{"id":1041,"date":"2026-07-22T15:05:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T22:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2026-07-22T15:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T22:05:31","slug":"reflecting-on-nature-justice-and-green-criminology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/2026\/07\/22\/reflecting-on-nature-justice-and-green-criminology\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflecting on Nature, Justice, and Green Criminology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the first blog post only three weeks are left of class this semester, our garden has gone from\u00a0 <\/span>being just begun to grow has developed from seedlings into healthy plants . As we reach the final weeks of the\u00a0 <\/span>semester, both our garden and my understanding about green criminology has grown from learning something new from guest speakers to going on a field trip. Taking care of the plants with my group\u00a0 <\/span>has allowed me to learn that even a small ecosystem depends on balance, patience, and care. Even things like watering the plants regularly and making sure not to forget, or the weather becoming too hot or cold , we could see the effects on our garden bed. This has made me realize that how interconnected nature really is.<\/p>\n

A field trip to the Cougar Creek Park strengthened my understanding of environmental harm and how we humans urbanize everything and make this topic often gradual and normalized. Going on this trip changed my perspective and made me look at the park in an ecofeminist way, which helped me understand attitudes that encourage domination over people who can encourage it over nature over time. And instead of viewing nature as something we can always exploit or control, this perspective has emphasized care, respect, and responsibility. It showed how environmental justice is so closely connected to the ecosystems that require changing the way we think about our relationship with nature.<\/p>\n

Also, the guest speakers helped me connect the course with real-life experiences, like the presentation on Mother Earth Is Our Elder. This discussion moved me when they talked about how Indigenous knowledge and the idea that water is sacred rather than simply a resource to be used. Learning about the long-term effects of uranium mining showed me that environmental\u00a0 <\/span>harm can continue across generations and disproportionately affect Indigenous peoples. Another guest lecture from Andrea Greenwood\u00a0 <\/span>about the legal protection of animals in BC, where she told us that the BC SPCA focuses not only on animal welfare where animals are removed from harmful situations, but it also focuses on educating owners and improving animal welfare before taking any legal action. In addition to this I learned:That animals can experience distress through inadequate food, water, shelter, or veterinary care, not only through physical abuse. This helped me understand that Green Criminology recognizes animals as victims of harm, even when society or the law does not always treat them that way.<\/p>\n

Overall, I think that Green Criminology is a much broader term than I first thought before taking this class. It is not just about environmental crimes but also about questioning harms that remain legal, understanding, how power plays a role in environmental decisions, and recognizing that people, animals, water and ecosystems are all interconnected. This term is not just about protecting the environment with more stronger laws, but it requires respect, responsibility, and a willingness to see\u00a0 <\/span>as something with value beyond what it provides to humans.<\/p>\n

*This blog was proofread using ChatGPT*<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the first blog post only three weeks are left of class this semester, our garden has gone from\u00a0 being just begun to grow has developed from seedlings into healthy plants . As we reach the final weeks of the\u00a0 semester, both our garden and my understanding about green criminology has grown from learning something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1513,"featured_media":1044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-published"],"splot_meta":{"author":"Meher","license":"","footer":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1513"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1042,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041\/revisions\/1042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}