Latest news with #EfficiencyCanada
Canada Standard
5 days ago
- Business
- Canada Standard
A National Grid Should Accelerate-Not Stifle-the Energy Transition
In response to Donald Trump's trade war and annexation threats, Canadians are thirsty for new nation-building projects that can make us less economically reliant on the U.S. One proposal that has been receiving attention is expanding interprovincial electricity transmission, writes Brendan Haley, Efficiency Canada's director of policy research, in a post for Policy Options. Proponents emphasize economic efficiencies from energy trade, and the technical benefits of coupling wind and solar production with "natural batteries" in large hydro reservoirs. Taking lessons from history, past nation-building infrastructure projects of a similar sort came up short in many ways, notably by failing to develop diversified technology systems. To better ensure success this time, complementary, regional renewable energy and energy demand innovations must be made a priority. The transcontinental railway that linked east and west after Confederation protected Canada's territorial integrity in reaction to American threats. Yet, the project's costs and the related national policy locked Canada into economic dependencies and failed to spur diversified industrial development. Policymakers were more focused on building infrastructure than developing industrial research programs or education systems in new technologies and management techniques, as seen in Germany. Banks were more focused on financing resource extraction and large infrastructure than industrial development ventures. Thus, Canada industrialized in a way that failed to foster domestic entrepreneurship and was dependent on American branch plants. The pattern of big infrastructure pushes, in reaction to crises, failing to spur complementary development is recurrent in Canadian history. Fast-forward more than a century and similar patterns continue to unfold. View our latest digests In 2010, the provincial utilities in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador announced a plan to build an undersea transmission link connected to the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the political drive to build the dam and transmission project prevented an independent assessment of alternatives, such as energy efficiency. The dam project ran significant cost overruns. Customers faced potentially large rate increases. Today, policymakers are so focused on managing rate increases that they are neglecting new development opportunities such as allowing utilities to reduce customer bills by switching from oil to electricity for heating and transportation. For a decade, Nova Scotia policymakers were over-dependent on the single megaproject to the detriment of domestic clean-energy solutions like energy efficiency and community-based renewables. The Atlantic Loop, a proposed plan to bring hydroelectric power from Quebec to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, was eventually shelved. Only then was a greater focus placed on domestic energy demand management, storage, and renewables. If the same policy dynamic is repeated, with cross-border megaprojects crowding out domestic clean-energy solutions for a decade, Canada will repeat its pattern of stifled technological development and fail to meet net-zero emission goals in time. Transmission is only one component of a large technology system. To achieve a self-reliant and sustainable future it needs to be coupled with renewable energy and methods to shape demand and supply in real time. Transition to sustainable energy introduces new technical challenges: electrifying home heating and vehicles could lead to spikes in demand during cold days or if everyone charges up their car at the same time. Wind and solar energy generation rises and falls with the weather. A flexible system that can ramp up and down would match renewable generation with demand and manage peaks. Transmission increases flexibility by connecting a wider diversity of energy resources across larger geographies. But transmission needn't work alone. Adding solar generation can reduce the need to transmit electricity. Insulating buildings reduces electricity peaks. In the same way, ratepayers and utilities can work together to pre-charge hot water tanks and pre-heat and pre-cool homes in advance of electricity peaks. Electric vehicles could charge when it makes the most sense for the grid. Industrial operations can time large-scale energy demands to periods when renewables are plentiful and cheap. Making energy demand more flexible and efficient means people and businesses that want to reduce their energy bills can even get compensated, improving both affordability and equity. In addition, homes and local communities can be protected from power outages. One example: Vermont is putting batteries in people's homes instead of building transmission-the batteries balance supply and demand for the grid and can also be used by people if the power cuts out. Local renewable energy and demand-side flexibility resources can still face periods when they will generate more energy than they can use locally, or periods when local generators, energy efficiencies and storage can't keep up with demand. Concern about these demand-supply imbalances have led policymakers and utility managers to put the brakes on renewable-energy development or rely on non-renewable generators that use combustibles as back-up resources. Interprovincial transmission and more local energy systems can complement one another. For instance, local grids could mostly balance hourly and daily ebbs and flows in demand and supply. Interprovincial transmission could manage seasonal differences by using wind and solar generation across the country to give time for hydroelectric reservoirs to fill up so they are ready for the winter heating season in a highly electrified future. Policy choices will determine whether east-west-north electricity interconnections spur-or stifle-the development of multiple complementing clean technologies. If transmission is given primacy as the favoured approach, it is more likely to crowd out other technologies and distract from solutions that are readily available. Conversely, policies that increase local renewable-energy development and electrification will show where transmission can be most effectively used to alleviate constraints that hold back local energy visions. While building transmission takes years or decades, demand-side energy solutions can be deployed in months. The creation of