Environment

Every April since 2000, mayor Peter Kelly has kicked off a “community clean-up campaign” on behalf of the city. Sometimes the campaigns come with snappy slogans (“Put Litter in its Place!”), sometimes they’ve been coordinated with non-profit group Clean Nova Scotia and sometimes they’ve had a specific focus, like cleaning the Sackville River in 2004. […]

As flowers begin to bloom around the city, many of us feel the urge to get down and dirty in our gardens. If you like to garden, but live in the city and think you can’t do it, think again. The North End Community Gardening Association, formed in 1999, is a non-profit organization that strives […]

When Talbot Sweetapple, an urban designer with local firm Brian MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, considers the layout of downtown Halifax, he can’t imagine a more exciting corner than Spring Garden Road and Queen Street. “I can’t think of a better location downtown to be more central, or more energized. Honestly. It’s amazing to have a space […]

Peter Blackie is uniquely positioned in three ways: He’s project architect for the new Creighton Street house he’s planning to move into later this year. Secondly, the site couldn’t be any closer to work; it’s a stone’s throw from the window of his office at MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects. And his might be the first geothermal-heated […]

Fran Christie-Wright has lived on Sunnydale Avenue in Dartmouth since 1975. The dark water in the narrows of the Halifax Harbour is visible from her home, though partially obscured by the behemoth that is the Tufts Cove Generating Station. She’s close enough to those three red and white stacks to hear the hum of the […]

One year ago this week, Matt Watkins was almost halfway through his Buy Nothing Year—a yearlong commitment to abstain from using cash. Three months later—and five months short of his goal—Watkins bought a bag of groceries. This Saturday, November 25, is Buy Nothing Day, a day most people can’t get through without buying a coffee, […]

In the late 80s, due to a number of environmental and waste incidents, panic struck North America: we had no more room for our garbage. Closer to home, the problem reared its head in the form of the Sackville Landfill. The landfill, closed in 1996, produces 90 to 100 tonnes of methane gas per year […]

Canadians have an appetite for destruction. The world, North America, and Canada specifically have been devouring our “natural capital” (land, water, coal, oil, flora, fauna) for decades, and our destructive appetites show no sign of abating. We’ve grown accustomed to luxuries. It’s less enjoyable to take short, cool showers, ditch our cars and limit our […]

The slow throb in your left temple radiates down the back of your neck and into your shoulders. For the past couple of months you can’t seem to shake that low-grade flu and you’ve lost your appetite. No one understands why you’re so sick. Some have suggested it’s all in your head, but the symptoms […]