Tag: dirt
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Scientists Urge Caution On Underwater Mining
For years the ‘bad ones’ have poisoned rivers, devastated forests and displaced communities, and now massive companies are rushing to dig up the seabed for precious metals. MIT: “The ocean’s deep-sea bed is scattered with ancient, potato-sized rocks called “polymetallic nodules” that contain nickel and cobalt — minerals that are in high demand for the…
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Agrarians From Ancient World Knew About Biochar
Agrarians from various ancient cultures around the world discovered the soil fertility benefits of charred biomass over two thousand years ago. Now known as ‘biochar’, this ancient soil management practice has been enjoying a renaissance of late for a number of reasons largely related to the need for more resilient and productive soils and biochar’s…
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Why Radiation Protection Makes Sense- even at ‘Low’ Exposure levels
Radiation is all around us. It occurs naturally in our environment, coming to us from the sun, from the soil and foods that we eat, and in the air that we breathe. It is omnipresent across a diverse cross section of industries. We tend to associate radiation with the nuclear industry, but the reality…
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Crickets And Grasshoppers Relaxing Sounds For Your Mind
If you didn’t know already, crickets and grasshoppers are not the same insect- though they do share a distant common ancestor from somewhere back in time. How can you tell them apart? For one thing, grasshoppers have short antennae whereas crickets have long antennae. Considering that crickets are active at night, in the dark- it makes sense for…
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Make A Prairie Say No To Land Without Life
So make a prairie… It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a decade since I did some work recording for Statistics Canada. The job required door-to-door visits to all the homes in a designated area, interesting because I had a chance to see what people do in their yards. One residence in particular left a…
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How We Set In Motion Coffee Global Business
If you are like me- someone who has drunk much more than one coffee in your life, you might be interested in pondering this question: Why do you think the multi-billion-dollar global coffee industry can be a losing business for the growers, whose hands till the land from where coffee starts? In fact, if you…
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Can Another Ottawa Residence Win Canada’s Best Garden Street?
Toronto, ON Garden Days – The month of June hosts Canada’s three-day celebration of gardens and gardening. There are loads of Garden Days official activities scheduled across the country, and almost every province has a Flagship Event for you to enjoy. It’s the perfect time to get dirty in one’s own garden, visit a nearby public…
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Canada Reassessing Glyphosate Roundup Herbicide Link To Cancer
It’s been nearly four years since we published the article below and the water surrounding glyphosate use in Canada is still murky. Roundup is currently being used in an official capacity in certain situations by government agencies such as the Ministry of the Environment to fight the invasive species Phragmites. Let’s review the earlier article:…
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Pull On Blundstone Boots Style Every Season
A pair of Blundstone boots has a way of replacing a big chunk of your everyday footwear. Not only because Blundstone boots are so functional, but also because these are boots you want to wear every day. The two-tone styles aim to appeal to those who like a bit more colour in their fashion choices.…
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Sugar Battery Set To Power Phones, Tablets And Other Devices
Catalyzing Commercialization Sugar could some day be used to power smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices thanks to a recent breakthrough by Blacksburg, VA-based Cell-Free BioInnovations, Inc. It might seem strange to use an ingredient found in cupcakes and cookies as an energy source, but it’s not, as most living cells break down sugar to…
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Canadian Garden Days Is Annual Event Celebrating Vital Role Of Gardening
DO YOU LIVE ON CANADA’S BEST GARDEN STREET? Canada is a country made up of neighbourhoods, and in many are streets where neighbours take pride in making their gardens – and even city-owned medians – as pretty as possible through their collaborative ‘green thumbed’ efforts. As part of this year’s Garden Days program, being held…
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When Are We Going to Get Serious About Invasive Species- Phragmites?
