Lawrence Grassi was a trailblazer. An immigrant from Italy he was a respected mountaineer and guide who built and maintained many of the original trails throughout the mountains around Canmore, Alberta. Short of stature and eschewing alpine guide stereotypes for suspenders and hobnail boots Grassi was one of the key personalities in Canmore's early history. And the school that bears his name, Lawrence Grassi middle school, has blazed a trail much in its namesake's fashion. Nothing too fancy, but a lot of hard work and common sense can go a long way.
More than 15 years ago, at the start of my medical career and expecting my first child, the neurologist confirmed what the first clinician had suspected -- the tremor I had been experiencing over the preceding year was Young Onset Parkinson's Disease. Genetics seemed to have loaded the gun, but what exactly pulled the trigger?
The children born into one of Metro Vancouver's newest communities will live and learn in homes and schools that are at least LEED Gold. Their childcare centre, part of SFU's UniverCity, celebrates its first anniversary this month, and is expected to be certified as Canada's first Living Building - which is to say, the first building with a zero environmental footprint. These are youngsters who will believe, absolutely, that it is possible to live in a sustainable world because they will have spent their whole life in a sustainable community.
Today, the challenge isn't finding green products, it's detecting greenwashing (companies misleading consumers with green PR but shoddy goods). In preparation for Earth Day on April 22, and with a nod to the Green Living Show held this past weekend in Toronto, we've compiled some of the show's featured products and services.
As you walk into the Cowichan Biodiesel Cooperative's processing facility in Duncan B.C., it really does look like a microbrewery. Tanks, pumps, hoses and other assorted machinery are all reminiscent of the brew master's trade. But unlike the yeasty, worty smell that you get at a brewery, the biodiesel processing facility has the faint hint of French fries.
What are the two most common complaints from office workers? It's too hot, and it's too cold. These dichotomous complaints are symptoms of a wider problem. Not only do aging, poorly-designed office buildings do a terrible job at keeping the people within them comfortable, they are energy sieves that are expensive to operate and maintain.
Church Point, a little-known dot on the map in rural southern Nova Scotia, isn't exactly a tourist hotspot. But for sustainability nerds it's an unexpected haven. It's home to St. Anne University, or Université Sante Anne as it's called in French and it may be the greenest little university in Canada.
It's already November. Soon, we'll all begin looking forward to a new year, forming new hopes and goals around our calendar year. But, it's also a time to reflect on what we accomplished, to bank those new learnings and embrace the person we've become in 2012. Here are some of the things that I learned in 2012 and that I'll carry forward to the next year.
It might actually be easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than to find investments that not only produce a healthy return but also contribute to a better society. Enter Solar Bonds from SolarShare in Ontario. The investment side is solid. A $1,000 bond has a return of five per cent for five years. The kicker? That money is invested in getting solar energy projects up and running in Ontario.
If you're lucky, you're reading this with your feet propped up on a deck chair at a cottage, enjoying the last days of summer. Heading to the cottage is an increasingly popular Canadian pastime. While most people buy or rent cottages for peace and tranquility, more people in cottage country means more air, water, noise and light pollution.
Portland's reputation is certainly one to be proud of. It's known as one of the most ecologically conscious places in the world. Hundreds of grassroots environmental organizations are based in and around the city. They don't just pitch this as a possibility, they genuinely live it and value sustainable growth.
Since I've made the move to non-toxic cosmetics, I've been getting a rather personal question: Don't you stink?The transition to natural deodorant is one of the most feared steps of the path to a less toxic lifestyle. Not everyone is willing to risk smelling bad to protect themselves and the environment from toxins.