Judge Smith was suitably impressed and “recognized Mrs. Rogerson’s original strain as a new, unique, and distinct breed. He went on to encourage development of the (breed) … and he later developed the first breed standards.”

Mrs. Rogerson’s new breed was the Gloster (for Mrs. Rogerson’s home shire) Fancy Canary, and it came in two versions, the Gloster Corona and the Gloster Consort.

The Gloster Corona (left) and Gloster Consort (right) (images from Animal World)

The Gloster Corona was, as its name suggests, crowned with crested plumage, the first to catch the eyes of canary admirers already drawn to its pleasant singing and good-hearted demeanour. The Gloster Consort was, as its name suggests, a bit less regal-looking and, if it were human, possibly harbouring a grudge for being denied the crown and the attention. But each version was equally important and Mrs. Rogerson’s creation, coming in an age when canaries were admired for their singing – and for their utility to us as harbingers of doom in our coal mines – developed a strong and loyal following, persisting to this day as a leading canary-fanciers favourite.

Four years before the birth of the Gloster Consort, a young man was born on a Greek island who would, as fate would have it, come to learn a thing or two about birds. And, interestingly, nine years after the exhibition, a young man would be born in a town in southwest Ontario who would, as fate would have it, also come to learn a thing or two about birds.

Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson (left), Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (right)

***

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on the Greek island of Corfu, and came to international prominence when his acquaintance with Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain became more than an acquaintance. In 1946, King George VI gave his permission and blessing to the marriage of his daughter, the presumptive heiress to the throne, to this tall, handsome young princeling who’s lineage could be traced back to the German principalities, a lineage shared with his betrothed (and with many of the sovereigns of Europe, in fact).

Prince Phillip was a constant presence in my life. I was born 10 years after Phillip’s Queen ascended to the throne and I have watched from afar as a loyal subject of his (and my) Queen and an admirer of his for the way in which he navigated his life. In many ways, the dynamic that underpinned the relationship between Phillip and Elizabeth was mirrored in my own world as my mother, ‘Queen May’, ruled the realm with the genial assistance of her consort, my father George. My Dad, a former Royal Marine Commando, stayed at home during most of my childhood while my Mom went off to work at the hospital, or the modelling agency, or the nursing home. My Dad did the cooking and cleaning, along with whatever odd job that he’d pick up in his former trade as a carpet-master and flooring specialist. And he did it with a smile on his face that only broadened when he’d meet his grandchildren in his daily parade as the King of Queen Street. A man who could (and probably did; he always hedged when asked specifically) kill somebody with his bare hands, hands that were scarred and calloused from a life’s labour, would stop everything and drop everything to pick up a beaming grandchild and whisk her up into an impromptu dance. And then he’d hurry home to ensure that the supper was on and the place was set for my Mom’s return from work, the happiest part of my Dad’s day.

(George and May McConnachie, circa 1960s)

In most respects, I saw this as completely normal and assumed that every father was so hard yet soft, a sinner yet a saint. Sometimes, though, I’d question how my Dad put aside his masculinity as a member of the supposed superior sex to assume what was a traditional feminine role, the helpmate, in the very patriarchal society of the 1960s and 70s. Did it make him more or less of a man? And what lessons would I draw as I grew into my own manhood?

In these questioning times, and perhaps sensing my unease, my Dad and I would start talking (both of us well-known non-stop talkers) about the military career of Prince Phillip and the important roles that he played for Canada, Scotland and the rest of the British Empire. How he carried himself with great dignity. How he put his family first. How he took the most masculine step possible, to take a step back to allow someone else to shine, and to do so with a sense of duty and responsibility that was absolutely necessary to the role. Being the consort of a Queen was no easy task, but there always seemed to be a smile on Phillip’s face as he beamed at his Queen and she at he. It seemed as real to me as the love that was demonstrated between my parents, and I knew that my mother’s successes in this world were directly related to the scrubbing of the laundry and the seasoning of the stew, and the countless other little duties, that my father fulfilled with a joyfulness in his heart that everyone felt.

Both Prince Phillip and my Dad (and my Mom’s consort), George, were born in the year 1921. They both fought in battles in far off lands and fought battles for their families closer to home. They were faulty human beings – as we all are – but each managed to persevere through their own limitations and life’s challenges to be the strongest supporters and the loudest fan of their respective Queens. It is a lesson that I have taken to heart – and taken home to roost whenever I have been fortunate enough to be joined in my own life’s journey by a Queen.

***

Phillip of Greece and George of Glasgow shared many traits and commonalities. One of the most obvious to me was the love of the outdoors, a respect for nature and an understanding that we human beings are but one small species in a giant ecosystem called life-on-earth. I used to watch the annual BBC specials on the Royal Family, and invariably there’d be a mention of Prince Phillip’s conservation efforts, specifically in the area of birds. My Dad kept his conservation efforts nearer to us, opening the back door in the morning and stepping out to feed his ‘wee beasties’, the squirrels, chipmunks and birds that would soon be eating their own meals from his hands. He’d share wisdom straight from de Saint-Exupéry about the importance of stewardship, not the fleeting kind but the long-tailed kind of stewardship that came with as many tears as triumphs. He’d share tales from his own wartime adventures, the birds that he saw in Egypt or the crows in the bell towers in Italy. He’d sing songs that he’d make up, swearing to me that he was only replicating what he’d been taught by the birds. To this day, I’ll engage in singathons with the jays and others in the trees near me (of which they might not always appreciate), just to recall the feeling of, that moment of, my hero, my father, being in tune with nature. And everything being good in the world

“To this day, I’ll engage in singathons with the jays and others in the trees near me (of which they might not always appreciate), just to recall the feeling of, that moment of, my hero, my father, being in tune with nature. And everything being good in the world.”

My Dad was a near-urban wildlife aficionado, a product of his own upbringing in the tenement blocks of Glasgow. He would sally forth with a backpack on his back as a boy, especially when he was visiting relatives in the relatively bucolic Firth of Forth town called North Queensferry, right across from Mary Queen of Scots’ castle in Edinburgh. And the stories that he’d tell, of going up and down the moors, of splashing through the streams, and of lazing under the bright skies while watching the birds overhead and wondering if these winged creatures were actually God’s cherubim incarnate.

When my Dad talked of nature, he’d do so with a reverence in his voice, of the quiet and the peace. Of the giant trees and glistening lakes. Of the clear skies and clearer water, water that was so cool that you could quench your thirst even on the hottest day. Of the animals, large and small, that made the woods and forests their homes. And of the need to respect nature and all her parts, of which we were just one little aspect.

“You’re one in a million to me, Davey, but to the rest of the planet you’re just one of a million.”

As I got older and started reading history books about my father’s battles, I started to gain a deeper understanding of why my Dad, a man of action, would retreat into nature as a place of both solitude and rebirth. In battle, there is no peace, no quiet. In battle, the trees are torn asunder by artillery shells and the lakes stained red. In battle, there is constant thirst, a thirst for life, that is parched by the heat and the dust and the fear, and cool respites are few and far between. In battle, the woods and the forests become death-traps, for the humans and for every species, eerily devoid of bird calls but overflowing with smoke and fire and flames. And death.

