Removing Highways Improves Cities
Urban highways occupy a lot of space that can otherwise be used for parks, housing, offices, or anything else that produces economic benefits. The post war highway building boom in…
Adam Clare
Manage the Summer Heat in Your Home Without AC
Global warming is making our cities hotter than ever before, which has led many to turn on the air conditioning. The irony is that to keep us cool we turn…
Paris’ Cafes Will Stay After the Pandemic
Cities around the world finally shunned cars from streets and returned the precious urban space to people in order to provide safe socially distanced places for people. These urban improvement…
Watch These Documentaries to Better Understand SE Asia
The environmental movement is a global struggle against big corporations and corrupted governments, which means each struggle has commonalities while also being unique to its region. Over at Global Voices…
American Charities May Legally Have to Divest from Fossil Fuels
Student groups have long called for their educational institutions to divest from the destructive fossil fuel industry (and ideally reinvest in renewables). This passionate demand from students has seen success…
Keystone XL is Dead, For Reals This Time
Protesting works! The absolutely foolish plan to make a massive pipeline to transport a heavily subsidized non-renewable energy source is dead. It is really dead. We’ve heard before that the…
You Make Choices to Have a Good Life
How you think about the world around will influence what you do in the world, which in turn impacts how you react to what’s happening around you. It’s a cycle,…
Attempting Harmless Fashion
The concept of sustinable fashion is more of a goal than something that can be put into practice. One company, Asket, is taking a different spin on making the fashion…
G7 Nations Agree on Minimum Corporate Tax
Corporations love keeping their shareholders money instead of contributing to society, and it’s the role of governments to ensure that corporations do their part. Usually this comes in the form…
Bustling Bike Boom Brought on by Pandemic Continues
Riding bikes has gotten more popular over the course of the pandemic due to the fact it’s a safe outdoor activity. Popularity of commuting by bicycle has also increased thanks…
Reducing Meat Consumption can Reduce the Risk of the Next Pandemic
Zoonotic diseases are nothing new and are often the cause of large outbreaks which cause great harm to humans and other animals. It’s speculated that the recent COVID-19 coronavirus popped…
Plastics are Toxic in Canada
The advertising around plastics highlights how recyclable it is, but in reality plastics are a pollutant that barely get recycled in a meaningful way (this is why the 3Rs are…
Nevada to Ban Lawns
Lawns are the manifestation of human environmental hubris, and it’s hurting all of us. Regular readers of Things Are Good know that lawns are bad for a myriad of reasons…
Three Years of Privacy Thanks to the GDPR
Three years ago today the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted in the EU to protect you from morally questionable digital surveillance, and trust me, we’re all better off…
Urban Farming Helps Cities Tackle the Climate Crisis
Growing your own food is fun and possible, even in a tiny space, so everyone should give it a try. Cities are finding ways to encourage more people to grow…
Alternative Solutions to Calling the Police
Respect for the police continues to erode due to questionable, immoral, and illegal police behaviour. Just this week in Ontario, police breaking the law ruined an entire case taking down…
Plant Based Diets Reduce Mortality, Increase Environmental Wellbeing
Obviously, a diet change to consume less meat is good for animal mortality but what you might not know is that a mass shift to plant based diet is good…
A Toolkit for Addressing Misinformation
Democracy functions best when the people are well educated and the group Evidence for Democracy wants exactly that: a smart public. With COVID vaccinations well underway it’s important to understand…
Architects Need to Build Their Knowledge to Build a Sustainable Future
Current popular building practices lack a nuanced approach to sustainability due to years of it being culturally ok to put future generations into ecological debt. Thankfully, things are starting to…
Join the No-Mow May Campaign
Pollinators love the spring and they love your lawn….until you cut it. Spring time is when pollinators need a quick get up and go meal, which usually comes from those…