Varanan Sinnadurai
POINTS TOTAL
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participant impact
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UP TO30minutesspent exercising
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UP TO60minutesspent learning
Varanan's actions
Transportation
SiA Homework for Sept 4 - PRACTICE POST
Write an Ecochallenge POST to our team, briefly stating how you currently commute to Vanier. In Quebec, because we have a lot of hydro electric power, one of the main source of carbon emissions is from transportation. What commuting options do you have that would be healthier for you and the planet? Will you be considering any changes for this semester? If so, select or create an EcoChallenge action. If not, explain what your particular challenges are and what you could do to help other people in your situation (e.g. organise car sharing, propose a bus shuttle, etc.)
Share Your Story
SiA Homework for Sept 11 - Intro Post
Please write a short post to introduce yourself to the class. Mention some of your interests and what program you are in. If you have some ideas for your sustainability project this semester, please share - you might find a collaborator! Inspire others with the EcoChallenge actions that you are interested in trying out. Include a photo of yourself if you like.
Share Your Story
SiA Homework for Sept 4 - PRACTICE POST
On Sept 4, we will have 3 guests come talk to us about sustainability initiatives at Vanier. In preparation, please read over VANIER'S 5-YEAR SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN 2018-2023 and then write an EcoChallenge post that includes the following: - What do you think about the plan? Is it ambitious enough? Is there anything missing or superfluous? From your own observation and experience, how well is Vanier doing? List some questions that you would like to ask our speakers regarding Sustainability at Vanier? - Identify at least 3 initiatives that you are potentially interested in contributing to this semester and explain why. (Note there is a column labelled student involvement.) For more detailed information, you can also consult the 2020 VANIER ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT in the links.
Transportation
Use Muscle Power
Multiple Transportation Solutions
I will cut my car trip mileage by only taking necessary trips, and I will only use muscle-powered transportation for all other trips.
Industry
Choose Recycled Paper
Recycled Paper
I will plan ahead to use paper products only made from post-consumer recycled paper for my home or office.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Smaller Portions
Reduced Food Waste
I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.
Transportation
Go for a Daily Walk
Walkable Cities
I will take a walk for 20 minutes each day and take note of the infrastructure that makes walking more or less enjoyable, accessible, and possible.
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
Learn About Aquaculture
Improved Aquaculture
Each day, I will spend at least 15 minutes learning about sustainable aquaculture.
Land Sinks
Forest-Friendly Foods 1
Tropical Forest Restoration
I will spend at least 15 minutes researching the impact of my diet to see how it contributes to deforestation.
Land Sinks
Choose Better Wood Products
Forest Protection
I will only purchase wood and paper products from ecologically certified sources like Forest Stewardship Council.
Share Your Story
READ Quebec's principles for a just transition AND/OR PARTICIPATE in the Sept 27 Climate March
For the week of Sept 25 to Oct 2, please read the documents attached AND IF YOU CAN, please attend the Sept 27 Climate March. Many people and organisations feel that the government is dragging its feet on the important changes required to meet our climate commitments. For your post, reflect on the value of mass demonstrations. Include a photo of a protest banner or slogan that you find effective (if you can't attend the event then find a photo on the web from other climate marches).
Participant Feed
Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.
To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?
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Varanan Sinnadurai 11/13/2024 4:08 PMFinal Eco Challenge Post
Throughout my eco challenge and eco challenge posts, I did not really find them to be a difficult task, but I often would delay them for later because I knew that It wouldn't take much time to accomplish. Through the eco challenges, I learned a lot about aquacultures, sustainable eating habits, walkable cities and the Forest Stewardship Council. I think that the Eco challenge assignment was overall beneficial for me, as it made me look more into how I can make active choices in my own life that are sustainable, as well as issues that I came across while trying to accomplish my goals. I think my favorite part of the eco challenge, was my 20 minute walk challenge each day to look at the city infrastructure. I realized how difficult it could be in our cities to get around only by walking. I was also able to discover many green areas, that I had not noticed before and I was able to enjoy those forests because of the eco challenge. -
Varanan Sinnadurai 11/13/2024 4:01 PMEco challenge
I spent more time learning about the ecologically certified wood products, and the organization that approves them. I learned about the FSC which stands for the Forest Stewardship Council. They are a international organization, and the label wood products so people know that the product that they are purchasing was harvested responsibly. Meaning that they identify important forest parts that cannot be replaced, and avoid harvesting those that would harm the ecosystem. They also make sure that the their workers are given proper training, certification, safety equipment, and wages. These are all things that the organization claims that they do. -
Varanan Sinnadurai 11/13/2024 3:55 PMMuscle Power Transportation
