As I hear more about the negative effects of sports betting on young people, it’s clear we have a gambling problem.

Welcome to the 179^th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with alarming stats on our gambling problem, this week’s edition looks at greenwashing, starwashing, and greener data centres.

On my mind this week: Our gambling problem

In recent weeks and months, I’ve been hearing more and more about the negative effects of sports gambling on young people, especially young men.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction reports one in three adults aged 18 to 29 are gambling online. Close to 70% of them meet the criteria for problem gambling, including reduced savings, increased debt, and compromised wellbeing due to feelings of regret and self-perceived failure.

Earlier this year, CBC News reported an alarming increase in young men contacting Ontario’s mental health helpline for gambling-related problems. After the province allowed private online gambling, gambling-related calls from young men aged 15 to 24 increased by more than 300%.

It’s clear that we have a gambling problem. Well, duh. What did we think would happen when we put a casino in the hands of every person with a smartphone? Every time we watch sports on TV, we’re inundated with ads for a sports betting site. The appeal is just too much for a young person struggling with life.

The Globe and Mail tells us Ontario has the dubious honour of being considered North America’s most competitive online gambling market, with 48 operators running 83 websites offering online casinos and sports-betting platforms.

Last week’s Retirement Coaches Association conference featured a talk with Michael Franzese. Once a high ranking member of the mafia, Franzese turned his life around while in jail. Since his release, he has dedicated himself to helping others. As part of his work, he speaks to pro athletes and college athletes about the perils of gambling. He hit the nail on the head when he said, “The more access to gambling, the bigger the problems.”

Between AI companions, the online manosphere, rampant misinformation, and online gambling, I fear for the future of our young people.

Is it too late to put the genie back in the bottle?

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Quote of the week

In gambling, the many must lose in order that the few may win.

George Bernard Shaw

Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• On Thursday, I attended a gathering of retirement and benefits industry colleagues at our Southwestern Ontario ISCEBS Chapter social in London. It was terrific to catch up and meet some new people.
• I travelled to Charlottetown on Friday to visit Colleen. My travels went smoothly and I got to see Colleen’s new condo. It’s lovely.
• On Saturday, Colleen and I went out for a long walk on the Confederation Trail that is just steps from her new place.

Things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:

From greenwashing to starwashing

First there was greenwashing, then pinkwashing. Now there’s starwashing.

As companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin expand into space, the risks to Earth increase: air pollution, climate effects, and light pollution to name a few. Yet these mega-corporations and the billionaires that run them trumpet the message that space operations can make life better on Earth.

There’s a new name for this type of rhetoric: “starwashing.” Why does this matter? Focusing on space takes precious resources away from solving our problems right here on Earth.

(Source: Grist)

EU takes action against greenwashing

New anti-greenwashing rules take place in the European Union today. Along with stricter product labelling rules, the EmpCo Directive (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) calls for an end to vague eco-friendly and green slogans, and carbon-neutral claims backed only by offsets rather than reducing impacts at the source.

(Source: Crisbie Coach)

Greener data centres are possible

Data centres have been in the news a lot lately—for all the wrong reasons. But a new data centre in Switzerland highlights that data centres don’t have to be water-sucking, energy hogs.

Infomaniak’s D4 Project in Geneva hosts 10,000 high performance servers underneath a residential neighbourhood. The heat from the servers pumps warmth directly into the taps and radiators of 6,000 local homes. 

(Source: Ethical Disruption on Substack)

I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.