Rick Smith | |
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 Rick Smith in November 2012 Environmental Defence Canada | |
| Born | 1968 (age 56) |
Rick Smith (born 1968) is a Canadian author, environmentalist and non-profit leader. He is currently the President of the Canadian Climate Institute. [1] Smith became President in 2021.
Smith was born in Montreal, Quebec, and attended high school in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
He received his Ph.D. in biology in 1999 from the University of Guelph. His research, completed in cooperation with the Cree community of Whapmagoostui, in Nunavik, northern Quebec, focused on a unique population of freshwater harbor seal. Smith's work led to the population's listing as “endangered” under Canada's Species At Risk Act and IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [2] The need for enhanced protection of this population was one of the key factors in the creation of Tusujuq National Park – the largest protected area in eastern North America – in 2012. [3]
From 1996 to 2002, Smith was Executive Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) Canadian office and a leader in the campaign to create Canada's federal Species At Risk Act. [4] In 2001, he was simultaneously IFAW's UK Director and led the organization's efforts in the UK and EU parliaments.
In 2003, Smith became Jack Layton’s first Chief of Staff upon Layton's election as leader of the federal New Democratic Party. He resigned over controversy within the party related to his previous environmental work. [5]
As Executive Director of Environmental Defence Canada between 2003 and 2012, Smith was an early proponent of an environmentalism rooted in new, sustainable, economic models. He was a key proponent of the Ontario Greenbelt and the Ontario Green Energy Act and a founding Director of the Greenbelt Foundation. [6] [7] Smith led the efforts to create Canada’s modernized Consumer Product Safety Act and Chemicals Management Plan, which resulted in Canada becoming the first nation in the world to ban bisphenol A in children's products. [8] [9] [10] With the United Steelworkers, he founded Blue Green Canada, the first permanent partnership between trade unions and environmental organizations in the country. [11] He was instrumental in the establishment of the Socially and Environmentally Responsible Aggregate (SERA) initiative, the world’s first independently-certified sustainability standard for the global aggregate and concrete industry. Smith was one of the founders of the Strathmere Group. [12]
From 2012 to 2021, Smith was Executive Director of the Broadbent Institute. [13] During that time, the Institute became Canada’s pre-eminent progressive policy and training organization with offices in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. [14] The Institute’s media project, PressProgress, became Canada’s most-shared source of progressive news and analysis. [15] Smith is also an advisor to Progress Toronto. [16]
In 2021, Smith was announced as the new President of the Canadian Climate Institute. Under his leadership, the Climate Institute solidified its reputation as Canada’s leading climate change policy research organization, publishing independent research and analysis on Canada's climate policy progress, and establishing an annual conference. [17]
Smith co-authored “Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxicity of Everyday Life Affects Our Health” (2009, Knopf Canada, re-issued 2019, Knopf Canada) and “Toxin Toxout: Getting Harmful Chemicals Out of Our Bodies and Our World” (2013, Knopf Canada in Canada; St. Martin's Press in the U.S.) A Quill & Quire “Book of the Year” for 2009, “Slow Death by Rubber Duck” has been translated into seven languages, featured at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, and by the Washington Post ( “hard-hitting in a way that turns your stomach and yet also instills hope”), Dr. Oz, Fox News, and Oprah Magazine. [18] In their two books, Smith and his co-author, prominent Canadian environmental expert Bruce Lourie, experiment on their own bodies, raising and lowering levels of toxic chemicals in their blood and urine through the performance of common activities. Their new experimentation in the 2019 re-issue of “Slow Death by Rubber Duck” has sparked a renewed debate on the presence of bisphenol A in consumer items. [19] Smith’s research is featured in the award-winning documentary “Toxic Beauty” and his self-experimentation for a feature on plastic pollution in The Globe and Mail resulted in his being one of the first people in the world, and the first in North America, to find microplastic particles in his body. [20]
Smith currently lives in the east end of Toronto. [21]
A baby bottle, nursing bottle, or feeding bottle is a bottle with a teat attached to it, which creates the ability to drink via suckling. It is typically used by infants and young children, or if someone cannot drink from a cup, for feeding oneself or being fed. It can also be used to feed non-human mammals.
A steel can, tin can, tin, or can is a container made of thin metal, for distribution or storage of goods. Some cans are opened by removing the top panel with a can opener or other tool; others have covers removable by hand without a tool. Cans can store a broad variety of contents: food, beverages, oil, chemicals, etc. In a broad sense, any metal container is sometimes called a "tin can", even if it is made, for example, of aluminium.
Nalgene is a brand of plastic products developed originally for laboratory use, including items such as jars, bottles, test tubes, and Petri dishes, that were shatterproof and lighter than glass. The properties of plastic products make them suitable for work with many substances in various temperature ranges.