Nature, alive, is full of life. Nature, alive, breathes and breeds new life. Nature, alive, is now a known antidote and remedy for those suffering from mental anguish and illness, a perfect ‘safe space’ to retreat into to undergo nature therapy. Breathing with the trees. Ebbing and flowing with the waters. Waking with the birds and drifting off to sleep to the cicadas. Meditation and introspection, a humbling that comes by appreciating your own inanity in this world full of pomposity and insanity.

Today, when I am perplexed by a problem and need to clear my mind, nothing works better than taking Zoey the dog (half border collie, half husky, all go) for a walk in the nearby nature trail here in Exeter, Ontario. I become mindful of each step we take. I become mindful of the sounds of the forest. I become mindful of the wind chilling my cheek. And, in doing so, my mind gains space from the perplexing problem. In most cases, that space and distance is enough to allow my logical thoughts to win the argument in my head and allow me to take the appropriate step(s). My emotional side has been succoured by nature. Nature becomes my consort, if you will.

***

In addition to the aforementioned Phillip and George, there’s another gentleman who embodies the spirit of being a consort in life and to life. Graeme Gibson of London (Ontario) was born into conditions more akin to George than Phillip. The son of Scottish immigrants, he and his family moved around a fair bit as a lad as they sought opportunities in this new land, but Graeme managed to take the right steps by graduating from the prestigious Upper Canada College and the University of Western Ontario. He was drawn to literature, as an outlet, and to the idea that change must be fostered, as a zeitgeist. His early works, released in the late 1960s and early 1970s, were considered by many in Canada’s literary circles as benchmarks of experiential literature, exploring important themes from perspectives not then shared by many. The works were rich in imagery and challenging in comprehension, requiring a degree of open-mindedness that narrowed mass market appeal. But Graeme understood that the purpose of literature was to serve the need of the story, and the storyteller, and if that meant limiting sales potential then so be it.

Becoming a champion of storytelling and storytellers was one of Graeme’s noble purposes, that driving compulsion to act in a manner that is not self-serving but serves the greater good.

Becoming a champion of storytelling and storytellers was one of Graeme’s noble purposes, that driving compulsion to act in a manner that is not self-serving but serves the greater good Graeme was one of the founders of the Writers’ Union of Canada, helped form the Writer’s Trust of Canada, and was a co-founder and president of PEN Canada. In the world of Canadian literature, the name Graeme Gibson became synonymous with fighting for writers’ right to write, and using their collective voices to affect change. And given that most Canadian writers exist within a very small cage of celebrity – with the resulting financial rewards that come with it – Graeme was really fighting for those who could not, through their small sales footprint (or not-yet-written first novel) earn enough daily bread to feed themselves, let alone the neighbourhood birds.

I was drawn to PEN Canada in the early 1980s as that organization began advocating for causes that resonated with my still-developing soul. PEN Canada’s mission:

PEN Canada celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.

There seemed to be two voices that I heard most frequently from PEN. Graeme Gibson was the fiery organizer and orator. Margaret Atwood was the voice from upon high, a Canadian literary author with truly global impacts, and especially important in the areas of equal rights, civil rights and the right to have our voices heard. I could hear his voice but I saw her eyes, those eyes that seemed capable of reproach as stinging as anything she could have written. “Must be tough to be married to her,” my Dad chuckled as we watched the news, adding “and I should know!”

In my life’s journey, I got a chance to dabble in the world of Canadian literature during my time working as the publishing director of the NHL. One year, we released TOTAL HOCKEY encyclopaedia and HOCKEY FOR DUMMIES, both of which rocketed up the charts of Canadian Non-Fiction Bestsellers. I got invited to a few events, rubbed leather-patched elbows with the literati, and learned, to my delight, that the loud tall organizer was the one married to the Queen of Canadian literature. And then paid a bit more attention whenever either would pop up in the news.

At some point, I began to wonder what it must have been like to be married to Margaret Atwood, Canada’s Nobel-winning writer. Especially given that Graeme was a writer himself. How did he manage to be both a fiery advocate and soulful supporter?

How do you dance through life with your partner without stepping on the toes of her Muses?

How do you dance through life with your partner without stepping on the toes of her Muses? How do you add and not take away from her work, being there in whatever capacity may be required? Do you interrupt to offer tea or just bring it?

This contemplative time was after my Dad had passed and during a momentary crisis in my personal life that saw me need to become a good first officer to my marital captain as she launched and developed a new business. There was a random news item from Buckingham Palace that reminded me of Phillip, and of George. And, in hindsight, it helped me to understand Graeme Gibson a little bit better, and myself in the process, too. Something about a species at risk that the Duke of Edinburgh’s conservation trust had managed to nurse back to health, all in and around the ‘annus horribilis’ suffered by Elizabeth and family.

***

So, how do you act as a consort to your partner?

The verbs in the motto of PEN Canada hold a clue:

CELEBRATE. DEFEND. AID.

In the case of Phillip of Greece, he certainly spent considerable time consoling and counselling his Queen as she underwent her travails. In the case of George of Glasgow, he’d put a pot of soup on and make sure that my Mom’s chair was ready for her return. For Graeme of London, I’m guessing that, during moments of crisis in his family, he would celebrate, defend and aid his Queen to the best of his capacities, and in a manner that given the longevity of their relationship, must have worked. Margaret Atwood didn’t get any less famous for her writing or less prodigious in her output.

Now, interestingly, much like Phillip and George, Graeme also became a conservationist and ecological admirer. In his case, Graeme Gibson was a key driver behind the creation of the Pelee Island Bird Sanctuary in Canada’s southernmost point, a near-urban natural oasis that now teems with avian life, migratory and sedentary. Graeme, like the other gentleman consorts mentioned herein, took to nature as a remedy to the noises and nuisances of city life, and perhaps to step away, if even for just a brief moment, from his duties to his Queen. The smallest bird became the biggest focal point. The nurturing, the tears and the triumphs all part of the process of grounding oneself while giving back.

And therein lies the secret, I believe, to how we humans can stop putting our needs first and become consorts to our Queen, Mother Nature.

***

Mining foreman R. Thornburg shows a small cage with a canary used for testing carbon monoxide gas in 1928. George McCaa, U.S. Bureau of Mines

In 1986, the last canary was released from service to the coal mines. In all likelihood, it was not one of Mrs. Rogerson’s Gloster Canaries, be they Corona or Consort. The Gloster Canary was specially bred for its attractiveness and appeal. The canaries that worked in the coal mines were of less exalted stock, albeit hardier than their swankier cousins.

