Amy Lavender Harris
@alharris.bsky.social
Geographer. Torontonian. My work focuses on the stories we tell about place. Also interested in nature, environment, art. I like democracy.
Programs enabling active environmental stewardship foster belonging + agency and generate measurable environmental improvements whose ROI vastly exceeds the initial investment.
One Great Idea: Let’s plant the seeds of a stronger ecosystem
We’re looking for that One Great Idea – big or small — from readers, and to kick things off we asked a range of interesting Torontonians for theirs.
www.thestar.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Programs enabling active environmental stewardship foster belonging + agency and generate measurable environmental improvements whose ROI vastly exceeds the initial investment.
Toronto needs neighbourhood retail and services, especially those run by small, independent businesses.
He grew up in a time before Toronto banned neighbourhood stores. Here’s what he says we’re missing
Steve Polak took the Star on a stroll down his west Toronto street to show what the city has lost, and what it could gain.
www.thestar.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Toronto needs neighbourhood retail and services, especially those run by small, independent businesses.
The Walkers are awesome, and so are the kids of GenZ.
These Gen Z friends gained online fame – and haters – for their hours-long Toronto walks
Five friends have garnered online fame for their hours-long walks – and sparked strong feelings about their generation’s late launch into adulthood
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:28 PM
The Walkers are awesome, and so are the kids of GenZ.
The Peebles Hoard: a remarkable cache of ~3000 year-old artifacts uncovered in 2020 by a detectorist in Scotland.
'Magical' moment 3,000-year-old secret of the Peebles Hoard revealed
The discovery, dating from between 1,000BC and 800BC, had lain undisturbed for 3,000 years before being found by a metal detectorist in 2020.
news.sky.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM
The Peebles Hoard: a remarkable cache of ~3000 year-old artifacts uncovered in 2020 by a detectorist in Scotland.
The Globe & Mail has invited readers to vote on their favourite apple variety.
[For me Honey Crisp = easy winner. My heart is with Empire apples, but their quality seems to vary widely from orchard to orchard + they have a short shelf life. Ambrosia + Pink Lady also lovely but prone to mustiness.]
[For me Honey Crisp = easy winner. My heart is with Empire apples, but their quality seems to vary widely from orchard to orchard + they have a short shelf life. Ambrosia + Pink Lady also lovely but prone to mustiness.]
What’s the best apple variety? Vote for your fall favourite in our latest round
From the classic Gala to the much-hyped Honeycrisp to the new and true Cosmic Crisp, tell us which one is the apple of your eye
www.theglobeandmail.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:17 PM
The Globe & Mail has invited readers to vote on their favourite apple variety.
[For me Honey Crisp = easy winner. My heart is with Empire apples, but their quality seems to vary widely from orchard to orchard + they have a short shelf life. Ambrosia + Pink Lady also lovely but prone to mustiness.]
[For me Honey Crisp = easy winner. My heart is with Empire apples, but their quality seems to vary widely from orchard to orchard + they have a short shelf life. Ambrosia + Pink Lady also lovely but prone to mustiness.]
Such a sweet story. Wanda's is a Kensington Market institution, with excellent pies, sandwiches and soft serve!
How a celebrated Toronto pie shop may have helped the Blue Jays win the 1993 World Series
Toronto Blue Jays slugger Joe Carter spent the morning before his game-winning homer in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series enjoying coconut cream pie from Wanda’s Pie in the Sky.
www.thestar.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Such a sweet story. Wanda's is a Kensington Market institution, with excellent pies, sandwiches and soft serve!
Meanwhile in Canada, an important Supreme Court decision that affirms the separation of powers between legislative and judicial branches of government.
I value public parks, and Etienne Brule in particular. But even more, I value the separation of powers, so fundamental to functional democracy.
I value public parks, and Etienne Brule in particular. But even more, I value the separation of powers, so fundamental to functional democracy.
