# data[].attributes.body
An crazy solution is if everyone got their cars converted into electric cars.

# data[].attributes.body
I think this article is cool because this store is doing something unrealistic and I don't think it will work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At a new Toronto grocery store, if you want to buy milk, it's BYOB. That's bring your own bottle.

You then fill up a glass bottle or jar from a large stainless steel dispenser. They charge bulk-style, so if you only take a cup's worth, that's all you'll be charged. Plus you weigh your empty bottle first, so you won't be charged anything extra for the weight of your glass jar.

"We are working actively to not have any single-use plastic in the environment at all," said Michelle Genttner, co-owner of Unboxed at 1263 Dundas St. W.

"And if there's no packaging, that's even better."

That means don't bother looking for the roll of plastic bags in the fruit and vegetable aisle. Instead, customers bring their own re-useable bags or they can buy cotton ones at the store.

The store is set to have its official grand opening in March. The owners say they launched the venture because they're frustrated at the amount of waste they see all around them, including in the restaurant industry where they used to work.

The store also attempts to cut out food waste, taking produce and meat from their butcher counter and transforming them into dishes at the on-site cafe.

Genttner hopes the lack of packaging will result in customers throwing out less food.

Buy a dozen eggs... or just 4 or 5

"You can purchase exactly what you need," she explained, even with foods you may not think could be bought in smaller quantities.

"If you know that you're not going to go through a dozen eggs before they go bad, you can buy four."

Environmentalists are impressed with these types of stores but are also aware that so far, they're not having a large impact, with multiple layers of packaging common for wrapping foods at large grocery chains.

"A lot of the bigger stores and bigger companies just aren't doing enough," said Emily Alfred, the Toronto Environmental Alliance's waste campaigner.

"We need regulations and we need other ways to compel them to change their behaviour."

Alfred hopes one regulation picked up by both the European Union and British Columbia will come to Ontario - a requirement that companies, not municipalities, bear the cost of recycling the materials they produce.

"When they make a choice about using too much packaging or a type of packaging that's hard to recycle, it's their job to make sure that that gets recycled," she said.

The City of Toronto has also been holding consultations on the use of single-use plastics and Alfred believes one solution is a word some people don't like: bans.

"Vancouver is talking about banning styrofoam and banning single-use coffee cups," Alfred said, adding that some places have banned plastic straws and bags.

"We're really optimistic that the trend around the world is in using bans and I think Toronto's ready for it."

Back at Unboxed, Sarah Van Exen shopped during the store's soft launch.

"We've been trying to reduce our plastic waste for a while," she said, often going to bulk food stores to do that.

She stood at the check-out with her young son Tom, who explained he doesn't buy granola bars with their individual wrappers.

"He's aware of climate change and he knows that food waste is a big part of what's contributing to that," Van Exen explained.

"Kids these days know that plastics are going to the landfill."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why this woman's grocery store won't sell you milk unless you bring your own bottle | CBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At a new Toronto grocery store, if you want to buy milk, it's BYOB. That's bring your own bottle. You then fill up a glass bottle or jar from a large stainless steel dispenser. They charge bulk-style, so if you only take a cup's worth, that's all you'll be charged.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hello there! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. (Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.) This week:

Reducing plastic in the fast-food biz

Amazon introduces a greener shopping option

All systems go: The great electric car chase

How to make our buildings greener

Fast-food brands make an effort to cut down on plastic

Globally, we produce nearly 300 million tons of plastic waste every year, and an estimated eight million of it ends up in the world's oceans. A fair number of those items are disposable plastic packaging and cutlery used in fast-food restaurants.

A concerted push from environmentalists and conscientious consumers has forced big chains to grapple with their use of plastic, and some have found new ways to address the problem.

A&W Canada, for example, pledged their commitment last year to eliminating plastic straws by investing in paper ones. They're produced by a company called Aardvark, which says their straws are 100 per cent biodegradable, compostable and sustainably sourced. A&W said the switch to paper will keep 82 million plastic straws out of landfills every year.

Last summer, Starbucks joined the movement to ban plastic straws, but their approach was: Why use straws at all?

The coffee chain said that by 2020, it will replace straws for most of their iced drinks with a recyclable strawless lid that is shaped like a child's sippy cup (above). Starbucks says the lid shape will make it easy to sort and recycle, unlike plastic straws, which generally end up in landfills.

Megan Byers, a plastic reduction expert at the U.S.-based Product Stewardship Institute, thinks the initiatives taken by these fast-food restaurants are a "good first step."

"I understand the challenges that fast-food restaurants face in reducing disposables in the midst of our on-the-go convenience culture, but ... there is always something that can be done to reduce the plastic footprint."