The practice of using canaries to detect carbon monoxide in mining operations was pioneered in 1911 by Dr. John Haldane, who some describe as the ‘father of oxygen therapy’. There was solid science behind the idea, specifically:

Canaries, like other birds, are good early detectors of carbon monoxide because they’re vulnerable to airborne poisons, Inglis-Arkell writes. Because they need such immense quantities of oxygen to enable them to fly and fly to heights that would make people altitude sick, their anatomy allows them to get a dose of oxygen when they inhale and another when they exhale, by holding air in extra sacs, he writes. Relative to mice or other easily transportable animals that could have been carried in by the miners, they get a double dose of air and any poisons the air might contain, so miners would get an earlier warning.

The use of canaries as ‘early warning systems’ took root in British mining companies, and soon jumped the pond to influence North American coal miners. The canaries were not only prized by the miners for their life-saving abilities but were also welcomed for their songs. “They are so ingrained in the culture, miners report whistling to the birds and coaxing them as they worked, treating them as pets.”

The phrase ‘a canary in a coal mine’ came into popular use not long after the birds went to work. In the broadest sense, it means that something is an early warning sign of danger ahead. Al Gore applied the analogy to the concept of the extinction of species and the skyrocketing GhGs are canaries in a coal mine of an ecosystem in crisis, in this case the ecosystem that sustains human life. That ‘inconvenient truth’ that Gore was sharing helped to ignite a heightened degree of awareness of environmentalism within everyday society, and became some of the foundational learning of today’s young environmental leaders. The ones leading the research, organizing a blockade to protect the old growth forests, or running for office to affect positive legislative change.

They make these sacrifices for a greater good, beyond simply the preservation of a butterfly or bumble bee. They are sacrificing for the butterfly and the bumble bee, yes, but they do so in service to humanity, keeping a watchful eye on the hands on the Extinction Clock, readying to raise the alarm or scramble to save another last-of. Because, fundamentally, these scientists, researchers, academics and activists understand and appreciate a simple truth: humans are but one species among billions on this planet, equally (if not more) vulnerable to the changes wrought by anthropogenic climate change. Fires, floods and famines, oh my! And if it isn’t good for the canary, it can’t be good for us.

***

We humans, large in numbers but small in planetary significance, have played an outsized role in the destruction and degradation of the natural environment. And while we’ve always been a messy species, we’ve really taken it up a notch since the Industrial Revolution.

You can blame our fossil-fuel-burning machinery poisoning the atmosphere with greenhouse gasses, which contributed to raising the global temperature which eventually begat the mass extinction events that we’re now watching unspool in front of our eyes like a slow-motion train wreck. And given that we’re the most golden of the Goldilocks species, the most vulnerable to extremes and to change in a time of extreme change, we should probably be paying more attention and taking more actions.

Credit: Ed Himelblau, The New Yorker

Start by birdwatching. We are far too zoomed in on our own daily minutiae to appreciate the larger world around us, and the changes that threaten our very existence.

We need to turn the binoculars around and stop demanding that EVERYONE LOOK AT US! We need to become passionate observers of the planet’s beautifully complicated ecosystems, large and small, near and far. 

We need to turn the binoculars around and stop demanding that EVERYONE LOOK AT US! We need to become passionate observers of the planet’s beautifully complicated ecosystems, large and small, near and far. We need to watch the birds as they go about their daily lives. We need to listen to the birds as they call to each other, this song a love poem, this song an elegy. We need to learn about the birds, and from the birds, where they live and why. We need to go to where the birds are and to build welcoming spaces for the birds where we are. There is so much we need to know and an incredible urgency to do so.

We, as humans, need to understand and appreciate the fact that ‘we’re all in this together’ is more than a motto to survive the pandemic. It’s a reminder that we are in a codependent relationship with the natural world – and we humans are more dependent upon the planet than the planet is on humans. We will need all the birds and all the bees that we can to be our allies in our survival. It’s a reminder that we humans are now the canaries and we seem hellbent as a species toward our own self-destruction, going out of our way to poison our cages, our foodstocks and our futures. We must start our efforts by changing the climate of misanthropy; after all, a self-loathing human is a dangerous beast and threatens to take a lot of other species down with it.

Once we’ve come to terms with our horrible-for-nature impacts, once we’ve accepted our responsibilities for past sins of commission and omission, and once we’ve realized that this planet is not all about us, we can begin to take tentative first steps to repairing our relationship with nature. And, yes, we are in a committed relationship with nature but, contrary to our human beliefs, we are most definitely not the most important partner in that relationship. Hell, our partner did pretty well before meeting us and will most certainly do just fine once we’ve departed. And we will depart sooner rather than later on our current trajectory, or more correctly we will be thrown out by an exasperated partner tired of waiting for us to change our ways and be a significantly more loving and more respectful significant other.

We have prioritized us and only us, at the expense of all others. We have blashemphed our inheritance and sullied our home. We have put our needs first, especially recently as the science became clearer while hurdles were thrown in the path of progress-seekers. Rather than acting in a manner that CELEBRATED, DEFENDED and AIDED our Queen in our role as consorts to nature, too many of us have DEGRADED, DESTROYED and EXPLOITED nature for our own benefit or for the benefit of societies that prioritize profits over people. The canaries have already given their lives for us and yet, still, we remain obtuse to the creeping gasses ready to suffocate our lives.

But as in all relationships, there is a chance to change our ways, although we might be on chance Nth by now. Our partner is very forgiving.

For far too long, humanity has demanded a subservience from nature. Some of our holiest books sanction our desecration in the name of the divine (and to the benefit of the few and the detriment of the most). We are the Lords, we are told, and we can bend Nature to meet our needs. But we are not Lords. We are simply a subspecies of simians that somehow managed to find a niche in time to proclaim our preeminence. We build edifices to and from our egos to ourselves and our perceived greatness. We’ll chop down giant, majestic trees to make the paper to make our words immortal, or until the next fire comes along. We use, we exploit, we degrade and we disrespect. Not all of us, and certainly not among the youngest of us, who seem to comprehend the severity of the bill of consequences that they’ll be paying for their ancestor’s transgressions against the environment. And I guess this message is specifically geared towards them.

It will not be easy to navigate your way forward in this new age of Mother Nature pushing back and standing up for herself. The ripples caused by the rising GhGs are well nigh ashore in our present world, manifesting as extreme everything. And these ripples will likely become tsunamis before the worst has passed.

What can we do? many may be asking. May I suggest an edit to How can we help? How can we become a consort to nature, a helpmate in the day to day and a warrior when called upon to fight on our partner’s behalf? We could do worse than look to the examples set by Phillip of Greece, George of Glasgow and Graeme of London.

In the introduction to his seminal book, The Bedside Book of Birds – An Avian Miscellany, Graeme Gibson wrote:

“With the zeal of a convert and the instigated imagination of an ex-novelist, I started taking note of, then collecting, and finally obsessively searching out texts that illustrated something — almost anything — about our human response to birds. This book is the result. It isn’t so much about birds themselves as it is about the richly varied relationships we have established with them during the hundreds of thousands of years that we and they have shared life on earth.”

