Taming the Wild West of urban sprawl
August 2010
By Emma Gilchrist
Calgary has earned a dubious reputation for decades of unrestricted growth, but there’s reason to hope that’s all about to change.
Two recently released studies confirm what any driver who has ever been trapped on Deerfoot Trail during rush hour already knows: Calgary is the Wild West of urban sprawl.
A report released by the Neptis Foundation compared urban design in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary and, not surprisingly, found Calgary ranked at the bottom of the pack in terms of density. Throughout the 1990s, nearly 80 per cent of Calgary’s
growth happened on new land.
Living Wage Fosters Sustainability
August 2010
By L. Sara Bysterveld
Like in any other system, the many aspects of sustainability are dependent on one another. What happens in one area, say local economy, will affect the other areas – ecology, health, standard of living – either directly or indirectly.
The lowest wage within a community is no exception. Normally this means the minimum wage, a provincial figure that applies whether a worker is living in a rural community with low rents or in a large urban centre with higher rents and generally a higher cost of living. For the latter, chances are the minimum doesn’t come close to covering the cost of living, including covering basic needs, maintaining a safe and decent standard of living
and saving for the future.
The newest movement in sustainable living
June 2010
Film Review: In Transition 1.0
By Jennifer Dooley
In Transition 1.0 – From Oil Dependence to Local Resilience, is the first film ever released about the newest movement in sustainable living: the Transition movement. It’s a film worth watching – it’s hopeful and powerful, showing us a practical vision for creating a post-consumer society where ordinary people make a difference.
The Transition movement, inherently powerful by its very own name, is about transitioning into a more sustainable way of life. It’s about taking small steps towards environmentally friendly choices: switching to energy efficient light bulbs, recycling, turning down the thermostat, composting, using re-usable grocery
bags, or taking the bus more often. The movement has a place for
everyone and now entire communities are joining the effort.
Why Small Business is the Key to a Thriving Economy
April 2010
By Kelly Doody
Smack in the middle of another cold and dreary January in Calgary – a month where finding fresh produce and locally-grown greens takes sharp elbows and deep pockets, and following a year where staying afloat as a privately-owned boutique or independent business proved near impossible, community-conscious locals gathered downtown to hear the wise words of renowned American small business activist Michael Shuman.
It was thanks to a joint effort of REAP and Thrive – Calgary’s Community Economic Development Network that Shuman made the trek north to Cowtown – the city some would argue to
be the northern hemisphere’s hub of big box retail, industrial-sized
grocery stores and globalized business goals.
Remember the Cradle and the Grave This Holiday Season
December 2009
By L. Sara Bysterveld
The holidays are a time of giving, to friends, family and those in
need. 
This year, don’t forget to give back to the earth by keeping
cradle-to-grave impact in mind as you shop.
Cradle-to-grave refers to the impact of a product from the extraction of raw materials to its eventual disposal or recycling. Though a true cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment involves in-depth quantification of the environmental impacts at each stage of a product’s life cycle, as consumers we can attempt to estimate these impacts and buy with this in mind.
The stages of the life cycle of a product are extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. At each step there are social and environmental repercussions of the methods
and materials used.
Prosumerism in times of recession
October 2009
By Jennifer Allford
Perhaps you’ve stopped and read the label of the t-shirts they’re
giving away on the sale rack to see they were made in
Bangladesh.
Maybe you’ve thought twice about buying the plastic
toy that was made in China or picking up the bag of oranges
from South Africa. If so, you may be a prosumer.
“A prosumer is a proactive consumer, rather than a passive one” says Todd Hirsch, the senior economist at ATB Financial. “The new prosumer gets more involved in the act of consumption, demanding more information about what the product is, where it was made, etc.”
That means instead of just blindly buying goods that come from half way across the world, more people are paying much closer attention to what they buy. “It’s a positive development,” says
Hirsch. “But it will require more time, energy, and probably money
for the consumer.”
A New SPIN on Farming
June 2009
By Natasha Evdokimoff
The family farm is an idyllic notion that’s deeply ingrained in our collective social psyche. Acres and acres of open land, handed down from one generation to the next, stretching out to the horizon.
Romantic, sure. Sustainable? Maybe not. Traditional farms aren’t the bastion of abundance and prosperity they were in decades past, and certainly the vast majority of large country farms these days don’t follow organic practices.
Enter Wally Satzewich, an entrepreneur from Saskatoon with an idea and a green thumb.
Overcoming the Holiday Madness
November 2008
Film Review: What Would Jesus Buy?
By Craig Copeland
The title – What Would Jesus Buy? – is arresting. The producer, Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), was nominated for an Academy Award. The film’s message is urgent: consumerism is killing us and our planet. The star of the documentary – Reverend Billy, who leads the Church of Stop Shopping – is comical.
I watched it. I nodded. I smiled. I even laughed. And I soon realized I was wasting my time.
Any of the short video clips posted on You Tube quickly convey Billy’s schtick. He’s a performance artist channelling the archetypal, glitzy, pompous, evangelical Christian preacher.
