Thanks to our good friends at Isnor Creative, Habitat has a new home on the web. Check out habitatradio.ca for regular postings of all Habitat interviews, and a great archive of past shows.
Thanks for listening!
Miles Howe of the Halifax Media Coop tells about the controversy over the disposal of millions of litres of fracking wastewater in Nova Scotia.
LISTEN:
Miles Howe on Habitat November 9, 2012 (30:02, right click to download)
LINKS:
Frack Waste-Water Trade?, Halifax Media Coop, October 30, 2012
Fracking Wastewater the new NORM in Nova Scotia?, Halifax Media Coop, September 28, 2012
Kaarin Tae of McIntosh Run Watershed Association tells about the current effort to build 25 km of wildland trails along the McIntosh Run between Spryfield and Herring Cove. Public support needed at meeting on Tuesday November 13th at the Captain William Spry Centre.
LISTEN:
Kaarin Tae on Habitat November 9, 2012 (23:12, right click to download)
LINKS:
McIntosh Run Watershed Association website
MRWA on Facebook
SHARE YOUR OPINION by leaving a message on CKDU’s feedback line: 494-8041
SWITCH OPEN STREETS GETS APPROVED FOR SEPTEMBER 9TH
Switch: Open Street Sundays has been approved to close down a 2km stretch of streets in Halifax for their inaugural event on September 9th. Mark Nener came in to CKDU to tell us what to expect on September 9th.
LISTEN:
MarkNener on Habitat August 17, 2012 (25:44, right click to download)
LINKS:
Switch on Facebook
Switch at the Planning and Design Centre
Volunteer form for Switch
REINVENTING THE TOILET
“The flush toilets we use in the wealthy world are irrelevant, impractical and impossible for 40 percent of the global population, because they often don’t have access to water, and sewers, electricity, and sewage treatment systems.” Bill Gates on why the Gates Foundation started the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge
We spoke to Sammy Melamed, a researcher at the University of Toronto, about a project he’s working on to redesign a standalone toilet that can sanitize waste without being hooked up to any sewer or power infrastructure. The project is part of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge started by the Gates Foundation.
LISTEN:
Sammy Melamed on Habitat August 17, 2012 (11:56, right click to download)
LINKS:
U of T Engineers Win Third Place in Reinvent the Toilet Challenge
The Gates Notes: Inventing a Toilet for the 21st Century
SHARE YOUR OPINION by leaving a message on CKDU’s feedback line: 494-8041
Acadian Lines makes room for Transit Nova Scotia?
Economics and International Development student JD Hutton dropped by the studio to talk about the shutdown of Acadian Lines, and the idea that Nova Scotia should take this opportunity to replace the private carrier with a subsidized crown corporation dedicated to providing the vital service.
LISTEN:
JD Hutton on Acadian Lines closure Aug10, 2012 (13:56, right click to download)
LINKS:
Acadian Lines is Shutting Down – And That’s a Good Thing – Halifax Media Coop
Common Roots Urban Farm tour
I stopped by the Common Roots Urban Farm for a visit and met coordinator Jayme Melrose, along with a gang of gardening youth from the YMCA.
LISTEN:
Common Roots Urban Farm audio tour Aug 10, 2012 (22:39, right click to download)
LINKS:
Capital Health – Common Roots Urban Farm
SHARE YOUR OPINION by leaving a message on CKDU’s feedback line: 494-8041
Hilary Beaumont has been covering the sale of the former St Pat’s Alexandra school site for OpenFile Halifax She joined us in CKDU studios on June 22nd to tell the story of the school closure, the community groups interested in moving into it (and off Gottingen), and of the Council decision to sell the site to a private developer instead. Beaumont also relates the tale of the Chebucto Road school sale in the early 2000s, and how it affected city policy vis a vis decommissioned schools.
Hilary Beaumont on Habitat, June 22, 2012, 54:39 (Right click to download)
SHARE YOUR OPINION by leaving a message on CKDU’s feedback line: 494-8041
Mink farms are a major industry in Nova Scotia, with 1.4 million pelts exported annually (bringing in $120 million, or a third of our agricultural exports.)
The waste generated by raising those 1.4 million minks is a major concern for Jocelyne Rankin, Water Coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax. Rankin came to CKDU on June 15 to tell us about the movement to regulate the mink farming industry in NS.
Listen here (right click to download)
Ecology Action Centre press release
Mink Farming Debate heats up in Annapolis County (Chronicle Herald)
SHARE YOUR OPINION by leaving a message on CKDU’s feedback line: 494-8041
The Nova Scotia government recently released an aquaculture strategy which calls for the tripling of the industry in the next decade. (Chronicle Herald)
This is a big concern to many groups in coastal Nova Scotia who have concerns over open net pen aquaculture, citing dangers such as wild stock contamination, damage to sealife habitat from excess feed and fish excrement, and use of chemicals and pesticides. A group of over 100 organizations are calling for a moratorium on the use of open net pens for fish farming. (See press release here.)
This week we spoke with two concerned Nova Scotians from the Atlantic Coalition for Aquaculture Reform, about what’s happening along their coast in aquaculture.
Ron Loucks, Friends of Port Mouton Bay
Listen here… 20:44 (right click to download)
Bill Williams, Association for the Protection of the Eastern Shore
Listen here… 14:43 (right click to download)
SHARE YOUR OPINION by leaving a message on CKDU’s feedback line: 494-8041
On June 1st, Habitat hosted a radio roundtable discussion on bike infrastructure in Halifax and around the world.
Special guests:
Jennifer McGowan is a Youth Active Transportation Coordinator with the Ecology Action Centre’s Active & Safe Routes to School program.
Ross Soward is a planner with the Planning and Design Centre, and co-chair of the Halifax Cycling Coalition.
David MacIsaac is Transportation Demand Management Program Supervisor with HRM.
Brent Halverson is an avid cyclist and bike mechanic at Nauss Bikes on Agricola Street.
Listen here… 57:10 (Right click to download).
SHARE YOUR OPINION by leaving a message on CKDU’s feedback line: 494-8041
This week on Habitat:
We spoke to Meinhard Doelle, Director of the Marine & Environmental Law Program at Dalhousie, about the recently announced changes to Canada’s environmental review process. There are concerns that the changes will reduce the efficacy of the review process, particularly in Nova Scotia, where the provincial government has a limited capacity to undertake reviews on their own.
MeinhardDoelle on 2012-04-20 (14:57)
We also spoke with Lewis Hinks of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, about why they are calling for a moratorium on growth of the open pen salmon farming industry in Nova Scotia. The issue is often presented as jobs versus environment, but Hinks rejects this characterization, citing economic incentives that are linked to healthy salmon populations.
LewisHinks_Apr20-2012 (17:33)
http://www.ecologyaction.ca/content/press-release-growing-coalition-calls-moratorium-salmon-feedlots
Today’s show features a talk by Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize.com on bicycle culture, infrastructure, marketing, safety… you name it, he covers it. Some highlights include:
Copenhagenize Pt1 15:32
Copenhagenize Pt2 15:44
Copenhagenize Pt3 13:58
Copenhagenize QandA 22:02