VOICES// Fairware: Product with Purpose
- July 18, 2010 –
A guest post I wrote about my current employer, Fairware, is now up on the Social Alterations website. It’s a quick overview of Fairware’s approach to “Product with Purpose” in the promotional product industry (a.k.a. SWAG – the stuff we all get).
Social Alterations is an education lab for responsible fashion design. The site is filled with quality resources on the impact of the fashion industry on society and the environment. I recommend checking it out.
Hybrid Events – 4 Reasons I’m a Fan
April 20, 2010
I have a new post up on VELOCITY, a blog that was created to showcase the thoughts, actions and opinions of young people (the so-called ‘millennial generation’).
The post is all about foreignpolicycamp, a hybrid event which combined a live conference in Vancouver with online participation and interactive web tools. It was the first hybrid un-conference I attended and it was great! Read the full post HERE.
Canadian Pollution Prevention Roundtable
March 30, 2010
Currently I’m working for OCETA, organizing the Canadian Pollution Prevention Roundtable being held in Toronto, June 3-4. The focus of this year’s event is “Shrinking the Environmental Footprint” and sessions will focus on best practices, emerging technologies, practical tools and support available to assist companies and organizations reduce their toxics, water, and carbon footprints.
If you’ll be in the Toronto-area June 3-4, join us for the 2010 CPPR! Meet leading P2 practitioners finding innovative solutions to P2 challenges. Network, share information and contribute to Canada’s P2 movement.
Full information on the Roundtable is available HERE.
Green Building Challenge Wrap-Up
March 6, 2010
This month the 2010 Green Building Challenge (which I’ve been working with as an intern for the past year) is wrapping up. To mark the end of the Challenge and highlight some of the many successes, the Light House Sustainable Building Centre will host tours, workshops and feature an exhibit of case studies. They’re inviting the public to come and see the achievements of the Challenge projects and learn how these groups (ranging from single family homes to strata councils and small businesses) reached their green building targets. View a full schedule of events HERE. For a sneak peak, read my new post on Granville Online, which features fantastic photos submitted by many of the projects.
Share the Road and a Bike!
January 19, 2010
Through the Greenest City Initiative, the City of Vancouver may introduce a public bike share program in the next few years. Exciting! I’ve written a new blog post for Granville Online about how the City is approaching the bike share initiative and some of the main obstacles and current issues in bike sharing. Read it HERE.
New blog: Fairware’s Product with Purpose
December 8, 2009
One of my favourite employers, Fairware Promotional Products Ltd., recently started a blog called Product with Purpose. The blog focuses on ethical sourcing, sustainable product design, innovative promo campaigns, material research and more. I’ve been busily working away on it for the past month and it’s really starting to take shape! The Fairware Team has loaded some great content and we recently made a foray into video blogging. Click HERE to take a look and leave comments to let us know what you think.
Cohousing guest post on Granville Online
November 17, 2009
Check out my new post “Cohousing, the future of home ownership?” on Granville Online’s blog. The article provides an overview of the concept of cohousing, introduces the larger communities in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland and focuses on small-scale cohousing in Vancouver. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Workplace Salad Club
- September 22, 2009 –
Looking to liven up your workplace lunch hour? Start a Salad Club! It’s a silly name for a great concept and easy to implement: set a date, tell each of your colleagues to bring a couple ingredients, then combine these to create a salad bar.
Whether your office is large or small, Salad Club is compatible. As proof, here are a couple places where I’ve seen it successfully in action:
Centre for Social Innovation, Toronto
I was first introduced to Salad Club while working in the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), a large shared work space located in central Toronto. Based in a retro-fitted plumbing factory, the CSI houses over 100 small mission-based organizations and businesses. They work in sectors ranging from arts and environment, to social justice and education, each with 1-7 employees.
Beyond stylish and economical offices, the CSI provides shared meeting rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, copying and printing facilities, as well as a rooftop garden and bike parking. As the name suggests, it’s a centre for innovation; fostered by the sharing of ideas and experiences, collaborating and being surrounded by creative and forward-thinking people.
