Google’s Commitment to Sustainability 1
Photo “The Googleplex” courtesy of jpstanley on Flickr What do the David Suzuki Foundation and Google Inc. have in common? Not much at first glance, but when you look beyond the surface you’ll see many similarities. Since 1990, the David Suzuki Foundation has been using “science and education to promote solutions that conserve nature and ...
Sustainable Commuting: the Bicycle
Here’s my latest contribution to blogTO entitled Sustainable Commuting: the Bicycle, excerpt: “The bicycle is the most efficient means of human-powered transportation, meaning it can travel the most distance with the least amount of energy exerted. Invented in the 19th century, bikes take up very little space, they’re quiet, and they don’t pollute. In Toronto, ...
Clean Energy – Circa 1970
Sketch it! is a fun 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 what we thought was clean energy in 1970.
Finding Mecca in the Toronto Islands 4
Birds are chirping and the water splashes as I look at the horizon to see the Toronto city skyline contrasting the nature that surrounds me. In the heart of the city, a mere harbour away from the CN Tower, the Toronto Islands provide a Mecca that feels a world away from the automobiles, pollution and ...
Fallen Leaves as Sustainable Food Packaging 3
McDonalds could learn a thing or two from the Chinese about sustainable food packaging. This delicious dim sum dish consists of steamed glutinous rice filled with chicken, mushrooms, sausage, scallions and shrimp. It’s called “Nuo mi ji” in Chinese (Mandarin) or “Lo mai gai” in Cantonese and it’s nicely packaged inside a lotus leaf wrapping. ...
Urban Motor Home 4
The Urban Motor Home challenges the conventional SUV to a duel Life in the city is easy without an automobile; it’s healthy and refreshing to commute to work by foot, and I can travel most places I need to on a daily basis fuelled on peanut butter and jelly. There are however special occasions when ...
Carpooling with Twitter 3
While driving on the highway yesterday I had a thought. Wouldn’t it be nice if there weren’t so many cars on the road with so many empty seats? Wouldn’t it be cool if you could easily find someone heading to the same destination as you to carpool with? Well Twitter could be the tool ...
Sustainability and Loblaw’s Keiser Soze 1
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 ...
Sustainable Living: Celebrating Earth Day 2009 2
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 ...
Trash Talk: Dry Cleaner Plastic Waste 2
Trash Talk is a special section where we expose the unnecessary waste that is generated by companies so that the urban country staff and readers can speak out to make a difference. I typically pay a visit to the Dry Cleaners about once a month to launder certain shirts (Let’s save the discussion about the ...