Wash Away the Energy

By Noah

A huge drain on heating and electric costs that plagues the average North American household is a pair of “necessary” suckers that bleed energy off the grid.  Week after week people load their dirty clothes into the laundry machine, push a few buttons, and then disappear.  After a not-so-quick change-over to the dryer and a magical laundry fairy, we get soft, fluffy, clean clothes that smell like “Ocean Spray” or “Evergreen Forest”.  What we seem to forget however is not just the amount of energy consumed to produce these apparently beautiful smells, but also how ugly the amount of money that energy costs us, smells.

Sourcemap = fast and easy carbon tracking

By Andrew

Is anyone out there curious about where the materials in your computer, clothes or shoes come from?  I’ve always been interested in following the carbon trail for some of my things, especially the more carbon intensive ones.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find the site www.sourcemap.org the other day while surfing the net.  Sourcemap.org lets you explore two pathways to follow the carbon trail of your everyday goods.  The whole vision behind Sourcemap is to empower users and

dispatches from Rhamnous

On March 1st, I moved into an apartment with Noah, of CitySlickers fame. Since then we've been doing our damnedest to live a sustainable lifestyle and furnish our apartment with minimal budget.  This is part one of our twisted saga.

We live rather close to Fiesta Farms. I support their business in theory, but the reality is they have the same shitty atmosphere as every other fluorescent-lit supermarket, regardless of their philosophy or politics. I had to find another way.

The Goal: No Supermarkets.

Zero-impact camping

By John

Outdoor hobbies like hiking, climbing, and canoeing instill a love and appreciation of the outdoors and teach respect for the natural environment. Getting out and experiencing nature reminds us of the value and importance of living sustainably and protecting the natural heritage of our planet. Whether exploring the rich variety of Canada or the majesty of the world at large, it’s important to keep preservation and protection at the top of your priority list.

Cheating Chicken Stock

By Braeden

One of the biggest frustrations I've had with cooking for myself at home is that every seemingly tastey recipe calls for one thing: chicken stock.

Hmmm....let's see. I need to add chicken stock if I want to make risotto. But do I have time to roast an entire chicken, gut it, roast the the bones, prep and add in vegetables, reduce the hell out of if, chill it, and skim off the fat? Once I'm finished doing that I'll only be 1/10 of the way done with the original risotto recipe I was attempting. Screw this.

DIY Culture

By Andrew

Throughout our history, our species has relied on what we were able to create to quickly adapt to new environments.  As we developed tools and techniques, the ideas behind these were passed down to successive generations forming a cultural tradition.  For as long as we have existed, we Homo sapiens have used our tools and our intellects to conquer challenges set before us.  In fact, fossil records of our cultural traditions date back as far as Homo habilis in the form of stone tools which were used to shape our ancestor’s immediate environment.  If tool use is so imbedded in our evolutionary history, why then do you suppose so many of us today are unable to complete tasks that require a modicum of intellectual and physical dexterity?  I don’t believe that this has resulted because we are incapable of the task; I believe it happened because we have grown lazy.  Many others have reached this conclusion, and with it, a resurgence of DIY culture is emerging.

Organic Food - Part II

By Noah

A beautiful sunny March afternoon spent in Whole Foods Market in the heart of Yorkville, and I felt positively on top of the world. I had a grocery cart brimming with veggies, fruits, meats, bread, cereal, nuts and pastas – and all of them had the word ORGANIC plastered on their side. After some 30 minutes wandering the aisles of this aesthetically stunning grocery store staring at rows upon rows of produce, it dawned on me that it looked somewhat identical to any other grocery store, with 2 major differences.

A) Almost everything was organic.

Sweet.

B) Everything was uber expensive.

Not so sweet.

A sunny day on Bloor

By John

I woke late but still took my time getting out the door.

I enjoyed a bowl of cereal with yogurt, and listened to a quick podcast. The sun shone through the windows and for a moment I contemplated shirking my responsibilities, but I talked myself out of it.