Alternatives Journal articles from August 2008

Alternatives Journal archives from August 2008

Countryside is an option.(Editorial)
August 1, 2008... I LOOK OUT over the Credit River valley and the Niagara Escarpment from my home office. It's early May and soon leaves will have burst open. But for a few days, there is an ephemeral green tinge to the maple and beech, basswood and birch trees...

Bottled out.(CANADIAN NEWS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Bottles containing Bisphenol A were the first to get dunked. Now the Canadian Federation of Students has partnered with the Polaris Institute and the Sierra Youth Coalition to establish bottled-water-free zones on Canadian campuses. Launched on...

Pinot vert.(CANADIAN NEWS)(waste management of wineries)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Inniskillin Wines of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario will be sending its wastes to StormFisher Biogas in nearby Port Colborne. Inniskillin, which operates about 100 hectares of vineyards, will supply seeds and other waste to the planned...

Bearly trying.(CANADIAN NEWS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Polar bears are on their way to being better protected in Manitoba. In February, the province declared the bears to be"- threatened" under its endangered species legislation. The announcement came months after a Suzuki Foundation report on...

Reckless and stupid.(Letter to the editor)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The Cupboard is Bare," an article I wrote for Alternatives (32:3, 2006), predicted an intensifying food crisis. At that time, in a desperate effort to explain the farm income crisis, policy-makers were talking about food "over--supply." "glut,"...

Going paperless.(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2008... Just over a year ago, I had the pleasure of discovering your magazine in Trent University's library. Since then, I have been delighted whenever a new issue has appeared on our shelves, and disappointed when it is already in someone else's...

Humour works.(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2008... It came to my attention while reading "Alternatives (Brain Mulch, 34:1, 2008) that there are surprisingly few environmental jokes used in our society. While I believe that our environment should in no way be perceived as a witty topic. the use...

Beetle juice.(Letter to the editor)
August 1, 2008... Insects are an excellent source of nutrients, but unfortunately, Western culture sees them as pests ("Eating Insects," 34:1, 2008). A most promising concept is that these nutritious animals can help feed the world's poor without causing...

Bayer blames god.(Bayer Crop-Science)
August 1, 2008... WHAT DOES A GOVERNMENT do when it discovers that there have been illegal releases of genetically modified organisms within its borders? And that the release involved GMOs that were never approved for human consumption or even for commercial...

Whole new BALLE game.(Business Alliance for Local Living Economics)
August 1, 2008... THE ENVIRONMENT and the economy are locked in a struggle that shows few signs of resolutions-that is, unless you're familiar with the Business Alliance for Local Living Economics, otherwise know as BALLE. Formed in 2001, BALLE has over 50...

Paper dragons.(CANADIAN NEWS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Quick, how many pages of reports, emails, letter or memos have you printed out today? If you are an average Canadian employee, according to a recent Leger Marketing poll, the number is 30. More astonishing is the finding that nearly a dozen of...

Eden Mills goes carbon neutral.(CANADIAN NEWS)(Ontario)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... A picturesque village with a big goal, Eden Mills, Ontario wants to be the first carbon-neutral community in North America. Home to 350 people, Eden Mills has adopted a grassroots approach to tackle the issue of climate change. Local green...

Inuit halt uranium mine.(CANADIAN NEWS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... By a one-vote margin, members of the Nunatsiavut Assembly representing the Labrador Inuit halted uranium mining on their land for three years. The move, according to Nunatsiavut Government Lands and Resources Minister William Barbour, had to do...

Not easy being green.(NEWS FROM AWAY)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... On country roads it's not uncommon to see road kill. Oftentimes raccoons seem to be hard hit, but it turns out that the carcasses of these adorable pests are outnumbered by amphibians. In a 17-month study, researchers from Purdue University in...

International Environment Day.(NEWS FROM AWAY)(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... The United Nations Environment Programme encourages the world to celebrate International Environment Day each year on June 5. This year's theme, Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy, marks the 35th such event. The main elebration will...

Burgerville.(restaurant chain)
August 1, 2008... THE SCENE: a fast-food drive-through somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. (the crackle of a fast-food order speaker) Order Speaker Welcome! If you'll turn off your engine, I'll take your order. Driver I'll have a free-range turkey...

Saving the land that feeds us: how to revitalize our near-urban farmland and curb sprawl.
August 1, 2008... 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...

Bringing the farm to the inner city: how one CSA is improving food security in Winnipeg.(community shared agriculture)
August 1, 2008... IN WINNIPEG'S inner city, grocery stores that sell fresh affordable produce are hard to come by, so low-income residents are more apt to buy potato chips than fresh potatoes. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Shift your gaze 30 kilometres south...

