May urges strategic voting

Canadians should vote in their ridings for any party able to defeat Tory candidates, Green leader says
Sep 25, 2008 04:30 AM
Sandro Contenta
STAFF REPORTER

ON BOARD THE CANADIAN–This cross-country train, like all fast-moving vehicles, is responsible for its share of road kill. But every now and then, it becomes the object of a suicidal revolt from a considerable force of nature.

It usually happens during the rutting season: bull moose have been known to charge the train head-on. The impact is hard enough to jolt the front car, but the result is predictably unfortunate.

“The last thing that went through that moose’s mind was its ass,” said a train worker of a recent incident.

Waterloo student develops plastic bag composter

17-year-old finds bacteria combination that breaks down plastic bags in months
Jul 01, 2008 01:17 PM
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Kristine Owram
THE CANADIAN PRESS

As jurisdictions across Canada take action to ban the use of landfill-clogging plastic bags, which can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, an Ontario high school student has discovered a way to break down the pesky plastic in a matter of months.

Canadian wallets face a big hit

Electricity, public transit and household goods and services to cost more by year’s end
May 29, 2008 04:30 AM
Romina Maurino
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Consumers feeling the impact of high oil prices at the pumps may be in for new headaches this year as soaring energy prices drive up the cost of everything from airline tickets to dry cleaning, couriers and diapers.

High oil prices, which have already boosted the price of gasoline, fertilizers and food, may hit Canadians in new areas, according to economists.

Food companies warn of rising prices

Canadians can expect to pay more at grocery stores as higher feed costs advance through the food chain

Apr 25, 2008 04:30 AM
Dana Flavelle
business reporter

Canadian consumers can expect to see more price hikes in food amid global shortages of basic grains and soaring fuel costs, more food industry executives are warning.

“These are stunningly challenging and unique times,” Michael McCain, president and chief executive officer of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., said at the company’s annual meeting in Toronto yesterday.

Major stores pull plastic bottles off shelves

Health Canada expected to label chemical they contain – bisphenol A – a dangerous substance

Apr 15, 2008 08:15 PM
Brenda Bouw
THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER–Three of Canada’s major retailers said today they are pulling plastic water and baby bottles that contain the controversial chemical bisphenol A, in anticipation of Health Canada labelling it a dangerous substance.

The coming hunger

Riots over rising grain prices are ripping through the developing world and the United Nations warns there’s worse to come. Was Malthus right? Are we getting too numerous to feed ourselves?

Apr 12, 2008 04:30 AM
Lynda Hurst
Feature Writer

The warning bells are ringing, furiously.

This week, food riots paralyzed Haiti, with angry marchers outside the president’s palace shouting “We are hungry!” Five people were killed in the chaos.

In Egypt, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed this week in two days of violence over food shortages. Last month, a two-week protest at government-subsidized bakeries ended with the deaths of 10 Egyptians in clashes with police.

Author decries food industry

Eat food, not too much, mainly plants, says Michael Pollan
Feb 29, 2008 04:30 AM
Kim Honey
food editor

Michael Pollan wants a cappuccino made with cow’s milk. But Live Organic Food Bar on Dupont St. near Spadina is vegan, so real milk, even organic, is out.

“What’s their thing about milk?” the best-selling author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma wonders aloud. When reminded it’s a vegan restaurant, he grins. “Oh right. They’re vegan. Silly me.”

Coal mining ravages Appalachia mountains

They’re ripping the tops off mountains in West Virginia coal country to feed our insatiable appetite for power. It’s cheaper that way. And the trees and the animals and the flooding? It may not be pretty, but we’ve got all those dishwashers to run

Feb 23, 2008 04:30 AM
Catherine Porter
Environment Reporter

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA–When you flick on the lights this evening, think of Kayford Mountain. Or what was Kayford Mountain, but now is a sprawling, muddy, trembling construction site 100 metres below Larry Gibson’s home.

Three years ago, Gibson hunted wild boar here, picked gooseberries and peaches, and sat under the shade of white oaks and hickories so thick he couldn’t see the sky.

“Now, you can see the sky below your feet,” Gibson says.

Can Burt’s Bees survive a bleaching?

Jan 21, 2008 04:30 AM
Jennifer Wells

The noble intention of ’08 echoes the noble intentions of ’07 and years prior: go green.

Sustainability? Still in.

Yet Kermit’s lament – “It’s not that easy being green” – rings perhaps more true today than in the frog’s heyday.

US family tries life without toilet paper

By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, New York

It is mid-afternoon in an airy, lower-Manhattan flat, on the ninth floor of a posh-looking building with a doorman.

It is a bit dark and there are no lights on. There is a strange quiet feel to the flat, perhaps due to the lack of any appliances – no fridge humming, no TV interference, even no air conditioning, though it is hot and humid outside.