Costing the Earth – COVID-19: the Environmental Impact
BBC correspondent Tom Heap talks through the environmental issues emerging during the coronavirus pandemic and asks what the legacy might be. Climate change expert Dr. Tamsin Edwards from King’s College, London, joins Heap to examine what the pandemic may mean for our future moving forward (Podcast: 28 minutes). Listen now.
Stay home: Consumer Trends During COVID-19
As coronavirus crosses the world, our day-to-day lives are changing dramatically. In this blog, Talkwater, an analytics company, looks at how COVID-19 is influencing consumer trends — and how businesses are adapting to meet those new trends. Read now.
The Pandemic is Not a Natural Disaster
Professor Kate Brown from Massachusetts Institute of Technology speaks to the importance of looking at our current situation from an ecological perspective, where our understanding of the natural world is always changing over time. Read more on how civilization has gone through different obstacles and how ecology plays a role. Keep reading.
Cheap Nanoparticles May be the Way Towards Carbon-Neutral Fuel
Iceland’s George Olah Plant is the only facility in the world that converts emissions into fuel on an industrial scale — but a new process developed by chemists at the University of Southern California and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory may push carbon recycling towards the mainstream. Keep reading.
New Enzyme Can Break Down Plastic Water Bottles
Researchers in France have engineered an enzyme that can efficiently break down one of the most common forms of plastic — creating a raw material that can be reused to make new plastic bottles. Keep reading
MIGRANT JOURNAL
Arts and culture journal focused on issues of migrancy, culture & climate change
MIGRANT asks artists, journalists, academics, designers, architects, philosophers, activists and citizens to rethink our approach to migration and critically explore the new spaces it creates. It has received five commendations for Best Magazine (2017 & 2018), Best Editor (2018), Best Art Director (2018) and Best Launch (2017) at the Stack Awards. It has been shortlisted for the Design Museum’s Beazley Design of the Year 2018. Check it out.
The Word for Woman is Wilderness
A novel by Abi Andrews
Erin is 19. She sets off on a voyage into the Alaskan wilderness, a one-woman challenge to the archetype of the rugged male explorer.
As Erin’s journey takes her through the Arctic Circle, across the entire breadth of the American continent and finally to a lonely cabin in the wilds of Denali, she explores subjects as diverse as the moon landings, the Gaia hypothesis, loneliness, nuclear war, shamanism and the pill. Read more here.
Occupied
TV Drama
A foreign political thriller with real-world parallels. Henrik Mestad leads the ensemble cast of this Norwegian series as an idealistic Green party prime minister who enrages Europe by announcing that the country will immediately stop producing oil and gas. Threatened with a military invasion, he agrees to temporarily continue oil production, under Russian supervision. But what the two countries’ governments spin as a partnership is really an occupation. Watch here.
What Cherry Blossoms Can Teach Us During the Pandemic
Article in Quartz magazine
Hanami is the Japanese festival that celebrates the start of spring and the blooming of cherry blossom trees. This article muses on the many ways this year’s festival will be different — and what we can learn from it. Keep reading.
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DIY Planet Friendly Foaming Hand Soap
We’ve all been washing our hands a lot recently. Learn how to make your own planet friendly foaming hand soap!
- Why make it? You’ll use less water to rinse off your hands. About 16% less water than other kinds of soap!
- Foaming soaps biodegrade faster than traditional soaps, partly due to the forced air that causes natural lathering.
- It’s cheap, fun, and a great indoor planet friendly activity to do with kids!
Learn more about how to make sure your foaming hand soap is planet friendly here.
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Brothy Beans
Low-carbon recipes are mindful of the energy and resources that go into producing, packaging, and transporting food. From now on we’ll be including a weekly Low Carbon Recipe with you – we hope you enjoy it!
Learn how to make Brothy Beans out of basically whatever you have in your pantry! Get the recipe here.
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RAIN Garden Master Class
In this class, you will learn how to design your own rain garden step-by-step. This course is tailored towards gardeners and professionals that want to learn more about the proper design, installation, and maintenance of rain gardens.
Happening Monday April 20 – Monday May 25, 2020. $200 through RAIN Community Solutions. Learn more.
Sustainable Development: Solutions and Trends
Learn more about how environmental challenges can be tackled in various ways using a multidisciplinary approach.
Free on EDX, 12-24hrs. Learn more.
Digital Forum: Food Without Farmers
Organics International, in collaboration with the Global Landscapes Forum, will host a digital forum that aims to answer the question: what will happen to smallholder farmers as the trend toward lab-grown food attempts to address our current unsustainable agriculture model?
Thursday, April 23rd 2020, 1:00pm – 5:00pm. Free on Global Landscapes Forum.
The Age of Sustainable Development
The Age of Sustainable Development gives students an understanding of the key challenges and pathways to sustainable development — that is, economic development that is also socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Free on Coursera, 25-30hrs.
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Earth Day with Councillor Jenna Sudds and EnviroCentre
Wednesday, April 22 from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Join Ottawa Councillor for Kanata North, Jenna Sudds for a Facebook Live event. EnviroCentre will be joining her to talk about the practical steps you can take every day to lighten your environmental impact. More info coming soon here.
Ecology Ottawa’s Earth Day Trivia Night 2020
Wednesday, April 22 from 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Join Ecology Ottawa online to celebrate Earth Day’s 50 th anniversary with some fun-filled trivia on Ottawa’s native plant species. They will be broadcasting live on Zoom and playing on Kahoot! Register here.
Amy Longard Nutrition’s Online Sauerkraut Workshop
Thursday, April 23 from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
In this interactive online workshop, you’ll learn how to make your own homemade sauerkraut along with Amy in a step-by-step process. Amy will also be speaking to the history of ‘kraut, the health benefits of fermented foods, why these foods play a role in building a robust immune system, and tips on how to include these foods in your day to day life. Sign up here.