All posts by stephanie

I’m currently reading the updated China Study – haven’t looked through their work in detail since reading the earlier edition many years ago.

In addition to the overwhelming environmental evidence in support of a whole foods, plant-based diet, this adds in comprehensive health information regarding the benefits of ditching meat, dairy and eggs, while emphasizing the benfits of fruit and veggies, legumes (and other plant-based protein) and whole grains, such as brown rice etc. It’s a detailed read. If you are looking for quicker options, the website and apps, as well as the movie etc, are much faster ways to access the information.

Happy Reading! 🙂

Link here

Higher density communities are a must, for a whole range of reasons. Let’s see this as something to embrace and celebrate, instead of something to resist. 🙂

It’s well established that detached-home neighbourhoods use more energy and put a much larger burden on municipal infrastructure, per person, than higher-density neighbourhoods. It’s not a coincidence that Toronto — the only city in the Greater Toronto Area with any real urban density — has the lowest residential property taxes of any city in the region, while the least dense, most outlying communities tend to have the highest.

Link

BBC

Finland has pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2035 – that’s twice as fast as the UK government target. But to achieve this, it will have to make big changes, particularly in the peat industry, which currently provides energy, heating and jobs.

Can the Finns turn an ambitious plan into reality?

BBC

If Finland can do it, so can everybody else. It’s time to stop stalling because “somebody else isn’t changing, so I don’t need to until they do.” We all have to do our part – inaction from somebody else doesn’t justify our own inaction. We need to do our best personally, and to change any systems that we are a part of eg local, provincial, national etc. Let’s support ambitious goals, and help each other get there. 🙂

I’ve been off for a while, but will be getting things caught up here in the next while. Stay tuned! 🙂

Sojourners Website

What more is there to say? It still happens, far too often, and the worst offenders are the least aware of how negative their actions are. In all of most extreme cases that I am aware of, in my cirlces, all would strongly deny any problems with their actions. Finding ways to change that narrative, when certain notions of what “helpful” looks like, is not easy, but absolutely essential. Please share widely in your circles. It’s a conversation that needs to happen. 🙂

Here are a couple of key quotes:

“It leads to paternalism: doing things to or for others rather than seeking to empower and build local capacity. It makes us into heroes rather than empowering others to become the heroes of their own stories.” (Bold mine).

“It prevents mission, aid, and development work from being dialogical and participatory; the so-called experts swoop in with their answers and expertise and fail to include the voices of local leaders, organizations, and stakeholders.”

https://sojo.net/articles/6-harmful-consequences-white-savior-complex

We must stop trying to medicate the symptoms of the white savior and look at the deeper disease. It’s one thing to realize it’s not ethical to use poverty porn or post selfies with children who we have no relationship with. It’s another thing entirely to reflect on the colonial roots of white, Western, Christian supremacy. That means doing some hard, inner work if we’re white people. It means working to change the narratives that sustain injustice. (Bold mine).

Hi all,

I have a few updates to share with you from Lucky Iron Fish today. Before I start, I have heard that there may be some discounts coming up, so watch here (or on their website) for further details. 🙂

1) They have a new item – a lucky iron leaf! Same benefits as the fish, in a new shape!

2) The Lucky Iron Cookbook has just lauched! Click here to for more details.

3) The have recently updated their website with more information regarding the role of iron in overall health. Click Click here for more details.

NOTE: As always, for full disclosure, I am part of their affiliate program. If you choose to buy products from them, and click my link first, I get a little bit of financial support from each purchase. That helps to cover some of the costs of my time etc, which helps to (hopefully, at some point) make my work financially sustainable. 🙂

If you are looking for something for yourself, or for a gift, or if you know others who might be interested, please consider sharing this with them. Thank you for your support!

