SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

Scientists Looking Up

The aftermath of the IPCC

Photo VIA KCRW

TÉA BARRETT Staff Writer

After the publication of the latest IPCC report that calculated a remaining 3 years to cut down on greenhouse gasses, the world has taken to the streets up in arms. In the beginning of April, over 1,200 scientists in more than 25 countries attended and organized non-violent environmental protests.

In Washington, D.C, members of the Scientist Rebellion chained themselves to the White House fence and scientists staged demonstrations at several embassies in Panama. In Berlin, Germany, they glued their hands to a bridge to form a roadblock and protesters, in alliance with the Extinction Rebellion, poured fake blood on the Spanish parliament in Madrid.

On April 6th, in Los Angeles, four scientists chained themselves to the front door of a JPMorgan Chase Bank, the world’s worst ‘fossil bank’ which contributed $51.3 billion in fossil fuel financing last year alone. Among those scientists was Peter Kalmus, who studies biological systems and climate change at NASA and had gone viral for delivering a tearful speech before his arrest.

“We’ve been trying to warn you guys for so many decades that we’re heading towards a fucking catastrophe[…] The scientists of the world have been being ignored and it’s got to stop. We’re going to lose everything. We’re not joking. We’re not lying. We’re not exaggerating.”

The four men and their supporters continued their protest despite police intervention. According to Kalmus’ Twitter account, “the LAPD responded with over 100 cops in riot gear” which can be seen in the video he posted alongside his tweet. An officer with a megaphone can be heard announcing to the crowd: “I hereby declare this to be an unlawful assembly and in the name of the people of the state of California demand all those assembled to immediately disperse […] if you do not do so, you may be arrested or subject to other police action. Other police action may include the use of less-lethal munitions which can cause significant injury to those who remain.” While most protestors left after this, Kalmus and his colleagues remained until they were forcibly removed and carried off in a police van.

Kalmus can also be seen wearing a white lab coat that carries the Scientist Rebellion logo. According to their website, they are “activists from a variety of scientific backgrounds, calling on our communities to stand in resistance to the genocidal direction of our governments, before it’s too late”. The Scientist Rebellion’s emphasis is that “when scientists rebel it is powerful because it inspires others to rise up. By bringing scientist and activist communities together, both are empowered.”

In addition to being very active within the organization, Kalmus also contributes to writing many published works about climate change. One of his most recent writings was an article written for The Guardian three months ago. He draws comparisons between our reality and a recently popular film called Don’t Look Up which is about a meteor hurtling towards the Earth while no one does anything to stop it. In fact, the government actively tries to hide it from the public and capitalize off of it. He comments that the movie “is satire. But speaking as a climate scientist doing everything I can to wake people up and avoid planetary destruction, it’s also the most accurate film about society’s terrifying non-response to climate breakdown I’ve seen.”

“I’m willing to take a risk for

this gorgeous planet… for my sons […] It’s time for all of us to stand up and take risks,” Kalmus stated during his speech. He expressed the fact that we are, and have been for a long time, witnessing the effects of climate change as “we’ve seen people drowning, we’ve seen famine starting to pop up, [and] we’ve seen wildfires getting worse. It’s going to literally take us to the brink of civilizational collapse.” p p

We’re heading towards a fucking catastrophe.

A Quick Take on Fast Fashion

MAYA JADAH Contributor

The busy street of Ste-Catherine gathers many teens and adults to embark on shopping trips. A variety of stores are all along the street, and typically the popular stores get the most attention. As people find their way in the widely known store, H&M, the crowds get bigger, and the checkout line seems never-ending. The clothing displays have gone awry, and the retail workers are trailing behind everyone, fixing the displays that were ruined. “I want to go to H&M to get one of the hoodies from their conscious collection, they make them with more eco-friendly products”, says my older brother, Jacob.

