Mike Joy lays out an inside look at the home-construction industry. Mike knows the business firsthand -- he works full time as a painting and drywall contractor in Dallas, Texas, and has worked in the construction trades, on and off, since the early 1970s. Mike’s focus is not so much about how to do your own home repairs but how to deal with contractors who do repairs for you. Mike wants every homeowner to understand the contractor/customer relationship so that your next construction proje...

The parlous state of our freshwater ecosystems is just one signal that we face a more widespread, and unprecedented, environmental crisis.New Zealand’s dairy industry is big business. But what are the hidden and not so hidden costs of intensive farming? Evidence presented here by ecologist Mike Joy demonstrates that intensive dairy farming has degraded our freshwater rivers, streams and lakes to an alarming degree. This situation, he argues, has arisen primarily through governmental policy...

'It strikes me with great clarity that if you look at the problems in isolation they each seem intractable; but when you grasp that there could be one single solution, then suddenly there is a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.'The state of New Zealand’s freshwater has become a pressing public issue in recent years. From across the political spectrum, concern is growing about the pollution of New Zealand’s rivers and streams. We all know they need fixing. But how do we do i...

There are many benefits to minimalism. It keeps people from debt. Many consumers make the mistake of living well beyond their means. A person who takes on a large debt burden loses his/her financial freedom. Minimalism helps to ensure that people have the essentials that they need and that no matter what happens, they will be provided for.

This book by two leading scholars offers the first systematic analysis of the relationship between globalization and the environment from the early Modern period to the present. Peter Christoff and Robyn Eckersley develop a broad conceptual framework for understanding the globalization of environmental problems and the highly uneven, often faltering, international political response. The authors develop linkages between economic globalization and environmental degradation and explore a ran...

“In America, four hundred people own the wealth of more than half of the American population. We should not be saying tax the rich, but instead we should be saying take their money and redistribute it, take their property and redistribute it.”—Arundhati RoyIndustrial civilization is devouring the planet and the future. The oceans are acidifying, whole mountains have been laid to waste, and the climate is teetering into chaos. Every biome is approaching coll...

Icy Battleground is the first comprehensive account of the forty-year political controversy over the seal hunt. With a foreword by the Honourable John C. Crosbie, it traces the rise of the anti-sealing protests, the emergence of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, its vigorous and unrelenting campaign to end commercial sealing, and its strategies in mobilising pressure in Canada and abroad. It also assesses the Canadian government's counter-strategies to continue the hunt a...

The Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s swept away the sobriety of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, bringing in homes that were bright, colourful and exciting. Drawing inspiration from ancient Egyptian forms and modern architecture, Art Deco is arguably the most distinctive style of the 20th century and is characterised by streamlined white houses and geometric patterned interiors. The innovative and glamorous designs of the period are still highly sought after by house buyers and home...

The concept of environmental justice has evolved over the past two decades to offer a new direction for social movements, public policy, and public planning. Researchers worldwide now position social equity as a building block for sustainability. Yet the relationship between social equity and the environmental aspects of sustainability has been little studied in Canada.Speaking for Ourselves draws together scholars and activists — Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, established...

Some Like It Cold plunges headlong into the political conundrum of Canada’s climatechange debate. Focusing on the past responses of both Liberal and Conservative governmentsto the looming crisis—ranging from negligence to complicity and connivance—Paehlke illuminatesthe issues surrounding compliance with global regulations such as Kyoto, includingthe dilemma of tar sands development. But he also lays out crucial political steps that could, if taken, lead towards a solution. While ...

During the time of contemporary India’s most famous anti-dam movement, the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a professor of politics in Pune, Rajendra Vora, wrote a study in Marathi of that movement’s forgotten predecessor. Back in the 1920s, the peasants of Mulshi Peta, near Pune, had protested against the construction of a dam being built with government support by the industrial house of the Tatas. The struggle was led by Pandurang Mahadev ('Senapati') Bapat, a socialist and nationalist who had been...

A leading economist develops a supply-side approach to fighting climate change that encourages resource owners to leave more of their fossil carbon underground.The Earth is getting warmer. Yet, as Hans-Werner Sinn points out in this provocative book, the dominant policy approach—which aims to curb consumption of fossil energy—has been ineffective. Despite policy makers' efforts to promote alternative energy, impose emission controls on cars, and enforce tough energ...