Supreme Court ruling on ‘squatter's rights' in Etobicoke might just surprise you
Homeowners assumed the land was theirs. Toronto claimed otherwise. Three levels of court and eight years later, writes Bob Aaron, a ruling has implications for every law in Canada.
www.thestar.com
October 6, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Meanwhile in Canada, an important Supreme Court decision that affirms the separation of powers between legislative and judicial branches of government.
I value public parks, and Etienne Brule in particular. But even more, I value the separation of powers, so fundamental to functional democracy.
I value public parks, and Etienne Brule in particular. But even more, I value the separation of powers, so fundamental to functional democracy.
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 2:45 PM
This article highlights intersecting crises in Ontario's court system that do harm to all parties--those charged as well as victims. The right to a timely trial + proper disclosure is inalienable. But it is a double injury to victims when charges are dropped because of court failures.
She was thrown under a streetcar when a car driver knocked her off her bike. Her case was withdrawn — one of thousands tossed each year by a ‘system in shambles’
The mass withdrawal of road safety-related charges has become routine, the result of an overwhelmed court system that is leaving millions in fines on the table and letting dangerous drivers off the ho...
www.thestar.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:31 PM
This article highlights intersecting crises in Ontario's court system that do harm to all parties--those charged as well as victims. The right to a timely trial + proper disclosure is inalienable. But it is a double injury to victims when charges are dropped because of court failures.
Last night, sometime after 1 am, I heard coyotes barking up by the tracks. #coyotes #canislatrans #torontothewild
September 15, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Last night, sometime after 1 am, I heard coyotes barking up by the tracks. #coyotes #canislatrans #torontothewild
Cory Doctorow on enshittification as a function of monopoly capitalism.
It’s not your imagination, writes Cory Doctorow: social media sucks. Online dating sucks. E-commerce sucks. https://macleans.ca/society/why-the-internet-is-worse-than-ever/
Why the Internet Is Worse Than Ever - Macleans.ca
On the “enshittification” of the online world—and how Canada can clean it up
macleans.ca
September 11, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Cory Doctorow on enshittification as a function of monopoly capitalism.
Mark Lawson and Ben Woodfinden: Don't join the EU. Emulate it.
Mark Lawson and Ben Woodfinden: Don't join the EU. Emulate it.
If Europe can have one market and free labour we should have the same.
www.readtheline.ca
September 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Mark Lawson and Ben Woodfinden: Don't join the EU. Emulate it.
Every democratically-oriented person, conservative or liberal, should be concerned about large tech companies actively enabling state surveillance and coercion of citizens. In an era of increasing authoritarianism, we need to place unequivocal limits on its use.
US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China
U.S. technology firms such as IBM, Dell and Cisco largely designed and built China’s surveillance state, an AP investigation finds. The tech companies deny wrongdoing.
apnews.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Every democratically-oriented person, conservative or liberal, should be concerned about large tech companies actively enabling state surveillance and coercion of citizens. In an era of increasing authoritarianism, we need to place unequivocal limits on its use.
When I was a grad student, anti-vax sentiment was hip among left-wing enviro folk who railed against 'big pharma' and the capitalist machine. Now it's right wing red-pillers against big pharma and the 'globalists.' Different echo chamber; same origins. /1
Confessions of an Ex-Anti-Vaxxer - Macleans.ca
I spent years spouting conspiracy theories about vaccines. Now, as measles rages in my home of Alberta, I’m trying to convince vax-hesitant parents to inoculate their kids.
macleans.ca
September 8, 2025 at 8:48 PM
When I was a grad student, anti-vax sentiment was hip among left-wing enviro folk who railed against 'big pharma' and the capitalist machine. Now it's right wing red-pillers against big pharma and the 'globalists.' Different echo chamber; same origins. /1
What wasps need most from humans is space. That and a little plate of something sweet set aside for them if they're hovering.
What to know about wasps, as their presence persists with the warm weather
Wasps are still out in full force, circling barbeques and picnics, farmers markets and outdoor food stands. Critters like yellowjackets and hornets thrive in Canada during the warmer months, when they...
www.cp24.com
September 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
What wasps need most from humans is space. That and a little plate of something sweet set aside for them if they're hovering.
