StephenTeaches

This week I have been thinking a lot about a concept taught in most Economics undergrad degrees(I think I own one of these somewhere) and how it applies to litter.  The short explanation of the theory of the Tragedy of the Commons can be found here: How could this apply to littering? It certainly can be applied to pollution(see carbon ‘tax’). Making a public space private. By this I mean, making it in the best interest of the individual to keep a shared area clean (ie litter in the park). A good example is private home ownership vs. home rental. It is in the best interest of the private homeowner to keep their property well maintained and attractive. This will lead to an increase (in theory) in resale value. For a renter, it is not in their economic best interest necessarily to maintain the property that is not theirs. They won’t see any economic advantage from maintaining the property themselves.  How can this apply to litter on public property? The short answer is...short of...

How do cities, towns and regions combat street litter? I think we’ve all seen the standard ‘No littering’ or ‘No Dumping’ signs just about everywhere. Do those even work? Even once? My research this week focused on innovative anti-littering campaigns employed around the world. One of my favourites was around for all of a minute: https://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-torontos-brilliant-and-nasty-new-campaign-to-clean-up-the-city-2014-8 This campaign was witty, thought provoking and innovative. So of course it faced legal challenges by the very same companies whose trash litters our streets. https://strategyonline.ca/2014/08/28/city-of-toronto-pulls-anti-littering-ads/ So how can we raise awareness? How can we get people to change their opinion?  Well it seems like some people are volunteering and raising awareness all together., using new media of course. https://www.tiktok.com/@danieltoben/video/7008676784015248646?is_from_webapp=v1&refer=embed&referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fp...

Canadians pride themselves on having such a clean country. At least that’s what beer commercials tell us. Canada the pristine, natural, raw, wild. I’ve noticed that in my travels around the country (in a previous musical life) that in many places, that is no longer the case.   A lot of the research that I was able to find centered around the amount of waste that we, as Canadians, produce each year. That in and of itself is shockingly bad. According to a recent study, Canadians produce more garbage per person than any other country on earth .  Think about that. Number 1. There is simply no excuse for that, despite our cold climate and large landmass. Digging further led me to many sources where Earth Day cleanups were being planned or promoted. This is great. It raises awareness that there is a problem. But isn’t that relatively new cliché, Everyday is Earth Day , supposed to hold true? Why do people litter? Why don’t more people (pre-Covid) pick up that half empty bottle of wa...

Welcome to my blog! My name is Stephen and I am currently a teacher candidate at Brock University in concurrent education.  Over the past 15 years I have had the good fortune to work as a professional opera singer and my travels have led me to all sorts of interesting places. I have always been very interested in nature, wilderness and the beauty of the our natural world. The pandemic has led to a a huge increase in outdoor activities, from tennis to hiking to camping to biking. Canadians that would otherwise going to concerts, sports events, restaurants or any indoor events have instead flocked to beaches, campgrounds, trails and conservation areas. While this is undoubtedly a good thing on so many levels, one major impact on our natural environment has been an increase in garbage that has been left behind, unwillingly but many times through carelessness. Since March 2020, my family has gone out almost everyday for walks in our neighbourhood. An easy way to keep fit and battle the...