Everything is Connected
Connecting the Dots Between Policy, Physics, and Community This five-part series explores how Alberta’s water system works and what it means locally: Each of these pieces builds on the last, helping us better understand the full water cycle — from watershed to household, and back again. As we move into Water Season 2026, it’s worth
Water Season 2026: How Alberta’s Water Licensing System Works Read More »
Sustainability doesn’t always announce itself. It doesn’t arrive with a ribbon-cutting or a headline. More often, it shows up quietly — when someone stays a little longer than planned, when a broken object is opened instead of thrown away, or when a skill learned long ago is shared across a table. These moments don’t look
The Quiet Work of Sustainability: How Community Shapes Resilience Read More »
For anyone who prefers to see the exact wording rather than rely on summaries, the written meeting transcript is often the clearest and quickest way to follow these exchanges.
What Happened at Council: Context, Process, and Why Communication Matters Read More »
Cardboard is everywhere in our waste stream — moving boxes, delivery packaging, food cases, and online shopping parcels. It’s light to transport but bulky to landfill, and its recycling value drops fast when it leaves town. But what if, instead of exporting cardboard, we transformed it here into products that enrich our soil, retain water,
Cardboard to Community Gold: Building a Biological Circular Economy in Diamond Valley Read More »
Sustainability is often framed as something governments must create. In reality, the most durable sustainability already exists long before policy enters the conversation. It lives in households that repair rather than replace.In residents who conserve water because they understand its limits.In communities that value long-term thinking over short-term gain. The role of governance is not
What It Means to Govern a Sustainable Community Read More »
Context: January 21, 2026 Council Meeting The reflections below are drawn from the January 21, 2026 Regular Council Meeting of the Town of Diamond Valley, which I attended in person. Council meetings are where much of the Town’s long-term direction quietly takes shape — not only through motions and votes, but through what is acknowledged,
Context: January 21, 2026 Council Meeting Observations from Council: Read More »
Sustainability often sounds like something distant — a future goal, a policy decision, or a technical conversation meant for experts. But in daily life, it’s far more ordinary than that. It shows up in the choices households make when something breaks, when water becomes scarce, or when monthly bills start to feel less predictable. In
When Sustainability Becomes Practical Read More »
LEED Silver Certification for Alberta Infrastucture Facilities study selected three existing facilities, a health campus, a continuing care centre, and a rural hospital, all of which achieved LEED Silver on initial construction.
LEED Silver : the most Practical Choice for Communities Read More »
In most recycling systems, glass gets a rough deal. It’s heavy, expensive to transport, and often down-cycled into low-value uses — or worse, it ends up in the landfill. But in communities like Diamond Valley, Alberta, that weight becomes an advantage when we rethink glass as a local resource, not waste. Right now, municipalities and
From Waste to Weight-Bearing: How Glass Can Build a Local Circular Economy Read More »
A Sustainability-Focused Synopsis Why Planning Matters in a Sustainability Context At the municipal level, planning is the bridge between long-term sustainability goals and day-to-day decisions. It is where climate risk, water security, housing form, infrastructure capacity, and fiscal reality are meant to converge before capital dollars are spent or land is committed. A review of
Diamond Valley — 2025 Council Record on Planning Read More »