Canada's Environmental Voice
Throughout our near-45-year existence, Alternatives Journal has published countless interviews about the Earth, but sadly none of them with the Earth. Better late than never, we say, and on a lovely sunny Saturday in June, A\J met up with our very own Pachamama as she was enjoying a day of […]
As head of media for Greenpeace International, British author Ben Stewart played a critical role in the saga of the Arctic 30, the Greenpeace activists who were charged with piracy and imprisoned for protesting oil drilling in the Russian Arctic by state-owned company Gazprom. He oversaw the massive global campaign […]
Sad and grey: this is how I remember the Poland of the late 1980s and the early 90s. As a child, I felt overwhelmed by the depressing cityscapes and monotonous, boring design shaping the reality around me. Everything looked kind of the same: no originality, no uniqueness, no style – […]
A\J’s Fashion issue explores the social and ecological impacts of “fast fashion.” In “Picking Up the Threads,” Kelly Drennan of Fashion Takes Action explains how low prices and über-trendiness come at the expense of both people and the environment.
Our go-to style expert Isabel Slone presents a lineup of outfits and products that proves sustainability and style can go hand-in-hand. What makes these clothes sustainable? Slone prioritized natural materials, high quality, ethical labour and shopping at local businesses.
While many clothing companies work to lessen the negative social and environmental impacts of their brands, some designers aim higher. These advocates hope to generate a net positive impact through their revolutionary fashion designs and campaigns around the world.
The world of eyewear is rife with mass-produced, label-driven brands, but if you search beyond the nearest chain or big-box store, you will likely find some truly remarkable glasses. As the buyer for Insight Eye Care, an independent optometry and optical boutique in Waterloo, Ontario, I have had the opportunity […]
Jennifer Lynes is associate professor and director of the Environment and Business program at the University of Waterloo.
Think back to the old folk tale “The Little Red Hen.” In the tale, the red hen’s friends sit idly while she grows the wheat to get the grain to make the flour that eventually makes the bread – that, of course, all the animals want to eat. The moral […]
We can’t get enough fast fashion. Globally, we consume more than 80 billion pieces of clothing each year, many of them hyper-trendy, low-cost items that move from runway to sale rack at breakneck speed. Fashion is a trillion-dollar-a-year industry that increasingly relies on rock-bottom retail prices. The amount of made-in-Canada […]
