Canada's Environmental Voice
THIS ISSUE OF ALTERNATIVES demonstrates what sets it apart from other environmental magazines. The theme is Testing for Sustainability. In it, one might think we would discuss questions relating to what sustainable development is and whether we can use fossil fuels sustainably. These are the topics that come to mind […]
DAVE THOMPSON POCKETED a cool $1.75 million a couple of days after the Ontario government released details about its greenbelt and Thompson learned that his land sat just outside its borders. Four years from now, he’ll receive the balance – another $1.75 million earned from the sale of his 40-hectare […]
IT TOOK A CENTURY, but energy-rich Alberta has finally replaced Ontario as the wealthiest province in Canada. While economic indicators suggest this to be true, social and environmental indicators tell a different story. They prove the old adage may be right: You can’t buy happiness. Alberta’s Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) […]
“Climate porn.” That’s how the Institute for Public Policy Research in Britain depicts the portrayal of the climate crisis by media and governments. In the organization’s report, “Warm Words,” the authors claim the apocalyptic and external framing of global warming convinces the public that climate change is inevitable and therefore […]
A RADICAL TRANSFORMATION of education would develop an ecologically literate society – one that understands the principles of ecological systems and uses them to design human systems.
The first and most important thing to say about food,” writes Wayne Roberts in this issue of Alternatives, “is that there is no first and most important thing to know about food.” This apparent riddle summarizes the message in our latest issue “Just Food.” Food is ubiquitous, affecting health, social […]
“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 […]
Bill Rees says it best, “If you want sustainable cities, folks, they depend on sustainable countryside.” Yet the agricultural and natural lands that surround our urban centres are being systematically paved over and dug up to make way for housing, highways and industrial development.
It’s not that we don’t know how to determine if a project is sustainable. More often it’s that we fail to apply the tests that exist. This issue of Alternatives describes the many ways that we can test the sustainability of a project, a product or a service. It features […]
Water Privateers – Tony ClarkeInternational trade agreements and loan conditions are pushing the privatization of public water systems around the world.Inset: Water Privatization Glossary – David A. McDonaldInset: GATS Threat – Karl Flecker Public Water – Ron CrawleyThe Canadian Union of Public Employees has been leading the fight against the privatization of […]