local, energy efficient "microgrids" across the country, capable of meeting their own energy needs most of the time is a national project to increase self-reliance that can start right now. Improving energy efficiency would better prepare for transmission by hedging against megaproject delays, easing peak demands that require electricity imports, and/or free up electricity for cross-border trading. A national grid will be a successful accelerant for clean energy if it plugs into these microgrids with at-the-ready plans to use energy trade as a way to further accelerate local renewables and electrification. If policymakers react to the current crisis by focusing solely on transmission megaprojects, they are likely to repeat a familiar Canadian pattern that will ultimately stifle technological development. We don't have to wait for transmission to improve energy self-reliance. A clean-energy superpower agenda should start by creating diverse local systems that will be complemented by a national grid. This post originally appeared on Policy Options under a Creative Commons licence. Source: The Energy Mix
CBC
25-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Energy Star on the chopping block; better access to mental health care needed: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet
Miss something this week? Don't panic. CBC's Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need. Want this in your inbox? Get the Marketplace newsletter every Friday. The U.S. plans to cut Energy Star. Could that raise costs for Canadians? Energy Star, a popular program that highlights energy-efficient appliances from furnaces to dishwashers, is reportedly on the chopping block in the U.S. It and other divisions that oversee climate change and energy efficiency would be eliminated as part of the Trump administration's reorganization of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Post and the New York Times reported earlier this month. That could affect the labels Canadians rely on to know what products will help them save on energy bills, say observers such as Sarah Riddell, policy research associate with the non-profit Efficiency Canada. "They can see … just with that one symbol that it's going to be one of the top performers in terms of energy efficiency," she said. But will that symbol still exist after the U.S. program is gone? While Energy Star Canada is administered by the Canadian government, it relies on U.S. standards, certification and testing for many products — and it's not clear how it will operate without the U.S. program. from CBC's Emily Chung. Girls and young women need better access to mental health care, StatsCan report suggests When Emma Bockner was eight, she was prescribed medication for ADHD. Then as a teen, she started experiencing problematic substance use. "There were a lot of things that happened in my childhood that left me with feelings of inadequacy," said Bockner, 26, who lives in Richmond Hill, Ont. She's survived emotional and sexual abuse and struggled with an eating disorder. When Bockner graduated from high school, she saw her friends moving on with fulfilling lives, as she found herself with a part-time job, often sitting in her room alone, drinking and doing drugs. "It took me about six months to get into treatment, a couple of months to get into a group home," Bockner recalled. Waitlists for mental health and substance use services are one of the deterrents for girls and young women in Canada looking for professional help, a new report from Statistics Canada suggests. The report looked at access to mental health and substance use health supports among girls and women aged 15 to 29 using 2022 data, the most recent available. Of these girls and young women, nearly four in 10 met the criteria for at least one of generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, social phobia, or alcohol and substance dependence, said Kristyn Frank, a senior researcher with Statistics Canada's health analysis division in Ottawa. In comparison, fewer than two in 10 in Canada's general population met the criteria for a mental health or substance use disorder that same year, the report found. "There definitely is something going on with young women and girls in terms of mental health and substance use increasing during the pandemic," Frank said. Read more from CBC's Amina Zafar. As the measles outbreak grows in Alberta, some parents are feeling the strain. They're trying to keep kids safe and navigate touchy vaccine conversations with friends and family, whether they support them or not. Jillian Carter lives in Lethbridge, where the vaccination rate for seven-year-olds last year ranged from 47 per cent in the surrounding county to 80 per cent within the city. Her first child is an eight-week-old infant who is too young to be vaccinated. So Carter leaves her at home when she shops for groceries, goes out less, covers her daughter's bucket seat when she enters a building and generally avoids meeting new people socially. "It does make it hard to branch out into like other communities, knowing that your child's safety is at risk when you don't know where other people are standing [on vaccines]," she said. "You find your people and you know your people. But it's also something that does make you a little bit scared leaving the house with a newborn." Measles was once eradicated in Canada, but it's coming back after a drop in vaccination rates. In Alberta, the outbreaks started in March and have since grown to 505 cases. The highly contagious disease typically causes a fever and cough, then a rash. This can normally be managed at home, but in some cases, it brings serious complications such as ear infections, pneumonia and encephalitis, which can lead to lasting brain damage. As of this week, Alberta had one child with measles in intensive care. What else is going on? Police warn homeowners to be wary of unsolicited offers of cheap work. Marketplace needs your help! Have you experienced a customer service nightmare? We're looking for frustrating, absurd or outrageously bad customer service stories. If you've been given the runaround or wrong info, or have been ignored or hung up on, share your story with us! We want to know who you think are the worst offenders. Email us at marketplace@ Have you spotted food ads that don't live up to the reality of what the products actually look like? Is what you bought different from what you got? Let us know at marketplace@
CBC
22-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
The U.S. plans to cut Energy Star. Could that raise costs for Canadians?
