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Search Results for "pollution"
That 70’s AJ
The “age of ecology” dawned at the end of the 1960s. Cold-war fears of nuclear fallout, warnings of a pesticide-laden silent spring and rivers so polluted they caught fire drove new attention to the environment. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. The US created its Environmental Protection Agency […]
In the Wake of Walkerton
Naïve? Perhaps it was, but 15 years ago the public perception was that Canadians don’t die from drinking tap water. We certainly don’t die from drinking water from a municipal supply in Southwestern Ontario. So when the small town of Walkerton found its drinking water supply contaminated over the course […]
Will Bladeless Turbines Save Wind Power?
Vortex Bladeless calls itself “the new paradigm of wind power.” The Spanish startup is developing wind turbines that generate power through vibration, without the need for the distinctive spinning blades of conventional wind power. So confident are they that this will be a popular idea, they began crowdfunding their work […]
Why Does Canada Hate Indigenous Rights? One Word: Oil.
Why does Canada hate Indigenous rights? Or, more properly, why has the government campaigned so hard to subdue the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), even when it’s now enshrined in a UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)? The specific right to FPIC, as it […]
Pope Points the Way
On June 18, Pope Francis released a 180-page encyclical letter on the environment, addressed to every person on the planet. He covers a lot of ground: pollution, our throwaway culture, the breakdown of society. Here are the passages that particularly resonate with A\J.
Ethical Spectacles
The world of eyewear is rife with mass-produced, label-driven brands, but if you search beyond the nearest chain or big-box store, you will likely find some truly remarkable glasses. As the buyer for Insight Eye Care, an independent optometry and optical boutique in Waterloo, Ontario, I have had the opportunity […]
The Best Things Ever of All Time, This Week!
EACH WEEK, A\J staffers share our favourite facts & findings from whatever books, articles, documentaries, podcasts and other media we’ve been consuming. Here’s what we’ve learned this week!
How the Fashion Industry is Picking Up the Threads After Rana Plaza
We can’t get enough fast fashion. Globally, we consume more than 80 billion pieces of clothing each year, many of them hyper-trendy, low-cost items that move from runway to sale rack at breakneck speed. Fashion is a trillion-dollar-a-year industry that increasingly relies on rock-bottom retail prices. The amount of made-in-Canada […]
The Footprint of Fabrics
Raw Cotton Demand: ~26.0 million tonnesWater use: Up to 3860** litres/kgEnergy use: 50 MJ/kg Pesticides or chemicalsHeavy pesticide use leads to reduced soil fertility, loss of biodiversity and water pollution. Effluent/pollution from manufacturingEcosystem contamination from pollutants in runoff. Toxic wastewater from manufacturing process (e.g., cleaning, dyeing).*
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