The Nonprofit Capital Market in Canada

A nonprofit capital market that invests in triple bottom line returns is emerging in Canada. Stemming from individuals, foundations, and governments providing donations and grants to nonprofit organisations to support social and environmental services, the nonprofit capital market is growing and innovating, bringing the rigours of the business world to bear in maximising social impacts and leveraging available nonprofit capital in more effective ways. Because investors are demanding a triple bottom line return instead of simply financial profit maximisation, the nonprofit capital market frees up organisations to pursue a social and/or environmental return that is not constantly traded off with the need to maximise financial profits. The nonprofit capital market can be viewed as a model or at least a starting place for understanding a new kind of capital market for all ventures that would flow resources to projects that create sustainable wealth.This paper gives an overview of the Canadian nonprofit capital market, focusing on the nonprofit and social enterprise sectors, including the users of nonprofit capital, the nonprofit capital investors, and the financial products that make up the nonprofit capital market. It discusses several promising trends in the nonprofit capital market, including venture philanthropy, program-related investments, and government tax credits. These trends promise to provide more resources to expand the social and sustainable sectors, generating significant social, environmental, and economic wealth for Canadian society. This is a preliminary report from BALTA research project A3- The Non Profit Sector Capital Market in BC and Alberta.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA

Electrochemical techniques for detection of Tnt and other explosives using disposable screen-printed carbon electrodes

Nitroaromatic and nitramine explosives have been found in the soil and water from many government military bases due to improper storage, weapons testing and production. Run-off from contaminated soil and water can enter underground water and potentially contaminate drinking water for near-by communities. With the closing of military bases throughout the U.S. and Europe, contamination will need to be assessed and remediated before the land and water can be used again for other purposes. The use of a fast and inexpensive field screening technique can save time and money typically incurred during intensive laboratory analysis of clean samples; Screen-printed thick film electrodes are examined as voltammetric sensors for measurement of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT), and Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX). The square wave voltammetric (SWV) scan technique can be used to measure TNT and RDX in as little as 50 muL sample volumes applied to the electrode surface within minutes. The detection limit of this electrochemical assay can also be significantly improved by coupling it with a solid phase extraction (SPE) protocol using Empore SDB-RPS membranes. The simple, rapid, cost-effective, and sensitive characteristics of this assay make it an excellent candidate for development as a field analytical method for onsite explosives detection. This research project successfully developed a new method to examine the capabilities, use and optimization of screen-printed carbon electrodes for detection of TNT, RDX and metabolites from various matrices

The Nonprofit Sector Capital Market in BC and Alberta

A nonprofit capital market that invests in triple bottom line returns is emerging in Canada. Stemming from individuals, foundations, and governments providing donations and grants to nonprofit organisations to support social and environmental services, the nonprofit capital market is growing and innovating, bringing the rigours of the business world to bear in maximising social impacts and leveraging available nonprofit capital in more effective ways. Because investors are demanding a triple bottom line return instead of simply financial profit maximisation, the nonprofit capital market frees up organisations to pursue a social and/or environmental return that is not constantly traded off with the need to maximise financial profits. The nonprofit capital market can be viewed as a model or at least a starting place for understanding a new kind of capital market for all ventures that would flow resources to projects that create sustainable wealth.This paper gives an overview of the Canadian nonprofit capital market, focusing on the nonprofit and social enterprise sectors, including the users of nonprofit capital, the nonprofit capital investors, and the financial products that make up the nonprofit capital market. It discusses several promising trends in the nonprofit capital market, including venture philanthropy, program-related investments, and government tax credits. These trends promise to provide more resources to expand the social and sustainable sectors, generating significant social, environmental, and economic wealth for Canadian society. This is the final report from BALTA research project A3- The Non Profit Sector Capital Market in BC and Alberta.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) ; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC

Recycling in Utah: Paper

This factsheet is part of a series highlighting different recyclable commodities and focuses on paper recycling

Experimental Simulation of Volatile Organic Contributions to Planetary Atmospheres and Surfaces

We present the results of a new simulation of the atmospheric entry heating experienced by extraterrestrial dust particles, quantifying their volatile loss into the early Earth atmosphere and characterising their organic volatile components

Inclusion of seasonal variation in river system microbial communities and phototroph activity increases environmental relevance of laboratory chemical persistence tests

Regulatory tests assess crop protection product environmental fate and toxicity before approval for commercial use. Although globally applied laboratory tests can assess biodegradation, they lack environmental complexity. Microbial communities are subject to temporal and spatial variation, but there is little consideration of these microbial dynamics in the laboratory. Here, we investigated seasonal variation in the microbial composition of water and sediment from a UK river across a two-year time course and determined its effect on the outcome of water-sediment (OECD 308) and water-only (OECD 309) biodegradation tests, using the fungicide isopyrazam. These OECD tests are performed under dark conditions, so test systems incubated under non-UV light:dark cycles were also included to determine the impact on both inoculum characteristics and biodegradation. Isopyrazam degradation was faster when incubated under non-UV light at all collection times in water-sediment microcosms, suggesting that phototrophic communities can metabolise isopyrazam throughout the year. Degradation rate varied seasonally between inoculum collection times only in microcosms incubated in the light, but isopyrazam mineralisation to 14CO2 varied seasonally under both light and dark conditions, suggesting that heterotrophic communities may also play a role in degradation. Bacterial and phototroph communities varied across time, but there was no clear link between water or sediment microbial composition and variation in degradation rate. During the test period, inoculum microbial community composition changed, particularly in non-UV light incubated microcosms. Overall, we show that regulatory test outcome is not influenced by temporal variation in microbial community structure; however, biodegradation rates from higher tier studies with improved environmental realism, e.g. through addition of non-UV light, may be more variable. These data suggest that standardised OECD tests can provide a conservative estimate of pesticide persistence end points and that additional tests including non-UV light could help bridge the gap between standard tests and field studies

The Nonprofit Sector Capital Market in BC & Alberta

This presentation to the 2009 symposium of the BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) reports on the results of a BALTA research project (A3) examining the scope and issues arising re social purpose capital markets.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) ; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC