Sharing Wardrobes — Cutting Down on Consumptive Fashion

As outlined in  Love is Simple. (the ‘Sharing Economy’), our global capitalist system based on endless growth and consumption is quite literally turning all of our global resources into a monstrous municipal waste problem.  Those resources are being bought up at unequal rates around the world –by the rich, not the poor– and the waste generated […]

Animals/Humans: A Story of Love and Loss

The inspiration for this article comes from the following short trailer for Midway, which provides a heart-wrenching glimpse into the effects of human capitalist consumption and pollution on the lives of our fellow animals: “Urbanization in the West was based historically on a notion of progress rooted in the conquest and exploitation of nature by […]

Sweden’s Remarkable ‘Waste-to-Energy’ Program …and why Canada should be taking notes!

While most people would probably consider the United States the most wasteful of all the developed nations, you might be surprised to learn that Canada throws away more trash than the U.S.  “Canada generates more municipal waste per capita annually than any of its peer countries. Canada earns a “D” grade and ranks in last […]

Mimicking Fireflies to Make LED Lights More Efficient

Scientists have figured out how to make LED lights 55% more efficient by taking a closer look at the natural world.  In a time when energy efficiency is paramount to the survival of our ecosystems, what better teacher is there than nature? Both fireflies and lightbulbs have an external membrane around the light source that […]

Pay it Forward this Christmas

In the last few years, there’s been a lot of debate about the political correctness of saying ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Seasons Greetings’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas’.  There has been some strong resistance to saying the more inclusive and universal ‘Happy Holidays’, and in fact some very xenophobic and prejudiced attitudes towards ‘other religions’ trying to […]