Water Water Everywhere!

This year marks the 4th year of being a bottled water free campus for the University of Ottawa. I can't say that there was a lot of opposition to the idea but now that a few years have passed, it seems like the campus has embraced being bottled water free.

I won't make it seem like there is unanimous adoption. Every once and a while I will walk by an event that is handing out a bottle or two and think to myself that I should send a letter or something. But, in my mind, the biggest win from the bottled water free campaign is the improvement of the water fountains on campus. As a condition to becoming bottled water free, Physical Resources Service has invested $75,000 every year into improving the fountains on campus and adding new fountains.

Don't take my word for it, every year our office produces a report to monitor the state of the water fountains on campus. The fountains are checked for 7 dimensions of quality; taste, temperature, water pressure, accessibility, cleanliness, the presence of a goose neck, and whether or not the fountains are bilingual.

This year's report demonstrates just how far the University has come. In every category there are dramatic improvements with particularly good news when it comes to the number of fountains that have goose necks (the presence of a goose neck facilitates the use of refillable water bottles).

We are hoping to finish up the majority of the fountain program over the next 2 years and establish new standards for the fountains on campus. In the meantime, our thanks goes out to the SFUO for their role in helping create this bottled water free campus and their continued support by educating the student population about why it is so important to use the tap.

You can read this year's report at our website.
http://www.sustainable.uottawa.ca/uploads/editor/file/Water%20Fountain%20Assessment%202013.pdf


~jON - cmapus sustainability manager
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

THOMPSON! It's Time To Recycle

Do you hear that future inhabitants of Thompson Residence? It is a call to arms, a call to mobilize your waste and make a better world one recyclable at a time. Sorry for the touch of over-dramaticism but this is something that has bugged me since I arrived at the University of Ottawa... the lack of recycling in residences.

The recycling system in the uOttawa residences is not the same as the rest of the campus. There are a couple of reasons why this is the case (different cleaning contracts, less infrastructure, etc) but the primary reason is the nature of the waste that exists in residences. Think about, the people in residences live there so they generate a whole bunch of waste that you just don't when you are on campus for only a couple of hours a day.

When is the last time you had to throw out a razor or dental floss or an old t-shirt on campus? Probably never if you didn't live in one of the University's residences. So you can easily see the challenges of recycling residential waste as opposed to the typical commercial stuff we usually see on campus.

Well today we took a step towards making the gap between the two recycling systems a little smaller. Thanks to the hard work of our recycling coordinators, Julie Cook and Brigitte Morin, our special projects consultant, Phillippe-Olivier, and the team over at Housing Services, new recycling centres have been installed.

The new recycling centres mimic the look and feel of the recycling centres located elsewhere on campus to help create a sense of familiarity. The new centres will also be outfitted with the same signage and will be placed in all the kitchens. For now we haven't taken a firm decision on how composting will play a role but we are hoping to have something substantial.

Thompson will act as a pilot project for the other residences. If all goes according to plan, we might be able to double the diversion rate in Thompson and new recycling centres will be deployed in the other residences. I believe this is an important step. In my opinion people will not recycle properly if they do not have the proper infrastructure to do so. Now that this infrastructure has been added, we can focus on the community education piece.



~ jON - campus sustainability manager
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Morisset Library Deep Energy Retrofit

Book worms at the University of Ottawa rejoice! You will be happy to know that you can continue to study at the library and be perfectly at ease with the fact that the library is using less energy.

Admittedly energy consumption and libraries don't typically go hand in hand but they should. Did you know that library are energy pigs. Think about it, lots of people that need fresh air circulated around and books that can't get too dry or too wet or they risk being damaged. Finding that balance takes a whole bunch of energy.

So today I thought I would share with you some good news from our EcoProsperity program. Now for those of you who don't know, the uOttawa EcoProsperity program is just a fancy name we have given to our energy savings program. Essentially we are going around to every building on campus and trying to make it more efficient.

This past year the engineers and operations people at Physical Resources Service have been working to see what they could do to make the library more efficient. Morisset is a fine building but it was built a while ago and the mechanical systems needed a little TLC. In the late 90's, automatic lights were installed in the aisles of the library in order save on electricity (no people in the aisles = no light), but we were thinking a little more could be done.

