At the West Coast Green conference last weekend, I had the opportunity to sit down with EcoTop/EcoClad creator Joel Klippert, and Squak Mountain Stone creator Amee Quiriconi to talk about the creation of green surfaces. The two recently joined creative forces to develop Trinity Glass
This week, president Bush tries to convince the world he
Last year’s Nuit Blanche all-night contemporary art festival was such a hit (400,000 people showed up!) that it is being repeated in Toronto tonight, but is now ScotiaBank Nuit Blanche, and some people think that it has gone all mainstream and corporate. The Toronto Public Space Committee has organized not blanche, an alternative, non corporatized version that is less about art and more about public space and urban issues.
They have organized a poster harvesting/button making crew- “Harvest expired posters from around the neighbourhood, then come back and make your own unique wearable piece of public space!”
Beijing parents who belong to the urban migration in China have found an opportunity to bring their children back to the land. On 17 hectares east of Beijing Capital International Airport, the Agrilandia Italian Farm opens its doors to visitors who want to sprawl in the grass, eat an authentic Italian meal or self-pick around twenty varieties each of apricots, cherries, plums, peaches, apples, grapes and pears. Claudio Bonfatti, and his wife Lu Hongwei, started the farm as a family retreat and to grow vegetables and herbs for authentic Italian dishes at their Beijing restaurant, Peter …
In Germany, that is what they call the development of low-carbon or no-carbon technologies needed to wean economies off fossil fuels. In theory, the wealth and the jobs – entire industries perhaps – created by the technologies would help to offset the potentially horrendous costs of reducing carbon output.
Eric Reguly quotes a report that suggested the third industrial revolution is well under way in Germany. It said the new energy and ecology-related fields are becoming the country’s top job creation engine. “By 2020, this sector will be employing more people than mechanical engineering or the automotive industry,” said the writer of the report. Already, Germany has created ab…
We looked at this earlier, but now 13 environmental groups have released a comparison of the Conservative, Green, Liberal and NDP platforms.
Unlike in the United States, there is a remarkable consensus in Ontario; Peter Gorrie of the Star notes that all of the parties claim to be green, and are in fact tripping over each other to convince voters they’re on the right side of what has become a motherhood issue.
The analysis rated each party as “Yes,” “No,” or “partial” on six major issues. As expected, the Greens got the most “Yes” marks and no “No’s.” They’re far out on their own because, true to …
Heidi Sopinka of the Globe and Mail looks at the chemical composition of deodorants, even from the health food store, and asks “Is it possible to obliterate body odour and be good to the planet?” and concludes that it is pretty tough. 50% of “natural” deodorants contain petroleum-based propylene glycol; others contain gender bender triclosan, parabens, and talc, which is illegally mined in India.
She concludes: Avoid antiperspirants entirely, and if after reading the label you find no mention of parabens, talc or propylene glycol, you’re on the right track. You might have to arrange for emergency reapplications t…
I’m a technology optimist and it’s going to be an important part of the solutions, but yet on Monday, Alcoa represented industries speaking in the United Nations in the mitigation plenary, what did he say? He said, we need clear, enforced, global policies and we need fair, effective and binding international commitments. That was the message from industry on Monday because if they get that, the drive towards doing what is right will be there and they will be able to grow, they will be able to invest and they will be able to do the right thing towards clean ene…
So many chemicals in our houses, in our carpets, bedding, insulation, paints, glues and countless other household goods. Adriana Barton at the Globe and Mail finds that the potential health hazards of many everyday chemicals have only recently come under scrutiny. She writes:
Bisphenol A, found in plastic items such as drinking bottles, causes reproductive-system defects in animals; so do flame retardants and phthalates used in fragrances, lotions, vinyl and other products. The risks to human health aren’t well documented, however – and even less is known about the compound effects of chemical cocktails in the body.
People have reason to be concerned about potential toxicants and aller…