Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?
Community Stewardship and Living

Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?

Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?
Kate Bingaman-Burt
New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010

You don’t often come across a book of innocent-looking doodles that has the power to make you reflect on the deeper meaning of life. Kate Bingaman-Burt’s Obsessive Consumption does just that.

An assistant professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University, Burt documents her daily purchases of mundane everyday objects through a series of sketches. Depicting everything from credit-card statements to wedding bands, the endearingly cartoonish drawings are painfully honest and … [Click here to read more!] Continue reading Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?

Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change
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Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change

Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change
Peter Newman, Timothy Beatley and Heather Boyer, Washington, DC: Island Press, 2009, 166 pages.

Yogi Berra’s famous line, “The future ain’t what it used to be,” certainly rings true for decision makers and citizens concerned with the well-being of urban areas.

Resilient Cities, written by sustainability researchers Peter Newman, Timothy Beatley and Heather Boyer, describes a future in which peak oil and climate change will mean the end of many familiar signs of affluence. We will have to give up urban sprawl, transportation systems organized around personal motor vehicles, our dependence on global trade (especially in food) and, more generally, our ability … [Click here to read more!] Continue reading Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change

Water

Are We Conserving Great Lakes Water?

Toronto – More than 580 billion litres of drinking water, the equivalent of 236,000 Olympic swimming pools, are being wasted every year by homeowners in the Great Lakes region of Ontario and Quebec, according to a report released today by Environmental Defence. Down the Drain: Water Conservation in the Great Lakes Basin outlines how much water could be saved in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and gardens across the Great Lakes. Continue reading Are We Conserving Great Lakes Water?

New Out of the Box issue from Alternatives Journal
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New Out of the Box issue from Alternatives Journal

Not since Alternatives Journal’s last Out of the Box issue have newsstands seen such action. Alternatives’ newest collection of unconventional stories and ideas has been on the newsstands for only a couple weeks and is already selling out! Get out and be uplifted by Alternatives, where we take you to the outer limits of environmental ideas and action. Searching for Planet B, becoming a Swami, rainmakers meeting meterologists, exploring the mystery of crop circles and lots more — it’s our best summer reading issue yet!

Ask for it at your local newsstand or bookstore – find one near you with the Alternatives Newsstand Locator OR buy the paperless copy online today.

Click here for more information and to subscribe to Alternatives Journal. Continue reading New Out of the Box issue from Alternatives Journal