At first, cutting the amount of time I spend using vehicles was easy, because the weather was still nice out, and I did not have to go far much. As the weather started getting colder and as life started getting more busy, I found it more difficult to not use cars or public transportation to get places. I think that also by choosing to not use vehicles, you also add more time to your schedule and thus have to leave earlier to get to work or school. I think that a lot of people would rather not make that sacrifice, and even though it is a benefit for us to not use vehicles, it is hard to ask people to dedicate more time than they need to to get somewhere. -
Varanan Sinnadurai 11/13/2024 3:50 PMEco Challenge - Walkable Infrastructure
Before the weather had gotten colder and I was still to walk around, I noticed that it is easy to walk around in my neighborhood, but as I got the the main streets, it was more difficult to walk to areas. There were a lot of larger roads where I would have to wait a while before being able to cross, and crossing was more dangerous because there where many more lanes going both ways. I also noticed that at some parts of my walk, there was no side walk at all or I would have to find another way around simply because I wasn't allowed to walk over the bridge. I think that we could all benefit if there were more infrastructure built around walking instead of huge roads which encourage those living in the city to take personal or public transportation -
Varanan Sinnadurai 11/13/2024 3:42 PMEco challenge
As of late, it has become harder to walk to places instead of using personal or public transportation. The main issue for walking at this time of year is that the temperature significantly drops, which makes it way more uncomfortable and dangerous to walk places. I've also been trying to make plates with smaller portions, as a way to make sure there isn't any unnecessary waste that is produced, as well as consuming less. I've also thought about the role of smaller portions where I work and I can see that there is a lot of food that is wasted at the end of the night. Usually I will try and take as much as the food as I can, so that it is not thrown away, but there is always some that is. -
Varanan Sinnadurai 11/13/2024 3:37 PMAquaculture cont.
After some further research into aquacultures, I realize that I did not include a lot of the negative impacts aquacultures might have on the environment, even with the benefits that it gives. Firstly, some of the medicine that is given to the fish raised in aquacultures can actually be detrimental to the environment. These medications are given to the fish to prevent disease because of how closely they are together. Aquacultures can also release excess of nutrients into the environment from the aquaculture. The medication as well as nutrients that are given to the fish, can include things such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which through eutrophication can cause algal blooms. The 2 main types of nutrients that are released into the ecosystem are from their feed as well as their waste. -
Varanan Sinnadurai 10/23/2024 10:42 AMThanksgiving
I think that the overall message that the videos were giving, was that as a species, there is a lot we must do and there is a lot that we have to change about our habits and culture. The videos imply the message that as humans, everything that affects us and our lives is the environment, from the economy to the food we eat, is all somehow affecting the environment. The videos made me think more about how everything we own are use, has an impact in the world whether from how it was made or from it's use. I think some things that I am thankful for, include the natural environment that we are able to enjoy every day, such as forests, lakes, and mountains. These are things that we have in our world that we can enjoy whenever we want. I think degrowth can improve our lives by making things simpler for us. Degrowth would allow us to shrink our use of the natural world back to a sustainable level and would cause less degredation to the environment. -
Varanan Sinnadurai 10/08/2024 5:53 PMEco challenge is going good, have been taking more walks around the neighborhood and city area, noticing how the infrastructure is built more for cars than walking or cycling. I have been biking or walking to nearby areas rather than driving. Although it feels better to bike, it becomes more difficult with the decreasing temperature, and it will soon be winter where it would be be tougher or impossible to bike through. I have also been reducing the amount of food that is served or on the plate, that way the food way is reduced. -
Varanan Sinnadurai 9/25/2024 4:43 AMI choose to give insight into a topic that I recently have been researching as part of my daily actions which is Aquaculture. Aquaculture is basically the farming of aquatic animals such as fish in a controlled environment. Aquacultures are beneficial to helping environmental conditions of wild fish populations because it reduces the need to deplete wild fish populations by farming them. It's also able to meet the demands of fish in terms of food that humans consume. Aquacultures are also used to farm and restock wild fish populations in areas that are depleted, which can have both positive and negative ethical issues associated with that, such as farmed fish being more prone to predation because of conditioning by being raised in an aquaculture.-
Richard Klopp 9/25/2024 7:17 AMHi Varanan,
You might explore this a little further to better understand what kinds of aquaculture are good. LIke with other kinds of animal farming, if it is too intensive it can lead to many problems, like high concentrations of waste, animal stress, disease, use of antibiotics, etc.
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Varanan Sinnadurai 9/11/2024 1:02 PMIntroduction
Hi, my name is Varanan Sinnadurai and I am in the Environmental and Wildlife management program. Some of my interests including birding and hiking. Some of my ideas for sustainability project ideas include, identifying species of trees and/or birds and creating correlation data between them, as to see what our campus habitat is like for them and what we could do to improve it.