Ikea, which is primarily a furniture retailer but also has a very popular cafeteria, has promised to go even further in phasing out single-use plastic items by the end of this year. Instead of investing in novel alternatives, IKEA has opted for a more old-school idea: glass cups, porcelain mugs and plates, as well as metal cutlery.

"Many fast-food restaurants offer tables where customers can consume their meals. In those cases, trying out reusable options like trays, plates, cutlery, cups, et cetera, makes a lot of sense," said Byers.

She said that a plastic reduction plan for a major fast-food chain "comes about over time." The first step to making a big difference is to "eliminate what you don't need, reuse what you can."

What's on your mind?

This thoughtful note from one reader spoke to a larger issue: "I think the more glaring problem with today's throw-away society is that manufacturers have been allowed to sell products with very low life expectancy. Whether it's cars, computers or household appliances, they are rarely made with long-term quality and reliability in mind anymore. This design mentality contributes to more garbage, just like single-use plastic packaging."

Amazon has a greener shipping option - will people buy in?

Now, that's easier to do for Amazon Prime members, who pay an annual fee for perks like free two-day shipping and access to streamed TV shows and movies. Last week, Amazon announced it is offering its 90 million Amazon Prime members in the U.S. the option to choose a set day of the week for the delivery of everything they order over seven days.

But there are lots of other environmental benefits, said Miguel Jaller Martelo, co-director of the Sustainable Freight Research Center at the University of California Davis.

Slowing down deliveries and making planning easier allows companies to optimize their inventory, fill trucks and plan routes more efficiently, reducing the number of delivery trucks and trips - and greenhouse gas emissions.

While the company is billing the Amazon Day option as both sustainable and convenient, Jaller noted that it isn't offering any incentives for consumers to choose it. It's only available to Prime members, and you have to specifically enrol in the program.

Jaffer said he is hopeful consumers will take the bait, given growing awareness of the impact of online shopping, and that other companies will also come up with new options for consumers to lower their environmental footprint.

The Big Picture: The electric car chase

There is a growing consensus that electric vehicles (EVs) are a large part of a low-carbon future - and one of the indications of that is how much the big automakers are investing in EV production. The chart below shows how much companies in the world's big car-making countries are planning to spend on this technology in the coming decade.

Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web

Reducing the carbon footprint of buildings doesn't have to be a tall order
Any strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions has to include making buildings more efficient. Andre Mayer spoke to Mark Hutchinson, vice-president of green building programs at the Canada Green Building Council, about what that entails. How big is the carbon footprint of buildings?
The building sector as a whole, including commercial and institutional and residential, represents about 20 per cent of Canada's national emissions. When you look at any particular municipal jurisdiction, that number is going to be higher because a lot of our emissions [across the country] come from agricultural practices, heavy industry, oil and gas extraction, and those things don't typically happen within city limits. So, within a city limit, [the carbon emissions from buildings are] typically over 50 per cent.
Where exactly do the problems lie?
It stems from our energy use in buildings - from the lighting to the heating and cooling to our laptops and computers and dishwashers and everything else. We have to recognize that that energy might be in the form of a fossil fuel.

Typically in Canada, we heat with fossil fuels, and we also use fossil fuels with our hot water supply.
How can buildings reduce their carbon footprint?
The approach that the industry takes, and we encourage through our programs, is first to look at reducing the need for energy in any form. Reduce the heating, reduce the cooling, reduce the lighting, reduce what you can. That means ... insulating our buildings and our homes better than we have in the past.

The second thing is to deliver that energy as efficiently as possible. That means the type of equipment that you use. That means, for example, using ventilation systems or heating systems that use low temperatures and can deliver the heat or the cooling more efficiently than a high-temperature system.

The third thing is choosing systems that run on the cleanest form of energy that you have available.
Building codes are obviously key in all this.
Nationally, the federal government has committed to a net zero energy-ready [building] code by 2030, so that sets the tone provincially for how the building codes are going to evolve.

At the provincial level, the province of B.C. has been very forward-thinking. They've introduce a step code.

Basically they've said [to building owners], here's what you need to do today, but we're telling you now what the next tier is and the step after that and the step after that. So the industry has advance warning of what the trajectory is and what the timing is, and they can adapt to that.
What are some of the most forward-thinking projects right now?
Within our zero carbon building program, we have a series of pilot projects and others that have registered, and some of those [buildings] are already complete and in place. The very first project was [a low-rise office building in Waterloo, Ont.], and that's a great example of a leading-edge design. The second project that was certified is institutional and it was Mohawk College in Hamilton.