Well, a little more was done. Take a look at the chart below. What it is saying is that the engineers were able to reduce the heating of the building by 90% and the electrical consumption by 30%. Not bad. And all of this done without changing the comfort levels inside the building; that is, people inside the building will still be getting air that is just as fresh at exactly the same temperature.

Congrats to all of those involved in the project. This brings the uOttawa library from a "middle of the pack" facility to the most energy efficient university library in Canada. Feel free to contact us if you want to hear some engineering geek talk about how the energy consumption numbers were brought down.

~ jON - campus sustainability manager
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

PreCycle, FreeCycle, Recycle!

A lot of things have been happening at uOttawa over the past month in the world of Recycling. I thought I would give you a quick update.

The Dump and Run has finally come to a close. All the donations have been collected, weighed, and sent to the the Free Store for storage. A good chunk of the donations were sent off to local charities to help replenish their shelves (over 1,500 kilograms actually). We are hoping to finish this year with 4,000 kilograms of stuff collected from the residences.

This year was a tremendous success for the Dump and Run thanks in large part to our wonderful volunteers. Over 50 people came out to volunteer and work with us. Without their help cleaning, sorting, weighing, moving, packaging, and singing, I am not sure we would have been able to accomplish even a fraction of what we got done. Bravo volunteers, you have turned this pile of dirt into a garden.

Of course the focus will now be shifted over to the Free Store, which is closed during the summer and is set to reopen in the Fall. This year was our first go at a permanent space for the beloved Fee Store program, which helps redistribute donations from the Dump and Run to the campus community (with a strong emphasis on the International Students who arrive at the beginning of the fall semester).

We ran into a little problem this past semester when our washing machine broke down. But the sustainability gods were smiling on us as we were able to get a new commercial washer and dryer (even better than what we had before). These machines will allow us to continue to wash all the donations that come our way.

But of course we need volunteers! The Free Store is packed to the brim and we would like to start setting up the space for the fall rush. Last year we conducted a sustainability literacy survey and found out that only 4% of the campus population knew about the Free Store. This year's survey saw that number jump up to 35%. If this is any indication of what to expect for the Fall.... we need to start getting our act together now.

One other thing that I thought was worth mentioning was the success of the furniture recycling program for the month of May. The official numbers came in and we were able to reuse $130,000 worth of furniture on campus! This is a personal best for the office and we are super happy that we are able to reuse furniture rather then send it to landfill.

Sure this is a lot of progress but we still have a long way to go before we reach our recycling goal of ZERO waste going to landfill by 2020. We could seriously use some help if you could spare some time during the summer. Contact jcoo2@uottawa.ca if you are interested in volunteering. You can also check out our Facebook page to see some of the pictures from this year's Dump and Run.

~ jon - cmapus sustainability manager
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Un projet à en avoir l’eau à la bouche!

En tant qu’étudiante en génie mécanique, je n’avais aucune idée à quoi m’attendre pour la première journée de travail pour ma première session coop. Comment savoir si j’allais me retrouver à faire du café pour un patron borné ou des photocopies toute la journée? Pour moi, l’important était que je sois capable de faire une différence, aussi petite soit-elle.

En arrivant au service des immeubles de l’université d’Ottawa, accueillie à bras ouvert par des plantes sur tous les bureaux, des accros du compost, des réunions à gauche et à droite parce que sauver la planète ne peut pas attendre, je me suis rendue compte que j’étais à la bonne place. En plus d’être sensibilisée par tous les gens qui m’entourent maintenant à mon quotidien, j’ai la chance de pouvoir mettre le peu d’ingéniosité que j’ai accumulé durant mes deux dernières années d’études à l’œuvre tout en y rajoutant un brin de créativité.

Avec une confiance étonnante, on m’a donné le mandat de trouver des solutions réalistes pour réduire la consommation d’eau du campus. L’eau nous semble peut-être banale du à son abondance et à l’utilisation quotidienne qu’on en fait, mais sur un campus universitaire c’est un outil de laboratoire, un élément essentiel à l’hygiène et au confort, une source de transport pour l’énergie et évidemment, un ingrédient essentiel au café de tous les matins! Il est clair comme de l’eau de roche que les possibilités pour diminuer son usage sont infinies : la purification d’eau usée, l’utilisation d’eau de pluie, l’amélioration de systèmes déjà existants, etc! Et je suis toujours ouverte à de nouvelles idées!