H&M’s “Conscious Collection” is an eye catcher, with an aesthetically visual sage green tag brandishing the words “made with 72% sustainable products!”. It’s a captivating and appealing marketing technique, to see a sustainable item of clothing at a reasonable price. Fashion is fun and is more fun when it’s ethical. And for one of the biggest fast fashion companies, it’s quite remarkable to see those sustainability efforts.

Fast fashion is known to be one of the biggest factors to a deteriorating and hazardous environment, due to the trends that emerge as these companies try to replicate the trends quickly – creating so much waste in the process. In the book Fashionopolis: Why What We Wear Matters, , fashion and culture journalist Dana Thomas states that “of the more than 100 billion items of clothing produced each year, 20 percent go unsold...leftovers are usually buried, shredded, or incinerated”. New styles have come into 2022, and one specific trend is that of a minimalist wardrobe. A lot of consumers are now trying to purchase timeless basics to preserve the need for buying clothes just to fit into the micro-trends that are seen while scrolling through Pinterest and TikTok.

One common classic outfit is a pair of denim jeans matched with a white tee and some classic sneakers. This basic style tends to get hated on, but is a staple outfit that can be worn in many ways, which is why so many people have cut down their wardrobes to these essentials. “I see so many people wearing simple and minimal outfits, which isn’t my personal style, but I still love to see it because it means that people are being more mindful of their purchases”, says Dawson student, Gina Bonhomme. It’s important to acknowledge that no matter what your own personal style is, there are also alternatives for a more sustainable style, and many people have now joined in.

“Most of my wardrobe comes from a thrift store. This cardigan I’m wearing right now probably belonged to someone’s grandfather”, says Gina. Thrift stores’ popularity has skyrocketed, whether shopping is done as a nice pastime activity with friends, or if it’s someone’s go-to store. Thrifting has shifted fashion for the better as people can find second-hand clothing for cheap, which preserves the environment and has you coming home with an article of clothing like no other.

Sustainable fashion used to be quite inaccessible; Small businesses that sell eco-friendly clothing generally charge more due to the longer time it takes to produce their garments. But now, because shopping ethically has gained so much popularity, even fast-fashion brands are trying to adopt collections with ethically made clothing, making it a more accessible option.

Not only was the lack of accessibility an issue, but also the lack of awareness. Now that so many options for sustainability are out there, it is much more accessible. As of now, many influencers advertise sustainability which empowers ethical shopping. There are also efforts being made to create sustainable fashion shows, and attention is being brought to the unique experience of thrifting. No matter your style and preferences, there are tools for supporting sustainable wear. We can slowly say goodbye to contributing to micro-trends, and start saying hello to fashion more personal to ourselves. p p

Dirty Money: Divest McGill and the Path Away from Fossil Fuels

ROBIN STEEDMAN-BRAUN Science and Environment Editor

A couple of kilometers down from Dawson College, on Sherbrooke Street itself, students have been urging for climate justice at McGill university. This past March, Divest McGill members and students took action, occupying the Arts Building, approaching the ten-year anniversary of the campaign to stop the University from investing in fossil fuels. This is not a new issue; it’s a topic that students and climate change activists have been relentlessly trying to uncover in the last decade and involves hundreds of other universities worldwide.

Here in Montreal, McGill students are leading the fight more than ever before. Divest McGill is an environmental justice campaign that was founded in 2012, urging McGill university to stop investing in fossil fuels and to acknowledge the urgency of the climate crisis. As stated on their website, the student-run organization has three main goals: the complete divestment from the more than 200 fossil fuel companies the university has invested in, to mobilize in solidarity with Indigenous and marginalized communities, and, finally, to educate McGill administration, staff, and students on taking climate action. As of today, their efforts have not prevailed: McGill has rejected divestment from fossil fuels twice in the last ten years, stating that “the beneficial impact of fossil fuel companies’ offsets or outweighs injurious impact at this time.”

It is no secret that we need to halt fossil fuel combustion to save our planet. Indeed, according to the latest IPCC report published just a few weeks ago, greenhouse gas emissions need to peak by 2025, only two and a half years away, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as targeted by the 2015 Paris agreement. But how can we reach this goal if our universities are still investing millions of dollars into an industry fueling climate change?

