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Nature Environmental Conservation & Protection

The First Green Wave

Pollution Probe and the Origins of Environmental Activism in Ontario

by (author) Ryan O'Connor

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2014
Category
Environmental Conservation & Protection, Environmental Policy
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774828086
    Publish Date
    Nov 2014
    List Price
    $95.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774828093
    Publish Date
    Apr 2015
    List Price
    $29.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774828116
    Publish Date
    Oct 2015
    List Price
    $29.95

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Description

In The First Green Wave, Ryan O’Connor traces the rise of the environmental movement in Toronto, home to one of Canada’s earliest and most dynamic communities of environmental activists, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. At the heart of the story is Pollution Probe, an organization founded in 1969 by students and faculty at the University of Toronto. Living up to its motto (“Do it!”) in its first year of operation, Pollution Probe confronted Toronto’s City Hall over its use of pesticides, Ontario Hydro over air pollution, and the detergent industry over pollution of the Great Lakes. The organization’s successes inspired the founding of other environmental organizations across Canada and led to the development of initiatives now taken for granted, such as waste reduction and energy policy. This book describes the heady days of Canada’s early environmental movement and examines the forces that reshaped the activist landscape in the 1980s.

About the author

Ryan O’Connor teaches in the Department of Canadian Studies at Trent University. He received his PhD from the University of Western Ontario and held a SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship from 2011 to 2012. His research focuses on the origins and development of the environmental movement in Canada.

Ryan O'Connor's profile page