How will we become the types of humans who deserve to share in a future with such a luminary partner? May I suggest a nature consort’s vow:

CELEBRATE NATURE. DEFEND NATURE. AID NATURE.

Until death do us part.

LEARN MORE AND DO MORE

How do we become better partners and better consorts for nature? Well, there are many steps that you can take and many great organizations doing work in your backyard that can help you gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the role of nature in your life. Nature Canada, for example, works to help Canadians understand how to be better consorts to nature:

We believe that when the heart is engaged, the mind and body will follow. That is why, since our founding in 1939, Nature Canada has been connecting Canadians to nature, trying to instill in them a nature ethic – a respect for nature, an appreciation for its wonders, and the will to act in nature’s defense.

They’ve got many great programs, and one that would have definitely interested my Dad (and was a topic near to the hearts of Prince Phillip and Graeme Gibson) is birds in urban environments, the dangers that our cities present to our avian friends, and the steps being taken (or should be taken) to minimize the human impact on birds, and nature in general. Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly Cities program seeks to address the devastating impacts of our built structures on the avian ecosystem, and was launched because in “the last 50 years, North American bird populations have dropped by more than 25%.”

Thank you for reading our FOR THE LOVE OF NATURE series, be sure to check out the other articles as well!

And don’t forget to register for Nature Canada’s Pimlott Award Celebration happening this Wednesday on March 2, 2022, where Margaret Atwood and the late Graeme Gibson will be honoured and recognized as champions for birds and nature. Check it out here!

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The space where art and environmentalism collide is a space where hearts become inspired. In the art project titled 1,000 Flyers, anyone can participate and add a contribution to the art piece, giving an opportunity for others to learn and become aware of an important environmental issue, while having a personal and meaningful interactive experience. 

“1,000 Flyers is an ongoing participatory eco-art project drawing attention to threats to bird populations worldwide. There are currently over 1,400 bird species at risk of extinction globally, and this project honours and memorializes them through the intentional folding of paper cranes for each of these species,” shared Jessica Marion Barr, the founder of this project, who notes that the number of species has increased by more than 100 since the project was started nine years ago.

“There are currently over 1,400 bird species at risk of extinction globally, and this project honours and memorializes them through the intentional folding of paper cranes for each of these species,”

“Participants are asked to select an at-risk bird species from a list provided by the artist and then, in the spirit of the Japanese tradition of senbazuru (the folding of 1,000 paper cranes to aid in the healing of someone who is ill), to fold an origami crane as a prayer for the healing and survival of this species,” Barr explained.

1,000 Flyers at the Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference, Hart House, Toronto (2013). Credit: Vincent Luk

“The title of the project is a play on words – ‘flyers’ refers to the birds as well as to the material from which we make the origami; instead of traditional origami paper, we use junk mail – the flyers that appear unbidden on our doorsteps, and whose existence speaks to the threats to bird and other living populations worldwide: consumerism, factory farming, deforestation, pollution, and on and on.”

1,000 Flyers at the Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference, Hart House, Toronto (2013). Credit: Vincent Luk

Not only is the message of the art environmentally conscious, but the material that it is made of contributes to the same message. Upcycled paper is a more sustainable option that also, as Barr explained, comments on the nature of consumer culture, tying in the awareness of the threats of the birds as an integrated part of the art itself.

“Participants label their creations with their chosen species’ name and then add them to the growing ‘flock’ of 1,000 Flyers. When the project is complete and all threatened species on the list (from the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, see www.iucnredlist.org/) have been commemorated, the piece will be displayed as a unified installation, hopefully outdoors in a tree, tying the project literally and metaphorically to existing bird habitat.”

1,000 Flyers installation at Lady Eaton College, Trent University, 2020. Credit: Alyssa Diatel

The most recent participatory installation of 1,000 Flyers occurred in March 2020 just prior to pandemic lockdowns, at Trent University’s Lady Eaton College, where the project was hosted as a part of the college’s annual Marjory Seeley Women in Leadership event. However, as an ongoing and interactive project, participants are always welcome to contribute and pay their own respects to this growing memorial for endangered birds. 

1,000 Flyers at the Urban Forests & Political Ecologies Conference, Hart House, Toronto (2013). Credit: Vincent Luk

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Our goal is to challenge readers to think about the climate crisis in a different way and start thinking about what they’re going to do in their individual lives and communities to strive for that possible future; we want people to envision the journey. We’re not looking for false hope or optimism, but rather, diverse stories that are grounded in the views of people. We want to share the pathways people have taken and their ancestors have walked, and translate those into a new perspective of looking back from the future, as a type of “letter to our past, 2021-inhabiting selves”.

A\J is seeking volunteer writers who may be interested in contributing a cli-fi, futuristic, intergenerational, utopian/dystopian-related piece for this upcoming issue, 2071. We are looking for NEW VOICES: pitches from BIPOC storytellers, new grads, and most importantly, young writers – the ones who will be living in that future… We want diverse perspectives, new ideas, and interesting story angles to present this vision of 2071.

Opportunities to contribute to a variety of different topics for online articles are also available.

Those who may be interested are asked to email: Siobhan Mullally at siobhan.mullally@alternativesjournal.ca or David McConnachie at david@alternativesjournal.ca.

About A\J

A\J, or Alternatives Journal, is Canada’s national environmental magazine and has been independently publishing intelligent & informed environmental journalism since 1971. A\J is published by Alternatives Media Inc, a registered Canadian charity that is dedicated to publishing hundreds of stories, inspiring thousands of meaningful actions and engaging with millions of Canadians, each and every day.

The post 2071: The Journey of How We Avoided Dystopian Outcomes appeared first on A\J.

I don’t express my love for you enough

But I’m so grateful for all that you are

You do so much for me

You provide for me

I appreciate all the gifts you give

The air I breathe, the water I drink, the food I eat

My survival depends on you

You are beautiful

You are wild and vast and magnificent

You are a great force and a silent stillness

You fill my soul and give me peace

You ground me

Never failing are your natural cycles of sunrises and sunsets

And phases of the moon in the night sky

And the physical ground beneath my feet

You support all life

You do so much for me that I cannot see

To regulate the climate and cycle nutrients and water through the earth

You make my life livable

You teach and inspire me

I’ll never get close to knowing everything about you

Nevertheless you continue to teach me lessons every day

Of connectivity, resilience, complexity, and healing

You are a wonderful host

You’re hospitable and serving

Even when your residents are destructive at best

You are home

I’m sorry for not loving you enough

or at least not protecting you nearly enough

You deserve better than what has been done to you

You deserve all the love we humans can give

And I love you for more than just what you do for life on Earth

You are intrinsically valuable in and of yourself

I love you for simply existing

You mean the world to me

The post My Valentine to Nature appeared first on A\J.