The Phragmites invasion was identified as the number one concern facing the Long Point area at this summer’s Long Point Biosphere symposium on ecosystem stresses. In the pond adjacent to my house, a few Phragmites plants appeared about 20 years ago. Those few stalks then turned into a patch covering 15 per cent of the…
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Shephardess Innovates With Dynamic Agriculture System
Trying to find agricultural systems that are environmentally friendly and economically viable is a challenge facing the agriculture industry. So when a friend from New Zealand told us about how they graze sheep in fruit orchards we instantly liked the idea. All of a sudden the apple and cherry orchards on the farm didn’t look just like orchards, they also…
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Grand River Conservation effort targets phragmites- invasive reeds via Roundup
Portions of the Snyder’s Flats Conservation Area will be closed to the public during the week of Sept. 29 while a herbicide is used to control an outbreak of phragmites, an invasive plant species. Signs will be posted in the parking lot at the entrance to the property on Snyder’s Flats Road near Bloomingdale. The…
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Why We March Globally Against Monsanto
For those who are not aware of Monsanto or its global influence, I would like to provide you with some background information before explaining just why it is important to stand against the corporation and its actions. Monsanto is an international agricultural corporation which is based out of the United States. It originated in 1901…
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Watershed Forests Returning On Former Farmer Fields
New forests are rising on old farm fields in Mapleton Township in an effort to improve water quality in streams feeding Conestogo Lake reservoir. About 70,000 trees are being planted this year and next on two parcels of land totalling 40 hectares (100 acres) on the north side of the reservoir. The GRCA is planting a…
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Creating Cleaner Air in Ontario Province Has Eliminated Coal Fired Generation
Ontario is now the first jurisdiction in North America to fully eliminate coal as a source of electricity generation. The Thunder Bay Generating Station, Ontario’s last remaining coal-fired facility, has burned its last supply of coal. Operated by Ontario Power Generation, Thunder Bay Generating Station was the oldest coal-fired station in the province. The plant…
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Help End Peru’s Savage Dolphin Hunt By Adding Your Signature
Dear Silo, Up to 15,000 dolphins are being killed every year in Peru’s waters — for bait to catch endangered sharks. A new report has forced the government to respond but they’re not taking enough action yet and meanwhile the dolphins and the sharks are being killed. We can stop the massacre by threatening Peru’s international reputation as…
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Ontario Greens: “Will push government to protect people and places we love”
(Queen’s Park): Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner is calling for an end to political gamesmanship at Queen’s Park. Instead, Schreiner wants the minority legislature to move on legislation that protects food and water, democracy and local jobs during the fall session. “Greens will push the government to protect the people and places…
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10 Year Old Eco Blogger Hannah Alper
Dear Silo, you’ve probably heard me talk about my daughter Hannah in the past. She has been called many things: “The future of social media”, “Eco-Warrior”, “Changemaker” and “Activist”. At 10 years old, she is all of these things. And now, she can add Free The Children’s “We Day” speaker to the list. There will be…
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Why are Ontario farmland values skyrocketing? Greens: due to development
Ottawa, ON – Green Party leader and Guelph candidate Mike Schreiner called for the complete protection of prime farmland in Ontario. “We can’t eat subdivisions, quarries or pipelines,” said Schreiner while attending the Association Municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa. “The Ontario government must stop destroying prime farmland before it’s too late.” Only five percent of…
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Green Party Emphatic No To Proposed ‘Tar Sands Oil’ Pipelines In Ontario
Ottawa – Green Party leader Mike Schreiner is pledging to fight two oil pipeline projects through Ontario. Joining Ottawa South candidate Taylor Howarth on a campaign tour, Schreiner and Howarth raised concerns about the health, environmental and economic effects of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed east coast pipeline, which travels through Ottawa, and Enbridge’s proposed Line 9…
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Harvesting Wild Leeks
It’s coq-a-leeky time. For the past several years my friend House and I go out to our secret spot in a nearby woods and harvest wild leeks. They grow three quarters of the way down a steep hill so the element of danger grows stronger every year with aging limbs. Let me tell you, it’s…
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Ontario Greens seek Experimental Lakes petition signatures UPDATE Liberals agree to fund
(Toronto, Ontario): The Green Party of Ontario has launched a campaign calling on the Ontario government to take over the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) from the federal government. In less than a day over 700 people have written emails to the Finance Minister Sousa demanding the ELA be included in the upcoming…
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Letters To Silo- Concern Over Canada-China Treaty Agreement
Hello Silo, I think this is a very, very important non-partisan political issue. I believe it is imperative to get the word out to all Canadians. I hope The Silo will give it some publicity. It is about the Canada-China Treaty Agreement. This is a letter I got from Elizabeth May after I sent an…
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First Nations reader sends letter outlining FIPA Canada-China trade concerns
November 1, 2012 His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D. Governor General Your Excellency: I am going to start with this quote i read today “I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to…