The province of Alberta is usually only mentioned on this site when people are campaigning against the tar sands and the destruction of the environment. Today though, the capital of Alberta, Edmonton, has done something rather great. Edmonton is home to a large industrial-scale waste processing plant that converts what
Continue readingAuthor: Adam Clare
Things Are Good: Time for an Ocean Cleanup
We recent looked at Illinois banning microbeads, which will cut back on plastic pollution in large bodies of water. But what about the plastics that are already in the oceans? That’s where Ocean Cleanup comes in. Right now, the young organization is raising $2 million through crowd funding to do
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Better Take On The Current Generational Divide
It’s not rare to read in old media that young people these days are worthless, listless, clods. That viewpoint is beyond ridiculous, in recent months there has been a backlash to this attitude from millennials. Instead of being lazy and not doing anything about it – they are now quick
Continue readingThings Are Good: France Pays People to Cycle to Work
France is experimenting with new way to subsidize transportation by getting more people to bicycle to work. Traffic in Paris is particularly awful and with ongoing population growth and car-focused infrastructure the transportation problems are only going to increase. France is hoping that getting people to ride bicycles will stymie
Continue readingThings Are Good: Chilean Dam Project Broken Up Thanks to Activists and Locals
Activism works, just ask the Chilean communities that stopped a hydroelectric dam from being built. The dam was going to cause a lot of local ecological havoc with little actual gain to the local populace. The Chilean government has backed down from building the dam and the communities that were
Continue readingThings Are Good: Bank: Toronto’s Trees Worth $7 Billion
One of Canada’s largest banks has announced that their economic research has concluded that in Toronto alone the tree canopy is worth $7 Billion (CAD). The non-monetary value of trees is obvious to most people and usually that’s enough to justify keeping trees around. However, there are people who only
Continue readingThings Are Good: Support DeepCity 2030: A City Sim About Cats And Resilient Cities
DeepCity Pitch video from DeepCITY Project on Vimeo. DeepCity 2030 is like Sim City meets Clash of Clans plus a Laser Cat and at least one Disco Jesus. The game has a hyperbolic approach to climate change and it’s up to the player to figure out what sort of city
Continue readingThings Are Good: Doctors Say Healthy People Come From Good Urban Design
A new report written by a handful of doctors titled Improving Health Care by Design concludes that in order to have a healthy populace we need cities designed for health. There is nothing startling in the report but it does provide one more reference and tool for people to use
Continue readingThings Are Good: Illinois Bans Microbeads in Beauty Products
In the USA, Illinois is he first jurisdiction to ban the sale of microbeads. Microbeads are tiny plastic spheres used in exfoliants which are cheaper to use than natural products like seeds and nuts. This ban is great news because along the great lakes microbeads are found inside the belles
Continue readingThings Are Good: It’s Time to Reset the Net
One year ago today Edward Snowden revealed to the world evidence that many long suspected – that the American government is actively performing mass surveillance. Innocent people have been targeted and information the likes of which we’ll never fully know has been collected on nearly anyone who’s used the internet.
Continue readingThings Are Good: Remembering Tiananmen Square
25 years ago in Tiananmen Square there was a protest against the Chinese government. The protest was dealt with lethal force by the government – killing many people. Since then, the Chinese government has blocked any discussion about the protest and has greatly censored information on it. Obviously all of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Obama Takes On Coal Power Plants
Coal is one of the worst sources for energy given that its contribution to destruction of our planet is unmatched. There have been attempts to make coal branded as “clean coal” but even then, the radiation emitted from coal power plants is too high and the pollutants released into the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Abolish The Week
People who aren’t slaves to the 9-5 world (or worse the 8-8 crowd) may not understand the tyranny of the week. Those poor folks who are forced by their managers and bosses to slave away at set hours and times. Sometimes the best time to do something may not be
Continue readingThings Are Good: Doctors Prescribing Nature
Doctor Robert Zarr prescribes walking in parks to his patients. Regular readers already know that the exposure to nature is beneficial in multiple ways for our physical and mental health. Doctors have also taken note of this and realize that prescribing walks and exposure to nature can reduce obesity rates
Continue readingThings Are Good: Solar Roads Could Provide Electricity
There are six days left for the Indiegog campaign for Solar Roadways and they have already met their goal! The $1,000,000 goal has been reached and passed – which is quite impressive! The idea behind the successful campaign is to turn roads from heat-producing to energy-producing. A network of roads
Continue readingThings Are Good: New Speed Limit in Paris: 30 km/hr
This week Wired published an article about the 20 deadliest US cities for pedestrians and they write: There, low-density neighborhoods “rely on wider streets with higher speeds to connect homes, shops, and schools—roads that tend to be more dangerous for people walking,” the report says. More than half of all
Continue readingThings Are Good: Why Investors Care About Sustainability
For long term investors sustainability is an obvious concern, but for some investors who look only for profits in the next quarter sustainability can be forgotten. The tide is starting to turn as companies that don’t have sustainable practices in place are being beaten by more efficient operations. The Guardian
Continue readingThings Are Good: Remote, Intelligent Air Conditioning Device and App
tado° is looking to get funded on Kickstarter is designed to make your home more efficient. If you use an AC unit to cool your house then you should consider backing this project as it can save you money and the environment. Every summer regions in North America suffer blackouts
Continue readingThings Are Good: Support The Experimental Lakes Area
The Experimental Lakes Area has suffered greatly from the Canadian government’s anti-science funding policies and has luckily been saved by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. To ensure that further damage can’t come from the ideologically-driven and anti-environment Conservative Party the ELA has turned to crowd funding to survive. Last
Continue readingThings Are Good: When Investing, Millennials Care More Than Previous Generations
Millennials are savvy investors who care about the planet and social justice. Previous generations have treated their investments as risky and didn’t care about the environment or other important issues. Some financial advisors are shocked to find out that not only are young investors interested in creating a better world,
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