Sustainitiatives is a section on The Urban Country where we highlight companies or individuals who are taking initiatives to help reduce our harm on the environment.
Corporate Environmental Sustainability is something we hear a lot about recently; however it’s not something we should take at face value. Many companies are more pre-occupied with “greenwashing” or are simply moving at a snail’s pace when it comes to sustainability.
For approximately $270, you could purchase a return flight from Toronto to Montreal, arriving in 1 hour and 14 minutes. Alternatively, for $140 you could take a VIA train and arrive in about 5 hours, while driving takes about the same.
Rather than using these “typical” methods of transportation, I’m planning to paddle the entire 560KM in my kayak for this year’s fundraiser adventure.
Sketch it! is a fun new section on The Urban Country where we feature random napkin sketches from our resident sketch artist and writer, George Pechtol (Against his will).
Today’s sketch features a downtown Toronto lounge during the current economic recession.
Earth Day was officially born in 1970 after a proclamation by its founder, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in September 1969 that stated a “nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment” would take place in Spring of 1970.
Thirty-nine years later, Earth Day is alive and well and nothing gets me more excited than knowing that billions (yes billions) of people around the world are thinking about the earth and reflecting upon the harm we are causing.
In a series of articles entitled “Recession Ready?”, The Urban Country is interviewing people around the world who are affected by the recession to understand how different people are coping.
On the morning of March 26th, AutoCAD Operator Megan Howlett arrived at work at a downtown Toronto Architecture firm as if it was any other day. As the day wore on, her colleagues were called into the boardroom, one-by-one. Nobody knew what was happening. It wasn’t until it was her turn to be called into the boardroom when it became apparent: she and 7 others were being laid off from the 35-person firm.
Martin Armstrong has somewhat of a cult-like status in internet forums, likely fanned by the fact that he has spent more years in prison for contempt of court than he would have had he actually been convicted of the securities crime he was originally charged with.
Some consider him to be one of the greatest economic minds of our time. His Economic Confidence Model has been used to predict market turns, in some cases, to the day; but, rather than receiving a Nobel prize for it, he is relegated to recording his thoughts on a type writer and releasing weekly newsletters from prison.
I wanted to relay a recent piece that I came across; written by Jim Willis in 2001 [1], it is one of the top-cited essays of its kind and is still making the rounds 8 years later:
Back in 1980, a band was formed in Edmonton Alberta called White Wolf. Many remember White Wolf as a talented, yet underrated Canadian Heavy Metal acts of the 1980’s. In 1984 they signed with RCA and their debut LP “Standing Alone” which went on to sell 250,000 copies worldwide.
Photo by James D. Schwartz, Algonquin Park Sunrise, 2008
You might have noticed some changes that have been happening on The Urban Country over the last couple months. This is no accident. I’m expanding the site to offer a much a wider variety of topics from a more diverse group of people.
Sketch it! is a fun new section on The Urban Country where we feature random napkin sketches from our resident sketch artist and writer, George Pechtol (Against his will).
This week’s sketch symbolizes the 1 million coffee cups that are trashed each day in Toronto that end up in landfills in a “Mountain of Coffee Cups”.
(Photo Courtesy of ViaMoi on Flickr)
Last spring, a large flock of ducks landed on a toxic basin of bitumen residue and other byproducts of oil sands extraction before drowning. Early estimates placed the size of the flock at 500, and the story made headlines around the globe, severely undercutting the Alberta government’s frantic efforts to reframe the growing perspective that oil sands extraction is environmental degradation.
The 4-man Olympic-style K4 boat gets off to a good start against the 1-man Hydrofoil “Flyak”. It doesn’t take long however for the Flyak to burst ahead of the 4-man boat at a speed of 27 KM/hour to win the 200M race.
Sketch it! is a fun new section on The Urban Country where we feature random napkin sketches from our resident sketch artist and writer, George Pechtol (Against his will).
“Urban Food Chain”, by George Pechtol
(Photo courtesy of fxgeek on Flickr)
“Mediterranean becomes sea of death for hundreds” – CNN, March 31st
“Chinese ‘Kill Weapon’ Gives U.S. Cause for Concern” – FOX News, March 31st
“Two Killed Execution-Style in NFL Player’s Condo” – FOX News, March 31st
“SHARE MORE PAIN” – Toronto Sun – March 31st
For a period of time in my life, I was a news junky. I wanted to know everything that was going on in the world. Although I think it’s important to be aware of world events, I think too much mainstream media can have a detrimental effect on your well-being.
