Alternatives Journal articles from June 2000

Alternatives Journal archives from June 2000

BEYOND SPRAWL.
June 22, 2000... The cover of this issue of Alternatives depicts a vibrant community with a healthy mix of lifestyles and incomes, a variety of transportation choices, and a respect for the intelligence of nature. Many Canadians would want to live in such a...

Cree Battle Quebec Over Forests.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... The James Bay Cree are trying to force the Government of Qu[acute{e}]bec to end clear-cut logging of the boreal forest. The area comprises a quarter of Qu[acute{e}]bec's commercial forest and the province has been issuing logging permits to...

Free Buses Transform Belgian City from Grey to Green.(Hasselt, Belgium)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Four years after introducing free buses and converting its main highway into a walkway and bikeway, Hasselt, Belgium, is basking in its reputation as a world leader in sensible transportation. In 1996, Hasselt's city council decided that...

Romanian Spill Flows Through Gap in International Law.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Eastern Europe's worst ecological catastrophe since Chernobyl is threatening to expand into a nasty conflict over cleanup and compensation responsibility. Last January, cyanide-laced waste waters overflowed a tailing dam at the Baia Mare...

Scavengers Win Global Award.(Belo Horizonte, Brazil)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... A Brazilian city that helped organize its street scavengers and a Swedish community trying to wean itself off fossil fuels are among the five winners of the first Local Initiatives Awards for Excellence. The awards, established by the...

LAW AND ODOUR.(Mexico City pollution )
June 22, 2000... Our intrepid reporter accompanies Mexico City pollution inspectors to a small factory The infamous yellow smog that hangs over Mexico City is a potent symbol of the limited and poorly enforced air quality regulations in the region. This...

FAIRWAY TRAP.(golf courses and wildlife management)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Cash-strapped conservation authorities are being targetted by golf course developers Can a golf course by any other name be environmentally sensitive? Envirogolf Inc. claims it can. The company -- headed by former Conservative MP/former...

SHOULD HUNTING BE ALLOWED IN PARKS?(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Maybe -- Sometimes SOME THINK big wilderness parks should be opened to hunting. Others say hunting would pose a threat to ecological health and bio diversity. As a hunter and ecologist, I know that wilderness hunting poses no threat to...

The Best So Far.(Vancouver - Southeast False Creek redevelopment)
June 22, 2000... Vancouver's remarkable approach to the Southeast False Creek redevelopment is a big step towards sustainable redevelopment planning for urban sites The story of SEFC is the story of two radically different visions of urban sustainability -...

GARDENS OVERHEAD.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Rooftop culture sprouts in North American cities For most people, "the city" is the narrow strip of space at street level, the zone in which we walk, drive, stop to chat and window shop. We are usually blissfully unaware of the complex...

CLIMBING THE WALLS.(vertical gardens)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Vertical gardens can cool buildings and clear the air Like the surfaces of cliffs and ravines, the vertical spaces outside and inside city buildings provide a vast array of opportunities to support plant life. But unlike natural ecosystems,...

RETROFITTING SUBURBIA.(Richmond, BC)
June 22, 2000... Transforming car-dependent subdivisions into transit- and pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods sounds like a miracle -- and it is! More than half the population of North America now lives in suburban areas, and this proportion is steadily...

WALKABOUT.
June 22, 2000... The act of walking is both a joy and a rebellion On a brilliant winter's day, I go walkabout in a forest north of Lakefield, Ontario. There are tangles of dogwood, cedars and fallen logs to get through and just enough room to stand back to...

LIFE WITH LESS SPRAWL.(Japan)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Japanese communities demonstrate designs for more compact living North American cities are like vast, inefficient machines. They sprawl over the landscape in just such a way that maximizes the need for cars, roads and other expensive...

Our Place.(Canadian suburban sprawl)
June 22, 2000... Community ecodesign for the Great White North means re-integrating local culture and nature "We live in two interpenetrating worlds. The first is the living world, which has been forged in an evolutionary crucible over a period of four...

RETROFITTING FREDENSGADE.(Denmark - urban renewal)
June 22, 2000... A small Danish city renews an inner-city block in an extraordinary union of ecology and community A key principle of eco-design is conservation. While this usually brings to mind biological or resource conservation, it can also apply to...

SHARED SPACE.
June 22, 2000... By bringing a range of users under one roof, designers are helping to create more ecological and liveable institutions There is something unusual about the Humberwood Centre in Toronto. [1] From the sidewalk to its canopied front entrance,...

GREENING THE IVORY TOWER.(environmental studies and building planning)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... North American universities learn to apply environmental wisdom The curriculum embedded in any building instructs as fully and as effectively as any course taught in it. David Orr, professor of environmental studies, Oberlin College,...

CRYSTAL WATERS.(Australia; ecovillage)
June 22, 2000... Australian ecovillage is a world-recognized pioneer in low-impact living Few would describe their community as a place where they can stroll through gardens to work, purchase fresh vegetables grown by their neighbours, or watch wallabies...

Cohousing Innovations.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Home ownership is sometimes criticized for its emphasis on privacy and its tendency to focus people inwards to the detriment of community life. In contrast, cohousing is a form of home ownership that emphasizes community and shared space. ...

Smart Growth BC.(a smart growth network in British Columbia)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... The term "smart growth" is gaining currency across North America as shorthand for government and community action to control urban sprawl and build more liveable, sustainable cities. In the US, the smart growth movement received a big boost...

New Urbanism and Communities.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... New urbanism is a "back to the future" approach to urban design that attempts to recover the best traditions of city building and export them to the suburbs. New urbanist developments look like traditional inner-city neighbourhoods: higher...

Green Infrastructure Funds.(funding for conservation, water treatment, and waste management in Canada)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... In its year 2000 budget, the federal government established two new funds dedicated to promoting "green infrastructure" in communities throughout Canada. This would include green approaches to treating water and wastewater, waste management,...

Ecovillage Network of Canada.
June 22, 2000... While governments appear paralyzed or to be making only incremental progress on so many environmental fronts, a recently formed network of activists, developers and design professionals is helping to build a sustainable future on the ground....

International Brownfield Exchange.(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Around the world, post-industrial cities have been burdened with the legacy of former industrial lands, now abandoned and in a state of paralysis due to problems such as soil or groundwater contamination. Revitalization of these...

SALMON LORE.(Review)
June 22, 2000... Tolem Salmon: Life Lessons from Another Species, Freeman House, Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. Totem: (Among some North American aboriginal peoples) the emblem or symbol of a clan or family, usually the animal or plant that the family claims...

PARK POLITICS AND PASSION.(Review)
June 22, 2000... Healy Park, Graeme Pole, Calgary: Mountain Vision Publishing, c/o Rocky Mountain Books, 1998. In its disclaimer, Healy Park is described "a work of fiction, set in Banff National Park, Alberta." But it is also a blend of...

BIOTECH BASHING.(Review)
June 22, 2000... Farmageddon. Food and the Culture of Biotechnology, Brewster Kneen, Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 1999. I once read a glowing review of one of Vandana Shiva's books that began with the observation that few in the west have a...

Letters.
June 22, 2000... The Really Vital Gap I want to commend you on your current issue [Alternatives 26:2]. It is very informative and, I think, accurate with respect to the issues discussed. I have been volunteering with a company -- Blue Energy Canada --...

GLOBAL WORMING.(worms as a gift)(Humor)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... I've got worms. Really nothing to be embarrassed about. I think all of us who have worms need to get out of the compost bucket and share our lifestyle openly. Worms eat my garbage! I'm out. Still, it is difficult being such a visionary. No...