Social Sharing Energy Star, a popular program that highlights energy-efficient appliances from furnaces to dishwashers, is reportedly on the chopping block in the U.S. It and other divisions that oversee climate change and energy efficiency would be eliminated as part of the Trump administration's reorganization of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Post and the New York Times reported earlier this month. That could affect the labels Canadians rely on to know what products will help them save on energy bills, say observers such as Sarah Riddell, policy research associate with the non-profit Efficiency Canada. "They can see … just with that one symbol that it's going to be one of the top performers in terms of energy efficiency," she said. But will that symbol still exist after the U.S. program is gone? While Energy Star Canada is administered by the Canadian government, it relies on U.S. standards, certification and testing for many products — and it's not clear how it will operate without the U.S. program. What is Energy Star? Energy Star is a symbol and label that highlights energy efficiency under a program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 1992. Its goal was to i dentify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The label is applied to: Products such as appliances, windows and doors. Buildings, including homes, offices and industrial plants. To qualify, products must be tested by certified third-party labs and found to meet a certain energy efficiency standard. Some are also audited and re-tested regularly. For buildings, a free online tool called Energy Star Portfolio Manager helps measure and track energy performance in commercial buildings, and certifies those that perform among the top 25 per cent of similar buildings across the U.S. Certified homes must be at least 10 per cent more efficient than those built to code. According to the program's website, Energy Star has so far saved an estimated 5 trillion kWh of electricity, $500 billion in energy costs and 4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. How Energy Star Canada works Energy Star Canada, introduced in 2001, is technically administered by Natural Resources Canada. But it's a collaboration with the U.S. EPA. To get an Energy Star Canada certification, products register with the U.S. agency, and are tested in EPA-certified labs to see if they meet Energy Star standards, Natural Resources Canada says – in other words, it's usually identical to Energy Star certification, and Canadian certification is automatic for U.S.-certified products. Riddell's job is to see how Canada's standards for appliances and equipment compare to international benchmarks, and to lobby for higher standards in Canada. She said there are two areas where Canada's program is independent of the U.S. program, and sets its own standards: A few product categories, such as heat and energy recovery ventilators (which bring fresh air into an energy efficient building without losing heat in the process), which the U.S. doesn't certify. Energy Star certification for new homes. WATCH | Saskatoon considers return to stricter energy efficiency building codes Saskatoon considers return to stricter energy efficiency building codes 15 days ago Duration 1:51 Why it matters A 2022 Ipsos survey commissioned by the federal government found 86 per cent of Canadian respondents knew about Energy Star and 75 per cent think Energy Star-certified homes offer better value than uncertified homes. According to the most recent Energy Star in Canada report, in 2022, over 3,500 new homes in Canada got Energy Star certification, and those homes were, on average, 20 per cent more efficient than other new homes, saving their residents up to $300 a year in utility costs. Riddell said the program is simple and essential for understanding the efficiency of different products. While some products also have to meet minimum energy efficiency standards, not all do. And while other energy efficiency labels such as EnergyGuide exist for some products, Riddell said they tend to be more complicated. Meanwhile, for some kinds of products such as doors, windows, pool pumps and EV chargers that aren't covered by Energuide, Riddell said, "Energy Star labelling is really the only way to know in the store that the product that you're buying is energy efficient." Buildings are the third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada by economic sector, after oil and gas and transportation. And buildings' emissions come almost entirely from space heating, water heating and other appliances in that order. Besides helping consumers choose money-saving homes and products, certification is used by green rebate programs across Canada to determine which products are efficient enough to be eligible. While the federal Greener Homes Grant is over, Riddell said there are still 64 different rebate and incentive programs across the country (e.g. from provincial governments and utilities) that rely on Energy Star. "Energy efficiency is really essential as we electrify Canada towards net zero," she said, adding that it can both cut Canadians' utility bills, and reduce the need to build more expensive electricity. If the U.S. cancels Energy Star, how will Canadians be affected? When asked about this, Natural Resources Canada responded by email, "We are assessing the potential impacts on operations in Canada." Riddell said in the short