One of the key takeaways, both from those projects and from research that we've done, is that the buildings of tomorrow that will be zero-carbon buildings ... are in a lot of ways not that different from what we've built to date. There are different types of technologies that are employed, but there's nothing in the design or in the technology that isn't already in practice.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Stay in touch!

Sign up hereto get What on Earth? in your inbox every Thursday.

Editor: Andre Mayer | Logo design: Sködt McNalty

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Starbucks and A&W are addressing the plastic problem | CBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hello there! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. (Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.)

# data[].attributes.body
A study in 2018 by the Joint Research Center in Nature Climate Change showed that soil is a highly effective sink for greenhouse gases. The urine and manure of grazing cows are key to keeping soil healthy. In an interview with CBC, Mineralogist said agriculture is "often depicted in a negative way. And that's unfortunate, because agriculture should be an important solution to [climate change], and could be. Plus, we all have to eat."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we examine the sustainability of meat, the U.S. Climate Alliance and the eco-friendliness of meal kits.

Also: The skinny on meal kits

Hello there! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. (Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.) This week:

Cows and climate change: A closer look

The extent to which meat production contributes to climate change is hotly contested. We highlighted some of the concerns
Andre Mayer
Old issues of What on Earth?

We've received a number of emails from readers wanting to see old issues of the newsletter. Well, we have you covered - all of our issues in one central location:

As always, if you have comments or suggestions...

The Big Picture: The U.S. Climate Alliance

Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web

- Brendan Pietrobon
Stay in touch!

Are there issues you'd like us to cover? Questions you want answered? Do you just want to share a kind word? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at whatonearth@cbc.ca.

Sign up hereto get What on Earth? in your inbox every Thursday.

Editor: Andre Mayer | Logo design: Sködt McNalty

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cows and climate change: A closer look | CBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we examine the sustainability of meat, the U.S. Climate Alliance and the eco-friendliness of meal kits. Hello there! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world.

# data[].attributes.body
Something that our class can do is bike or walk instead of driving,

# data[].attributes.body
I think people will think this article  is interesting because this is revolutionary and will change the course of car making.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hello, people! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. (Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.) This week:

Meet a guy who converts gas-guzzling cars into electric vehicles

Which countries have the most tree cover?

How scientist and 'Champion of the Earth' Katharine Hayhoe deals with climate skeptics

This Toronto businessman retrofits classic cars with electric motors

When Davinder Singh was in high school, around the turn of the millennium, he couldn't wait for B.C.-based Ballard Power Systems to come out with its hydrogen fuel cell. At the time, he believed his first car would be, as he put it, "water-powered."

That didn't happen, and he ended up buying - and fixing - a series of gas-powered cars. "They were always, constantly, breaking down, these combustion vehicles," Singh said.

At some point, he asked himself: Why don't I go electric? This was 2010, and the Tesla Roadster was available. But it was priced at around $100,000 and was out of Singh's reach. He said other available electric vehicle (EV) options "were not desirable."

That's when the Toronto-based entrepreneur said he started "scheming" on a plan: converting a gas guzzler into an electric vehicle. Singh went from studying cell biology and working in the pharmaceutical industry to learning everything there was about the design and engineering of e-cars.

In 2012, he successfully retrofitted his 1985 Jaguar XJ6. Singh now runs Epic Car Conversions, which specializes in converting internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles into 100 per cent EVs. The company has retrofitted about 40 vehicles, mostly high-end vintage cars, including Porsches and other Jaguars.

Epic removes all the combustion components of the vehicle, from the engine to the fuel tank to the exhaust, and custom builds an electric drive unit specific to the car being retrofitted. It includes assembling a motor, inverter, battery pack and charger. It's a simplified unit that requires very little maintenance, said Singh. "You will not have to see your mechanic ever for oil changes, spark plugs or tune-ups."

Singh has a team of about 10 people, including mechanics and machinists, and the retrofitting process can take about two months - depending on the amount of customization involved, it can take longer.

Because each retrofit must be custom-built "from scratch," the switch isn't cheap. Singh said prices range from about $25,000 for a battery with a 100-kilometre range (good for city driving) to $45,000 for a 250-km battery. He said some builds can be more than $85,000, but those are rare and typically include more range and customized paint jobs.

The high cost poses a challenge, said Singh, because his company is competing with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Tesla, Nissan and Ford - companies that buy and build EVs in bulk. He said Epic's advantage is its ability to customize any car.

And it's looking to branch out. With help from the Canadian government, Singh's startup has made connections in places like Thailand and India, where Singh has been promoting Epic's electric-drive unit for use in vehicle fleets (like company cars or buses). He's also had conversations with a municipality in the Greater Toronto Area.

Keeping maintenance and fuel costs low is the reason Singh started on this journey. But helping cut carbon emissions is also important for this father of one.

