What Works

From Alaska to California, people are creating successful enterprises that are low carbon, attuned to the ecology, locally rooted. They’re employing, training, producing, sustaining. Here you’ll find regular reports on what works for the economy we need.

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How to Foster Local Food Businesses? Create a Stir

This Kamloops non-profit is feeding the dreams of local chefs passionate about community food systems.

By: Marissa Tiel

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Timber-Tiles-Bathroom-Complete-Installation

Would You Choose Wood Tiles over Ceramic Ones? This Startup Bets Yes

Timber Tiles on Vancouver Island offers a climate-friendly alternative to an ancient craft that today relies on fossil fuels.

By: Andrew Findlay

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‘4VI really helped us open our eyes,’ said Kevin Bradshaw, shown leading kayakers for his Hello Nature Adventure Tours off of Vancouver Island. ‘They looked at every aspect of the business and how it can give back on some level.’ Photo by Andi Wardrop.

Vancouver Island Made a Big Change in How It Defines Tourism Success

For social enterprise 4VI, it’s about visitors and their dollars leaving the place in better shape than they found it.

By: Ryan Stuart

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freshly harvested hops on hands

How a BC Biologist Is Changing the Craft Beer Scene

Ji Yang is working to create a climate-resilient beer brewed with locally grown hops.

By: Samantha Holomay

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Blue crab background on market

Crab Shells Have a Wonder Ingredient. So This Company Got Cracking

From husks that would go to waste, Tidal Vision extracts a polymer with many green uses.

By: Pippa Norman

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The Thriving Business of Rewilding

How wizards of wetlands restoration are bringing biodiversity back to West Coast landscapes.

By: Isaac Phan Nay

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Visitors mingle with Titan’s fleet of electric Class 8 freight haulers at the company’s Portland headquarters. Electrification is advancing fastest in passenger cars, but far heavier trucks contribute a lot more greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution, vehicle for vehicle. The dirtiest are semis, buses and garbage trucks. Photo supplied.

Unveiling the West Coast’s Electric Big Truck Future

The heaviest diesel semis are the dirtiest. Titan Freight Systems chose the electric lane and says it’s paying off.

By: Peter Fairley

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A pile of discarded used infectious medical masks on a white background.Infectious waste is prevented by the covid-19 virus, a pandemic.The concept of improper disposal is dangerous.Top view.Copyspace

Medical Masks Save Lives but Harm Nature. This Maker Stepped Up

BC’s Vitacore figured out how to recycle difficult plastics like the respirators it manufactures by the millions.

By: Katie Hyslop

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Tasha Nathanson with one of her fish leather boots. ‘Artisanal is wonderful because each time you make your product it’s a bit different. Commercial is the opposite — it needs to be of consistent quality, the same every time.’ Photo by Kathleen Hinkel.

Fish Leather Is Incredibly Strong and Beautiful. Can Makers ‘Scale Up’?

Meet artisans in Alaska and BC who are sustaining, and advancing, an ancient art.

By: Brendan Jones

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TayybehFood

Refugees Needed Jobs and Belonging. Tayybeh Cooked Up a Solution

The Vancouver caterer keeps growing, all the while changing lives of Syrians fleeing war.

By: Samantha Holomay

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