Local artist and eco-minded citizen Franke James decided to do the hard thing first and replace her interlocking brick front yard (parking lot) with plants and an eco driveway (paradise). What she didn't expect was a North York demand for concrete, asphalt or interlocking driveways. But, with persistence, she made one of the city's greenest front yards a reality.

Now, one year later, she is enjoying a lot of green space, and has chronicled her tale online.

Photo: StarbuckGuy's photostream

Last night's storm brought the City closer to a new record high summer rainfall. We're now certain to surge past the 28-year old record of 1980 with rain in the forecast through to the weekend.

The previous record for the months of June and July was 271.5 mm. Surpassing this level, we are well above average rainfall levels for the region (last year over the whole summer we had 88 mm). Interestingly, back in 1980 a good chunk of the rainfall was in the last week of July!

As the name implies, The Green Majority radio show aims to bridge the gap between polls that show Canadians want action on environmental issues and the political barriers to that happening. It's the "nation's first and only all-environmental newshour" and it airs live from here in Toronto at CIUT 89.5.

The show is produced and hosted by Jordan Poppenk, a UofT PhD Pyschology student who has been working on it in his spare time since 2005. He thinks his show is unique in that it "de-regionalizes" national environmental news by bringing to light stories from small communities you wouldn't otherwise be exposed to in the mainstream media. While each show covers Canadian and national headlines, there are also two 15-minute segments of "non-condensed" feature content, usually with an expert on an issue.

Take a good look because this house at 360 Winnett Avenue is about to be demolished in favor of a new "Eco-Modern" house to be built in its place.

Jeremy Bell and his wife have embarked upon quite a project- to document their experience designing and constructing a brand new home on the lot they have lived in for the last five years. They have set up a blog with the aim of sharing the details involved in choosing to build an eco-friendly home over simply buying something new.

Greening Greater Toronto is the name of a report released today by the Toronto City Summit Alliance. It has been mentioned in media reports (keep reading below) leading up to its release and will be made available online by the TCSA.

In a gesture of political support, the plan's launch was announced today at the Steam Whistle Brewery by Mayor David Miller.

The document is a plan put together collaboratively between local politicians, the business community, and major NGOs, to make Toronto "the greenest urban region in the world". The Greening Greater Toronto coalition will be releasing more recommendations in coming months but has started by identifying these major goals:

1) reduce GHG emissions;
2) improve air and water quality;
3) increase sustainable land use with more green space;
4) implement waste reduction that makes sense.

City planners have nixed the Berkeley Playing Fields, a sustainable design meets Toronto condo development project. The striking and imaginative design would have offered a modern counterpoint to the historic Berkeley Church, which was to remain standing (and protected!) under the new building.

"Make no little plans," celebrated Chicago architect and planner Daniel Burnham once remarked, "they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized."

Apparently the opposite is true in Toronto, where un-magical condo after condo goes up - I can hardly tell one from another - and a stunning project like this only stirs the ire of city planners.