HOCO 2016
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Should Earth Day only be celebrated in April?
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Earth day is celebrated annually on April 22 in support of environmental protection. Since 1970, it marks the commencement of events coordinated around the world by Earthday.org which reach approximately 1 billion people in over 193 countries. This year’s theme personally addresses my environmental gripe: “Planet vs. Plastics”. As the reality of microplastics dawn upon…
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“De-influencing” and me: becoming an educated consumer in the age of SHEIN
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Fast fashion companies like SHEIN also contribute to climate change through their unethical business practices. “There are unethical business practices for the people who make it. The resources they consume, even how it’s being made. They take the ideas of independent artists, take credit for their work and capitalize off it. There’s a lot of…
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Kitchener-Waterloo ranks high for environmental quality
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According to The Canadian Environmental Quality Index (Can-EQI), a new study that measures environmental quality within and between Canadian cities, Kitchener-Waterloo is among the nation’s leading cities for environmental quality. Daniel Rainham, an environmental epidemiologist and health geographer at Dalhousie University and co-author of the Can-EQI, said the study is focused on environmental characteristics which…
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Laurier’s Sustainability Office partners with community leaders in tree-planting initiative
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The Sustainability Office, with support from Sustainable Waterloo Region and the Laurier Renewable Energy student club, has arranged to plant two micro forests in Waterloo. “A micro forest is a highly, densely planted area that is planted to re-naturalize in spaces that have formerly been deforested for urban development,” Tova Davidson, executive director at Sustainable…
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Laurier students roll out e-waste bin on campus
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Reena Sakran and Nathan Lam, third-year students at Wilfrid Laurier University, spearheaded the rollout of an e-waste bin on the school’s Waterloo campus. The project, which the two students called Smart Hawk Recycling, started out as an assignment for a sustainability class. “The assignment was to propose an idea for the Sustainable Hawk Fund, but…
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Laurier signs on to climate change charter to guide future investments
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Wilfrid Laurier has signed onto a charter that places climate change as a central issue when determining financial investments the university may make. The charter, called Investing to Address Climate Change: A Charter for Canadian Universities, was created by the University of Toronto in June of last year and as of now has 16 other…
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Laurier study shows decline in fire resilience of black spruce trees
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A new study led by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Associate professor of biology, Jennifer Balzer, has found that an increasing number of black spruce trees are less resilient to forest fires due to climate change threatening boreal ecosystems. The study was published in the journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and evaluates the…
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Takeaways from the IPCC Report and the consequence of inaction
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Climate change is unfolding rapidly before our eyes and a lack of inaction would lead to disastrous outcomes worldwide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their working group 1 report on Aug. 9th and it starts with a clear statement: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread…
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Banning plastic straws: Just another trend?
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I remember a couple of years ago when plastic straws started to get banned from restaurants and more reusable straws started to sell online, in the grocery stores, and everywhere else! It seemed at that time, everyone was buying reusable straws, whether they were made of silicon or metal, people bought them like crazy. But…
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Greta Thunberg must be protected
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“This shows we’re winning,” responded young Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg to an extremely graphic cartoon sticker earlier last week. The appalling sticker depicts teen activist Greta Thunberg being sexually assaulted with the name of an Alberta oilfield company stretching across the decal. “They are starting to get more and more desperate,” Greta added to…
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The Tie That Binds WLU Since 1926
Serving the Waterloo campus, The Cord seeks to provide students with relevant, up to date stories. We’re always interested in having more volunteer writers, photographers and graphic designers.