Spaces, Places and Faces » Water

September 2, 2010: Petitcodiac River

SpF — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:10:04 +0000

A map of the Petitcodiac River, with its 4 main tributaries highlighted in light blue.

From time to time on SPF we like to highlight the work of volunteer organizations that work to promote environmental protection and restoration. Today we put the spotlight on Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an organization that promotes public education and research on the health of Lake Ontario and its watershed. We played an episode of their podcast, “Living at the Barricades,” which discussed the reopening of the causeway gates on the Petitcodiac River in New Brunswick. Click here to access the podcast via the Waterkeeper website!

August 26, 2010: Sustainable Campus Initiatives and Climate in the North

SpF — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:07:56 +0000

More than most places in the world, communities in the far north are wrestling with issues related to climate change. SPFer John Wall spoke to Gary Davidson and Beate Bowron, planners who are working on issues related to climate change in the north.

Have you seen the new solar array on the Canal Building? What about the River Building’s green roof? Ok, these projects are still under construction but they are close to completion. They are just two of the many green initiatives that are going on at Carleton. Carol Hunsberger caught up with Murdo Murchison, Carleton’s Sustainability Officer, to learn more about the university’s green achievements and priorities for further action.

August 5, 2010: The End of the Ecofee

SpF — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:14:37 +0000

This morning on the show we heard from Jonathan Molloy, Political Sciences professor at Carleton University about the end of the ecofee. Robyn Penney spoke with him about the concept of product stewardship, what the end of the fee means for the program, and what the future may hold for the our environmentally sensitive waste, and the ecofee program.

In the Environmental News, Henry talked about Eemian Ice Drilling site in Greenland extracting cores from 2.5 km below the surface, prospects of ancient life on Mars, some gender bending fish in Alberta, the US’ new ocean policy, as well as some controversial drilling in Nunavut’s Lancaster Sound.

July 1, 2010: Maude Barlow Q&A at the Mayfair

SpF — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:30:17 +0000

Liz Marshall and Maude Barlow at the screening of Water On The Table at the Mayfair.

A couple of weeks ago, The Mayfair put on a special screening of Water on the Table, a film about the worldwide fight for recognizing water as an essential human right, and not a commodity to be bought and sold to those who can afford it. Maude Barlow, chair of The Council of Canadians, former consultant to the UN, and water activist was at the screening, along with the director of the film, Liz Marshall. After the film they did a short question and answer session, discussing some of the issues surrounding the film. We come into the conversation while Maude is discussing Canada’s role in a recent UN meeting on the human right to water.

Later in the show, we went to the archives to hear a Green Routine from Brittany Boychuk, on how to have a ‘green’ vacation. We also had this week’s Environmental News, looking at the bp oil spill, news from Syncrude, and a recent report on scientists’ views on anthropogenic climate change.

A couple of weeks ago, The Mayfair put on a special screening of Water on the Table, a film about the worldwide fight for recognizing water as an essential human right, and not a commodity to be bought and sold to those who can afford it. Maude Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians, former consultant to the UN, and water activist was at the screening, along with the director of the film, Liz Marshall. After the film they did a short question and answer session, discussing some of the issues surrounding the film. We come into the conversation while Maude is discussing Canada’s role in a recent UN meeting on the human right to water.

June 3, 2010: The Waterkeeper Special: Environmental Prosecutions

SpF — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 23:38:11 +0000

This week on the show we heard from our friends at Ontario Waterkeeper, and an episode from their podcast series entitled ‘Living at the Barricades’. This episode was called Environmental Prosecutions, and looked at the cases against Syncrude in the Alberta Oil Sands in their contamination of local wildlife and waterways.

Our thanks to . . . → Read More: June 3, 2010: The Waterkeeper Special: Environmental Prosecutions

March 11, 2010: Water in the West Bank & Green Buildings

SpF — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:07:32 +0000

Today on the show Carol Hunsberger spoke with Ilaria Giglioli about water vulnerability. Ilaria recently finished a Master’s degree in Geography at the University of Toronto, where she studied the different political approaches and priorities that have influenced water management in the West Bank. Carol had a chance to catch up with her while she was in town last week as a speaker for Israeli Apartheid Week.

Later, Robyn Penney had a report from last weekend’s Green Building competition held on our campus. Sponsored by the Green Building Council of Ottawa, students were put into groups and given 24 hours to create a finalized design and present it to the judges. Robyn spoke with many people, including Teresa Hanna, the coordinator of the competition, Andrew McClellan, a member of the winning team, and other students about their experiences.

February 25, 2010: Water Purification and Michael Runtz

SpF — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:27:25 +0000

This morning Henry talked with Edward Lai, Professor of Analytical Chemistry here at Carleton University. Along with Banu Ormeci, he has been working on a technology to purify water of estrogenic compounds, otherwise known as female sex hormones. These compounds are found in water supplies, and are not filtered out in the traditional processes. After being given a grant from the Canadian Water Network, they are working toward a refining the process, and a larger implementation to local water suppliers and industries.

Later Robyn spoke with Michael Runtz, a professor of Biology, and specialist of Natural History here at Carleton. They discussed the field of Naturalism, and his participation in the recent 2010 Discovery Lecture.

Henry also spoke with Marie-Odile Junker, a professor of linguistics here at Carleton. She is working on the Cree-Inuu linguistic atlas, and she gave us a brief look at her research, and discussed why she is working on the atlas, and who she hopes will benefit from it most. The atlas can be found here.

February 11, 2010: Water

SpF — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:42:26 +0000

In our first interview, we heard from Jeremy Schmidt at the University of Western Ontario. He’s co-edited a book called “Water Ethics”, which examines and critiques a series of moral frameworks that different cultures and societies have used to approach water and address water issues. Carol Hunsberger spoke with him earlier this week about his book, as well as some ideas from other parts of the world that could inspire a national water framework for Canada.

Water is one of the most familiar substances in our lives. But when was the last time you asked yourself what it is, and what it means? For our second feature, Carol spoke with Jamie Linton, who has been looking into that question for several years, and he’s just written a book about it, called ‘What is Water?‘. They talked about our philosophical attitudes to water, some practical consequences of the dominant view, and some local projects that try to turn water issues back into social issue.

January 14, 2010: Waterkeeper Special – The Big Pipe

SpF — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:21:16 +0000

This week we connected with our friends at the Ontario Waterkeeper to share their ‘Living at the Barricades’ podcast called “Big Pipe, Big Headaches”. A half billion dollar sewage pipeline is underway that will deposit 95% of York Region’s waste in Durham Region. What could possibly go wrong with a plan like that? Quite a bit, actually. Visit the Waterkeeper at:

http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2009/12/07/big-pipe-big-headaches-december-7-2009/

March 19, 2009: Toilet Seat Protest & Showering With Love

SpF — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:28:18 +0000

This week Matt speaks with George Yap of the Sanitation and Water Action Network about an unusual “toilet seat protest” on Parliament Hill.

Brittany Boychuk brings us an exciting and water saving tip in the Green Routine called “Shower with Love”…