Whether it’s made of paper or pixels, the latest issue of Alternatives Journal is essential reading. Fresh from his legacy tour, David Suzuki reveals his inner-most thoughts; tar sands decrier Andrew Nikiforuk rips into “ethical oil;” the country’s top green writers tell us what they keep by their bedsides; we […]

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.

We’re gambling that several of the smart, candid and passionate articles in this thought-provoking issue will give you at least a few “aha, I never thought about it that way” moments. To see for yourself, push up your sleeves, grab a cuppa holiday cheer and read one of the articles you […]

Get out of the way Al Gore. Move over George Monbiot. Take a time out Tim Flannery. The new crop of environmental books on bookstore shelves is enough to keep you entertained all summer long and more. So this issue of Alternatives is dedicated to helping you decide what to […]

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.

Editorial: What’s the Buzz? Living It Up – Deborah Curran & Ray TomaltyThe wide range of support for smart growth in Canada promises morelivable towns and cities. Smart Growth Principles – Linda Pim & Joel Ornoy Three Ways We Subsidize Sprawl – Enid Slack Don’t Touch My Property – Deborah Curran

Editorial: No Fish, Two Tories – Robert Gibson From Jigging to Farming – Dean BavingtonThe destructive management principles that led to the collapse of the northern cod stocks are now being applied to the new aquaculture industry.Inset: The Belated Discovery of Cod DiversityInset: Principles of Ecological Aquaculture

Editorial: The Planet is What We Eat – Ray Tomalty Saving Seeds – Bob WildfongFarmers and gardeners are the best hope for protecting what remains of food plant diversity.Inset: Genetic Capital Is Being Eroded in Genebanks by Brenda InouyeInset: Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Jy ChiperzakInset: Heritage Seed Contacts […]

Editorial: Restoring What Was, Attacking What Is – Bob Gibson Beyond Repair – Donna HavingaEcological restoration is as much about transforming values and practices as about repairing damaged ecosystems.Inset: The Transformation of Sudbury by Nigel RichardsonInset: Restoration as Healing by Solomon Boyé

Editorial: When the Going Gets Tough – Ray Tomalty Bitter Harvest – Joan MarshallFor the people of Grand Manan, government-approved exploitation of rockweed is yet another outside threat to local ecosystems and economic sustainability