An often forgotten dimension of sustainability is that of health. A recent survey on sustainability at uOttawa revealed that when students think about sustainability, they usually think about how it relates to the environment and forget about the the social elements, which include health. Certainly the health aspects of sustainability have been popping up in the news a lot lately, even if we don't immediately link it to the environment. Poor air quality and environmental contaminants related to floods, fires, and climate change come to mind fairly quickly, but there is a silent killer in the room and it is stress related to the environment. The recent phenomenon of climate anxiety is washing over youth like a tidal wave. A 2017 report by the American Psychological Association  suggests that worrying about climate change is having a serious impact on our mental health. And as you can imagine, the more we hear about bad things happening in our environment, the more people worr...

It has been a weird past couple weeks. Like many other students who enjoy living in the relatively progressive bubble here at uOttawa, I feel numb and nauseous in regards to many of actions and statements of President Trump. Since November 8th, I have been processing my feelings, watching a lot of  Seth Meyers' A Closer Look and trying to stay away from the toxic political wasteland that tends to be social media. And I truly hate having to get political online. I commend people who do it, but I do not find the internet to be a safe space and continually sharing a Huffington Post articles is not going to help anyone. However, being brave and standing up for one's beliefs is the only way to incite change. Climate change, the environmental crisis and indigenous issues are not dismissible as "fake news". Yet it is easy to start feeling all of the feelings in incredulous times such as these: anger, sadness, apathy, denial, hopelessness and fear. A steady downpo...