Cet emploi, je ne le voie pas comme un emploi, mais plutôt comme une opportunité.  Je suis impatiente à l’idée de travailler côte-à-côte avec des gens d’expérience. De plus, j’adore mon université pour ce que j’en savais déjà mais maintenant j’ai la chance de la connaitre de fond en comble!

Bref, un été passionnant m’attend avec beaucoup de défis, d’apprentissage et je l’espère, si mes projets ne tombent pas à l’eau, de réalisations! Maintenant, par où commencer?

~ émilie - étudiante de coop en ingénerie et développement durable

photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Community Garden 2.0

The sun is back in full force and that means community garden time here at the University of Ottawa. This marks our 9th year of community gardening on campus and this year we are making a couple of upgrades.

If you know anything about the gardens on campus then you know that you have to be dedicated to survive the ups and downs. The first incarnation of the community garden was created in 2004 and was comprised of a couple of individual plots and two larger communal plots. The garden grew slowly until in 2009 a new location was added to augment the number of spaces to about 30. Unfortunately a year later that space was designated as the construction site of the new ARC building.

Not to fret, a new location was inaugurated at 649 King Edward immediately. So here we are in 2013 with two community garden locations and almost 50 plots to work on. Things are looking pretty sweet.... but why rest when you can push boundaries?

Admittedly it is hard to "push the envelop" when you are talking about community gardens but we did do our best to bring about some changes that would make gardening more accessible on campus and to give our little garden a bit more credibility.

As mentioned in a previous post, this year we are experimenting with mobile community garden plots. These plots are small and compact and are therefore perfectly suited to be moved around if need be. This arose as a design challenge because of the lack of open space on campus. The mobile gardens will allow us to plant in various places on campus and not have to worry about whether we need to relocate on a moments notice.

The second thing we have introduced this year are proper raised beds. In the past the garden has sometimes been mistaken for a "pet cemetery" which is good for scaring off garden thieves, but maybe not so good for visibility. This year a plan was introduced that will create raised beds for all the garden spaces and will take about 3 years to complete.

We are also going to create pollinator hot spots around the garden. Using selected plants species, we will attract pollinators to the community garden where they will hopefully give a helping hand to our gardens.

And finally this year we will be re-introducing community plots. These plots will be open plots for individuals to practice gardening something they have never tried before or to take some of the extra herbs. We are looking to partner with groups like the Aboriginal Resource Centre to create themed plots (in this case a native and indigenous species garden).

If you would like more information about the community garden, check out the website or contact the community garden coordinator. If you want to check out some pictures of the community garden, visit our Facebook page.

~ jON - campus sustainability manager
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Recycle It Forward

In the last five years, the University of Ottawa's Office of Campus Sustainability has partnered with the university's Housing Services to run an event called the Dump and Run. Yeah I know the name sounds silly (people usually have a prank in mind when you say dump and run) but this event is one of the most "profitable" for future uOttawa students as well as community members.

It’s kind of a pay it forward program for recycling whereby first-year students in residences leave so much stuff behind, such as clothes, blenders, books, dishes, appliances (almost new by the way), electronics, handbags and much much more, that future students or community members can come by and collect everything they could possibly need for the coming year.

So basically, every year is a recycle it forward year since frosh students have access to a bunch of stuff that comes from the students of the previous year and so on and so on. Now, this may sound complicated to understand but if any of you read this and can find a better way of saying it, please do share and I promise you will be given all the credit.

In the last five years, we have collected over 8.7 Tonnes of reusable items that have contributed to the happiness of future students as well as many charitable organizations such as the Operation Come Home, an awesome and an organization that provides food, shelter and assistance for teens on the street and the less fortunate (please take a few minutes to check out their website, they are very inspiring).

The Young Woman’s Shelter is another group. This program offers young woman aged 12 to 20 immediate access to safe housing for those who lack family support. This shelter is also a culturally sensitive environment and very welcoming of lesbians/bisexuals/transgenders. They have staffed professional and open arms. I could actually name a whole bunch of shelters we work with but this is a blog post and not a book. You can check out the list of charities we work with at the end of our annual Dump and Run Report (list of charities 2012).