Growing organic: Mennonite farmers are well suited for organic farming.
August 1, 2008... THE NUMBER of farmers clad in their traditional black suits in attendance at this year's organic conference in Guelph, Ontario should put smiles on the faces of people hoping to see an increased supply of chemical-free produce in Southwestern...

Citizen monitors: if it wasn't for Sharon and Jim Bradley, Lake Wilcox may have been totally overrun by sprawl.
August 1, 2008... LAKE WILCOX should be safe. It is on the Oak Ridges Moraine, an area specially protected under Ontario planning law. But if Lake Wilcox isn't ruined by spreading suburbia, it will owe more to Sharon and Jim Bradley than to planning policies....

Cinching sprawl: worldwide experience with greenbelts can help Calgary protect its near-urban lands.
August 1, 2008... Calgary is losing the density game. Each year, its 3-per-cent population gain takes up 4.5 per cent more space. A greenbelt, according to international wisdom, could help save the city's near-urban lands. BILL REES, co-author of...

Calgary in the year 2050.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... If Calgary's annual growth in area (currently 4.5 per cent) were limited to its annual population growth (3 percent), it would have a profound effect in reducing sprawl

Saying no to growth: Okotoks, Alberta uses carrying capacity to shape its future.
August 1, 2008... AT A TIME when living beyond one's means seems to be the rule rather than the exception, the town of Okotoks is bucking the trend. It has limited its boundary and capped its population at 30,000. Why 30,000? Thai's the carrying capacity of the...

Places to grow: the McGuinty government dictates where people will live.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... WITH FOUR MILLION more people expected to flock to Southern Ontario's Greater Golden Horseshoe by 2031, something has to be done to ease the region's debilitating traffic gridlock and unchecked urban sprawl. The McGuinty government's response...

Vote for de-suburbanization: new policies are key to reining in sprawl.
August 1, 2008... IT ALL STARTED when the American dream of single-family home ownership leaked into Canada. Yet who would have predicted that the desire to provide inexpensive housing and stimulate the economy after the Second World War would result in the...

Backyard and on--street infill housing.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... Infill is a way of adding people to a city without demolition and redevelopment. Although it is a simple way to achieve more compact cities, infill in residential zones is usually restricted to large corner side yards and special sites. The...

Street food: Brazilian street vending nourishes the local economy and supports farmers.(Viewpoint essay)
August 1, 2008... WHEN I ARRIVED from Brazil to start my studies in Canada, I felt ready to live in a new country and ready to adjust myself to a different food culture. I still believe I was right about the first feeling. But it took me only a few hours to...

Fleeting opportunity.(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Some Like It Cold: The Politics of Climate Change in Canada, Robert Paehlke, Toronto: Between the Lines, 2008, 240 pages. Climate change, climate forcing, global warming-all these terms frame a collective public debate about the future of...

Self government.(Book review)
August 1, 2008... Reconciliation: First Nations Treaty Making in British Columbia, Tony Penikett, Vancouver: Douglas and Mclntyre, 2006, 303 pages. The Supreme Court of Canada issued judgment in 1973 on the land rights of the Nisga'a Indians of the Nass...

Constructive tension.(Book review)
August 1, 2008... The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking, Roger Martin, Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press, 2007, 224 pages. One great insight can make a book. Roger Martin's latest title, The Opposable...

Notice of my death.(Brief article)
August 1, 2008... [...] I belive my enviromental advocacy contributed to making Canada's envrioment a little better than it would have been without my efforts. I liked being an envrionmental activist. I enjoyed a good argument (as long as it wasn't personal), I...

Biofools.(Weltschmerz)(Cartoon)
August 1, 2008... COULD I GET A FILLERUPPUCCINO? WHAT BLEND DUNNO. ANYTHING FAIR-TRADE, OILSANDS-FREE? HOLD THE ETHANOL.. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SORRY. BUT YOU MAY WANNA TRY THE HIGH-OCTANE SOY-FOSSIL BLEND. ADD A SHOT OF ORGANIC BLUE CORN...

There will be hunger.(Weltschmerz)(Cartoon)
August 1, 2008... HOT DAMN! I'VE STRUCK BIOFUEL! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THERE'S OIL IN THEM THAR BOWLS! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GREAT! 22 MEALS! THAT'LL FILL'ER UP! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 22 MEALS ?! DID I DREAM THAT RIGHT? ...