Canada's Environmental Voice
Within today’s instantaneously disposable culture, buildings are often thoughtlessly constructed using mass-produced curtain wall and structural systems while capitalizing on consumers’ fleeting needs for ephemerality and ambiguity of space and place. Given the demands of the marketplace, how and why would anyone ever design an architectural program based on localized […]
The Neptis Foundation is well known for its research reports on land use and transportation issues in the Toronto region. It is one of the few outfits currently publishing material at a regional scale of analysis in Canada. So when Neptis releases a new report, it’s a bit of an […]
Sharing is about maximizing the use of products, services and ideas in order to minimize overall consumption by a community. This principle has a surprising number of applications – people can and do share just about anything. It’s also nothing new; sharing books, movies, equipment and hand-me-downs has been common […]
A new generation of conscientious hair salons is cropping up across Canada, offering a breath of fresh air in a usually toxic industry. Here’s how salons and their customers can – pardon the pun – join the cutting edge of sustainability.
Christian McEachern recalls his time as a peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia as working “22 or 23 hours a day on the front line, being shot at – or guys are getting killed or wounded with land mines.” During his 14 years in the Canadian Forces, including tours on United […]
For the most part we live in an age of “use it and toss it.” I lived this reality recently when I needed one rechargeable battery for the three-phone set in my home. I went to four stores and was running out of possibilities. No one had a replacement battery […]
I won’t sugarcoat it: sharing isn’t always easy. Some of the toughest moments of my life have been failed attempts to share things. I’m not talking about books or my bike or a pot of borscht. I mean the big stuff: living spaces, investments of time and money, collective ambitions […]
There’s no doubt that our economy has been built upon acquisitiveness. Since the Second World War, incessant growth has been based on mass production; mass production has been based on creating and channeling demand; and demand has been based on the desire to have or own. We are trained from […]
One day in 2010, three leaders of environmental organizations – REEP Green Solutions, Sustainable Waterloo Region, and The Region of Waterloo – met to discuss an outstanding idea: to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Waterloo Region through local collaboration.
It’s the secret ingredient to building better communities, a stronger economy and a healthier planet – and the cultural shift we’ve been waiting for. Every time we choose not to go it alone, we get a better grip on how to move forward.
