January 2008 CAMPUS

PANTHER POST

Tim Hortons cares about the environment

By Laura - vorke:” Post Contributor

Walk five me- tres down any street and you’re bound to find one — thedreaded Tim Hortons cof- fee cup, crushed on the ground. —

Somebody care- lessly dropped it or chucked it out of a car window, unaware of the consequences on the en- vironment and the unsightly

appearance it creates.

Toronto Tim Hortons un- veiled recyling bins for these cups in their stores on Nov. 3

It’s part of the city’s new plan to cut down on the amount of food packaging that’s sent to landfills. P.E.I. may be ahead of the curve.

Gordie Clow is_ general manager for Tim Hortons’ Kent Street location in Char- lottetown. On a busy day, he said his restaurant sells about 750 cups of coffee alone. Add to that hot choco- late, tea and cappucinnos and Clow said the number is closer to 1,000.

_ Clow said his restaurant has

already implemented strat- egies to cut down on their waste.

“We do recycle. We put all our compost in our com- post.”

The compost mostly con-

sists of coffee grinds, he —

said. : There are three major areas of sorting — compost, paper,

and cardboard.

Plastic lids are separated and put with the other gar- bage which cannot be recy- cled, said Clow.

In the lobby is a disposal unit for compost, waste and a bin for bottles and cans. Clow said people are very co-operative with the sys- tem.

“You'll see them stop... they separate their [lids from their] cup.”

As for the infamous coffee cup on the ground outside, Clow said it bothers him to see this.

“T try to pick them up when I see them.”

He said he can’t understand why people don’t just put the cups in the garbage.

“It’s littering. We’re brought up on the Island here to be more [conscious] of these things.”

Clow said his restaurant also offers a 20 per cent dis- count to people who use a re- usable mug, another strategy to cut down on waste.

Laura Yorke is a journalism student at Holland College

Financial crisis could mean more suicides: Prof

By Teresa Smith

Canadian University Press

MONTREAL (CUP) -— Inse- curity caused by the effects of global financial slowdown could be behind a growing number of suicides, say ex- perts.

Dr. Margaret Chan, the di- rector general of the World Health Organization, says people should not be sur- prised if the number of sui- cides and mental disorders

- worldwide goes up as the se-

verity of the financial crisis becomes clear.

However, at a meeting of mental health care profes- sionals in Geneva, Switzer- land in October, she warned her colleagues against blam- ing the crisis for unrelated suicides.

“Simply because the fi- nancial crisis exists doesn’t mean we can assume a higher number of cases of depressed persons. It’s more complicated than that,” she said. :

Margie Mendell, vice presi- dent of the School of Com- munity and Public Affairs at Concordia, agrees.

“Suicide is not caused by the financial crisis itself, but maybe that’s the tipping point.

“Tf you already have stress, excessive debt, precarious working conditions, and you’ve just been laid off, that’s a pretty negative set of circumstances,” she said. Relatives of a Chicoutimi,

Quebec couple who made a murder-suicide pact after both lost their jobs before Christmas say the pact may have been related to financ- es.

A German billionaire com- mitted suicide early in the new year after he lost mil- lions on the stock market, and a businessman in Cali- fornia killed his mother-in- law, his wife, and their three children before turning the gun on himself.

The United States National Suicide Prevention Hotline reported their service has re- ceived 60 per cent more calls this year than last.

“Fear is the number one emotion we’re hearing,” a spokesperson for the hotline told Fortune Watch — a fi- nancial blog. “People are feeling hopeless and help- less because of the economic crisis, and many feel things aren’t going to get better. Now, many of the calls are from people who have lost their home, or their job, or who still have a job but can’t meet the cost of living.”

Mendell says all of these factors can lead to growing insecurities and a high level of despair among the general population.

“It’s not reserved for one group — everybody is hit by this,” she said.

However, she says that only in extreme cases, when the person is already mentally unstable or vulnerable, would suicide be the outcome.

It’s a question of how much

insecurity people can cope with, she says. If a person is afraid and they feel trapped, with no one to turn to, there are anumber of coping mech- anisms they can use, but if they’re already pre-disposed to depression or anxiety, the addition of financial insecu- rity can be toxic.

Mendell says _ politicians and the media are partly to blame for the widespread in- security.

“Politicians need to start an ongoing, intelligent conver- sation with the public,” she said.

She stresses that sincere communication, outlining the details of the crisis in a clear, direct way is impera- tive at a time like this in or- der to lessen insecurities and give people some hope.

“There needs to be a de-jar- gonization about the finan- cial crisis — if people under- stand what’s going on, they won’t feel so overwhelmed,” she said.

She says the media should provide all the necessary in- formation in a sober way, so people aren’t terrified every time they pick up the paper or turn on the television.

It’snotall doom-and-gloom, however. Mendell quotes an old Chinese proverb: “Out of crisis comes opportunity.”

“With more information and education post-crisis, people will be jess passive about their finances. They’ ll make sure they have the tools so this won’t ever happen to them again,” she said.