Endocrine disruptors, sometimes also referred to as hormonally active agents, endocrine disrupting chemicals, or endocrine disrupting compounds are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine systems. These disruptions can cause numerous adverse human health outcomes, including alterations in sperm quality and fertility; abnormalities in sex organs‚ endometriosis‚ early puberty‚ altered nervous system or immune function; certain cancers; respiratory problems; metabolic issues; diabetes, obesity, or cardiovascular problems; growth, neurological and learning disabilities, and more. Found in many household and industrial products, endocrine disruptors "interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for development, behavior, fertility, and maintenance of homeostasis ."
Gerald Michael Butts is a Canadian political consultant who served as the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from November 4, 2015 until his resignation on February 18, 2019. From 2008 to 2012, he was president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund Canada, part of a global conservation organization. In 2014, Maclean's magazine declared Butts to be the fourteenth most powerful Canadian. As the former Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Butts was praised as the architect behind the Liberal Party of Canada platform that led to its victory in October 2015 and was one of the most senior staffers in the Office of the Prime Minister, along with Katie Telford.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical compound primarily used in the manufacturing of various plastics. It is a colourless solid which is soluble in most common organic solvents, but has very poor solubility in water. BPA is produced on an industrial scale by the condensation reaction of phenol and acetone. Global production in 2022 was estimated to be in the region of 10 million tonnes.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 is an act of the 36th Parliament of Canada, whose goal is to contribute to sustainable development through pollution prevention and to protect the environment, human life and health from the risks associated with toxic substances. It covers a diversity of activities that can affect human health and the environment, and acts to address any pollution issues not covered by other federal laws. As such, the act is a "catch all" piece of legislation that ensures potentially toxic substances are not inadvertently exempt from federal oversight as a result of unforeseen legislative loopholes.
The Sierra Club Canada Foundation (SCCF) is a Canadian environmental organization made up of a national branch and five chapters in Ontario, Atlantic Canada, Québec, the Prairies, and a nation-wide Youth chapter. The organization's mission is to 'empower people to be leaders in protecting, restoring and enjoying healthy and safe ecosystems.'
A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, ink, etc. They come in a range of sizes, from very small bottles to large carboys. Consumer blow molded containers often have integral handles or are shaped to facilitate grasping.
Environmental Defence is a Canadian environmental organization, founded in 1984. Environmental Defence works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
Environmental issues in Canada include impacts of climate change, air and water pollution, mining, logging, and the degradation of natural habitats. As one of the world's significant emitters of greenhouse gasses, Canada has the potential to make contributions to curbing climate change with its environmental policies and conservation efforts.
Bisphenol S (BPS) is an organic compound with the formula (HOC6H4)2SO2. It has two phenol functional groups on either side of a sulfonyl group. It is commonly used in curing fast-drying epoxy resin adhesives. It is classified as a bisphenol, and a close molecular analog of bisphenol A (BPA). BPS differentiates from BPA by possessing a sulfone group (SO2) as the central linker of the molecule instead of a dimethylmethylene group (C 2), which is the case of bisphenol A.
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is a Canadian-based non-profit organization dedicated to environmental issues, especially as they relate to human health. The group was founded in 1994, and is composed of over 4,700 medical doctors and concerned citizens from across Canada. Its main focus is education of physicians and members of the public, sending delegates to scientific conferences, publishing opinion articles, talking to the media, and disseminating educational materials. It also makes presentations to parliamentary committees.
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be molded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpensive to produce, has led to their widespread use. Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives.
Broadbent Institute is a Canadian progressive and social democratic think tank founded by Ed Broadbent.
Linda Silber Birnbaum is an American toxicologist, microbiologist and the former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, as well as the National Toxicology Program, positions she held from January 18, 2009 until October 3, 2019. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health and as a member of the editorial board of Environment International.
Conservation and restoration of objects made from plastics is work dedicated to the conservation of objects of historical and personal value made from plastics. When applied to cultural heritage, this activity is generally undertaken by a conservator-restorer.
Bisphenol A controversy centers on concerns and debates about the biomedical significance of bisphenol A (BPA), which is a precursor to polymers that are used in some consumer products, including some food containers. The concerns began with the hypothesis that BPA is an endocrine disruptor, i.e. it mimics endocrine hormones and thus has the unintended and possibly far-reaching effects on people in physical contact with the chemical.
The Shaw Institute, formerly the Marine & Environmental Research Institute, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit scientific research organization based in Blue Hill, Maine and New York City. The institute conducts research into ocean pollution, flame retardants, microplastics and plastic pollution, sentinel species and climate change.
Max Liboiron is a Canadian researcher and designer known for their contributions to the study of plastic pollution and citizen science.
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