run, there's a possibility that the department could continue to run the program in Canada without the EPA, if the EPA allows it to use the Energy Star name and symbol, which are trademarked by the EPA. "In the longer run," she added, "there is the question of whether Natural Resources Canada would have the capacity to regularly update the Energy Star efficiency specifications for the more than 80 different types of products that are eligible for Energy Star in Canada." She added that only nine of the energy efficiency testing labs are in Canada, while 60 are in the U.S. WATCH | Efficiency Manitoba seeks new mandate that prioritizes reducing electricity demand Efficiency Manitoba seeks new mandate that prioritizes reducing electricity demand 1 year ago Duration 1:59 That said, Canada has managed to run the program independently for some entire product categories such as energy and heat recovery ventilators. "So it's very promising, showing what Canada's able to do with Energy Star even without the U.S.," Riddell said. If Canada can't keep the program up, she thinks that could make it hard for green rebate programs to determine what products are eligible. The loss of the Energy Star Portfolio Manager online tool to evaluate the energy efficiency of commercial buildings, including for green building certification programs such as LEED and BOMA BEST, could also be a problem, Riddell said. "That's very widely used across Canada to monitor, rate and optimize more than 40,000 commercial and industrial buildings energy use, and it's been doing so for the past 12 years."
National Observer
12-05-2025
- General
- National Observer
‘Build, baby, build.' Some conditions apply
Shall we begin with a story this week? One from the genre of great Canadian inventions. It's not as well-known as insulin, pacemakers or zippers, not as delicious as peanut butter, Nanaimo bars or poutine (you're welcome, world). But it's newly relevant as our new PM sets off to 'Build, baby, build.' Our story begins, as of course it must, once upon a time — at a time of grave energy crisis. And in a land that now seems far away: that land of great energy foresight: Saskatchewan. Oil prices had doubled during the 1970s energy shocks and the public was panicking. Governments were panicking too — these days we remember the old pictures of drivers lined up for gas but, at the time, another crucial question was how they were going to keep homes warm through Canadian winters. The government of Saskatchewan sent out a plea for help, and a hero emerged. Harold Orr learned to build houses by age 12, swinging hammers alongside his father, a preacher who moved the family around Western Canada. By the energy crises of the 1970s, Orr had credentials to back up the know-how; he'd trained as a mechanical engineer at the University of Saskatchewan and been hired by the National Research Council of Canada, working on obscure topics like infiltration and leakage in homes. And then, the call: 'The government asked (us) to design and build a solar house appropriate for Saskatchewan,' Orr explains matter-of-factly. And so they did. The team turned conventional design upside down. Instead of asking, how do we heat and cool this thing, they designed a home that needs as little energy as possible. The Saskatchewan Conservation House was built in 1977 by a provincial crown corporation with Orr as lead engineer. It used 85 per cent less energy and cost about $30 to $40 in electricity per year. No furnace at all but still appropriate for frigid winters in Regina. It even had an early heat exchange system. And it's still there, its building envelope still functioning as designed, all these years later. (Fun fact: As part of the project, Orr invented the blower door test, another unsung Canadian invention you will have encountered if you've ever had any home efficiency work done.) 'How we build matters,' says Efficiency Canada. The organization calculates the most effective way to minimize additional carbon pollution comes from adopting the most ambitious tier of Canada's building codes (the net-zero energy ready standard). 'So the idea of a passive house was born, and as it turns out the model also inspired the net-zero energy home movement as well. While solar modules cost $77 per watt in 1977, they are a hundredth of that price today, which means solar-powered super-energy-efficient homes are suddenly very doable,' writes David Dodge at Green Energy Futures. There's some dispute whether Orr and the team in Saskatchewan truly 'invented' super efficient or passive house design (there are even killjoys who contest Canada's claim to the zipper). But in the late 1970s, up to 1,000 people were visiting the Saskatchewan Conservation House every week, including many curious Germans. Today, Germany is the global epicentre of Passivhaus construction techniques. Orr received a lifetime award from Germany's Passive House Institute. And he was finally named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2017. At 92 years old, he is still spreading the gospel. It's probably too much to expect the Carney government to require full Passive House standards for the promised surge in home construction. But some conditions should apply. The Liberal platform promised 'to get the federal government back into the business of home building … and double the pace of construction to almost 500,000 new homes a year.' It will be 'Canada's most ambitious housing plan since the Second World War,' we heard repeatedly. Canadians are demanding new homes but those big promises could also lock in megatonnes of new carbon pollution, and a sprawling network of new hookups for methane gas. A pace not seen 'since the Second World War' is definitely ambitious, but it also coincides with 'the Great Acceleration' — the point in the mid-20th century when human disruption of the Earth surged, and the trajectory of heat-trapping gases skyrocketed. Buildings are already the third-largest source of fossil fuel pollution in Canada and cutting those emissions has proven miserably difficult. New buildings last for decades, so today's big plans can lock in new carbon emissions for decades. 