My first few days on the job were filled with uncertainties as I was just beginning to understand my role and didn’t know what to expect for the coming weeks. I was, in every sense of the word, a newbie. But it was not long before I dove head first into the sea of work and was carried off with the current, learning as I went. Bear with me as I further use this ocean metaphor.

Some days at A\J are choppy waves – full of energy, meetings, interviews, emails, busyness. Some days are calm waters, when I can float with careful planning, inspiration, and most importantly, writing. David (A\J publisher and my supervisor) always tells me to learn the ebbs and flows of my work, and that I am. For lack of a more unique pop culture reference, I feel very much like a young Jedi learning from the Obi Wan of A\J. David shares many of his pieces of advice and wisdom with me in the form of metaphors and catchphrases, and they are all valuable lessons that fuel my growth as a writer. I’ve learned how to “use the force” of environmental journalism – you need lots of input before you can produce the output. I am being filled to the brim with inspiration, having meaningful conversations with environmental leaders on the daily, and learning how to tithe to myself in the process in order to produce my best work.

I was recently tasked with writing an article on what I’ve learned so far at A\J in just 4 weeks, but if I included everything, it would be way too long for anyone to read (and for me to write!) So, I will do my best to sum up my key takeaways from this work experience so far.

The A\J Team

First and foremost, meeting the A\J team was a huge positive. It has been wonderful to work with a team of interesting people who are all different, yet share a common purpose. Everyone at A\J is driven to share environmental stories with others, to plant seeds and inspire them. We all work together with each other’s ebbs and flows, and I have observed how dedicated these people are to their work. I’ve experienced so much support, encouragement, and collaboration from the team that has kept me moving forward.

Skill Building

During the past month, I have enhanced my existing skills and established many new ones. I’ve built upon my interpersonal skills, and I don’t just mean “customer service” or people skills. I’m talking about the ability to sustain meaningful conversation and genuinely listen to others in order to gather and absorb important insights and stories from them. Along with that, I’ve greatly practiced and improved my existing communication skills through speaking (and listening), writing, emailing, interviewing, and the list goes on.

My work as an A\J intern has also given me a real experience of what journalism work is like. There are always several different projects on the go and multitasking is the way of life. I’ve had a lot of space to work on time management and self-regulation by prioritizing tasks, working with deadlines, and working around meeting times. There is no shortage of tasks, but it’s not draining, it’s actually empowering! I get to be actively involved in everything, and maybe it’s just me, but I really thrive when I have lots on the go and can be a part of everything all at once.

Creativity

I’ve also been given the opportunity to hone in on my creativity, which is something I didn’t have a lot of practice doing before this job. My writing and learning style has always been quite organized, academic, and structured. For me, the most conceptually difficult type of university assignment I’ve ever had to do (out of math, sciences, and the arts) is writing an English essay. In first year, I had to write an essay on a super short, abstract poem, and I had no idea what it was saying. It took so much original thought and effort to come up with a thesis and write a full, meaningful paper on just 14 lines of confusion. Of course, I’ve come a long way since then, but I find these assignments challenging because I have to generate fresh ideas. I have to be inspired. It is through these exercises that I improve my creative thinking. At A\J, I am challenged to think for myself in everything I do. Right from the get-go I was asked, “What do you want to write about?”, “What are your stories to tell?”, and “Who do you want to talk to?” I’m starting to answer those big questions, slowly tending and listening to that creative autonomy in my work. By doing so, I’m discovering lots about myself and know that I’ll continue to do so.

Conversations

In just four weeks at A\J, I’ve met many new people (virtually, of course), beyond just the A\J team. I’ve been able to have conversations with individuals who are highly experienced, accomplished, admired in environmental fields of work. I’ve been given opportunities to network and listen to these people’s stories. I already feel much more equipped with connections than I did before starting this job, but I’ve also realized how easy it can be to talk to people. You never know how much in common you might have with a university dean or sustainability leader until you have a conversation with them!
How to BE a writer

On top of improving my writing, I’m also learning how to be a writer. There is a difference, trust me. I think you can be very skilled at writing but not be a writer. Dipping my toe into the world of environmental journalism has taught me that…

1. The work doesn’t stop when you sign off for the day. Your work is on the news, on social media, in almost every conversation, and it is literally in your mind all the time. I’m starting to see everything as a potential story. When work aligns with your passion, it doesn’t fit into a 9 to 5 day because passion doesn’t turn off once the work day is done.
2. In order to be a writer, you have to understand yourself to a tee. Understanding the ebbs and flows of one’s own writing is so important – as David told me from day one. I’ve been befriending my inner muse, inner critic, and inner storyteller, and I’ve practiced wrangling them up and getting them all working at once. It’s not always easy, but when it happens, it’s a beautiful thing.
3. I need to find a healthy balance between the busy times full of meetings and emails, and sitting quietly with my thoughts. Sometimes in order to write, I need zero distractions, otherwise I’ll never produce anything valuable. But other times, those distractions are important to pay attention to because they might spark an idea (and they’re also part of my job). I’m learning how to balance this and how to capitalize on my opportunities to write. For example, if I have a free moment to write but have a mental block, taking a break to walk in nature does wonders.

Pathways uncovered

The most common question I receive as a young adult is “What do you want to do after you graduate?” and I’ve always struggled with pinning down an answer. I’ve never known what exactly I want to do, and I still don’t, but in many ways, working at A\J is allowing me to see that I don’t need to choose one specific pathway. I can merge my passions and do lots of things with my future career. This job has introduced me to many people and many pathways I never thought of considering before, so it has only added more options to my uncertainty of the future – in a good way! I feel driven, more than ever, to continue dipping my toes into as many places I can and keep writing and having conversations with people wherever I end up.

Published Accomplishments

Now, this article is not just a spotlight on my work, because ultimately, this is about my experience at A\J and how the team has facilitated this growth for me. But, I do want to highlight a few of my physical accomplishments on top of all the lessons I’ve learned. I’ve published 4 of my own articles and put together 4 WTF (Week This Friday) columns, and that’s just on the A\J website. I’m working on a lot of behind the scenes pieces that you’ll see in our next print issue, Playbook for Progress! This is all to say that being an A\J intern is not without its many opportunities to get your name out there and publish as much as you have to offer.

Going Forward

Clearly, I’ve experienced a whirlwind of growth and excitement in the past 4 weeks and I don’t expect it to stop now! I’ve still got 3 more months left – lots more to do, to learn, and to be a part of. I know that even once my work placement with A\J is over, the experience and lessons I’ve learned will stick with me and carry over into whatever comes next for me. Who knows – maybe I’ll find myself back here one day! I don’t know where I’ll be in a couple years from now, let alone 4 months from now, but I hope to stay connected to A\J in some capacity, and if I’ve learned anything from my time here, it’s the power of planting that first seed.

The post Opening Paragraphs appeared first on A\J.

