Back in 1971, a young professor and an enthusiastic student at Trent University used electric typewriters, scissors and a lot of glue to produce the first edition of Alternatives Journal. They wanted to bring environmental protection and sustainability issues to a wider audience. Forty years later, the magazine stands as […]

A Boeing 777 has approximately 150,000 subsystems, although under ideal conditions only a few hundred are needed. If it crashed, its 400 passengers and flight crew might perish. When Canada’s cod fishery collapsed, it put 40,000 people out of work, devastated a $500-million-per-year industry and killed countless fish. The US […]

Despite the Internet and the iPad, it’s hard to imagine that books will give way altogether. And as for environmental books, there are more than ever before on bookstore shelves. As Stephen Bocking points out in this issue of Alternatives, information is important, but stories are essential. That is exactly […]

Just as parents aren’t supposed to favour any one of their children, it’s risky for editors to have a special attachment to a particular issue of their magazine. Nonetheless, this other-worldly issue is very dear to our editor-in-chief. From space travel to crop circles, rainmakers to junk building, swamis to […]

NOWHERE ELSE will you find a comprehensive directory of Canadian environmental programs to choose from. All universities and programs have their strengths and stories, and Alternatives Journal has made it quick and easy to compare. Accenting the directory are fascinating stories of innovative education. Find out who and what’s pushing […]

Initially intended to celebrate our nation’s spectacular biodiversity in 2010, the UN International Year of Biodiversity, Alternatives Journal could not help but highlight Ottawa’s spectacular failure to value these invaluable ecosystems. At the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, Canada may be blocking progress, rather than encouraging it.

20 books in review, 11 teasers, 2 excerpts, 3 essays, 13 staff favourites and 20 bestsellers. Featuring a whopping total of 77 new releases and timeless classics, our 2nd annual issue on environmental books is the ultimate guide to green reading.

Now on newsstands Is ecology the “master science” of the 21st century? Thomas Homer-Dixon argues that it could be society’s new dominant science, just as physics was in the 20th century. In this issue of Alternatives, we take a deep look at The New Ecology, with articles from Bill Rees, […]

“Sustainability” is a monstrous concept. Perhaps no other term exposes such a vast gulf between frequency of use and level of understanding. With its newest issue, Your Town: Sustainable by Design, Alternatives jumps in to fill that gap. Deborah Curran uncovers sustainability’s wicked nature, while Ray Tomalty and Mark Redwood […]

Please note, the print copy you receive of this issue may be a black and white reprint. Going to work is so much a part of our lives that sometimes we forget to think about it. This issue of Alternatives will encourage you to reflect on how we spend the […]