By Terri Chu
With the celebration of Earth Day behind us and the provincial election before us, it seemed appropriate to rerun Greenings from February 2016. Writing that three Rs are not all equal, Chu is cautious about playing fast and loose with energy generation, and argues that the Wynne government needs to get it right when it comes to all things green.
Tags: Annex
Mayor John Tory doesn’t think much of me. He doesn’t even acknowledge my existence. In fact, he said there are incredibly few of me.
The “me” in this case is a parent without a car.
This neighbourhood is known for great people and I’m lucky enough to call many of them neighbours. I had the pleasure of joining some friends for dinner recently. After dinner, the gracious host pulled out a game and continued their after-dinner tradition of playing the latest trivia game they received for Christmas.
If all goes according to plan — and with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) it never does — Torontonians should enjoy time-based transfers starting in August. It’s great news for transit users but critics — who claim it’s an unfair subsidy — are livid.
By Terri Chu
If it’s nobody’s problem, does it really need to be solved?
Scientists are once again sounding the alarm about the untenable amount of plastic in the world’s oceans. It is estimated that there will soon be more plastic in the ocean than fish. This is a problem. But whose problem is it anyway?
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
The federal government recently announced that it provided $1.6 million to the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) to great fanfare. It is enough to keep it running through 2019. It seems like such a paltry amount considering we spent half a billion dollars to throw ourselves a Canada150 party. Really? $1.6 million is worthy of pats on the back, or the endless self-congratulatory tweets from Liberal members of Parliament. For a government that just appointed an engineer and astronaut as Governor General, this feels like a slap in the face for science.
The data is in on the Bloor Street pilot bike lanes, and it seems to support keeping the lanes. (Now that the bike lanes are in, even on a pilot basis, it’s a little surreal to me that anyone actually wants to pull them out.) But speaking of data, it’s worth thinking about which data gets included, as well as how the data itself is interpreted.
As we turn our attention to going back to school, it’s nice to reflect on the ways we can reduce the waste that we generate during the school year.
Delicious mulberries were at the height of season in early July for the Annex Residents’ Association’s (ARA) first ever Mulberry Festival. Organized by Trees Please, an ARA working group, and sponsored by the association and COBS Bread, the event drew about 70 to 80 participants who celebrated the urban forest and a love of mulberries.
I love a good history lesson.
PHOTO BY TERRI CHU/GLEANER NEWS: Cars rule the road in Madrid (above), a city whose culinary delights and historic sights are marred by the population’s refusal to use public transit.
By Terri Chu
Tags: Annex · Columns · Life · Opinion
Food waste is a $31-billion problem.
Every year, roughly 40 per cent of perfectly edible food that is grown and imported is thrown away. Of that, households account for half of the problem. Discarded food usually takes the form of unwanted leftovers, imperfect food deemed unsalable, oversupply, and, worst of all, supply management (throwing away food to keep prices high).