McGill is only one of the hundreds of higher education establishments invested in the fossil fuel industry, including Yale, Stanford, and MIT. However, this past year marked a record number of schools divesting from the industry. In October of 2021, University of Toronto announced a commitment to divest from fossil fuel companies, a decision that followed that of many other universities this past fall, including Concordia University and Harvard University. This past year, 15% of divestment from fossil fuels worldwide came from educational institutions. According to Divest McGill, this isn’t enough.

The organization claims that McGill violates its restriction of investment in firms “causing social injury” by refusing to divest fully from the fossil fuel industry. The fossil fuel industry has been known to harmfully impact Indigenous communities across the country. From dispossession of native Indigenous land for intensive agriculture and animal farming, to the Canadian mining industry conflicting with Indigenous land rights up North, climate change heavily impacts native communities in Canada, and McGill university has a long history with colonialism itself. The University’s namesake and founder, James McGill, a Scottish immigrant and magistrate for the city of Montreal, was known to have had at least five Black and Indigenous slaves. While McGill has made an effort to reconcile with indigenous communities, stating that “McGill University recognizes the wealth leading to its establishment was derived, in part, from James McGill’s engagement in the colonial economic system and the transatlantic slave trade, the University acknowledges the deep, long-lasting adverse impacts that these practices have exerted on Black and Indigenous communities.

Needless to mention, McGill’s investment in fossil fuels is also harming the planet. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, releases CO2 and other important greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, trapping light rays from the sun and propelling the increase of atmospheric temperatures. The oil industry is well-known to be a primary cause of these emissions.

While changes do need to happen on an individual level, it is crucial that our institutions take action. It is our duty, and the duty of our institutions, to pave the path to the transition from an economy heavily invested in fossil fuels to one that supports and thrives off renewable energy. p p

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Should I Be Scared to Brush My Teeth?

ALINA PINTILEI Contributor

I brush my teeth every morning, and I used to think that people who were not doing the same were ruining their teeth. Recently, I made a discovery as I was scrolling through my phone. I saw an article entitled “Toothpaste is bad for marine biodiversity”. If a mundane task like brushing my teeth has a place for controversy, I need to know more. After a manic episode filled with research and sweat, let me share my findings with you. People should be aware of what goes in their bodies.

Triclosan is the most concerning ingredient in toothpaste. A highly used chemical for its anti- bacterial properties, the issues with triclosan are that regular usage increases microbial resistance to antibiotics. This means that as we keep using triclosan, microbes would grow resistant and tougher chemicals would be needed to get rid of them. On the EWG website, Triclosan is rated a 7 out of 10 for its hazards. Another big issue brought up by EWG is that this chemical disrupts postembryonic development on top of being a hormone disruptor (which interferes with the developmental stage). This easily becomes concerning when we remember that kids swallow toothpaste.

Scientists are worried about the presence of fluoride. Sixty years ago, researchers found that fluoride, which can naturally be found in water, is a great agent to prevent and cure cavities. Since then, they have been trying to decay this product in tap water, salt, mouthwash, and toothpaste. The problem with putting fluoride in toothpaste and water and mouthwash is that too much of its consumption can lead to dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis as explained by Aoun et. al is “a cosmetic disorder where the teeth become mottled”. The teeth get white spots. In more severe cases, the tooth enamel is destroyed, and the spots get yellow or brown. A high concentration can lead to skeletal fluorosis which means weakening of the joints and bones.

Scarily enough, fluorosis is the least of our problems. The most concerning thing about toothpaste is its impact on marine biodiversity. Since 2015, scientists have been trying to force cosmetic companies to stop using harmful plastic particles in their products. In toothpaste, like in exfoliators, microbeads are used in place of natural exfoliation materials like oatmeal. Instead, these little pieces of plastic are dragged across the teeth multiple times without losing their corrosive aptitudes since plastic has a long lifespan. Plastic can divide itself into millions of little particles without ever disappearing. These particles trickle down the drain and get into the underground water system.

