In this episode of Keeping It Pristine, Frank and Sarah had a chat with our founder Da Chen about his delegation to Antarctica in December 2022.  Da shared about the purpose of the delegation, the politics of Antarctica, and what he has seen and heard. Its an episode filled with so much interesting nuggets, have a listen. 

In this episode of Keeping it Pristine, our very own Madhav provides an overview of the ocean economy. He gives a detailed dive into the country of Norway's ocean economy plan and how that might inspire Canadians to create their own policy framework. Madhav is currently a Master of Public Policy candidate at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and recently worked as a policy coordinator in the healthcare field.

On this special episode of Keeping it Pristine, Da talks about his experience and feelings participating in the September 27th, 2019 Climate March.

In this episode of Keeping it Pristine, Da talks about the recent global movement of working towards granting human rights to nature, specifically for water bodies in various countries.

In this episode of Keeping it Pristine, Da provides us with a synopsis of Toronto's ageing sewage infrastructure and its implications on marine and environmental policy.

In this episode, we talk to Lisa Chen, the founder of Lets Talk Butts Campaign, a global effort to eliminate cigarette butt litter. Lisa and her team works together to not just eliminate cigarette butts from our environment, but also to raise awareness about the impacts of ghost fishing gears in the marine environment along with many other cool projects! Make sure to check out her organization! Timestamps: 1:21 Introduction 2:05 Let’s Talk Butts Campaign 3:57 Cannisters and product life cycle of a cigarette butt 8:50 E-cigarettes 10:02 Ghost fishing gear and regulation 15:25 Marine Way platform 18:34 Lisa’s Inspiration, motivation and experience abroad 25:53 Barriers to positive behavioral change 27:45 Why marine biologist? 29:32 Opportunities and benefits of ocean literacy 30:41 Challenges 34:47 How to get involved and overall mission 37:16 Lisa’s tips for future leaders and what’s next on her journey

In this episode of Keeping It Pristine, we talk to Mandy Huynh, the founder of Invasive Plants Be Gone - A youth led project and organization that looks into invasive plant species in the GTHA and encourages participation in community science to limit their spread. Mandy and her team connect to the local community by leading nature hikes and sharing their knowledge virtually through social media and their website.  Timestamps:  2:00: Introduction and backstory 5:30: What are invasive plant species and why report them? 10:00: Tools and resources to identify invasive plants 12:44: Connection between invasive plants and climate change 14:37: Common invasive plants and pathways of spread 21:08: Can we eliminate invasive plant species entirely? 23:54: Invasive Plants Be Gone and nature hikes 28:12: Youth Climate Leadership Program  32:00: Other activities 35:16: Learn more and get involved

In this episode of Keeping it Pristine, Da discusses the urgency of planning for a climate resilient city. He analyzed some of the policies that the City of Toronto is currently implementing to combat the climate crisis. Some important questions to consider: What should the City of Toronto do? What are some of its challenges and barriers? With the arrival of more extreme weather patterns, how can Toronto be better prepared?

In this episode of Keeping it Pristine, our very own Sarah talks about her current job as an environmental project scientist at Azure Inc. and the technical process of environmental impact assessments (EIA's). She also provides some valuable advice for anyone interested in a career in environmental consulting. 0:00 - Intro, Da and Sarah catch up 2:28 - Overview of an environmental scientist and consulting 3:29 - Phases of EA's, Ontario Regulation 153.04 and technical process of Environmental Site Assessments 5:29 - Contamination and remediation procedures 8:00 - Areas of contamination in Ontario 9:32 - Defining EIA's in depth and how it's different from other city planning assessments 11:33 - EIA phases explained, remediation, possible lawsuits and why consulting exists 17:08 - How to become an environmental scientist and advice to get into environmental consulting 19:10 - Work on a typical day 21:44 - Outro, credits & bloopers

In this episode of Keeping it Pristine, Da and Frank talk about some of Toronto’s hidden waterways. Many were paved over during the height of the city’s industrial boom. We describe a few that we came across online via the Lost Rivers Organization and then discuss why understanding them in depth is crucial for future preservation. 0:00 - Intro, Da and Frank catch up 1:45 - Toronto’s hidden waterways overview 3:05 - Garrison Creek 6:04 - Taddle Creek 8:10 - The Disappearing Rivers Map by the Lost Rivers Organization 9:33 - Tomlin’s Creek 10:23 - Issues of paving over waterways and understanding as part of city identity 14:03 - Daylighting as an urban planning strategy 15:52 - Links: www.lostrivers.ca/disappearing.html www.hiddenhydrology.org/toronto-lost-rivers/ digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/…apframes.php