Canada's Environmental Voice
YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER heard of Fred Cottrell, and that’s a shame. The American sociologist wrote an idea-busting book in 1955, Energy and Society, in which he argued that the availability of energy set and erased the limits of what human beings can do. He revised the essay in 1972, seven years […]
IN THE COLDEST NIGHT of the season, well below freezing, and the tawny grasses are stiff with frost. Since dawn we’ve been trekking through a shadowy forest of pine and fir, eventually reaching a wide, arched meadow with views extending to the south and west. Ts’yl?os [pronounced, Ts-eye´-los], sacred mountain […]
AN IMPORTANT PART of any student’s education is hands-on experience. In 1968, a rare opportunity to put this maxim into practice materialized as the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in northwestern Ontario. Some have referred to it as a summer camp for scientists.
MIRANDA ANDERSEN BELIEVES that young people should play an active role in influencing the issues they care about. “Kids should get involved in something they love because it’s easier to get your message out when you’re a kid,” says the 13-year-old resident of Port Moody, BC. “When others see that […]
A NIGHT HIKE in the Amazon forest is incredibly deceptive. Your vision is limited to the narrow light of your headlamp, with stark blackness beyond. Cecropia leaves the size of serving trays reflect light back into your eyes, adding to the mystery of what lies around, above and even below you.
THEY SIT BEMUSED under the equatorial sun, like the victims of natural catastrophe, an earthquake perhaps, the second shock imminent and inescapable. The young men and women of Nauru. Theirs is the first nation in a hundred years to plummet from “First World” to “Third World” status in a single […]
WHILE 100-MILE DIETERS provide a ray of hope, small-scale farmers the world over continue to face intense pressures, and many are still forced out of farming each year. In response, we need to think carefully about our aspirations for the 21st century food system.
You’ve heard it before – small is beautiful. Whether it’s farming, mining or producing energy, the size of the operation is important. Despite the welcome trend toward smaller scale production, however, it isn’t always the best solution. In this edition of Alternatives Journal , we look at the issue of […]
ON APRIL 17, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver stood behind a podium on the warehouse floor of Automatic Coating Limited’s Centre for Pipe Line Coating Innovation, in the industrial heart of Scarborough. Renowned for its technologically advanced and fully automated production lines, ACL has made a name for itself […]
Through sharing her adventures and reflections in the food movement, Jo Anne will explore complex issues from a youth perspective, including: the need for an innovative, integrated, empowerment-focused approach to food security; the connections between social justice, environmental issues, and food production; and reviews of foodie events in the Greater […]