Big companies like IKEA, Target, L’Oréal, and even Colgate said they would remove the microbeads from their products, but the laws and the claims can be diverted by using different terms, or by hiding behind technicalities. These microbeads are difficult to collect from the oceans, therefore, the ones that are currently present in marine life are there to stay. The best way to get rid of them is to impose laws that are englobing restrictions for the companies that are producing and using them.

Before even starting the day I already pollute my body and the planet. It seems like as the days go by, I find out that chemicals and environmental pollution are embedded deeper in our daily lives than we would like to believe. p p

Take A Bite Out of Apple

LORNA PAPA Contributor

Great news! Just when you got your long-awaited latest release iPhone, guess what? The newest iPhone is about to be released in a couple of months. Big changes are coming on the phone, mostly external, including color choice and camera placement. But why is Apple launching a hardly-modified phone every fall instead of working on one model for a couple years to bring a major change to society? The answer relies on marketing and something we call planned and perceived obsolescence.

PLANNED AND PERCEIVED OBSOLESCENCE IN APPLE

These marketing tricks are used to boost the level of production and demand. In simpler words, big companies need you to be a great consumer, buying every new product without any questions asked.

PERCEIVED OBSOLESCENCE

Remember when we talked about the “BIG” changes on the new iPhone 14, which were mainly color and camera placement? This is exactly it. Apple will constantly change the aesthetic of the iPhone. Older versions of the iPhone are easily identifiable, while newer versions stand out in comparison. Therefore, everyone can see who has which phone. Modern Day consumers tend to want the newer, trendier version of any product. With aesthetics constantly changing, we can signal our “coolness” by purchasing and wielding a newer version each year.

PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

The other side of the marketing team focuses on tactics to make the product’s life shorter from as early as the manufacturing stage; Apple will opt to use cheaper materials to produce its phones. They make sure that your phone will break or function poorly so that you will replace them more often. For example, as Apple itself stated, the lithium-ion batteries in the devices become less capable of supplying current demands as they age over a short time. We see planned obsolescence more often when we talk about these products.

MISSING SOMETHING IN YOUR IPHONE BOX?

The biggest step that Apple took with the launching of its iPhone 12 Series is the removal of wired earphones and the power adapter from the box. Apple claims to be trying to reduce e-waste and carbon emissions, and “will make their products entirely with clean energy by 2030” (Medium. com). Their tactic seems like blatant Greenwashing1. Apple removing these necessary parts may as well be part of their planned obsolescence; to make the consumer pay for every part that was previously given to you (charger head, headphones, etc.)

WHY IS IT SO SLOW?

Many Apple customers have speculated that the company is actively slowing down their old devices the moment a new one launches. After constant bickering, Apple came forward to confirm that older models did indeed slow down as they aged, but denied that the reasoning is to encourage people to upgrade to a newer model. Their justification relied on the short lifespan of the previously mentioned lithium-ion batteries. Ac-

Photo VIA APPLE

cording to BBC News, the aging of the batteries can cause an unexpected shutdown of a divide designed to preserve the phones’ electronic components. Again, this can be the result of yet another planned obsolesce tactic used by the company, since the device’s speed increases after a battery change.

WHAT NOW?

The habits of Fast Fashion are not reserved for the world of clothing; Electronic devices are designed to be fashionable and quickly churned-out, too. The dangers of this consumer addiction are numerous. Companies have consumers dancing around their palms, blinded by the numerous manipulation tactics they use to grab our attention. With this in mind, stay smart, and try to only buy what you need.

Greenwashing: when a company purports to be environmentally conscious for marketing purposes but actually isn’t making any notable sustainability efforts. Edwards, Carlyann. “What Is Greenwashing, and How Do You Spot It?” Business News Daily, https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10946-greenwashing. html. p