Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
When it comes to fighting climate change, a Toronto-based architect says personal actions have more of an impact than most people would expect.
Lloyd Alter, who teaches sustainable design at Ryerson University's School of Interior Design, is the author of the book, "Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle: Why Individual Climate Action Matters More Than Ever." In the book, he argues that the climate impact of actions such as driving less or limiting red meat consumption can go a long way.
"When we make these changes in our lifestyles, they add up," Alter told CTV's Your Morning on Monday.
A 2019 European study found that household consumer behaviour was responsible for 72 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Car usage, meat and dairy consumption and home heating were the biggest components of household emissions.
"The biggest offender for Canadian households is basically their cars. We buy big cars. We put a lot of gas in them. We drive longer distance than other people," Alter said. "Obviously that goes way down if people start doing things like biking and walking instead of driving."
Alter also points out that 74 per cent of Canadians live in suburban single-family detached houses. It takes far more natural gas to heat these types of homes compared to townhouses or apartments, given that these houses are larger and are exposed to the weather on all four walls.
But for many Canadians, it's not practical to change where they live or completely ditch their cars. Alter says making smaller lifestyle changes, such as eating less red meat or choosing to buy local produce, can still "significantly reduce our footprints without changing our lives dramatically."
Last October, Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse's "Treeprint" report calculated that it takes 44 birch trees to offset eating a 200-gram piece of steak three times a week. On the other hand, eating the same amount of chicken three times a week is only equivalent to six birch trees.
"When you put it into trees, it's something that people can wrap their heads around and understand because everybody knows what a tree looks like," Alter said.
"You could still eat a bit of chicken. You can still eat a bit of pork. You can eat these other meats that have a much, much lower carbon impact"
Some environmentalists have argued over-emphasizing personal carbon footprints shifts too much of the responsibility away from large corporations. A 2017 report from the non-profit group CDP found that 100 companies – almost all from the fossil fuel industry – are responsible for 71 per cent of the world's emissions since 1988.
However, Alter says energy production from these companies is driven by demand from consumers at the end of the day.
"You've got to look at it from a consumer point of view rather than a production point of view. Everyone says 100 oil companies are responsible for all the emissions, but we're buying what they're selling and we're putting that in our gas tanks," he said.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres and other alerts have been issued for six Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
A bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter festival plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said.
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.