Climate Change

How the Blest Machine Works.. A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

The Plastic to Oil Machine

IN FALL 2011, a recycling depot in Whitehorse partnered with Cold Climate Innovation to test a revolutionary plastic-to-oil processor. P&M Recycling, one of two main facilities that serve the Yukon capital’s 23,000-plus residents, had been losing money for years by shipping plastic waste 2,370 km to Vancouver for processing. But […]

New York subway system. A\J AlternativesJournal.ca

Minding the Gap

NEW YORK CITY’S METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (MTA) called the devastation and flooding during last fall’s Hurricane Sandy the biggest disaster the subway system had ever endured. At the first post-storm board meeting, MTA chairman Joe Lhota insisted that “the burden of Sandy will not be upon our riders,” and 80 […]

Orion McKay catches some pickerel for dinner on the Fawn River

Web Exclusive: The Breathing Lands

THE ELDERS OF KITCHENUHMAYKOOSIB INNINUWUG (KI) FIRST NATION KNOW that local water flows through their blood, and that their bodies are built of the trout that swim in its clean rivers and lakes. Taking care of their watershed is a sacred responsibility handed down to the KI youth from the […]

Solar Panels © Sergiogen - Fotolia

Is Solar Unsustainable?

As greenhouse gases go, hexafluoroethane (C2F6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are about as obscure as a high school band at the Rolling Stones concert of atmospheric warming. Nobody’s suggesting they deserve top billing, but Ozzie Zehner of the University of California thinks these three GHGs are worthy […]

EV3 Living Wall

A New Challenge: Beyond Zero Waste

This article was originally published at the Network for Business Sustainability’s Thought Leaders blog.  Cut back. Reduce harm. Do without. Use less stuff. Be less bad. Stripped down to these blunt phrases, the prevalent narrative surrounding sustainability — one based on ideas about constraints, limits and damage mitigation — is […]

wind_solar_Fotolia_44797039_© Eyematrix

Whatever Happened to Renewable Energy?

An international debate over the relative pros and cons of bioenergy has intensified between environmental organizations, governments and climate change leaders in recent years. This lively discussion has been dragging out by the delayed release of the European Union’s sustainability requirements for solid biofuels (originally expected in early 2012).

Anywhere Street Fotolia_34003216_© kalafoto - Fotolia

Planning Great Places

Eager A\J interns (and aspiring urban planners) attended Arriscraft Lecture Series at the School of Architecture at Waterloo along with students and other community members to listen to Toronto’s newly minted chief planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, discuss the best practices in city building and why urbanism truly matters.

A tornado touching down in Kansas. Wind turbines are visible.

Tornado Power

Warm air meets cold, spurring a rush of rotating air, which gathers speed, churning and whistling one hundred metres into the air. The vortex becomes self-sustaining, feeding itself energy as it whips itself into a deadly frenzy. Now a full tornado, it has sublime destructive ability.