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Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2008: Iceland, Greenland, Baffin Island

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

In September of 2008, myself and 27 other students from Canada and around the world journeyed aboard a Russian research vessel sailing from Iceland to Greenland to Baffin Island studying the effects of climate change.

The voyage was organized and sponsored by the British Council Canada and is the second youth expedition to take place. The Cape Farewell project started with numerous adult expeditions and was the brainchild of British artist and filmmaker, David Buckland.

Before this voyage, I was interested in climate change, but not passionate. Almost needless to say is the fact that that has completely changed.

Check out the landscapes and the people that completely changed my life at www.capefarewellcanada.ca - there you can also read the blogs of the 28 voyagers, read our bios, watch our video reports, and view photos from the expedition.

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Sustainable Conversation

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Christmas 2008 has come and gone, and for me - someone who has fairly recently become unyieldingly passionate about climate change - the holiday has taken on a much larger meaning than it has in the past.

I live in a small farming community surrounded by development and urban sprawl; it is one of the last communities in the area that has sustained its interest in preserving nature and farms. As myself and other residents of the community tucked in to our Christmas dinner (consisting mostly of a 22-pound turkey) a conversation arose on local food and sustainable agriculture, but what is more interesting is the difference of opinions that came with the topic.

One elderly woman refuses to purchase anything from China; anything! She also regularly visits a local grocery store to inform them that, instead of buying their flats of fruit, she will be driving to a nearby farm market to invest locally and organically. Okay, fine - I'm all for bold ideas. But what if every Canadian decided to follow suit? And every North American? Is there a massive benefit from severing trade ties with foreign countries and putting great amounts of employees out of work that I don't see?

Then there was the man who firmly felt that the island where we reside should become completely self-sufficient. Farm everything, everywhere. But what about when the soil is completely devoid of nutrients and it becomes nearly impossible to grow anything let alone everything?

Another man suggested that a logical resolution would be not to cut ourselves off of traded goods, but to put more thought into where they come from, and how they're made/grown. And instead of destroying industries that we feel are harmful or unnecessary, we need to put effort into making them more environmentally friendly. Well - awesome; it sounds like a dream come true to me. However, it also seems daunting and, at times, impossible.

Look, now I sound like one of those depressing scientists that provides a "no, that won't work" answer to everything. I guess it just seems to me that it will be much more difficult to stop this disrespect to sustainability that we've already started. How can we change it? Seriously, I would like some input. What are some ideas?

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