What Makes a Family: Childbearing in the Climate Crisis

I first read that not having children is the best thing you can do for climate change in David Collings’ Stolen Future, Broken Present: The Human Significance of Climate Change:  “The implications are unmistakable: a person who wishes to forestall severe climate change should not bear children…I freely concede that simply thinking this thought is …

Netflix and Chill (The Earth):Your Go-To List for Sustainability Media

In the days of the pandemic, it feels like we're all desperately searching for our next piece of media to fixate on for a few months before moving on to something new (just me?). In any case, as long as you're spending more time consuming books, TV and podcasts, you may as well integrate some …

The Importance of Urban Design: An Interview with Robert Lipka

For the most recent podcast episode in our "The Three Pillars of Sustainability" podcast series, we had the privilege of interviewing urban designer Robert Lipka to chat. Robert Lipka is currently a principal urban designer at the City of Edmonton; in this role, he provides reviews in urban design, universal design & CPTED, and he …

Sustainability is Women’s Work: Why?

Completed as part of the requirements for the Certificate of Sustainability Introduction The relationship between gender as a social construct and sustainability behaviour is complex and worth exploring. Numerous studies have demonstrated that this link is affected by various psychological concepts, including ideas such as the socialization process of certain traits for certain genders, the …

University of Alberta Farmer’s Market Year-End Vendor Overview

After two and half years, the University of Alberta Students' Union Farmer’s Market (UAFM) has returned to campus! The UAFM is a monthly market operating out of the Student’s Union Building (SUB) at the University of Alberta that provides the campus community with local, sustainable, and ethical goods and services. This year, we had the …

Being Sustainable In Your Local Community (Edmonton & Area Edition)

Written By Leemah Sana and Mirelle Djajasaputra Image was taken by Opi Rai Instagram: @opiraiphotography (check it out!) Visiting local places and participating in environmentally friendly activities, using active local transportation, and shopping from local businesses are all amazing ways to be sustainable. Focusing on spending time improving your community, having a small carbon footprint, …

Car-Free Future? City of Edmonton approves $100m bid on bike lanes

Recently, the city of Edmonton has approved a $100m bid on bike lanes. Starting in 2023, the city will begin construction and implementation of its bid with completion estimated near 2026 (Boothby, 2022). Part of its implementation is to increase the amount of bike lanes, shared-use paths, enhanced crossing at intersections, and an emphasis on …

Annual International Week Connects UofA Community with the Sustainable Development Goals

“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” Ross Perot Ross Perot’s words perfectly embody the dictum of the UN and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With various strains of Covid-19 wreaking havoc on the destitute population of the world and …

Mason Jar Recipe/Snack Ideas

Written by Leemah Sana Single-use food and beverage packaging are very common in today's society. Most likely, you have noticed that a lot of food you purchase comes in single-use plastic packaging. If you take a look in your pantry and kitchen, you'll probably notice plastic food bags/wrap, and snacks with packaging that you just …

Fast Fashion – Consumerism, and Sustainability

What is Fast Fashion? Fast fashion is a term used to describe clothing collections designed to be released quickly and cheaply to respond to the latest trends. This often means that fast fashion garments are lower in quality and may need to be more sustainable. Winter is particularly appropriate for fast fashion as people usually …

Composting: What it is and How it Will Save your Wallet and the Planet

So, we’ve all heard of composting right - when the package says compostable, or you watch a TV show and they say to throw the leftovers into the compost bin? But what really is compost other than this hypothetical practice that you’ve never done before? The Oxford Dictionary defines compost as “decayed organic material used …

Remember the Day When People Laughed Off Bottled Air?

Have you ever desired to purchase a can of pristine air bottled right in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains?  Vitality Air Canisters, photo via vitalityair.com Well, Vitality Air in Alberta, Canada has you covered. They believe that everyone should be entitled to fresh air and given that pollution has taken that right away …