tried to pull back the deficit with a half-volley off of a corner kick cross.

Nevertheless, the Reds restored their threegoal lead minutes later, toppling the Eagles in a 5-2 scoreline.

Photo credit: Sara Li

The women’s team saw significant change in players compared to last year, with many new faces being added to the squad. As they regroup and build upon their chemistry at training this week, we look forward to their next challenge: UTSC at home.

Men’s come up big against former champions Following the women’s loss, UTM men’s were hoping for a different result against last year’s champions. The Eagles began the game with a high press, leading to a series of early opportunities. Reds countered the press with long balls in behind but were unable to capitalize, being denied by the crossbar twice in the first half.

A very balanced game brought both teams into half-time goalless. However, a blistering start from UTM changed the scoreline in quick succession, scoring two goals in ten minutes to start the second half, courtesy of Krish Chavan and Aidan Gideon. Chavan would contribute again minutes later, assisting Pietro Arrigoni to put the Eagles up 3-0 with before the waterbreak.

The Reds made a late push for a tie, scoring twice in the last ten minutes and cutting the deficit to just one goal. Despite being a man down after sending off Arrigoni, the Eagles dug deep in the final minutes. Reds threw everything they had at UTM’s defense, but it wasn’t enough to level the game. By the time the final whistle blew, the Eagles took home the three points to kick off their season.

“I thought the team played really well,” said newly appointed assistant coach, Kevin Iyamabo, pleased with his team’s performance. “We looked dangerous throughout.”

However, Iyamabo was critical of his team’s game management. “We’ve just got to make sure we play our best for the full 90 minutes and not let games slip away like it almost did on Sunday. But 3 goals, and importantly 3 points, is a great way to start the season!”

Coach Iyamabo also had some high praise for a few of his players. “Krish Chavan was involved in every goal and put in a real shift at striker.”

He also commented on Ethan Swan’s debut, saying that the freshman was “immense on the right flank”.

The Eagles take on Scarborough this Sunday at 12:00 (women’s) and 2:00 (men’s) at UTM’s South Field. Tune back in next week for more game recaps, and as always, go Eagles!

Balancing Play and Biodiversity Protection Weighing the benefits and environmental costs of synthetic turf fields.

Maryam Raheel Contributor

T

he University of Toronto Mississauga’s campus is well-loved by not only the students, but by the abundance of wildlife and biodiversity thriving around the grounds as well. Canadian geese, deer, chipmunks, and groundhogs are just a few of the species that call the 225 acres of undeveloped land around UTM’s campus their home. As such, the need for environmentally sensitive and responsible decisions are essential when planning future campus initiatives.

One development currently under consideration is the replacement of the grass South Field with a synthetic turf field. As of now, the South Field, located next to parking lot 8, is an entirely irrigated natural grass field equipped with bleachers, flood lights, football goal posts, and soccer nets that supports a variety of sports and recreational activities – and a variety of animals.

While a natural grass field is seemingly much more environmentally friendly than

a synthetic ground, the actual implications are far less one-sided than one might think.

Natural grass requires sufficient maintenance for the upkeep of a playable field. The maintenance process is not only labour intensive, but also requires excessive use of water for irrigation, and regular mowing with gas powered machines that release emissions into the air. Additionally, pesticides and other chemicals are often used to promote grass growth and control pests and weeds, in turn releasing potentially harmful chemicals into the environment.

Although synthetic turf would eliminate these drawbacks, it also shares its own faults.

Historically, turf has been constructed with several materials including a rubber backing that restricts proper drainage. However, many modern turf manufacturers have shifted to a sustainable approach with artificial grass blades that more closely resemble natural grass blades and infill made from recycled tires.

While this potential development brings excitement for student recreation, the South Field is bordered by areas of rich wildlife and plants which require careful consideration of the environmental cost to biodiversity.

“We’re still in the very early stages,” said Peter Mumford, Director of Recreation and Wellbeing for the department of Recreation, Athletics and Wellness at UTM. “We would want to have a study done and that’s one of the steps… to understand what the impact will be on the biodiverse environment. Not only the tree lines but also any of the endangered species that might be in the area.”

Concerns circulate about the high volumes of contaminated stormwater runoff and the migration of synthetic materials. Contaminated runoff introduces toxic chemicals and pollutants into aquatic environments, worsening the problem of microplastic pollution.

Similarly, the rubber infill could potentially scatter across different locations, endangering animals that attempt to consume such material.

From a recreational and athletic perspective, the benefits of synthetic turf outweigh the cons. The durability and all-weather play, as well as lower maintenance levels, explain why schools and universities are opting for turf fields, and giving their students maximized usage of the recreational space.

Some studies also show that player safety may be enhanced with the use of turf fields,

as it reduces the risk of slip-related injuries due to increased traction and uniform footing.

Current evaluations show that redevelopment will remain limited to the existing South Field space with active monitoring of species in the area to mitigate harm.

“We’re trying to stay within that region of space that we have right now,” Mumford explained. “Our big push, of course, is the overall wellbeing of students and being able to provide students something they can use on a year-round basis.”

As the UTM campus is still in the early stages of this plan, environmental impact assessments, securing conservation authority permission, and continued species monitoring will be the top priorities.

Finding a balance between creating an opportunity for student wellbeing and protecting the biodiversity surrounding the South Field are crucial should the change to synthetic turf move forward.

In the end, the question remains: will we be able to meet the needs of student recreation and activity while conserving the natural environment at this diverse campus?

Photo credit: Sara Li