Lloyd Alter
@lloydalter.bsky.social
Author of"The Story of Upfront Carbon," reformed architect and developer, teacher of sustainable design at Toronto Metropolitan University. https://lloydalter.substack.com
Who writes these headlines? Collide implies two things hitting each other.
Drivers weren’t finished killing people in Calgary this weekend… this time a 70 y/o 😔
#Calgary
globalnews.ca/news/1166974...
#Calgary
globalnews.ca/news/1166974...
Calgary pedestrian, 70, killed in collision with semi in Panorama Hills - Calgary | Globalnews.ca
A semi-tractor-trailer is believed to have hit a 70-year-old man in a crosswalk at the Save On Foods in The Gates of Panorama Hills shopping complex just before noon Monday.
globalnews.ca
February 17, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Who writes these headlines? Collide implies two things hitting each other.
This line is copy-pasted every time “Police said the driver remained on scene and was cooperating with their investigation. They said impairment and speed aren't being considered as factors for the incident.” So what was a factor?
“Toddler dead after pedestrian collision” is some nasty headline work
A person driving a jeep hit and killed a toddler in a stroller in a marked crossing and they are calling it a “pedestrian collision”
A person driving a jeep hit and killed a toddler in a stroller in a marked crossing and they are calling it a “pedestrian collision”
Road violence is a political choice. How much carnage will our leaders tolerate before they take drastic action? www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
February 16, 2026 at 6:18 PM
This line is copy-pasted every time “Police said the driver remained on scene and was cooperating with their investigation. They said impairment and speed aren't being considered as factors for the incident.” So what was a factor?
Owners of Ring doorbells are being advised to smash them to splinters after a commercial showed how they could be used to surveil and identify humans with AI. Super Bowl LX may be remembered as the start of a counter-revolution against the technology. lloydalter.substack.com/p/the-smart-...
The smart home counter-revolution has begun
It started with a cute lost puppy.
lloydalter.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Owners of Ring doorbells are being advised to smash them to splinters after a commercial showed how they could be used to surveil and identify humans with AI. Super Bowl LX may be remembered as the start of a counter-revolution against the technology. lloydalter.substack.com/p/the-smart-...
My daughter, just back from Cuba, reports:
I'm back in Canada after 4 days instead of two weeks because the US decided that the Cuban people should suffer and starve, and we had to leave. Every Cuban we talked to met this with stubborn optimism, instead of whatever sort of stubborn anger at their own society the US wants
February 15, 2026 at 3:18 PM
My daughter, just back from Cuba, reports:
There is a worldwide shift from PET to aluminum packaging because people think it's more recyclable and reduces microplastic pollution. However, it is not without its own problems and tradeoffs. lloydalter.substack.com/p/is-the-alu...
Is the aluminum can the key to a circular economy?
No, in the end, we still have to use less stuff.
lloydalter.substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:12 PM
There is a worldwide shift from PET to aluminum packaging because people think it's more recyclable and reduces microplastic pollution. However, it is not without its own problems and tradeoffs. lloydalter.substack.com/p/is-the-alu...
The Eddie Bauer chain is bankrupt again. Good! It was built on the premise that Bauer invented the puffer jacket, ignoring the role of Australian climber George Finch, who invented it in 1922. lloydalter.substack.com/p/eddie-baue...
Eddie Bauer, American exceptionalism, and the story of the puffer jacket
The chain is bankrupt again, and maybe this bit of history will die with it
lloydalter.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:54 PM
The Eddie Bauer chain is bankrupt again. Good! It was built on the premise that Bauer invented the puffer jacket, ignoring the role of Australian climber George Finch, who invented it in 1922. lloydalter.substack.com/p/eddie-baue...
I was not alone, complaining about the police coming to a press conference all dressed up in vests.
February 10, 2026 at 12:50 PM
I was not alone, complaining about the police coming to a press conference all dressed up in vests.
This. is. fantastic.
recently wrote a blog post about creating a website for viewing historical aerial imagery in Toronto
check it out here! :) mdl.library.utoronto.ca/mdl-blog/cre...
#toronto #history #maps #gis
check it out here! :) mdl.library.utoronto.ca/mdl-blog/cre...
#toronto #history #maps #gis
February 9, 2026 at 7:56 PM
This. is. fantastic.