And where better to innovate than over salad? At the CSI Salad Club is held twice a week in one of the central kitchens. The Club is open to everyone. All that’s required for membership is a couple simple ingredients (like a carrot, and can of chick peas). Not that the rules are strict. If you forget your items, or have an empty-handed friend or client visiting, there’s always lots to go around.
Given the large size of the CSI, Salad Club provides an excellent setting to meet people, get to know your neighbours and hear about new initiatives. Valuable conversations that can be easily missed through the urgency and rush of day-to-day tasks.
Fairware Promotional Products, Vancouver
Since returning to Vancouver I’ve been working at Fairware Promotional Products Ltd., a small business specializing in ethically-sourced and sustainable promotional products. It’s a modern, employee-centered workplace and as a result a great place to introduce Salad Club.
The concept has been fully embraced, and I feel my colleagues are loving Salad Club for the same reasons I do. Mainly, it’s fun, healthy, tastes great, a nice break and saves time & money. Plus, sharing food makes one feel good.
To keep the ingredients interesting, and ensure a balanced salad experience, we’ve introduced a basic rule inspired by the CSI: “bring one thing from column A, and one thing from column B”, with the categories broadly defined as outlined below.
Since we’re a substantially smaller group, discussing what we plan to bring beforehand has helped guarantee a variety of ingredients.
Great at Any Scale
This isn’t just a story about my continued love for social salad, it’s also a success story for the scaling power of Salad Club. Instead of the dozens of people that the CSI event attracts, at Fairware we have less than six. I can’t say I prefer a big Salad Club over a little Salad Club, or vice versa – it works in either format.
So if you have a small workplace or a big one, give it a go and let me know how it turns out.
Additional Information:
Centre for Social Innovation Blog – Open Salad Builds Momentum
Shuttleworth Foundation Blog – Open Salad
Station C Blog – Open Salad Tuesdays
Instructables – Ultimate Salad Club – an open source instructable that could use some more content, add your recipes and ideas
Rockland County Department of Health – Salad Club – if your workplace needs a little more organization this site’s pre-made formats may be useful
Exciting News!
- September 1, 2009 –
I’m a guest blogger on Granville Magazine’s web site. The blog is about laneway housing in Vancouver and my experience with the 2010 Green Building Challenge. Click here to view the full post.
Update: Laneway Housing Approved in Vancouver
- August 18, 2009 –
In late July laneway housing was approved by Vancouver’s City Council. Given the interest in my last blog post, here’s a summary of the main points to date. Below are links to sites and articles that provide more detail:
On July 28, 2009 Vancouver City Council unanimously approved the proposed Laneway Housing Regulations and Guidelines, thereby amending the existing single-family zoning by-laws to allow laneway homes. A leading example of the City’s Ecodensity strategy, laneway homes are to be built on existing lots in the footprint of a typical garage. They can be a maximum height of 1 ½ stories, must be owned by the existing property owner (i.e. rentals only, no strata sales), and are only allowed on single-family zoned properties.
A central issue throughout the laneway housing debate has been whether one or two off-street parking spaces will be required for lots with laneway units. Council approved a minimum of only one parking space, freeing up more floor area for the laneway units. Now, otherwise expensive garage parking and storage can be converted into income-generating rental properties or living-spaces for aging relatives or children.
In response to Vancouver residents concerned about laneway homes popping up in their neighbourhoods, Council will review the program after the submission of 100 applications for laneway homes, or after three-years, whichever comes first.
Additional Information:
Vancouver Ecodensity Web Site: Laneway Housing Approved by Council – includes links to Regulations specific to Laneway Housing, Laneway Housing Guidelines, and Laneway Housing Illustrative Examples
CBCnews.ca: Laneway housing approved by Vancouver council
Planetizen: Vancouver approves Laneway Housing and “Suites within Suites”
The Province: Laneway housing bylaw passed
The Vancouver Courier: City greenlights laneway housing
The Globe and Mail: The laneway house: A novel solution to Vancouver’s real-estate crunch
Aware of additional sources that should be listed here? Please send the URL to info@leahlink.com