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Rolling Up Sustainable Energy 2

All photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country  Imagine sitting on a dock on a beautiful lake with a laptop, performing your everyday job functions. You don’t ever have to worry about commuting to work and the only factor that can deter you from staying outside is the weather. This is my dream ...

Wolfe Island Sustainable Energy Haven

Photo courtesy of Julep67 / Flickr  On June 26th, 2009, 86 high capacity wind turbines began operation on Wolfe Island near Kingston, Ontario. Each turbine is capable of 2,300 kilowatts and the expected capacity is more than 593,500 megawatt-hours of clean, renewable energy each year. I first stumbled across Canada’s second largest wind farm on ...

Human-Powered Public Transportation? 2

Cycling is a healthy and sustainable method of transportation, but one of its limitations is that you’re susceptible to less-than-ideal weather conditions. What if you could cycle to work in any weather conditions without having to worry about your safety or comfort? Furthermore, what if you could cycle to work in a reclined, comfortable seat ...

Mountain Equipment Co-op Takes Home Gold 3

Mountain Equipment Co-op is known for its commitment to sustainability, but its new Burlington, Ontario store sets the bar high for retail store energy-efficiency. For a company that diverts 92% of its waste generated at its stores and offices by recycling, composting and donating, it’s difficult to raise the bar even higher. But MEC – ...

Happy Birthday India! 4

Photo courtesy of www.indianveterans.com Today, August 15th 2009, India celebrates it’s 62nd Independence Day from the 350-year British rule. India is the world’s largest democracy (I call it a ‘Democrazy’!) and has the second largest population in the world. In spite of our large numbers we do miserably in the summer Olympics and are non-existent ...

Back to the Mothership: Punjab (Part II) 8

The second half of our journey in Punjab was primarily gastronomic in nature. Amritsar is famous for its food, especially it’s Dhabas (check out ‘The Dhabas of Amritsar’). My dad is a total foodie and having lived in Punjab early on in his career, he knows a lot of local joints. We stopped by at ...

Middle-Aged Men Powering Through Midlife Crisis

  Last Wednesday I returned from a 6-day canoe/portage trip in the interior of the 7,653 square kilometre Algonquin Park. Like most years, my trip to Algonquin Park contrasts that of other summer travel destinations. Last year I camped at Algonquin Park shortly after taking a vacation in California. Living with only the bare necessities ...

Eco-Living Tip: Dog Poop Bags 6

Eco-Living Tips is a special section on The Urban Country where we provide tips for our readers on how we can live a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly lifestyle. If you’re at all like myself, you become irked when people dispose of non bio-degradable materials into our trash bins. Plastic bags are one such item that frequently ...

Greenpeace Kleercut Campaign – 2004-2009

Photo courtesy of stopkleenex / Flickr Greenpeace has announced it is suspending its (almost) 5-year-long “Kleercut” campaign against Kimberly-Clark for its destruction of Canada’s Boreal forest to produce its tissue products. In a joint news conference, the two foes announced that they have finally come to terms with one another with Kimberly-Clark committing to help ...

Back to the Mothership: Punjab (Part I)

Photo courtesy of voobie / Flickr Two weeks ago my parents, brother and I visited Punjab, the state to which our family belongs. My parents were both born in New Delhi. However, my paternal and maternal grandparents were born in the undivided Punjab, that was partitioned between India and Pakistan in 1947 when both countries ...