The mass-market paperback is almost extinct, and sales of nonfiction books have shrunk. David Weinberger once wrote, "To think that knowledge itself is shaped like books is to marvel that a rock fits so well in its hole in the ground.” But what is knowledge shaped like now?
I will miss the cheap paperback book
But I haven't bought a new one in years...
lloydalter.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:11 PM
The mass-market paperback is almost extinct, and sales of nonfiction books have shrunk. David Weinberger once wrote, "To think that knowledge itself is shaped like books is to marvel that a rock fits so well in its hole in the ground.” But what is knowledge shaped like now?
This is all very sad. I grew up on paperbacks; I still have all my dad's John D. MacDonald paperbacks and my Arthur C. Clarke's, but then who is going to read them? My kids didn't.
February 6, 2026 at 4:44 PM
This is all very sad. I grew up on paperbacks; I still have all my dad's John D. MacDonald paperbacks and my Arthur C. Clarke's, but then who is going to read them? My kids didn't.
A new book, “It’s on you” challenges just about everything I ever wrote about personal responsibility vs the need for systemic change. I begrudgingly admit that it makes a very strong case. lloydalter.substack.com/p/its-on-you...
It's on you: Did corporations convince us that individual actions matter?
A new book challenges just about everything I have written.
lloydalter.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:58 AM
A new book, “It’s on you” challenges just about everything I ever wrote about personal responsibility vs the need for systemic change. I begrudgingly admit that it makes a very strong case. lloydalter.substack.com/p/its-on-you...
Much of the @thewaroncars.bsky.social evening was a discussion of the legal intricacies of the battle of the bike lanes, which I suspect we will lose, but wow, they have put up a brave fight. Kudos to @shawnmicallef.bsky.social for a few laughs.
February 6, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Much of the @thewaroncars.bsky.social evening was a discussion of the legal intricacies of the battle of the bike lanes, which I suspect we will lose, but wow, they have put up a brave fight. Kudos to @shawnmicallef.bsky.social for a few laughs.
We should give brooklynspoke.bsky.social and sgoodyear.bsky.social Canadian citizenship for their promotion of Canadian icons like Rob Ford and Superman. Great evening with the @thewaroncars.bsky.social Thanks @cycletoronto.bsky.social !
February 6, 2026 at 2:39 AM
We should give brooklynspoke.bsky.social and sgoodyear.bsky.social Canadian citizenship for their promotion of Canadian icons like Rob Ford and Superman. Great evening with the @thewaroncars.bsky.social Thanks @cycletoronto.bsky.social !
Why do the police wear bulletproof vests to a press conference? Are they afraid of the media? Towtruck drivers? The public?
February 5, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Why do the police wear bulletproof vests to a press conference? Are they afraid of the media? Towtruck drivers? The public?
After writing my last post that was critical of quartz countertops and the designers who specify them, I was asked about alternatives. Here's a list of the good, the bad, and the ugly: lloydalter.substack.com/p/whats-the-...
What's the greenest kitchen counter?
Which has the best mix of sustainability, affordability, and desirability?
lloydalter.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 1:02 PM
After writing my last post that was critical of quartz countertops and the designers who specify them, I was asked about alternatives. Here's a list of the good, the bad, and the ugly: lloydalter.substack.com/p/whats-the-...
I hope there are some politicians going to @thewaroncars.bsky.social talk tomorrow night in Toronto, a city where two die on the same day and it gets buried on page 9- that is how common it has become.
February 4, 2026 at 12:25 PM
I hope there are some politicians going to @thewaroncars.bsky.social talk tomorrow night in Toronto, a city where two die on the same day and it gets buried on page 9- that is how common it has become.
@thestar.com always on top of the science!
February 3, 2026 at 11:48 AM
@thestar.com always on top of the science!
Did Doug Ford move to Washington, where they are looking at ripping out bike lanes or speed cameras? Or was he always just Trump in a blue suit?
"[O]fficials at the Federal Highway Administration have also been gathering information on the [DC]'s bike lanes and whether they took space away from cars and caused congestion.”
February 2, 2026 at 10:40 PM
Did Doug Ford move to Washington, where they are looking at ripping out bike lanes or speed cameras? Or was he always just Trump in a blue suit?