'How we build matters,' says Efficiency Canada. The organization calculates that the most effective way to minimize additional carbon pollution comes from adopting the most ambitious tier of Canada's building codes (the net-zero energy ready standard) and implementing full electrification. If new construction proceeds under those conditions, 'Canada can reduce emissions by two-thirds and reduce household spending by $5 billion per year.' Certain uncooperative premiers would fight full electrification, and the gas industry would go berserk. But you might recall that all provinces and the feds have already agreed to adopt the highest tier of building codes. So 'build, baby, build' could come with conditions. Maybe call it the 'Prairie Passive' or 'Saskatchewan Energy Innovation,' standard to grease the skids. But, if we're giving credit where it's due, any gobs of cash would be subject to 'The Orr Code.' April: the second cruellest month For those keeping track at home, the results are in for April. Global temperatures continued the hot streak above 1.5 C, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The streak was expected to subside as El Niño — a warming phase of the oceans — faded, but temperatures have stayed near record levels. "And then comes 2025, when we should be settling back, and instead we are remaining at this accelerated step-change in warming," Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, told AFP. "And we seem to be stuck there. What this is caused (by) — what is explaining it — is not entirely resolved, but it's a very worrying sign." Twenty-one of the last 22 months have exceeded 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. "Globally, April 2025 was the second-hottest April on record, continuing the long sequence of months over 1.5 C above pre-industrial,' said Samantha Burgess, Copernicus' strategic lead for climate. She added a veiled dig at the Trump administration's decision to stop tracking disaster costs of climate change: 'Continuous climate monitoring is an essential tool for understanding and responding to the ongoing changes of our climate system.'
CBC
01-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Renters want to go green too. Why your landlord may not invest — and what you can do
Hello, Earthlings! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. Keep up with the latest news on our Climate and Environment page. Renters want to go green too. Why your landlord may not invest — and what you can do Typically, whenever there is discussion about "greening" homes, it's tailored toward homeowners. But what about the one-third of Canadians who rent? How can they try to make their homes more climate friendly? Well, it's a bit difficult, due to something called split incentive: the landlord has to put in the upfront cost to retrofit the building, but it's the tenant who sees the benefits. For example, an energy efficient stove would mean a lower electricity bill, or a HEPA air filter would mean cleaner air, so there's very little incentive for the landlord to make any upgrades. And for the tenant, if the landlord does make upgrades, their rent could go up or they could face renoviction — where renters get evicted for renovations, and units may be re-rented later at a higher price. Brendan Haley, senior director of policy strategy at Efficiency Canada, a think-tank that researches energy efficiency and the economy, said that he doesn't like the framing of split incentives. Instead, he feels that it is something that needs to be done, despite any financial benefits. "Having a healthy, energy-efficient building, as the climate is changing should be almost a requirement, and not something where we get all bent out of shape about who pays and who benefits, but something that is a requirement if you're owning a building." Tony Irwin, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations, said that there are many challenges for building owners when it comes to retrofitting. "We do have members who want to do it, but, you know, they look at the economic realities of doing it, and it is, no doubt, quite challenging just to make the numbers [work], or to be able to secure the financing to do the work," he said. Additionally, there is the difficulty of doing work on aging infrastructure. "Toronto last year was talking about wanting to bring in maximum heat [bylaws] in buildings. So in other words, forcing air conditioning," he said. "And people think, 'well, that should be easy, why wouldn't people want to do that?'" But because many of the buildings are old — built in the 1970s or earlier — "it's not a straightforward exercise," said Irwin. Haley said that Efficiency Canada is looking to improve energy efficiency