See… I love writing. If perchance I have five free minutes on any given day, I will spend it either reading or writing, and this has been true since I was five years old. Journalism–holding power to account, communicating important events and ideas to the public, being part of the public discourse that makes democracyContinue reading “Journalism is dead; long live journalism”
Category Archives: Big Picture
Talking trees, extended metaphors and "The World at Gunpoint"
I have a love/hate relationship with Derrick Jensen. The first volume of his Endgame books has been sitting, half-read, on my environment bookshelf for years while I try to get up the stomach to finish it. Is it terrible? Yes. But not in the way you might think. It’s ninety per cent brilliant and insightful,Continue reading “Talking trees, extended metaphors and "The World at Gunpoint"”
knee-high to a treehugger
I have a handful of books on how to get kids enjoying nature: I Love Dirt! by Jennifer Ward, Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell and Hands-On Nature by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (edited by Jenepher Lingelbach and Lisa Purcell). All are good. Hands-On Nature is like a teacher’s lesson-plan book, withContinue reading “knee-high to a treehugger”
Environmental Psychology
Yesterday was the first sunburn of the season, gained walking, cycling and photographing before the thunderstorms set in. I’m very fair, and I know I shouldn’t go out without sunblock and I should limit my UV exposure and all those other skin-cancer prevention strategies, but I can’t help it; in the face of a sunnyContinue reading “Environmental Psychology”
42 Revisited (or, what parents owe their children in an era of environmental collapse, part I)
On Twitter recently the Toronto Star asked people to define the meaning of life. Sure, why not: an endeavour that has eluded philosophers for 10,000 years can be collated from the 140-character submissions of the general public. Not surprisingly, no one agreed. The meaning of life is to love people. To be good. To doContinue reading “42 Revisited (or, what parents owe their children in an era of environmental collapse, part I)”
Who
(The first couple of posts will constitute the inevitable throat-clearing while I get a few things out of the way, such as: who am I, what am I talking about, and why should you read me?) When I was a child, I spent weeks at my grandparents’ cottage, near Apsley, Ontario. It was a shack.Continue reading “Who”
Why
I’m not worried about Nature. Nature is tough. Give her the slimmest of cracks in the concrete and something will come through. Many people see this as carte blanche to treat Nature any way they like. But just because she can recover from a massive assault is no reason to massively assault her, any moreContinue reading “Why”
Zoopolis 