6 February 2, 2011+ Over the Edge goBEYOND Teach-In 2011: Climate Solutions From classroom to community NADIA NOWAK CONTRIBUTOR January 17-28 will see professors from a range of disciplines at UNBC bring discussions about climate change into their classrooms Today’s students are faced with the challenge of learning to live sustainably on a finite planet that is threatened by climate change---this is no small task! We need to build resilient food systems, shift to renewable energy, and transform our communities. Our post-secondary institutions have great potential to help tackle these challenges and build the world we need. They have diverse expertise; resources; are innovative; have large economic impacts in their communities and regions; and are shaping the minds of tomorrow’s leaders. Our post secondary institutions need to play a role in ensuring that students are receiving the skills and knowledge they need to positively contribute to the climate challenge. Across disciplines there are connections to the solutions to climate change. For example, English students can look at the importance of literature and language in the transmission of discourse on sustainability. History students can look at examples of societal collapse and conflict and the role that natural resources have in these events. Psychology students can look at how the human psyche responds to threats such as climate change and how we can change behaviours in the face of ecological problems. Business students can ensure that a bottom line of people, planet and profit is looked at so that decisions are more just and equitable. The goBEYOND Teach-In aims to spark these discussions in the classroom and help students realize the potential that their discipline has in ensuring a sustainable world for today’s students and future generations. The Teach-In asks faculty to donate class time or assignments to engage their students in the connections their discipline has to solving the climate challenge, and the actions our colleges and universities can take to generate equitable climate solutions both in the classroom and in the community. It is happening on 11 different campuses across the province from January 17th-28". At UNBC, Students for a Green University and NUGSS have been working hard to get faculty signed up, so far we have faculty participating in courses such as WMST 103: Introduction to Gender Studies, COMM 442: Marketing Strategies, and ENVS 309: Human Ecology. Across the province, there is a diverse range of disciplines from history, to psychology, to Italian language who will be participating. Watch out for the Teach-In coming to a classroom near you! If you are interested in participating in the Teach-In as a faculty member, or becoming more involved in this work as a faculty member or a student, get in touch with Nadia Nowak, your local g3BEYOND Teach-In Organizer nugss-collegesrep@ unbc.ca and check out the goBEYOND website for further information www.go- beyond.ca Canada Bans a Potentially Dangerous Plastic Chemical Canada bans phthalates in plastic toys a decade after the EU HANNA PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR Phthalates are found in soft plastic toys and other products which is also known as Canada’s aimed at children. The chemical has been scrutinized Valley”. Chemical Valley emits 21 percent of NADIA NOWAK because of its adverse health effects mainly its feminizing quality. Phthalates are among the gender bending chemicals that either mimic the properties of estrogens or block the production of testosterone. In 2008, researchers at the University of Rochester found that baby boys born to mothers exposed to high levels of phthalates had smaller or underdeveloped genitals more often than baby boys born to mothers exposed to low levels of phthalates. Albeit, the majority of the boys were born normal. Another study conducted in the same year at the University of Washington found that out of a sample of 163 infants, all of them had at least one phthalate in their urine. Phthalates are not only found in children’s toys but among various consumer products as well. The chemical is used in perfumes, vinyl, detergents, shampoos, soaps, packaging, and air fresheners. The American Chemical Council defends the chemical’s presence in products claiming that it has been safely used for fifty years. On January 18th Canada’s Health minister banned the presence of six phthalates in the soft plastic of children’s toys and childcare products. Some critics are skeptical about the effectiveness of this ban, as phthalates have saturated consumer plastic market. Infants will undoubtedly come into contact with phthalates regardless if their presence in children’s toys has been regulated or not. The effects of certain chemicals and pollutants developed and introduced since the 1960’s are only now beginning to be understood. The Aamajiwnaag First Nation is located in Sarnia Ontario, the total pollutants emitted in all of Ontario. The Aamajiwnaag reserve has the lowest recorded rate of male births in the world. The residents also suffer from high rates of miscarriages and disease problems that are undeniably due to the reservation’s proximity to a large number of chemical facilities. When human chemical pollutants and contaminates enter the water system, they have shown the same feminizing effects on wildlife. Hermaphroditic frogs and fish are becoming more common in potentially polluted waterways. Health Canada has previously stated that a phenomenon occurring in frogs and fish is not a good model for estimating risk to humans. However, health advocates have suggested that a lack of scientific certainty regarding the specifics of the risk a chemical poses should not be used as an excuse to postpone regulatory restrictions. The public outcry regarding the danger of phthalates has been minimal because a majority of consumers are not aware of the potentially harmful effects of the chemical ingredient. The European Union has had the same six phthalates banned for years before Canadian officials began to take the problem seriously in 2009. The Canadian Plastics Industry also refutes claims of any serious harm related to the use of phthalates in consumer products. L It’s about time ONLINE SOURCE