BY: NADIA ZAIDI Most of us don’t overthink as we indulge in our favourite piece of chocolate. Okay, maybe we think about putting in five extra minutes on the elliptical – but it doesn’t keep us up at night. Yet…
Cruelty-free shoes: should you be buying them?
It is awkward to admit that as I write this I feel the glare of a hundred vegan eyes judging me through the computer screen. The truth is, I am a vegetarian that owns a leather pair of shoes and…
The Weirdest and Most Creative Places People Have Turned into Homes
BY: CHARLOTTE LEFAVE These eccentric homeowners wrote the handbook on unconventional living. If you think your first apartment was small, check out these weird, quirky, and outright strange places people have decided to set up shop temporarily and permanently. These…
London’s pollution fine will prevent air pollution in the city
BY: ELIJAH BASSETT London’s pollution has been a big problem. Some of you may remember the news last month about London exceeding its air pollution limits for 2017 in just five days. Fortunately, they have now announced that they’ll be…
CHINA IS BUILDING SKYSCRAPERS FULL OF TREES
BY: NADIA ZAIDI With over 1.3 billion inhabitants, China is the most populated country in the world. It also has one of the highest rates of pollution due to its densely industrialized cities. Factories, power plants, and vehicle emissions are…
This couple lives in a tiny camper trailer that only cost them $1,800
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP “I met her on Tinder, but got to know her in a camper trailer.” This is the quote that immediately made me love Greg and Kathleen’s story of their transition into the tiny house movement. When I…
In 2018, regenerative villages that produce their own food and energy will help save the environment
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Photos via ReGen Villages Around 10 billion people will live on Earth by 2050. This means Earth will need to produce enough food, water and land for three billion more people than we already have. Not only…
After a devastating earthquake, this family rebuilt their lives in a 1987 Volvo van
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Saving money, the ability to roam freely from city to city, doing your part to help the environment; those are probably the three most popular reasons as to why people have been ditching the regular 9-5 working…
Turns out, recycling isn’t actually the best thing you can do for the environment
BY: DUSTIN BATTY Many of us remember “The 3 R’s,” the song sung every year at elementary schools to celebrate Earth Day. Though Jack Johnson’s lyrics, “reduce, reuse, recycle” are an ear-worm that has plagued many of us for the…
This Palestinian artist is using fierce makeup to address pressing global issues (photos)
Rand Jarallah is a Palestinian activist who’s using art and makeup to raise awareness about different issues that she is passionate about. Her work is thematizing gender-based violence, global warming, psychological disorders and other different issues related to activist work. As…
This company turned a decrepit 1970s building into a green oasis that is sustainable and accessible
BY: CHARLOTTE LEFAVE Photos via WOHA. WOHA is a Singapore-based architectural organization that focuses heavily on environmentally-friendly practices. They pride themselves on concentrating on the integrity of nature, the intermingling of natural resources into the final result, and having a major reliance on…
This family built their own eco-house under a solar dome in the Arctic Circle (photos)
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP How eco-friendly are you teaching your children to be? Probably not living in a self-built, sustainable, eco-home under a solar geodesic dome, eco-friendly. Hjertefølger means heart follower in Norwegian, and the Hjertefølger family are definitely living up…
This family converted an old school bus into an eco-friendly, travelling hostel
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Transforming buses into homes was a huge trend in 2016 that probably won’t slow down at all this year. The mobility, cost and environmental impact are just a few of the reasons more and more people are…
Forget bike lanes, this city made an apartment for life entirely without cars
BY SAMANTHA TAPP While most cities are still working on perfecting their bike lanes, Malmö, Sweden is taking sustainable living to a whole new level. A new apartment building in the city doesn’t have any parking spaces, but instead was…
Ancient clams have been holding the secrets of climate change for 1,000 years
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS What’s the lifespan of the longest-living animal? Humans can live for over a hundred years if we receive adequate care. Other mammals, such as the bowhead whale, can live for two hundred years; reptiles like the…
In less than 24 hours, this tiny house was built for only $10,000 using only a hex key
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Like most metropolitan cities, real estate in Beijing is expensive. So expensive that for young people moving out of their parents’ house, searching for a new apartment becomes a sad game of trying to find one close…
This Japanese airline is planning on using old clothing to fuel their planes
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP While animal activists and environmentalists alike are still reeling from the news that Japan closed its last fur farm, Japan is working on another project that is sure to have the same positive reaction from environmentalists and…
This man recycled over 1 million bottles and is using them to build the world’s first plastic bottle village
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Isla Colon in Bocas Del Toro, Panama, has a trash problem. When Robert Bezeau moved from Montreal to Panama in 2009 to escape the cold and live in an everyday paradise, the trash quickly caught his attention.…
Japan says no to animal cruelty by closing its last remaining fur farm
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP If you live in Japan and want a locally made fur coat, you’re out of luck. Animal activists in Japan can count 2016 as a huge success, as the last fur farm in Japan finally closed its doors…
This guy created a step-by-step guide to creating your own Earthship
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Earthships, created by architect Mike Reynolds, are completely environment-friendly houses built with both natural and recycled materials that are constructed for minimal reliance on public utilities or fossil fuels. The homes are built with tires, bottles, and…