Canada's Environmental Voice
Constructing unique world-class competition facilities for multisport events often leaves behind overbuilt, expensive and underused relics. With this harsh reality in mind, organizers for this summer’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in Toronto are taking lessons from other host cities to develop best practices for infrastructure design and construction […]
Jennifer Lynes is associate professor and director of the Environment and Business program at the University of Waterloo.
This art needs to be seen and appreciated.
Picture this: You’re out for an evening paddle on a clear, crisp night but it’s getting a little chilly, so you reach into your backpack and pull out 25 two-litre plastic bottles to wrap cosily around you. While this sounds far-fetched, it’s pretty much what happens when you pull on […]
I cram a new dress into my already overstuffed closet, dislodging a sweater that coils to the floor in a heap. I realize there is just no more space and recall the day my husband and I first viewed this home. “It’s a huge house,” the sales agent had beamed, […]
Raw Cotton Demand: ~26.0 million tonnesWater use: Up to 3860** litres/kgEnergy use: 50 MJ/kg Pesticides or chemicalsHeavy pesticide use leads to reduced soil fertility, loss of biodiversity and water pollution. Effluent/pollution from manufacturingEcosystem contamination from pollutants in runoff. Toxic wastewater from manufacturing process (e.g., cleaning, dyeing).*
In the mid-1980s, garment production went global, clothes got cheaper and our closets got bigger. While we once chose attire to fit seasonal demands – warmer, thicker layers in winter, for example – for many the significance of garments has shifted from practical need to social and emotional want. We […]
SWIMBYISM: {swīm-bi: izem} It’s a new word I just learned and it stands for “something wonderful in my backyard.” It also perfectly describes a movement of relocalizing fibres and textiles in regional communities that is gaining interest in North America and Europe – it’s called Fibreshed, and it’s dramatically changing […]
Look down at the clothes you have on right now. I’ll give you 10 points if you can tell me where each item was manufactured – and don’t forget your socks and undergarments. Ten more points if you know the type of material each piece of clothing is made from […]