"If we have more electric vehicles on the road ... we'll have cleaner air for the next generation."

- Nazima Walji

Reader feedback

Last Friday, an estimated seven million people came out worldwide to demonstrate for climate action, led by Swedish teen Greta Thunberg, who joined 500,000 protesters in Montreal. Do you think the ongoing climate strikes will have an impact on the Canadian election?

Old issues of What on Earth? are right here.

The Big Picture: The cheapest forms of energy, by country

Trees are key to fighting climate change, but industrial development and urbanization over the last couple of centuries have reduced the size of forests in parts of the world. Many countries have recognized the problem and have acted accordingly - China and India, for example, have undertaken aggressive tree-planting campaigns. The graph below captures the countries with the most tree cover - i.e. the percentage of their landmass covered by trees. Suriname, a country of about 550,000 people in South America, comes out on top. We also included some more populated countries underneath as a point of comparison.

Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web

The British Isles get a lot of wind, and they've used that natural endowment to produce a lot of renewable energy. Now, General Electric is installing the world's largest turbines (260 metres tall) in an area off the Yorkshire coast called Dogger Bank, soon to be the world's largest wind farm.

A Guardian article explores the idea of "secret sustainability" - namely, companies that have managed to make their manufacturing processes more energy- or resource-efficient, and thus better for the planet, but haven't gone public about it.

'We're looking for common ground': Canadian scientist and 'Champion of the Earth' on talking to climate skeptics

Katharine Hayhoe is a Canadian climate scientist with a big voice. A professor at Texas Tech University's department of political science and director of the university's Climate Center, Hayhoe has been fervent in communicating the challenges and reality of climate change, as well as the solutions to limiting global warming to 2 C above the pre-industrial average. Hayhoe's work recently earned her the United Nations 2019 Champions of the Earth award. Nicole Mortillaro spoke to her about the challenges of communicating the realities of climate change. What are the biggest hurdles for you in getting the message out about climate change?
There is a massively funded and very intelligent disinformation campaign that is trying to muddy the waters on everything that we do. So it is really kind of like the Girl Guides trying to fight the Marines here.

When we first started, we [were] naive. We thought, well, surely the truth will win if we just tell people the truth. But it's such a highly politically polarized topic. And sadly, it isn't just limited to the U.S. anymore. In Canada, it's becoming increasingly politically polarized as well.
Why do you think it's become politicized?
It's become politicized because, if you go to Wikipedia and you just run your eyes down the list of the richest corporations in the world, No. 1 is Walmart. After Walmart, you have petroleum, petroleum, petroleum, energy, energy, petroleum, petroleum, energy, petroleum. So, we are talking about solutions that are overall beneficial for almost everybody on this planet, with one exception. And the one exception are the industries that currently hold the balance of power and wealth in this world.
Can you change people's minds with facts?
Facts are not what change people's minds because people have made the rejection of climate change part of their personal identity. And so changing their mind about climate change would require them to change their idea of who they are...

People don't truly have a problem with basic science, because if they did, they would also be rejecting stoves and fridges and airplanes. What they have a problem with is not the actual science. They have a problem with the perceived solution. We see the solution to be liberal, to be socialist, to be - as [former prime minister Stephen] Harper famously put it - the economy versus the environment. We see the only solutions to be harmful and punitive and potentially even worse than the impact, especially in Canada, where many people feel, "Isn't warmer better?"

But the reality is, there are many solutions that are extremely beneficial, that help us improve air quality, reduce our water use, grow the economy, grow local jobs.
What bothers you the most about climate change science communication?
If we want to have constructive, positive conversations that move the dialogue along, we have to begin that conversation with what we most agree with, with that person, or those people or that organization, rather than what we disagree with her about. Not the Bill Nye approach, but rather the approach where we're looking for common ground.

Those of us who are doing it, it is not part of our job description. It is not part of our daily routine, it is something that we're doing ... above and beyond what we're actually doing in terms of our teaching and our research and our service. And it is a woefully, woefully under-supported and underfunded initiative.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Stay in touch!

Are there issues you'd like us to cover? Questions you want answered? Do you just want to share a kind word? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at whatonearth@cbc.ca.

Sign up hereto get What on Earth? in your inbox every Thursday.

Editor: Andre Mayer | Logo design: Sködt McNalty

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Meet a guy who converts gas-guzzling cars into electric vehicles | CBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hello, people! This is our weekly newsletter on all things environmental, where we highlight trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. (Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.) This week: Meet a guy who converts gas-guzzling cars into electric vehicles Which countries have the most tree cover?

# data[].attributes.body
We could stop throwing trash in the ocean because it is polluting the water and without water we are doomed.