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…
Adam Clare
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…
Time to get Wild in Scotland
We keep kicking wildlife out of their homes, and it’s time to reverse that process. We need to invite wild animals back into the places they used o live, this…
Green Roofs: The Bigger the Better
Every post this week has been about roofs, we looked at white, blue, and soy roofs. Let’s not forget about the classic green roof. The classic green roof is tried…
Can’t Get a Green, Blue, or White Roof? Get a Soy Roof Instead
Many of the eco-friendly roof options require upgrades to structures to support the extra weight. Building an blue, green, or even a white roof isn’t a solution for every existing…
A Blue Roof is a Happy Roof
For a good future we need to respect water at its source and in our built environments. You have heard of a green roof, a white roof, and now we…
I See Your Red Roof and I Want to Paint it White
On solution to avoid catastrophic climate change is as easy as painting buildings. It’s known that white pain has benefits for cooling cities and on individual buildings it can reduce…
We’ve Improved Urban Life During the Pandemic, Let’s Keep it up!
During the the last century urban planners in North America built cities for cars instead of people. The 21st century is literally paying the costs of their misjudgement. Efforts to…
Canada’s New Budget Support Climate Friendly Farming
This week the Canadian government announced the new budget and in it are some climate-friendly moves. Farmers in Canada who practice sustainable farming practices are going to get a little…
A Meta-Analysis of Well Being Reveals how to Help Your Mental Health
Many people are feeling worn out, down, and stressed after living through a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. People in nations which reacted swiftly and took scientific approaches to containing…
Your Carbon Footprint is Fine, it’s the Wealthy that Need to Change
There’s no doubt that we can all reduce our carbon footprint, but there’s one segment of the population who drastically need to cut their carbon output: the rich. Recent headlines…