Canada's Environmental Voice
DESPITE THE DIAGNOSES of spin doctors, an activist is not anti-government, anti-corporate, anti-Canadian or the antichrist. In fact, any citizen who tries to address important social and political issues is pro-democratic, patriotic and downright responsible. Get started with these tips:
VANDANA SHIVA'S speaking tour hit Waterloo last fall. To audiences across the continent, she exposed the strengthening grip of corporate control on global food systems, and the complicity of Western governments in allowing it to happen. Shiva promotes a re-imagination of the dominant economic, political and socio-cultural systems, into holistic […]
IT WAS TOO MUCH of a challenge for some of our board members and staff to select the title of only one environmental classic that most influenced them, as well as only one contemporary book they would highly recommend. In fact, Marcia Ruby, Alternatives’ long-time production co-ordinator, chose to do […]
AT A CLIMATE change conference in Vancouver in 1996, I ran into David Suzuki. He wasn’t well versed on the issue back then and wanted to know if there were any companies doing something about climate- change. I named a few and he suggested that it would be a good […]
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS to difficult problems are exceedingly rare. Their attraction, however, is undeniable. The world is awash in cults, fanaticisms and miracle cures. Millions of media minutes are devoted to how we can stop climate change by dumping iron filings in the ocean, prevent cancer by taking massive doses of […]
WHAT THE WARMING WORLD needs now,” writes author Bill McKibben in Grist magazine, “is art, sweet art.” Precisely because environmental problems are rooted in cultural practices and ideologies, it is artists, immersed in world and cultural practices, who are ideally situated to locate and develop effective- responses. In fact, we’ve […]
THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENT of Earth Day Canada’s Outstanding Commitment to the Environment Award, Bruce Cockburn is a singer/songwriter and activist. An Officer of the Order of Canada and the honorary chair of Friends of the Earth, Cockburn has used his music to oppose degradation of the environment – from destructive […]
WHEN JONATHAN GLENCROSS arrived at McGill University, he had no intention of changing the institution. Yet four years later, this is precisely what he has helped do. Enrolled in the McGill School of Environment, Glencross has become one of the driving forces behind the university’s dramatically increased commitment to sustainability.
SINCE ROMAN PLEBEIANS rose up against their masters in the fifth century BCE, social movements have been the most important force for advancing progressive change. They work because ordinary people – like you and me – are the ultimate source of power in any society: People in positions of economic, […]
The following is an abridged version of an interview with Sarah Harmer. To hear the full interview, listen to Rocking the Environment podcast! Nicola Ross: How was the Niagara Escarpment part of your childhood?