Bring back streetcars on Oakwood and Davenport!
TTC treadle cars on Oakwood Ave., just north of St. Clair Ave. W., Toronto, 101 years ago today - Feb. 2, 1925
These older wood-bodied streetcars were built for the Toronto Railway Company, absorbed by the TTC when it was formed in 1921.
#OnThisDay #1920s #torontohistory #transit #jeremyhopkin
These older wood-bodied streetcars were built for the Toronto Railway Company, absorbed by the TTC when it was formed in 1921.
#OnThisDay #1920s #torontohistory #transit #jeremyhopkin
February 2, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Bring back streetcars on Oakwood and Davenport!
78% of interior designers say quartz (engineered stone) counters are hot this year. Meanwhile, they are banned in Australia because workers are dying of silicosis, and in the US, republicans are passing laws to protect the manufacturers from lawsuits. So why do IDs even think of specifying it?
Should designers specify quartz countertops when workers who cut them are dying from silicosis?
Whatever happened to the professional obligation to practice with "due regard to public health and safety?”
lloydalter.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:11 PM
78% of interior designers say quartz (engineered stone) counters are hot this year. Meanwhile, they are banned in Australia because workers are dying of silicosis, and in the US, republicans are passing laws to protect the manufacturers from lawsuits. So why do IDs even think of specifying it?
I am going to frame this. Thank you.
If you don’t already follow Lloyd Alter, you’re missing out. I’m constantly impressed by his untiring advocacy for building better, reducing impact on the planet, living more sustainably & now apparently champion for Canada against dark forces. He’s a hero for the planet.
I recently wrote about how we should be building with Canadian materials, and I neglected to include stone because concrete is a local material. I have reconsidered; Ontario cement is made with US coal and petcoke, and rebuilding Canada's stone industry could create a lot of jobs.
January 30, 2026 at 6:14 PM
I am going to frame this. Thank you.
I recently wrote about how we should be building with Canadian materials, and I neglected to include stone because concrete is a local material. I have reconsidered; Ontario cement is made with US coal and petcoke, and rebuilding Canada's stone industry could create a lot of jobs.
Why we need a stone building renaissance in Canada
Canada is made of rock. If we are going to "build Canadian," we should rediscover and reinvent this very local material.
lloydalter.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:09 PM
I recently wrote about how we should be building with Canadian materials, and I neglected to include stone because concrete is a local material. I have reconsidered; Ontario cement is made with US coal and petcoke, and rebuilding Canada's stone industry could create a lot of jobs.
Reposted by Lloyd Alter
"Heating systems alone do not deliver warm, healthy or affordable homes."
As I keep hearing, we need to be very careful that installing low carbon heating doesn't end up making people's living conditions worse. @passivhaustrust.bsky.social
passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/...
As I keep hearing, we need to be very careful that installing low carbon heating doesn't end up making people's living conditions worse. @passivhaustrust.bsky.social
passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/...
Passivhaus News
Passivhaus News
passivhaustrust.org.uk
January 29, 2026 at 5:25 PM
"Heating systems alone do not deliver warm, healthy or affordable homes."
As I keep hearing, we need to be very careful that installing low carbon heating doesn't end up making people's living conditions worse. @passivhaustrust.bsky.social
passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/...
As I keep hearing, we need to be very careful that installing low carbon heating doesn't end up making people's living conditions worse. @passivhaustrust.bsky.social
passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/...
@oliver-moore.bsky.social it's not just the Parking Authority, it is a higher authority like the Catholic Church, cleaning their own stairs with a vacuum, they are so perfect, but the minute you are out the gate? Everyone (including their parishioners) can pray they don't fall on the ice.
January 29, 2026 at 4:33 PM
@oliver-moore.bsky.social it's not just the Parking Authority, it is a higher authority like the Catholic Church, cleaning their own stairs with a vacuum, they are so perfect, but the minute you are out the gate? Everyone (including their parishioners) can pray they don't fall on the ice.
In Ontario they relocate hospitals out of towns and cities so that the only way you can get there is by car.
This Dutch hospital integrates active transportation into healthcare access, offering two large dedicated bicycle parking areas for patients traveling to appointments
January 29, 2026 at 2:06 PM
In Ontario they relocate hospitals out of towns and cities so that the only way you can get there is by car.