Mass consumerism is destroying our planet. This Black Friday, let’s take a stand
And, by extension, this does not apply to only one day – or one week. To be clear, I am not against giving gifts, if that’s what is being bought – it’s the opposite, in fact. I love gift-giving traditions. This is about an end to the culture of mass consumerism that is destroying the planet. Instead of 3 cheap shirts from the mall, have 1 nice one from a business that is genuinely worth supporting. Support quality over quantity. Enjoy outings and experiences and relationships, instead of more cheap stuff. The change may feel hard sometimes, but it’s worth it. 🙂

Lucky fish make a great holiday gift! Simple, practical, and a lovely addition to any kitchen. Watch their website for details on sales, and go to my online store, and click on the link there to order. 🙂

NOTE: I am part of their affiliate program, so clicking on my link in my online store, which will take you through to purchase through the Lucky Iron Fish website, helps support my work and this website. Thank you for your support! 🙂

TIME: How to Halt Global Warming for $300 Billion.
Here is another reminder of one of many steps that need to be taken. And, to avoid jumping to any quick conclusions about not having the money to pay for it, here are some important stats. Depending on the calculation (ie how much direct vs indirect support is included etc), fossil fuel subsidies, globally, are in the range of $300 billion-$5.2 trillion/year.
So, in terms of the strictly financial/economic side, $300B is easily doable, even on a conservative estimate, by moving fossil fuel subsidies over for one year.* Every year, after that, along with any available funds that go beyond the conservative estimate, are available for job transition training for fossil fuel workers, support for renewables, and countless other important pieces of this response. (How about buying EV busses and trains for every school/university and municipality/province in the country, and then offering free public transit on all of them? How about adding in post-secondary tuition for students at the same time? Solar panels on school rooftops? Heat pumps in every building? The possibilities are almost endless, with that much money. :))
* Details on Guardian , the Atlantic, IISD and others. (NOTE: I am not an economist, so I am trusting them that their numbers are accurate.)
Ultimately, this is not the final or only piece of the puzzle. We will still need to make dramatic lifestyle and systems changes. This simply helps to buy a little bit of time.
So what does this mean for next steps? Here’s what I see (among others):

• Elect government officials who are committed to ending fossil fuel subsidies (and work towards proportional representation, which will likely help with this piece).
• If your current representative (including all levels, from local up to the PM) does support fossil fuel subsidies, write letters/arrange a meeting etc (if you can) and explain why you would like them to change. Public pressure is really important to moving these kinds of changes forward.
• Reduce our own fossil fuel consumption as much as possible, and encourage others to do the same. (Take the train instead of flying. Seriously consider how often we are flying, overall. Reduce consumption of animal products etc.)
  • One of the big obstacles that comes up in this discussion is “Others aren’t going to change, so there’s no point in me changing.” We are all responsible for our own piece, and, if we can help somebody else find a path to change with us, that’s even better. 🙂
• Remember that the point at which fossil fuel companies will start dropping in value (even in the current state) is likely coming sooning than many people realize.

How much longer are we going to subisdize something that is causing destruction, and isn’t even a good economic investment?

JK Rowling urges students not to volunteer at orphanages: Guardian
Well said! And, I would add, that applies equally to many other trips/donations that people make under the “voluntourism” or “going to help” or “just sending some cash” umbrella. Non-profit work is a profession, not a holiday or a hobby. If you don’t want random tourists from other countries coming and working in your kids’ school (or hospital or wherever else), then don’t go yourself, and don’t send your kids. There are much better ways to learn, and to help.
If you want to travel, go on a holiday. If you want to help a non-profit, either apply for a job at a reputable NGO, or donate the money that you would have spent on a flight to a reputable NGO or find other ways to be supportive. If a reputable NGO is not hiring you, and you don’t have training in program assessments/NGO program management etc yourself, consider who the trip or money is really benefitting, and what the best choice is moving forward.
Without the training to assess which projects are actually working effectively, even if you think that things look good, you may be missing something critical that impacts the project, and, by extension, the community and the region as a whole. Even seeing a project first hand isn’t enough to assess accurately, if you don’t know fully what to look for, which is usually the case for the general public.
Stick with giving your time and money to reputable NGOs, and let them decide which specific projects to partner with. They know better, and it’s their job to do the screening for you. Trust them.  🙂

Hello all,

Following yesterday’s election, and my frustration at having to vote, again, under FPTP, I have decided to take action to help empower change, and have started a public petition. Based on many conversations I have had, I know that there are many of us who are frustrated with the current system, and are asking for PR. PR is a more representative system, as well as a more cooperative way to work towards big goals on climate and other issues. Please support me by signing and sharing widely in your circles. Thank you! 🙂

Enact Electoral Reform and Proportional Representation in Canada on Change.org.