My Personal Environmental History When I started thinking about my family’s environmental history, I realized that the way each generation has interacted with the environment has changed quite a bit. My grandparents’ generation had a much more direct connection to natural resources, especially through work and getting food. My mom’s generation grew up in a more urban environment, while my own connection with nature has mostly been through recreation. Even though these relationships are different, I think each generation has influenced the next in some way. For this exercise, I am mostly going to focus on my mom’s side of…

Introduction Our relationship with the natural world is an inherited narrative passed down through generations. How our ancestors interacted with, extracted from and valued their physical surroundings directly shapes our own ecological worldview. By tracing my family’s migration, from the deep-rooted settlement of early New France, across the Atlantic from Spain and the United Kingdom, through Montreal, and eventually west to British Columbia, I can see how diverse cultural landscapes shape my family’s relationship with the Canadian environment. Deep Colonial Roots and Transatlantic Crossings On my maternal grandfather’s side, my family’s ecological footprint in Canada is exceptionally deep, stretching back…

My family’s history spans England, South Africa, and Canada, but the most significant influence on how I understand the environment comes from my grandmother on my father’s side. Looking at my grandmother’s generation, my parents, and my own, it becomes clear that each experienced a different relationship with the places and landscapes we lived. Changes in politics, technology, and society had a profound impact not only on where we have lived but also how we understand the environment, value it, and recognize our responsibility toward it. As mentioned, the story starts with my grandmother, who was born in Cape Town,…

Over three generations, my family’s relationship with the environment evolved from necessity-driven resourcefulness to reliance on modern agricultural methods and ultimately to regenerative land stewardship and local food production. My grandparents immigrated to Canada from Italy and England and settled in Toronto’s west end. Their experiences during the Great Depression and the Second World War influenced how they viewed food, money, and resources. While raising eight children, they minimized waste by planning meals carefully, reusing leftovers, and making the most of everything available. Despite living in the city, my grandparents maintained a small backyard garden to supplement their food supply….

While I have been a lifelong Vancouverite, my parents and grandparents hailed from the region of Gangnam, the southern part of the larger metropolitan city of Seoul.  The name Gangnam, directly translated, means south of the river and is positioned at one of the most prominent rivers in South Korea, the Han River.  Gangnam is now considered the central hub of education and industry, and is home to Korean international corporations such as Hyundai Motors and GS Caltex.  Despite its current prominence, Gangnam was not always a glamorous district.  Before the massive infrastructure development under the presidency of Park Chung…