Plastic Free July Series (Volume 3 of 5) Enjoy a plastic free beach day during these scorching hot summers, with the #plasticfreejuly initiative started in 2011 in Australia, we can use every July to move forward to a more sustainable and plastic free way of life. Through skipping plastic for a month […]
Places
Canada Day Reflections: The Nature of Canada
This Canada Day the Alternatives Journal editorial team were tasked with reflecting on the nature of Canada, what it means to them, and what one aspect of Canada each member appreciates the most. These reflections were made especially interesting due to the unique make-up of the editorial team, including: individuals […]
10 Things at Hillside
When you attend Hillside Music Festival at Guelph Lake, Ontario you enter an eco-village where sustainability and community are top priorities. This 36 year old grassroots organization opens up a world of possibilities and solutions that other events can strive towards. They set the bar high with thoughtful innovations that […]
Climate Action in the Region of Waterloo
It’s 2019 and people are becoming more aware of the seriousness of the climate crisis and more importantly, the part we as nations, communities and humans play in addressing it. In recent years, a large number of communites in Canada have been developing sustainable energy plans. For instance, Oxford County, Ontario and Vancouver, […]
Les Larmes D’Une Nation
Background Information A disturbing mix of flood hazards are present in the capital city of Ghana, Accra. The city has annual floods that result in a disturbing loss of lives and livelihoods. These perennial floods come with the onset of the rainy season in June each year and can be […]
The Kayanase Connection
On a beautiful stretch of green fields and trees on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, two rounded structures stand out from the landscape of rolling hills: an open-air greenhouse and a 17th century replica longhouse. This is the site of Kayanase (pronounced Guy-yawn-na-say), an Indigenous owned and […]
The Lost Sea
Half a century ago, a sea disappeared in Central Asia. The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake on planet Earth. It was fed by two rivers – Syr Darya and Amu Darya, until Soviet leaders redirected these rivers to irrigate cotton fields in the 1960.
Minjimendan, Garden of Remembering
Educational Video Companion: Indigenous Food Security and Farming Dr. Andrew Judge is an Anishinaabe-Irish Scholar and founded the ongoing Indigenous knowledge project, Minjimendan, at rare Charitable Research Reserve. Minjimendan is an Ojibway word meaning “in a state of remembering.” It is a reference to the state of mind in […]
An Ominous Fog
The blooms returned in 2002. Many hoped the toxic sludge of algae that blanketed the western and central basins of Lake Erie was gone for good, yet the volume of smothering plant matter was growing steadily. Summers from 2008 to 2010 were bloom-heavy in the shallowest of the Great Lakes. […]
Toronto Island Living: November Glow
As a recent transplant to Toronto Island, Jonathan Rotsztain will be documenting his first winter in this unique environment through interviews with seasoned Islanders. I’ve been living on the Toronto Island since the beginning of September. When I returned to my native city after spending time in more rural places, […]