James Glave

Not-Quite-So-Giggly Gas

I frequently parrot the message that a lot of small actions can add up to big change. For proof, look no further than this short video clip I did over the summer, one of a series of greener-living advice segments for a real-estate website called Cyberhomes. There I am, proving the ...

A Cool Event for a Cool Planet

Some 5,000 people showed up for Bridge to a Cool Planet, an event tied to the International Day of Climate Action--including me, my kids, and my parents. [caption id="attachment_1290" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="More egregious exploitation of children."][/caption] My kids and I managed to hog the media cameras, we paraded through the background of ...

“Green Light,” My Profile of Tzeporah Berman

[caption id="attachment_1281" align="alignleft" width="219" caption="The original tree-hugger."][/caption]The November issue of Vancouver magazine features my profile on Tzeporah Berman, cofounder of ForestEthics and executive director of PowerUP Canada. Links to both Web and PDF versions below. Berman is a Canadian climate activist of considerable influence who has inserted herself at the center ...

Sorry, You Gotta Show Up

[caption id="attachment_1310" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Mixing up the ABCs."][/caption]On October 24, my kids Duncan and Sabrina, and my wife, Elle, and I will together march in our first-ever global-warming, er, "action." The occasion is Bridge to a Cool Planet, which will likely be British Columbia's largest event marking the International Day of ...

Eco-Terminology That Stumps MSWord

I write and report on the ongoing rapid evolution of our transportation infrastructure, energy systems, agriculture, buildings, and so on -- and I do most of my work with MSWord 2004 for Mac. Though I loathe spellcheckers, by habit I run the feature on my work before passing it along. After ...

When Times Are Hard, Eat Your Yard!

I recently spent a few days in Seattle--one of my favorite American cities--and was amazed to discover how many homeowners have planted victory gardens in their front yards. In much of America, the front yard is the place for a few roses, maybe a rhodo or two. But in Seattle, ...

How To Compost a Corpse

My first piece for The Walrus is up on the magazine's site. Here's an excerpt: Squirrels, it turns out, compost quite nicely. Small birds? Sure. Happens in the woods every day, after all. But stuff a human body into a backyard bin, and within a day or so the neighbours will ...

Backstage Tour at a Run-of-River Plant

Last week, Plutonic Power--one of Western Canada's largest green-power developers--invited me and a few other journalists to tour a 123-megawatt run-of-river project that the company is building at the top end of the Toba Valley, about 110 miles due northwest of Vancouver. In essence, these projects capture the kinetic energy of ...

Visit To a 1912 Hydroelectric Station

Just back from an absolutely fascinating trip to The Power House at Stave Falls, in Mission B.C., just 40 miles east of Vancouver. This 52.5-megawatt hydroelectric plant fed sustainable energy into the region's grid between 1912 and 2000, when it was decommissioned and replaced with a more efficient powerhouse just ...

The Beach Yields A Secret

A few weeks back, I found this artifact on a beach here on Bowen Island while grabbing fistfuls of stones to toss into the sea. It is very weathered, from many decades spent being tossed around in the surf. It appears to be an arrowhead or spear point of First ...