and also protect tenant rights, but there's a need for more policies to do that. Kari Hyde, manager of utilities and demand-side management at the Pembina Institute said that addressing the split incentive is a challenge, as it not only requires conversations between building owners and tenants, but also requires the federal government, provincial governments and municipalities to work in tandem. "It's really the federal government who has to start kind of figuring out what a high performance building code looks like, and how do we do that appropriately, without the concerns of renovictions," she said. Haley said that he's seen city campaigns such as some by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a tenant advocacy group not only pushing for maximum heat bylaws, but performance labels on buildings so the tenant understands what they might expect in terms of high bills or other problems. "The other policy [suggested by ACORN] is there's just mandatory energy performance standards where a building has to meet a certain either energy or greenhouse gas performance standard, and if it doesn't meet that performance standard, the building owner can receive a fine." Though the solutions may not necessarily be there at the moment in terms of policies, Bob Grove, author at Climate Council, an advocacy group for climate change solutions and education, said there are ways renters can make a difference through their actions at home, including: Changing any lightbulbs if they're not LEDs. Weatherproofing any windows or doors to prevent heat from leaking. Using an induction cooktop instead of the stove. Buying a countertop convection oven. He recognized that not everyone can afford these things, but he said they can be considered an investment and move with you just like your furniture. "So, you know, I move into my next apartment, I'm unplugging the electric range, I'm putting my induction cooktop on top of it, and then I set my microwave someplace, and that becomes my oven," he said. "So I've got all the functionality in that kitchen without using those legacy appliances that are so inefficient. And when I'm done, I just move all my stuff with me, put their light bulbs back in, plug their stove back in, and, hey, I didn't change anything." Check out our podcast and radio show. In our newest episode: Canada's first local state of emergency due to drought was declared on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia in 2022. The shortage was so bad, officials feared the region would run out of water for hospitals and fire departments. And the Coast has been under severe water restrictions for five of the last eight summers, a situation experts warn could become the norm. In her documentary, "Drought in the rainforest," Liz Hoath with CBC's audio doc unit tells the story of a community hit hard by rising temperatures and what some call the local government's failure to plan for climate change. What On Earth drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app or on demand at CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador. Reader Feedback Last week's issue included a profile of Sylvie D'Aoust, also known as Recycle Warrior Grl, who recycles old appliances she picks up on the curb in Chelsea, Que. Michael Le Bas of Vancouver wrote: "Hats off to Sylvie D'Aoust! Reducing the amount of material that goes to the dump takes a conscious effort. The same with re-using. Bravo to Sylvie for making parts available online. I live in a 41-unit apartment complex and decided several years ago to take the owners' soft plastic, batteries, light bulbs and styrofoam to our local zero waste centre. Up till then it was going to the dump. I am 77 so I do it for my grandchildren hoping, in my small way, to make the future a better place to live." Write us at whatonearth@ (And feel free to send photos, too!) The Big Picture: The great cardboard-animal migration A cardboard kuzu stretches its neck to smell a flower on a tree. A troop of monkeys skips through the forest. A gorilla tentatively stretches its forearm towards the water and hesitates – how will it cross the Congo River to continue its great migration? These are just some of the dozens of life-sized cardboard animals stampeding along city streets around the world to draw attention to the issue of climate change. The puppet animals, which began their 20,000-kilometre migration at the Kinshasa Botanical Garden in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in early April, will pass through Marrakesh this weekend and then push northward into Europe, as they "flee" from the harms of climate change. By the time the herd crosses the Arctic Circle in Norway in early August, its ranks will have swelled to the hundreds, picking up vervet monkeys, wolves, reindeer and other local animals (and puppeteers) along the way. The public art initiative, called The Herds, combines puppetry, storytelling and activism. It's the latest project of The Walk Productions, which toured a giant puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian refugee girl from Turkey to the United Kingdom in 2021. Co-founder, playwright and director Amir Nizar sees the recycled animals as " a wake-up call, urging us to change our ways." You can follow the migration on Instagram and YouTube, or make your own puppets out of recycled materials. — Hannah Hoag Flaunting fur might be back, thanks in part to sustainable shoppers For Mina Ely, fur