Apple cores, pumpkins, Christmas trees and the crusts your mom cut off your sandwich 27 years ago. They all ended up at Cloverbar landfill in Edmonton...
The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, or CIRS, building on the University of British Columbia campus is a building that nearly lives and breathes. Determining what the greenest building in Canada is a bit of a fool's errand. But if green is a journey to architecture that regenerates and repairs the environment around it then the CIRS building is something to aspire to.
Sewage, biosolids, wastewater, effluent, human waste and night soil -- these are all euphemisms for poo. But instead of looking at it as something to be disposed of, why not use it to grow a crop that can heat our buildings, produce electricity or be used for compost? Camrose County in rural Alberta is doing just that.
Just as we are learning of the new pressures on the demand for food among the marginalized, news broke of the ironic reality that Canadians waste $27 billion worth of food each year. If we broaden the issue out to include the United States, things don't look any better. It appears as though North Americans waste food on a grand scale.
Before you make a reservation, check out what the restaurant offers in terms of ingredients, menu items and eco-aspects. Ask if they use reusables, including cloth napkins and tablecloths. If you currently frequent establishments that use disposables (plastic cups for condiments and coleslaw), suggest that they switch.
