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Salvaging Is Timeless

11 June, 2010

His father did it. His father’s father did it. And now Ken Kieswetter (right) is doing it too. With a passion for heritage, and a healthy respect for preservation, Kieswetter, along with his brothers Dave and Gerry, is in the demolition and salvage business – with a difference.

Timeless Materials, a sister company to Kieswetter Demolition, is a retail operation that sells salvaged building materials that have been diverted from landfill and “upcycled.” When historic buildings must come down, the company carefully deconstructs them and remills the wood for use as flooring, furniture, shelving, countertops and even entire timber-framed structures.

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Pink Greens

9 June, 2010 | Andil Gosine

The first thing that I notice as I enter the 519 Community Centre on Church St. – unofficial headquarters of Toronto’s queer community – is the men. Tonight, on a frosty December evening, the recently formed group Ecoqueers is hosting its first major public event, a panel presentation called “Greening A Queer Planet: Where Pink is Green,” and I am surprised – understandably so, I think – to see a significant number of men in the audience of an environmentalist event.

Published in: Eros & Nature 27.3

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Urban Salvation

9 June, 2010 | Mark Gorgolewski

We are surrounded by a sea of discarded materials that can be reused in building construction. Think of all those political signboards that we see at election time outside private houses and in other prominent locations. Temporary signs are often made of corrugated plastic that could be used as siding or insulation.

Published in: Out of the Box 36.4
Tags: Urban Salvation, Salvaged Materials

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Planet B

9 June, 2010 | Rob Thacker

It's 2060. Your grandchildren are sitting in their classroom. On the wall hangs a photograph of a blue planet. But it isn’t Earth. It’s a planet in a distant star system. And we know that this planet harbours life. Humanity is not alone. Now imagine a different scenario. Suppose our search for planets with alien life finds nothing. What if Earth is the only fertile oasis in the galaxy and there is nowhere else to go? Wouldn’t that make preserving our planet’s environment even more important?

Published in: Out of the Box 36.4

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Documentary Exploits

8 June, 2010 | Mark Meisner

Is it just my impression, or has there been a spate of nature and environment-related documentaries recently?

Last year alone brought us The Age of Stupid, Home, Earth 2100, The Cove and Food, Inc., to name a few. And let’s not forget such recent efforts as An Inconvenient Truth, The 11th Hour, Planet Earth, March of the Penguins, Everything’s Cool, Grizzly Man, The End of Suburbia and King Corn. Several of these were nominated for Oscars, some were unjustly overlooked, and three won Best Documentary Feature. Quantity and awards may be impressive, but what are these films telling us?