has never been out of style. With her family's Russian Jewish heritage, furs were the norm for both esthetic and practical reasons during cold Toronto winters. "I would always remember when they would go out, or when they would go to shul, it was just something they would wear, because you can't drive on Shabbat," she told Cost of Living. "I always looked at my mom like, 'wow' … I loved the way it looked. It just symbolized so much elegance." Today Ely runs her own luxury fur brand based in Toronto, Arpino, designing coats for celebrities, hockey wives and other wealthy clients. She says business has been up in the last year. Ely and others who work in the fur trade and the wider fashion industry say there's been a recent uptick in interest in wearing real fur — both new and vintage. That's following decades of contraction in fur sales, largely fuelled by successful campaigns from organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which drew attention to the plight of the animals killed to make fur garments. Part of the renewed interest, fur industry people say, is linked to growing concern for sustainable fashion, both reusing existing materials — in the case of vintage fur — or in choosing natural materials over plastic-based alternatives that won't break down in a landfill. But animal rights organizations dispute claims that furs are more sustainable and more popular, saying it's just the last gasp of a dying industry. Mark Downey, CEO of the Fur Harvesters Auction in North Bay, Ont. — the only wild fur auction house in North America — said he first noticed a spike in interest in the summer of 2023. That's when buyers from countries that require visas to travel to Canada started getting in touch to gather the necessary paperwork to attend the auction that would be held the following spring. "So you got like [people from] Turkey, China, any of these places that want to attend our auction have to call here and ask for what's called a letter of invitation," Downey said. "The amount of letters of invitation we were getting requested for…. It was just crazy." Prices rose accordingly. The skin of a marten, sometimes referred to as Canadian sable, averaged $49 in 2023, rising to $98.50 at last month's auction where every species sold out, he says. "They bought everything, right down to the last hair; we had nothing left, cleaned us right out." Part of the demand, says Downey, is a kind of retro appeal. Leah Van Loon, a stylist and fashion writer who splits her time between Calgary and Paris, says she's noticed a resurgence she attributes partly to the fact that, these days, "a lot of young people want to look like old people…. You want to like you're sort of already at an age where you've made it." Stronger still, though, is a trend away from fast fashion, she says. "You don't need more things; you just need better things that you take care of better." Rob Cahill, who runs a new and vintage furrier called Cahill's in Peterborough, Ont., says the family business just had a particularly good season. He says thrifting enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s are behind most of their shop's boost in sales, particularly of vintage coats. Parting with a few hundred dollars — or even up to $1,000 or more — for a second-hand fur they expect to last a long time strikes these customers as worthwhile given a high-quality goose down parka can retail for $1,500 to $1,800, Cahill says. It also didn't hurt that it was a particularly cold winter, he says. Fuelled by interest in sustainable fashion That tracks with what Anne Bissonnette, a University of Alberta professor and curator of the university's clothing and textiles collection, has observed. "People might spend a whole lot of money on outdoor wear that is very high tech, but this outdoor wear … is often made out of polyester and nylon and things that don't biodegrade," said Bissonnette. "After you buy a few of these coats, you realize that fur is something that keeps you really warm, and First Nation people, Inuit people, have thrived and survived because of their ability to understand and use fur in ways that were really fantastic," she said. Ethically, some will not be comfortable with that, Bissonnette says, despite improvements to programs that help consumers trace garments to particular fur farms to get to know their practices, or, as Mark Downey points out, new, more humane standards for traps on the wild-fur side of things. "Now, they still get killed at the end, right?" said Bissonnette. "But the same is true for cows, and we use leather." Animal rights orgs dispute a fur comeback The Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada said in a statement to CBC it "does not support industrial-based, non-Indigenous use of animal fur for fashion. The practice of fur-farming is unethical, and subjects animals to inhumane conditions." Ashley Byrne, director of outreach communication at PETA, says, "The truth is that a handful of vintage shoppers have been buying vintage coats for years. Most of those people would never dream of buying a new fur coat… I think it's a little more visible now because you have all these little micro trends going on, you know, TikTok, and they're visually blowing up." Byrne points to contraction in the industry, which includes the closure of the two other major North American fur auctions in 2018 and 2019, as well as Kopenhagen Fur, the world's largest fur auction, in 2023.
