Blogs

Meet the AJ Bloggers

Get the low-down on what to expect from all the AJ blogs and bloggers.

You can subscribe to the RSS feed of any individual blog thread by clicking the RSS icon next to the blog name in the sidebar. You can also get one feed of all the blogs, reviews and events via the RSS button at the bottom of any page of the site, or by clicking right here.

Backstage at A\J

Our staffers deliver an insider’s view from the A\J production office, share interviews with leaders in environmental thought & action, and report on their experiences at great environmental events. 

You can subscribe to the RSS feed of any individual blog thread by clicking the RSS icon next to the blog name in the sidebar. You can also get one feed of all the blogs, reviews and events via the RSS button at the bottom of any page of the site, or by clicking right here.

Backstage at A\J

Our staffers deliver an insider’s view from the A\J production office, share interviews with leaders in environmental thought & action, and report on their experiences at great environmental events. 

Sustainable A\J

The Sustainable A\J blog shares the sustainable lifestyle choices of A\J staffers, Jessica Keupfer’s The Green Athlete blog series, plus profiles of A\J readers.

If you’d like to be profiled, send in your answers to these five questions: 

  1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
  2. How is your lifestyle different now than 5 years ago? 10 years ago?
  3. What are your main motivations for developing a more eco-friendly lifestyle?
  4. What are you doing (or not doing) to be more sustainable that you haven’t seen other people doing (or not doing)?
  5. What suggestions do you have for others trying to “go green”?

A\J Editorial Board

Hear from members of our editorial board in the “Ed Blog,” including Kyrke Gaudreau and soon A\J’s founder, Dr. Robert Paehlke.

The Green Student

The Green Student blog shows off a sampling of writing from TheGreenStudent.ca, Alternatives’ sister site aimed at students in environment-related programs. In addition to housing Alternatives’ comprehensive guide to environmental education in Canada, TGS provides students with a forum for sharing their writing, campaigns, and events. We publish about two Green Student posts a month, and you can find more at The Green Student website.

Nicole Dufraine is an Environment & Resource Studies student at the University of Waterloo and runs TGS as part of her undergraduate thesis. She is interested in the business side of environmental management and aspires to become a social entrepreneur. In her spare time she enjoys writing, cooking and travelling on a student budget.

A\J Special Delivery

The Special Delivery blog is where we throw our exciting guest posts on special topics. We’ve got some coming up on creative activism, the Line 9 pipeline reversal, the Canadian Youth Delegation to COP-18, and more! 

If you’d like to submit a guest post, please send your proposed topic and a couple of writing samples to blogs [at] alternativesjournal.ca.

Guests posts will also appear in our topic-centred blogs alongside our regular bloggers. Speaking of which…

Current Events

In the Current Events blog, Andrew Reeves and Dan Beare discuss a wide array of environmental issues across the country and around the world, from politics and public policy to energy, natural resources, and environmental science.

Andrew is a freelance environmental writer and reporter based in Toronto with a Masters in Geography from the University of Toronto. When he’s not writing he’s usually cycling around town, thinking about what to write next. Andrews posts appear weekly on Thursdays. You can read more of Andrew’s stuff at his own blog, The Reeves Report, or follow him on Twitter.

Dan is an environmental professional currently living in Toronto. He specializes in energy, transportation, and climate change policy, corporate sustainability, and environmental planning and assessments. He recently completed a Masters of Environmental Applied Science and Management at Ryerson University. Dan’s posts appear bi-weekly on Fridays.

Renewable Energy

The Renewable Energy blog showcases weekly posts by Stu Campana on current renewable energy issues.

With fascinating projects underway across the country- from community solar power in Milton, Ontario to wind farms in Pictou County, Nova Scotia- Stu will connect these stories through attention to the broader scientific perspective, international political climate, and social variables they involve.

Stu is an international environmental consultant, currently working with Fern Ridge Landscaping and Eco-Consulting in Milton, Ontario. With a multi-disciplinary background, he is interested in the manifestation of climate change as a social, technical, and political problem. Stu sits on the Board of Directors of the Halton Environmental Network and belongs to the network’s renewable energy project team. You can read Stu’s blog posts each Tuesday, and follow him on Twitter.

Policy Probe

Julia Hawthornthwaite explores environmental policy and European perspectives on environmental issues in the Policy Probe blog, applying her classroom learning on environmental policy to every day solutions.

Julia is a graduate from the University of Waterloo’s Environment and Resource Studies program, and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Environmental Policy and Regulation at the London School of Economics in London, England. Julia’s posts appear on the first Wednesday of each month.

Food & Culture

The Food & Culture blog currently features articles by Jo Anne Tacorda focused on food justice. If you’re interested in adding your voice to this blog, please send a short proposal and writing sample to blogs @ alternativesjournal.ca

Through sharing her adventures and reflections in the food movement, Jo Anne will explore complex issues from a youth perspective, including: the need for an innovative, integrated, empowerment-focused approach to food security; the connections between social justice, environmental issues, and food production; and reviews of foodie events in the Greater Toronto Area.  Jo Anne’s posts go up on the second Monday of every month.