Earths General Store has reopened at 9605 – Whyte Avenue (across from the Humpty’s), its new, bigger and better location. EGS was the flagship of the Edmonton environmental scene in the early 1990s. It remains the main hub of conscious green living in Edmonton. If you want to get connected to Edmonton’s environmental community, EGS is the place to be.

In its new location, the store has expanded from its role as retailer, coffee roaster, bookstore, and information provider to included groceries and an expanded line of offerings.

EGS now sells food!

One of the things I’ve always loved about the store is that Michael and his staff have done “the research” for me. At most other stores, you have to constantly be on the lookout for green washing and gouging. At EGS, you can relax and trust that whatever you’re buying is truly the greenest, healthiest choice.

I’m thrilled that EGS has stepped into the role of green grocer. Stop in and check it out. Here are some more pictures of the new space:  read more... »

The Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA) is the most exciting thing to happen to Edmonton, sustainability-wise, in forever.

The alliance, composed mostly of churches and unions, has taken on local food and energy efficiency retrofits for existing houses as its two main initiatives.

They have produced some amazing results so far. Among other things,  they packed a city hall meeting with almost 700 people to help save some of Edmonton’s priceless agricultural land last year, and they also organized the very high-profile potato giveaway last summer.

Sustainable Works Launch on Wednesday

If you’ve wondered how to go about retrofitting of your older home, the Sustainable Works program is for you. GEA plans to help retrofit thousands (thousands!) of homes in Edmonton over the coming years. The big launch is on Wednesday . I’ll be there, and I hope that you’ll consider showing your support.

The Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA) invites you to the launch of  read more... »

Embodied Energy

    the available energy that was used in the work of making a product (from Wikipedia)

Once we use energy to make something, we should keep using that thing as long as possible. It provides a service to us, and once we stop using it to provide that service we generally need to spend more energy to create whatever replaces it. Home Re-use-ables exists to extend the life of building products – to maximize the value that we get from their embodied energy.

This is Sherry at Home Re-use-ables. It’s located at 8832 62 Avenue, and it may just have what you’re looking for for our next renovation project.  read more... »

I took this picture from my kitchen window one morning last month. The trick is to look at the little numbers on the inside. That’s right, –30 degrees Celsius. It gets cold in our beloved river city.

You’re a Hawaiian in an Edmontonian’s body though, right? An island-dweller stuck on the frozen tundra of Alberta. If only nature would understand your needs. Oh well, the only thing to do is hunker down and stay inside for six months a year except for that dash to your idling car. That’s why our merciful Creator invented remote car starters, isn’t it?  read more... »

Earth's General Store (EGS) has been the hub of Edmonton's environmental community for the past 17 years. I love the store because I trust it implicitly - I know that its owner Michael Kalmanovitch and his staff have picked the products that they offer with true sustainability in mind. EGS is an example of what makes a city great: small businesses that care. Michael is a tireless worker for the community, and EGS has sponsored and organized countless worthy causes and projects.

Michael has recently decided to expand the store - his vision is a cross between the old Roots Organic market and the current EGS. He has developed an innovative funding mechanism (see below) that allows his customers/community to invest in in a resource that will serve them well. Michael already has my cheque. I hope that you will consider this exciting opportunity:  read more... »

Peter Amerongen installing a sun pipe on the MCNZH's roof

Construction of the Mill Creek NetZero Home (MCNZH) is progressing nicely.

Before Chrismas we (as in, Peter's crew and a friend of mine) started installing the steel roof. We installed the locally made sun pipe that will pipe natural light to the windowless bathroom on the second floor:

 read more... »

Andrea from Edmonton-owned website/marketplace raisingspaces.com recently informed me that Edmonton has it's very own local manufacturer of light pipes: Sunscope Natural Light Systems. We'll be considering their product first for the Mill Creek NetZero Home (MCNZH) because buying locally helps to create the vibrant local, green, living economy that we need.  read more... »