Best Practices

Solar installation

Powering ethical agriculture with the sun

Twelve kilometres east of Parliament Hill, the Just Food Farm grows a dazzling mix of organic fruits and vegetables including carrots, brussel sprouts and watermelon. Executive director Moe Garahan tells me the 150-acre agricultural operation forms part of the National Capital Commission’s Greenbelt yet it’s squarely within Ottawa city limits. […]

Proposed Greenbelt Expansion Study Area - Streams and Water Map

The Greenbelt is Growing

Alternatives Journal and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation are hosting a celebration of the possible expansion of the Greenbelt into Waterloo Region and Wellington County. There’s just one problem: earlier this month, Waterloo Regional council voted for revisions to the greenbelt expansion before agreeing to join. In fact, if […]

Fashion designer Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks

A Stitch in Time (wastes less)

When my Austrian grandma passed away, I found her 20-year-old Dirndl in her wardrobe. Although it was much too big for me, I was emotionally unable to throw it away. Eventually, I decided this Dirndl deserved to be worn again. So, I opened all the seams, divided it into its […]

Language Trigger

I was first introduced to the concept of ecological economics 25 years ago in an undergraduate course that looked at the work of Herman Daly and the concept of “steady state economics.” We also looked at Hazel Henderson and her ground-breaking work on valuing what is called “externalities” in our economic […]