We always try to tithe a plate of something sweet for wasps, especially when they get clingy from August onward. I hadn't thought about seasonal shifts in wasp diets before, but It does seem accurate to say that they go more for protein earlier in the season. Interesting research program here.
What to do when wasps crash your picnic – a scientist’s guide to dining safely with these insects
Did you know wasps switch from ham to jam foraging during the late summer?
theconversation.com
August 25, 2025 at 2:44 AM
We always try to tithe a plate of something sweet for wasps, especially when they get clingy from August onward. I hadn't thought about seasonal shifts in wasp diets before, but It does seem accurate to say that they go more for protein earlier in the season. Interesting research program here.
Toronto residents can sign up for two free native trees or shrubs, via the City of Toronto in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. I've signed up for a bur oak and witch hazel! Registration opens today; pick-up dates are in the early fall.
Get Trees | Arbor Day Foundation
Community Canopy and Energy-Saving Trees are program partnership opportunities that combine trees with an interactive web experience to help homeowners & communities save energy and money by strategic...
get.arborday.org
August 18, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Toronto residents can sign up for two free native trees or shrubs, via the City of Toronto in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. I've signed up for a bur oak and witch hazel! Registration opens today; pick-up dates are in the early fall.
Reposted by Amy Lavender Harris
July 1, 2025 at 9:06 AM
"You stay out of my face / I'll stay out of yours:" retired Canadian astronaut Christ Hadfield and his musician brother sing a polite little song about our country.
In Canada
YouTube video by Rare Earth
www.youtube.com
July 1, 2025 at 1:54 PM
"You stay out of my face / I'll stay out of yours:" retired Canadian astronaut Christ Hadfield and his musician brother sing a polite little song about our country.
This fascinating archaeological finding underscores the important reality that, far from flitting through the woods, leaving few traces, Indigenous North Americans were active agents of change and modifiers of landscapes. /1
A surprise find in Michigan shows the extent of ancient Native American agriculture
Hundreds of acres in Michigan are covered in parallel rows of earth that are the remains of an ancient Native American agricultural system. The surprise find has archaeologists amazed.
www.ctpublic.org
June 24, 2025 at 11:29 AM
This fascinating archaeological finding underscores the important reality that, far from flitting through the woods, leaving few traces, Indigenous North Americans were active agents of change and modifiers of landscapes. /1
Albino milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), encountered in a Toronto park.
June 21, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Albino milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), encountered in a Toronto park.
Birds sing the morning open to say that they are alive; that the dawn is beautiful; that they belong to the community of living things.
A new study knocks down a popular hypothesis about why birds sing at dawn
The reason why birds make such a racket at dawn is still unclear. But researchers are now pouring cold water on one popular idea about why.
www.npr.org
June 21, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Birds sing the morning open to say that they are alive; that the dawn is beautiful; that they belong to the community of living things.
Pamela Anderson's second act. Totally there for it.
Pamela Anderson felt like she was keeping a secret. Now, she tells us about her blossoming second act
"I can breathe. I can live. My whole life is changed," she told the Star.
www.thestar.com
June 19, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Pamela Anderson's second act. Totally there for it.
Brighten the corner where you are: Don't Mess with the Dion and Toronto Nature Stewards are two great community-led environmental endeavours anyone can join -- cleaning litter where you find it, and removing invasive weeds from parks and other green spaces.
I fished trash from Lake Ontario using a kayak. It was the world’s best scavenger hunt
Since 2018, Don’t Mess with the Don has organized land and shoreline cleanup events in Toronto.
www.thestar.com
June 19, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Brighten the corner where you are: Don't Mess with the Dion and Toronto Nature Stewards are two great community-led environmental endeavours anyone can join -- cleaning litter where you find it, and removing invasive weeds from parks and other green spaces.