The

What Works Series

The Business of a Healthy Bioregion, A partnership between The Tyee, Salmon Nation Trust, and the Magic Canoe

In December 2023, the Salmon Nation Trust and Magic Canoe partnered with The Tyee, the award-winning online, independent news magazine based in Vancouver, BC, to produce a solutions-focused series called “What Works.” It profiles dedicated, creative individuals working across our bioregion to create enterprises that are low carbon, locally-rooted and regenerative.

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What Can You Do with Used Plastic and 3D Printers? Meet Two Pros.

Brayden and Angela Rogers figured out which plastic waste can be made into home goods, and how.

By: Marissa Tiel

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The Victoria Man with a Plan for Your Old Sofa

Meet Elwyn Thom, the 23-year-old founder of Recertified Furniture.

By: Josh Kozelj

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The 10 Most-Read Articles from the What Works Series

Here are the most-read What Works Series stories, in partnership with The Tyee.
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Helping Indigenous Entrepreneurs Grow. And Sometimes Heal.

Colonization harmed Indigenous trade, commerce, and wealth. Jacqueline Jennings’ Fireweed Institute is reversing those impacts.

By: Andrea Smith

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Old but Full of Energy: Giving EV Batteries a Second Life

How Moment Energy harvests and puts to work batteries from worn-out electric cars.

By: Josh Kozelj

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ChopValue employee Ben Robert sands a board made from various chopstick tiles. Once the tiles are produced, items like cutting boards, tables and doors are made using typical woodworking practices. Photo for The Tyee by Grace Kennedy.

Got Used Chopsticks? Those Could Become a New Cutting Board

Fast-expanding ChopValue turns millions of disposable utensils into sustainable products.

By: Grace Kennedy

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The Pandemic Left Her Reeling. So She Turned to Growing Flowers.

See how a frontline medical worker found new life in farming and selling pesticide-free blossoms.

By: Josh Kozelj and Quinn Kelly

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The Grocery Store the Earth Needs

How package-free markets like Portland’s Realm Refillery change how we shop and reduce plastic waste.

By: Josh Kozelj

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She Learned to Make Wine Without Cutting Down Trees

White oaks once ruled the now vineyard-blanketed Willamette Valley. Maggie Harrison shows they don’t have to be sacrificed to grapes.

By: Hannah Wallace

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Want to Save Trees? Put Some Sugar in Your Printer.

Social Print’s founder wanted to protect forests. So his British Columbia company makes paper from sugar cane.

By: Josh Kozelj

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She Changes Diapers. Into Climate-Friendly Biochar.

Billions of disposable diapers end up in North American landfills yearly. Carrie Pollak’s firm is trying better ways.

By: Andrew Engelson

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A Second Life for Pacific-Clogging Plastics

Ocean Legacy recycles “ghost gear” and other trash into deck chairs, picnic tables, and more.

By: Katie Hyslop

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Science World Is Now One Big Climate Experiment

See how the Vancouver landmark is getting a dramatic retrofit to cut emissions. A Tyee short video.

By: Inder Nirwan and Josh Kozelj

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‘This idea of land restoration.’ shíshálh Nation member Aaron Joe is helping to build regenerative food systems on BC’s Sunshine Coast. Photo for What Works by Hilary Angus.

A Brilliant Community Farm Rises from Brambles

Sechelt imports almost all its food. This Indigenous-led effort wants to show a better approach can take root.

By: Hilary Angus

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Skipper Otto’s Sonia Strobel: ‘I’m not trying to take over the seafood world. I want a system that works for people and planet that pays living wages.’ Photo for The Tyee by Josh Kozelj.

Subscriptions to the Sea

How Skipper Otto and other community-supported fisheries are increasing transparency and providing quality seafood to members.

By: Josh Kozelj

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LED lighting is the key to vertical farming, allowing growers to get the ‘right wavelength of light’ for optimal growing conditions ‘at pretty low energy costs.’ Photo via UP Vertical Farms.

Moving Farming Inside and Up

This BC-based vertical farm is growing fast. One reason: tariff and sovereignty threats to Canada.

By: Josh Kozelj

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Small Gods co-owner Christopher Bjerrisgaard gives a tour of the brewery behind their Sidney, BC, taproom, capable of fermenting up to 210,000 liters of beer annually. Photo for The Tyee by Katie Hyslop.

Pouring the Circular Economy into Your Pint Glass

Small Gods’ Saanich Peninsula-only lager shows what can be done in one small 33-kilometer stretch.

By: Katie Hyslop

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Lynn-Marie Angus makes Sisters Sage wellness products from locally grown plants she harvests herself. Photo: Katie Hyslop.

Decolonizing Your Shower, One Soap Bar at a Time

How Sisters Sage brings activism, entrepreneurship, and First Nations plant medicine into the bath.

By: Katie Hyslop

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A pre-fab house is on a boat.

See Why Rescuing Homes Could Have a Booming Future

An ingenious collaboration by shíshálh Nation and Renewal Development shows what can be done.

By: David Beers and Quinn Kelly

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Prince Rupert’s Bread and Butter

Saltwater Bakery, run by the Gitxaała Nation, embodies a holistic approach to economic development and community wellness.

By: Amanda Follett Hosgood

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Modern eco-friendly homes with green roofs in lush landscape at sunset.

High Hopes for Hempcrete

Indigenous Habitat Institute founders explain using hemp to build healthier, climate-proof houses.

By: Lisa Sundberg and Peter Holmdahl

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A Revolutionary Approach to the World’s Protein Problem

Searching for a meat substitute, this Vancouver company found one in the rootlike structure of mushrooms.

By: Inder Nirwan

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An Indigenous-Owned Model for Sustainable Tourism

How the Klahoose converted a closed BC fishing lodge into a place to immerse in nature and culture.

By: Abby Francis

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Postcard from Seattle, Birthplace of Modular Home Design

Robert Humble of Hybrid Architecture started making homes from upcycled shipping containers in the early 2000s, a milestone in eco-design.

By: Samantha Holomay

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