Source: Hillside Inside

As we enter the month of February – the middle of a cold, grey winter, which also happens to be about the one year mark of the pandemic – you may be feeling a little blue or stir crazy (or both). I know I am. One of the things I miss most is getting together with people, being in fellowship, and enjoying a celebration. If you’re like me and feel like you could use a spark of joy in your life, I have a wonderful remedy to help keep you going. It’s called Hillside Inside.

Hillside Inside is an annual winter music festival that has traditionally taken place at a series of indoor venues across downtown Guelph. This year, they are moving all their events online and providing us with an at-home music festival experience. Mark your calendars because Hillside Inside 2021 is happening THIS WEEKEND, from Friday, February 5th to Sunday, February 7th.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Hillside’s Executive Director, Marie Zimmerman, about what we could expect for this year’s virtual festival.

“Hillside Inside is always a downtown, sort of urban, edgy winter festival. We always have both paid, ticketed events and free events, so that’s also true for Hillside Inside this year. The videos will be posted Friday, February 5th at 6 pm and they all come down and disappear on Sunday, February 7th at midnight. There’s no opportunity to download them or see them again, so this is the only time that people will have to see these things. People can just come to the website and click on, let’s say a picture of you and your singing, and it brings up your bio and a little insert which will be the video,” Marie shared.

“My hope for Hillside Inside 2021 is that it will be a comfort for people in a dark and cold period of the pandemic, where normally in February, people are starting to get a little bit antsy about winter”

She went on to say, “The online performances are mostly free, but there is the odd ticketed event. For example, we have a dinner where we’re saying that if people spend $15 or more at one of 4 restaurants [of the Neighbourhood Group in Guelph], they get access to Patrick Watson’s prerecorded, 40-minute performance, and he’s done it especially for Hillside. That’s a very cool thing and brings it back to the nurturing that people can find through music and food, but also sustaining partners in the restaurant world who were with us at our festivals normally,”

How easy is that?! A collection of performances from amazingly talented musicians, all available to you at the click of your mouse. And the combination of good food and good music sounds like exactly what will fuel our souls through this winter.

Source: Hillside Inside

Marie continued to lay out the main segments of the festival that we should expect to see:

“We have some major concerts – all of these are online and most will be pre-recorded just before Hillside Inside. We have iskwe and Tom Wilson who are performing together, DJ Shub will be performing from his home studio, Serena Ryder is coming… And we have our steady components of Hillside Inside that include:

• Girls and Guitars, a segment that’s about 10 years old, used to promote female-identified musicians who often don’t get attention in the music industry, which tends to be male-dominated and male-focused.
• A bluegrass jam led by the band, the Slocan Ramblers. They’ll say, ‘Okay. The next song we’re going to play is in the key of D and we’ll start like this and then we’re going to switch to G and then we’re going to go to D at the very end. Ready? Here we go,’ and they’re imagining that audience who is going to participate.
• A tribute to the legendary John Prine.
• The Sound of Light, which is kind of like gospel. In a previous iteration, it was only Black performers, but this year we’ve opened it up to people who want to sing songs about resilience, about rising up, because the pandemic has made people go inward and think, “Where do I get my strength? How do I survive this? How have my ancestors survived this?” We’re interested in songs that explored that, that would give inspiration to everyone.
• The Youth Showcase.
• Now and Then, where we use footage from past Hillside Insides where we’ve interviewed the artists. Dakha Brakha – they’re from the Ukraine – they have this theatrical performance that they do and they call it ethnic chaos. They combine Ukrainian folklore with very contemporary music, but they wear traditional, big wool hats. They’re really amazing, so we’re doing an interview with them, like a documentary, plus they’ll sing and do a performance.

Source: Hillside Inside

• We’re also exploring February as Black history month and asking the question in a little documentary that we made, ‘How should we be celebrating Black history month?’ So, we’ve asked some activists in our community and beyond for their opinion about that and we’ve produced a little documentary that people can see.”

On top of Hillside’s musical performances, they have several comedy acts and a variety of awesome workshops. Marie also shared that Hillside is holding true to their mission of sharing and celebrating local art by producing this event in collaboration with several other arts organizations.

“There’s been a lot of negativity in the industry, of course, because we were so hard hit, so it was really important to us to hold our friends’ hands and say, ‘Why don’t you come be a part of this? Select an artist that you feel would fit and you’re proud of and present it here, so that our audience can be bettered by what you have to offer’,” she shared. “We have the Peterborough Folk Festival, the Mariposa Festival, the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, Silence Guelph, the Guelph Dance Festival… All of these people are showing what they have, again at a particularly dark time.”

When asked what her hopes were for Hillside Inside 2021, Marie said the following:

“My hope for Hillside Inside 2021 is that it will be a comfort for people in a dark and cold period of the pandemic, where normally in February, people are starting to get a little bit antsy about winter. Then, by March, people are like, ‘Wow. Is my entire country just always winter?’ So, I’m hoping that it’s a comfort. I’m hoping that it’s a source of joy and laughter and celebration for a lot of people who are homebound, who have given up on the possibility of giving hugs from loved ones, who have given up on the possibility of communal singing except over Zoom. I’m hoping that they will, with their imaginations, try to populate a space around these performances on their screens… The line-up is so complicated and there’s so many beautiful pieces. I hope people watch everything.”

As I was perusing the lineup for the festival, I discovered that one of my favourite bands, Sam Roberts Band, will be performing, so I’m definitely going to be tuning in to that performance. But I’m also super excited to discover new types of music. Even though I don’t recognize many of the names on the lineup, I’m excited to have the opportunity to hear new artists, support a local festival, and be a part of this grand celebration of art (not to mention, have some much-needed fun!) Take a look at the lineup to see if you recognize any names, and if not, join me in my excitement for new musical discoveries!

The final question I asked Marie was what her favourite part of Hillside Inside 2021 might be, and she had this to say:

“What I’m looking forward to is getting a meal from one of those four restaurants that belong to the Neighbourhood Group and watching Patrick Watson with my partner. That’s going to be a fun thing. Dancing to DJ Shub is going to be awesome. And pretending to be Serena Ryder in my kitchen, singing with my wooden spoon microphone. And just watching the [songwriting] students and the young performers with such pride knowing that they’re all so crazy with this will and compulsion to create art and that this is what’s going to sustain us. This is what’s going to give us hope.”

So, add this festival into your weekend plans and share the experience with your friends and loved ones! Get ready to celebrate wonderful music and art and moments of joy together. As Marie so wonderfully put, this is what will give us hope.

Source: Hillside Inside

The post SPARKING HOPE appeared first on A\J.

The selected candidate will assist the A/J Editorial Team with magazine layout, creation, and accompanying graphics of our next issue, 80 pages plus cover and back. The ideal candidate should have an interest in environmental issues as well as a high proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and working in a Mac-centric environment.

Interested candidates are encouraged to send their resume, cover letter and a sample of their work (this can include a link to an online gallery) to siobhan.mullally@alternativesjournal.ca

We’re looking to fill this position immediately and this posting will remain open until filled.

Alternatives Journal is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically seeks to employ individuals from a variety of backgrounds, identities, and experiences.

