Canada's Environmental Voice
A 2007 study by the Nebraska Energy Office demonstrated that when a 2500-square-foot home is constructed, on average 3.6 metric tonnes of waste is produced, all of which is shipped to landfills. Attributed to hotter than average summers, air conditioners, large emitters of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants, are also quickly becoming the norm […]
Housing represents the single largest store of wealth among Canadian individuals and families, and is the largest expense in most household budgets. Housing epitomizes the concept of “use value” where the worth of something comes from how it is used, and not its resale price. Historically, as land was passed down through generations […]
Just when people are applauding the comeback of our cities and urban areas, a new set of challenges has set in. People are flocking to large cities like New York, San Francisco, London, Toronto and Vancouver for the jobs, economic opportunities, density and vibrant lifestyles they offer. Yet, the influx […]
Hi Canada, welcome to (y)our issue – but don’t get too comfortable. This is not your Canadian Living, Style at Home or HGTV Canada. Through these next pages, we’d like to introduce you to Canada’s current housing crisis and what can be done about it.
42.2 COMING HOME explores the complex issue of housing; everything from the current economic crisis to the ways in which where and how we live has an impact on the environment. Guest editors Markus Moos and Sean Hertel, two urban planning gurus, guide you on this journey. Some of the highlights:
St Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church in Toronto is the first sacred building in Canada to be LEED Gold (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. People from outside its community often come to marvel at its environmentally sustainable architecture, living wall, sophisticated ventilation system, and indigenous plants. In tours with inquisitive […]
A\J: What gives you hope in your environmental and social justice work? David Miller: What gives me hope is having had the privilege of seeing environmental initiatives that work, and consider social justice and economic issues at the same time. Those are the lasting solutions. But it also means that […]
It isn’t the burgeoning global human population that is the main threat to planetary sustainability, but rather the escalating expectations of a global human population rapidly committing itself in ever-increasing waves to the current Western “mindset.” This mindset, crystallized by modern economics, generates a world in which economic actors operate […]
Andrew Welch is the author of The Value Crisis.
THIRTY YEARS after Andy Warhol made a series of silkscreen prints to raise awareness of endangered species, evidence of an ongoing sixth mass-extinction event grows. Each year, Canada’s list of species at risk gets longer. A blogger at Scientific American offers an extinction countdown. Scientists provide alarming accounts and warn […]
