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ZImbabweBorn and raised in Zimbabwe, I experienced the collapse of the bread-basket of Africa, the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe, and the after-effects of brutal colonialism. I left at 17 for Toronto, Canada and have since travelled through Scandinavia and Southern Africa, and hitch-hiked from Toronto to Vancouver.
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CANADA & COMMUNITY
Through environmental activism I met a group who sought the same; solutions to the biggest planetary problems that lay beyond walking on streets with placards (not including Free Hugs signs, as these were very effective indeed).
THE TOOLS FOR CHANGE
In 2011, together with a handful of environmental activists, I co-founded the Institute for a Resource-Based Economy (IRBE) which would become, in 2018, a Canadian Charity. Our mission was to work at the intersection of economics and the environment by challenging people's perceptions of ownership and our relationship to the Earth's resources.
In March 2013 IRBE founded the first location of the Toronto Tool Library. It became a community hub where Torontonians could borrow tools for home renovation and garden projects for an extremely cheap annual membership. The second location, a teaching and learning centre and makerspace, would come just 6 months later in October 2013. In May 2015 IRBE would open its third location of the Tool Library project inside the Downsview Toronto Public Library branch, an incredible step towards shared community hubs. In April 2016, IRBE launched the Sharing Depot, Canada's first library of things, expanding to include not just tools but camping and sports equipment, board games and children's toys. In October 2018 IRBE became a registered charity and the Toronto Tool Library became it's own non-profit organization.
IRBE now owns and operates a Makerspace housing woodworking equipment allowing Torontonians to build and invent in a shared workshop. The Makerspace houses a location of the Toronto Tool Library and both organizations seek to support one another.
In March 2013 IRBE founded the first location of the Toronto Tool Library. It became a community hub where Torontonians could borrow tools for home renovation and garden projects for an extremely cheap annual membership. The second location, a teaching and learning centre and makerspace, would come just 6 months later in October 2013. In May 2015 IRBE would open its third location of the Tool Library project inside the Downsview Toronto Public Library branch, an incredible step towards shared community hubs. In April 2016, IRBE launched the Sharing Depot, Canada's first library of things, expanding to include not just tools but camping and sports equipment, board games and children's toys. In October 2018 IRBE became a registered charity and the Toronto Tool Library became it's own non-profit organization.
IRBE now owns and operates a Makerspace housing woodworking equipment allowing Torontonians to build and invent in a shared workshop. The Makerspace houses a location of the Toronto Tool Library and both organizations seek to support one another.
Accepting first Ontario Trillium Foundation grant on the first anniversary of the Toronto Tool Library (March 2014) with (from left) Clare Nolan (OTF representative), Ryan Dyment (IRBE Executive Director), Victoria Buchy (IRBE Board), Lawrence Alvarez, and Cheri Di Novo (MPP Parkdale-High Park).
Göteborg, Sverige
In 2010 I fell in love with a Swede. It's a really long (and fun) story but for now I will say that we finally live together in Gothenburg, Sweden. I am pleased to be with such a passionate change maker who challenges and inspires me.
I have always been and will remain an environmentalist. We require a human effort the likes of which the Earth has not seen before in order to avert the worst of the changes to the climate our industrial civilization has wrought. I want to work with people and companies that help me be part of the solution to the Climate Emergency we face.
My experience speaks for itself, but if you'd like to hear about it directly from me please visit the contact page to get in touch.
Thank you for reading my story, and I look forward to connecting.
Warmly,
Lawrence Alvarez
I have always been and will remain an environmentalist. We require a human effort the likes of which the Earth has not seen before in order to avert the worst of the changes to the climate our industrial civilization has wrought. I want to work with people and companies that help me be part of the solution to the Climate Emergency we face.
My experience speaks for itself, but if you'd like to hear about it directly from me please visit the contact page to get in touch.
Thank you for reading my story, and I look forward to connecting.
Warmly,
Lawrence Alvarez