The post Call for Designer! appeared first on A\J.

Well, times have changed, and now this is the time to keep questioning the status quo of the industries we are working within, and to understand that foundation ideas and suppositions about the right way of doing business with outdated mentalities just won’t cut it anymore. If the ‘customer is always right’, then we are the leaders, we have the voices, and we need to ensure that we’re leaving a legacy that with enough will may move mountains for our future. This is especially seen in the fashion industry time after time. From unsafe working conditions to landfills piled to overflowing with textile waste. It is a problem we all contribute to, but it’s time to step up and do better.

From fast fashion to luxury goods, there are opportunities to use our platforms and consumer power to demand innovation and creativity from our designers, manufacturers and fashion retailers to make more sustainable goods produced with better conditions for its workers. It really is that simple. With the ever-changing and evolving trends, consumers would be very appreciative and supportive of the designers, the ‘architects and artists’ of the industry, taking this an extra step forward and using sustainable textile as another form of artistically expressing themselves and the vision for our future.

We decided to hold a Q/A with Brana Dane on the idea of sustainable fashion. Brana is more than a model and activist. She has seen firsthand the negative environmental legacy and injustice that can be left behind in the name of fashion and believes in being the changemaker from inside out.

Brana is a Model and Activist. Brana is also one of the leaders of the activist group, “Model Mafia”, which promotes fair working conditions, more sustainable fashion practices, and promoting a more inclusive fashion and modelling industry. She was honored to speak about the importance of sustainable fashion at the annual NYC public Earth Day rally in Union Square April 2019. Brana has participated in and led numerous social media campaigns to reduce plastic consumption. For example, she collaborated with Lonely Whale to reduce single use plastic and again with Rainforest Alliance to help get the plastic bag banned in NYC.

Brana has helped organize members of the fashion community during many environmental marches and several public events. In fact, she created and led the recent NYFW rallies for the climate strike that went viral on social media and was even reposted in Vogue Brasil, proving that customers want more than garments – they want ethics in the workplace and they want it now.

Growing up on the ocean in Vancouver, Brana feels a deep connection to nature and is motivated to preserve it for future generations. While using her platform to shed a light on the needs of our planet and the plight of the modern garment worker, she seeks to inspire a light to as many people as possible as her heart and soul is intertwined in two seemingly opposing worlds: Fashion and Sustainability. Below we take a look through Brana’s lens on the industry.

***

GV:  What is your definition of ‘sustainable fashion’?

BD:   Fashion is a means of expressing oneself. Sustainable fashion goes beyond the surface and expresses concern for the lives that made the garment as well as a concern for our shared environment. The benchmarks to asses this for me are threefold. Firstly, is the garment produced with a long life-cycle? Secondly, does the production use renewable resources while creating minimal waste? Lastly, is the piece produced using labor that is responsibly treated and paid fairly? 

GV:  From your perspective , what is the biggest environmental concern in regards to the fashion industry? 

BD:  The amount of textiles burnt or that end up in landfills is astounding. At around 92 million tons of textile waste across the globe annually, it adds up quickly.

GV:  Are there any main culprits that fall into this?

BD:  Big names need to take responsibility for setting the example. Unfortunately only some hear this call. Chanel is still burning it’s unsold garments, but other brands like Burberry have recently stopped this practice. It’s a good first step, but to truly make a difference so much more is needed. 

GV:  What can brands do to promote sustainable fashion practise?

BD:   Brands need to be very clear about how they are different. They need to help raise awareness along with the rest of us to expose the cost of fast fashion. Simply being a sustainable brand creates more demand for sustainable solutions within the industry and will have a great effect to decrease production costs for the future. 

GV:  What can we do as consumers to lower our carbon footprint associated with fashion and textile waste? And how do we promote a more conscious mindset when shopping?

BD:  As a consumer the first question I always ask myself is, “do I need this”? Buying less is the single best thing we can do as a population. I love fashion and support artistic expression but more often then not we are buying things on a whim and not because we truly love or need them. You can always take an old garment to a seamstress or an artist to create a unique fashion piece no one else will ever own. This is great for the environment and supports the artist and craftsmen of the world locally. I think it’s up to the new generation to define what makes us worthwhile people; is it having the newest brand name item or is it honoring the lives of those making the garment? What do we value? Ourselves and our world or branding and labels? 

GV:  Do you see the problem getting better or worse? What is the leading factor of this change?

BD:  There is definitely a subtle shift happening in fashion. It’s been coming for a long time. As a climate activist, I see the overlap between environmental concerns increasing and the surge of demand for sustainable brands. Retail itself is in the midst a major transformation with many large fast fashion companies, such as Forever 21, filing for bankruptcy. It’s slow moving but we have been making some headway. Since COVID some major designers such as Giorgio Armani have even vowed to stop following the fashion week calendar of production and instead produce simultaneously with the actual season. It’s a time to truly wake up to what’s important and embrace our green hearts. 

***

There is enough hope, it would seem, from a leader like Brana, to sustain our efforts to fast-forward our efforts to green our less-fast-fashions. We, the buyers of fashion, have the power within our hands to demand more – and to uplift those who are doing more in the process. With changemakers within the industry like Brana, we hope more can take similar footsteps in leaving a positive impression in their industry, as this is much more than just fashion. There’s an old saying that ‘clothes make the person’, if so it could be looked at as ‘you are what you wear’. Today, at the grassroots level of young citizens (and consumers, there’s a change of mentality and lifestyle. Oftentimes, fashion and textile waste are overlooked as a not-so-silent climate offender. With fast fashion giants (and their industries silos like retailers and designers) contributing the trash that’s fueling the growing waste problem in landfills, it brings us as consumers to a crossroad: what drives our decision-making? What’s more important when it comes to our fashion choices: how to be more conscious when purchasing or staying on top of the latest, hot-now apparel? If we all work together as citizens AND as consumers to demand a greener alternative THIS FASHION SEASON, the industry can’t afford to be offering goods and services labeled as REDUCED TO CLEAR, OUT OF STYLE and SO LAST YEAR.  

The post You Are What You Wear appeared first on A\J.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2020

My neighbourhood 7-Eleven convenience first supplied me with hot fried foods to snack on during the movie, and then I made the 1-kilometer walk, on un-shovelled sidewalk, sprayed by icy slush while the snow found its way underneath my scarf onto my neck, to the bus stop. The bus was understandably 25 minutes late and brought me to the theatre at warp speed with no regard for human life. I arrived just in time to order a quality genmaicha tea and get my ticket to Fantastic Fungi, the only movie playing on the one screen in the quaint, independent Hyland Cinema.

In 2009, the BBC released their Jungles episode of Planet Earth in which parasitic cordyceps infiltrate insects’ bodies and brains, causing them to exhibit strange behaviours. Suddenly, cordycep fruiting bodies erupt from their heads, releasing deadly spores into the air capable of infecting and killing insects in the vicinity! “How cool”, I thought–invisible spores able to bring down a colony of millions of ants in a matter of weeks. So began my amateur mycophilia, or love of mushrooms.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2019

If anything, hundreds of millions of ants living in organized, hierarchal underground colonies deserve a worthy predator. Like ants, fungi also live underground; extending their mycelia networks trillions of miles all over the planet. But they also live within us, in the deepest oceanic trenches, within Antarctic rocks, and maybe on Mars. Fantastic Fungi presents the magical, mysterious, and sometimes mystical world of mushrooms through stunning visuals. Using CGI, time-lapse, and mesmerizing fractal animation, Brie Larson occasionally narrates from the point of view of the collective Fungi kingdom.

As you may recall, according to botanist Carl Linnaeus’s hierarchy of biological classification, the fungi kingdom is the most populous and diverse. With an estimated 2.2 million to 3.8 million species, ranging from unicellular organisms to bioluminescent mushrooms, Fantastic Fungi illuminates how little is actually known about this beautiful kingdom.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2019

The mysterious nature of fungi leads to fear in some cases. Fungi are primarily associated with death and decay; imagine a decomposing mouse or moldy cheese. But different species of fungi return that mouse slime to the soil in the form of beneficial nutrients, and others work together with bacteria to produce the veiny, intentional mold in blue cheese. Fantastic Fungi seeks to shift the fungi narrative from one of death and decay to one where fungi represent rebirth, rejuvenation, and regeneration. While plants and animals die every day, fungi, working as the digestive tract of the planet, feast on this death and enable rebirth. Without fungi, there wouldn’t have been space on the Earth for humans to evolve alongside the epic piles of dead plant and animal matter.

No discussion on mushrooms is complete without mention of the psychedelic variety. This is another quality of mushrooms that has been largely ignored by the scientific community due to government controlled substance acts. However, certain advocates hypothesize that early human’s contact with psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in ‘magic mushrooms’, caused the rapid evolution of cognitive abilities. This so-called ‘Stoned Ape Hypothesis’ may offer an explanation for the unusually rapid doubling of the human brain somewhere between 2 million and 100,000 years ago. Certainly any modern human with experience with psilocybin can attest to its consciousness-altering effects. In fact, Fantastic Fungi’s human hero, passionate mycologist and mushroom entrepreneur Paul Stamets, unlearned his childhood stutter after a somewhat misguided (read: dangerously high) dose of psilocybin.

Fantastic Fungi is a mesmerizing, brief foray into the fungi kingdom of unrealized potential. Considering humans would be much more vulnerable to disease without the various antibiotics derived from fungi, one might be curious to learn more about them.

Photo credit: Hilary Boucher, 2019

***

Sources

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/thames-river-floods-after-nearly-70-mm-of-rain-1.5424630

https://globalnews.ca/news/6433339/snow-storm-squall-london/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038s7y

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/fungi-in-space/

https://www.inverse.com/article/34186-stoned-ape-hypothesis

The post Mesmerizing Mushrooms appeared first on A\J.

To be honest, when I first started researching this article, I wasn’t 100% certain what 100% renewable energy really meant. It sounded good, but I definitely couldn’t give you a definition of it. And that’s a little surprising, given how often it’s discussed by governments, academics and the media. But after I did some research on the challenge of switching to 100% renewable energy, I realized the reason I didn’t know how to define it was because it didn’t have a world-wide, iron-clad definition. Hawaii’s definition is different than Vancouver’s, and so on. Some would say it includes heating and transportation and some would say it doesn’t and some would say it counts either way. In this article, I’ve decided to use the least-stringent definition: 100% renewable energy is electricity generated solely by renewable resources, mainly solar, wind, and hydro.

Even in 2019, 100% renewable energy still sounds a bit like a crazy dream. It reminds me of “Shoot for the moon, and you’ll land among the stars” and other cliches about ambition. When I first heard about Hawaii legally committing to it in 2015 I thought, “Wow, they’re really embracing go big or go home”. I was impressed at their nerve, I was delighted by the innovation I was sure was going to happen. But I didn’t actually believe they’d manage it.

The thing is, 100% renewable energy isn’t nearly as difficult as it might sound at first. Right now, Iceland, Norway, Costa Rica, Albania, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Zambia are already running on or close to energy from 100% renewable sources. Hundreds of countries, states, and cities – Germany, Hawaii, Vancouver – have made binding promises to reach 100% renewable energy by 2050 or earlier. Governments have found it complex but nowhere near impossible to rework their electricity systems for renewable energy.

Hawaii, motivated by both the climate crisis and their pricey reliance on imported gas, has committed to an ambitious goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045. So far they’ve been on track to meet their targets despite issues like Kilauea’s eruption sending the plants and plans for future geothermal use up in smoke. The small island of Moloka‘i has served as a testing ground for what a grid system based almost entirely on solar power would need to look like; admittedly, they’ve had more setbacks than success, but they’ve kept moving forward and their solutions give the rest of Hawaii – and the world – something to learn from and emulate.

But enough about Hawaii. Let’s talk about 100% renewable energy in Canada.

Canada is actually an ideal country for moving to 100% renewable energy by 2050. Currently, a little more than 65% of the energy Canada generates is already renewable, and around 60% of that is hydroelectricity, leaving us with plenty of room to expand solar and wind power. In fact, Canada produces the second most hydro power in the world. Provincially, over 95% of the electricity Quebec and Manitoba produce is from hydro power. B.C., Yukon, and Newfoundland and Labrador also generate large amounts of hydro power, with it ranging from 88% to 93% of the total amount of energy generated.. And PEI generates about a quarter of their energy with wind power every year.

Our reliable hydro energy gives Canada a head-start on 100% renewable energy, and also helps balance electrical grids. Due to its adjustable stream of power, we likely won’t have as many of the problems faced by grids powered by fluctuating energy sources like solar and wind. Following that, a study by Energy Watch Group and LUT University of Finland has shown that globally, solar power needs to increase by just 17% per year to reach 100% renewable energy by 2050. And that’s for 100% renewable energy across all sectors, including heat and transportation. The study also says that it will be cheaper than our current energy system, an analysis echoed by Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada, who have projected that 100% renewable energy will cost Canadians $164 less money on energy per year.

The less inclusive definition of 100% renewable energy won’t make emissions from cars and heating go away, but it does create an easier, gentler path to removing them – a path where merely reworking something to run on electricity makes it sustainable. Electric vehicles’ batteries are useful in balancing renewable electricity grids as well and electricity will be perfectly capable of heating modern passive houses.

100% renewable energy is the world’s future. By 2050, the concept of 100% renewable energy won’t be a dream anymore; it will be reality. With Canada’s advantages, we could get there even faster. Imagine living in a country where energy is cheaper, our electronics are sleek and sustainable, and the grid of renewable energy stretches from coast to coast to coast in a web of light. Sounds good, eh?

The post Dreaming of the Future appeared first on A\J.