After participating in Katimavik and backpacking solo around South-East Asia, Lauren Fairweather began her academic journey in Capilano University’s Global Stewardship program, in which her interest in environmental issues grew into an earnest focus. The interdisciplinary nature of the LSBA program has enabled her to learn about aspects of sustainability from a wide variety of perspectives, which will continue to shape her understanding of the world as it is, and how it could be. She has spent the past few summers planting trees and exploring Northern BC, and likes to spend her free time treasure-hunting in thrift stores, enjoying craft beer, beachcombing, and hiking through forests. She believes a good dance party is always time well spent.

Grad Project: Changing the Story of Stuff: Myth and Material Consumption

Research shows that happiness is not derived from “stuff”- the consumption of material goods. Furthermore, the highly consumptive lifestyles so many of us enjoy represent one of the fundamental roots of our environmental crisis. This project investigates how storytelling and myth can be used in persuading people to value different things (like experiences and relationships) more than material goods, toward the ultimate goals of more efficient use of the earth’s resources, less waste, and happier, more fulfilled lives.

Project Advisor: Janet Waters (Psychology)

Tutorial Advisors: Cheryl Schreader (Geography), Janet Waters (Psychology), and Michael Fleming (Philosophy)