Lifestyles EDITORRICA TALAY | Free naloxone kits were handed out to participants at the Naloxone Training Party Two at UBC on Oct. 10. Students sat at individual stations to participate in the interactive presentation put on by UBC's student society, AMS VICE, in partnership with Karmik. @yR4 DIONNE PHOTO Naloxone party criticized Anti-harm reduction individuals criticize training session lM By MYRA DIONNE training session for ad- ministering naloxone, an opioid overdose pre- vention medication, was criticized by individuals who feel that harm reduction plans can lead to an increase of opioid use. ‘The Naloxone Party Two took place last Friday and was organized by UBC’s student society, AMS VICE, in partnership with Karmik, a harm reduction organization. Alex Duancey, a VICE coordina- tor, said “I've received a few mes- sages through the Facebook that essentially said, if you give kids nal- oxone they're going to start using heroine.” “This idea that if you try and give students tools to use healthier, you're actually kind of putting your stamp of ap- proval [of] their use which is ob- -ousl h Marium Hamid viously not what sTupENT SERVICES we're doing, MANAGER Duancey said. For UBC students, accessing naloxone kits means having a one- on-one session with a nurse which can be intimidating, according to Marium Hamid, student services manager. She said the event creates a sense of community so people know they’re not battling the cri- sis alone and she believes giving people access to safer ways of doing substance has not empirically lead to higher rates of that being used. “Our logo is find your balance, so that balance can look very different for a lot of different people,” Hamid said. Students gathered in an audito- rium where supplies were set up at individual stations for hands-on participation during the two-hour interactive presentation. Jasmeen Dosanjh, a psychology student at UBC, said she attended because the event page looked in- viting. “Having an event like this, you can talk about it openly and there's no stigma around it, well there is, but [students] feel like there's less stigma,” Dosanjh said. Munroe Craig, founder of Karmik, said naloxone’s a contro- versial topic, however, the goal of the training sessions is to engage conversation and original thinking. “Naloxone is great but it's only going to be the first step,” Craig said. “It is the first step to moving forward into a bigger understand- ing of what's going on.” Metro to mull textiles waste ban The third of our three-part zero waste series ex- plores fabrics THREE-PART SERIES = By DANICA WALKER etro Vancouver board members will be review- ing the proposal of ban- ning textiles in disposal bins in January and according to a senior project engineer the ban still has a long way to go before it’s imple- mented. According to their proposal page “Metro Vancouver is considering a disposal ban on clothing, which makes up about 2.3 per cent of gar- bage in the region." ‘The textile ban would be mod- elled on the organics ban, where a surcharge is issued to those who dispose of banned materials in gar- bage, said Karen Storry, senior proj- ect engineer for Zero Waste Imple- mentation at Metro Vancover. The city will not provide bins for pickup of garments but will allow the private sector to handle textile waste. Instead of textiles going into re- gional landfills Metro Vancouver hopes it will be put into established models for textile waste such as thrifting, donation bins or are made into new materials. “From the research we did, less than one per cent of the material of garments are actually made into new garments,” Storry said. “Cloth- ing is not easily recycled into new garments with existing technology.” According to Storry, if the clothes arent sold in thrift stores they go to a clothing sorter-grader, who chooses whether or not the textiles can be made into new materials or sold overseas. She said typically the clothes can be made into wiping rags if it’s cotton, and insulation but they get more value by selling bulk clothing to overseas second hand markets. Thirfters shopping for pre-owned clothing at The Rag Machine on Main Street, Vancouver on Oct. 13. DANICA WALKER PHOTO Big Brothers of Greater Van- couer provide clothing donation bins and options for textile recy- cling as part of their fundraising model. ‘They are open to working with the government to sup-port the textile ban. “We work with our mu- nicipal government on social pro- gramming for the community, so it only makes sense that we partner with them on this initiative as well,” Mandy Wong, manager of development and marketing at Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver to The Voice in an email. Ashley Haier, store manager at ‘The Rag Machine, a second-hand clothing store, said sales have in- creased over the past year which she attributes to people becoming more conscious of recycling. THURSDAY, NOV.16, 2017 | THE VOICE 9 Using art to heal the mind Therapists use cre- ative ways to help their clients with mental illness m=By NATALIA BUENDIA CALVILLO ? 4 herapists believe that art classes help people recover from serious mental illness- es when ina group setting. Ingrid Séchting director of the UBC psychology clinic said art can help to relax and expose a different understanding of oneself. “There are so many things that words cannot fully express, so hav- ing means of artistic expression can be extremely powerful and helpful,” Séchting said. The Art Studios in South Vancou- ver offer free art classes and are supported by the Vancouver Re- covery Through Addiction Soci- ety, a non-profit society formed in 2012. Par- ticipants must be diagnosed with severe addictions or mental illnesses such as schizo- phrenia, bipolar disorder, psychosis or other concurrent disorders. Over a period of 10 weeks, students over 16-years-old are taught art skills like painting, pottery, drawing and printmaking. Ann Weborn, vice chair of VR- TAS and occupational therapist at The Art Studios, said five-minute mindfulness meditation session be- fore class allows members to slow down and learn to be in the mo- ment. The group helps build social skills and artistic skills, according to Weborn. “They feel safe here, they open up about their challenges and are willing to work on them in the pro- gram,” Weborn said. “I love being surrounded by their great art.” Colleen McNeil, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, PTSD and anxiety when she was 22-years-old. After being a student, she became a dedicated instructor and is pas- sionate about seeing her students’ improvement. McNeil said art led her to self- discovery “and while the meds keep you ‘comfortably numb’, creating art helps you remember who you Ingrid Sochting UBC PSYCHOLOGY CLINIC DIRECTOR “When youre ill, it’s very difficult to reach your soul,” McNeil said. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL AND ART THERAPISTS Occupational therapists They help patients develop, recover, improve, as well as teaching the skills needed for daily living and working. Art therapists They use art expression to help patients analyze their emotions. 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