As for student accesses to Dump and Run donations, the Office of Campus Sustainability has a Free Store  located at 647 King Edward which allows students to take some of the things we recover. The Free Store is entirely volunteer run by students for students and is always full of amazing stuff. We guarantee you’ll find something you want.

This year, we want to make the Dump and Run event even better than before so and we are looking for some volunteers for the event on May 1st from around 9am to4pm (you can stay as long as you like no pressure). We plan on having a BBQ for our volunteers after the day is done to celebrate their hard work. If you want to join our volunteer pool or want more information, please contact Julie or Alex. We will supply everything you need for the event.

Thanks for taking time to read about this, Alex OUT!

~ alex - assistant recycling coordinator
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Pledege to End Waste - Olivia

Recycle Mania

So this week I am pledging to recycle mania, meaning I am not going to be purchasing or throwing out anything that cannot be recycled or composed.

You should try it and see how well you do! Please share if you do in fact try this out!

Recycle mania blurb

The hardest tasks to accomplish without wasting are the smallest tasks, like air drying your hands after washing them, bringing your own sugar for coffee or just drinking it black. But you know what it’s worth it, so go out and reuse (maybe recycle)!

Recycle Mania Summary

All in all, recycle mania is a great concept. Reusable mugs, containers and water bottles for the week wasn’t actually that hard to do at all! Just carrying around a bottle is great because you can always quench your thirst without having to buy and throw out a plastic bottle. Containers as well, it is so easy to just rinse them when you are done and use them again the next day. The hardest part of this week would have to be realized that every time you wash your hands, you use paper towel and throw it out. Every time you go the bathroom toilet paper is wasted. In a broader prospect, it isn’t difficult to reduce your ecological footprint. If we all tried a little bit harder to reuse and recycle, the earth would be in better shape today.

If you are really into this, you can even reduce the amount of water you use, the amount of electricity and the amount of gas you use per day!

Cheers O,


~ olivia e - uOttawa student

Pledge to End Waste - Adrie

Waste Free Month Done... Waste Free Life Begins!

Ok, so my waste free month is technically done, and I realized that living waste free isn't as hard as it sounds; especially at Uottawa. We have this fantastic recycling program here where practically ANY type of plastic can be recycled at any recycling station on campus! This makes living waste free a lot easier!

 During this month I learned a few things.  Mainly I learned that living waste free is the most difficult when you go out places. When you go to a restaurant or a function it is almost impossible to know where your food scraps and things will end up because you can't control that. I also stayed at a hotel with my family and I realized that it's pretty hard to live waste free there because there is no compost or recycling, and even though we put our recycling in a box; who knows where it is going to end up?!

Also, living waste free was impossible at my work. I work at BeaverTails on the canal and even though nearly everything we dispose of is recyclable or compostable  we only had a garbage bin. I would see people throw whole empty apple cider jugs and recyclable cups in the garbage every day! I tried my best to remind my boss every shift that we really should do something about this (I think he got pretty annoyed), but we never did. Well we did get a green bin, and as much as I hounded the other employees, I was one of the only ones to use it! So that's something to work on.

Other than that, the only difficult thing to do was to change my habits. These are some of the things that I did to live waste free:

1. I turned my garbage bin into another recycling bin. So then I could separate plastics and papers in my room and I didn't have a garbage can to throw things in!
   
2. I kept a bag of non-recyclable plastics and I just took them down to one of the recycling stations every so often.
   
3. I held on to things when there was no recycling around. So for example when I got a frozen hot chocolate at Second Cup, instead of throwing my straw wrapper into the little garbage hole on the counter I just carried it outside to the nearest recycling center (which was just outside the door)
   
4. I was constantly googling " is _________ recyclable?" and asking all of the fabulous people at the sustainability office for help. 

It was really just a matter of being conscious of where I was throwing things out. Now that I've developed these habits I've realized that living waste free isn't really that difficult at Uottawa (No wonder we are the Recyclemania champs!). I feel like this experience really opened my eyes and helped me to realize that I can actually live my life and produce minimal (if not no) garbage.

~ adrie s - uOttawa student

Pledge to End Waste - Renée

I failed - but not miserably - at being waste free for a week. A pessimist would tell you it's impossible to live waste free while an optimist would say that accepting the challenge is already an improvement from the week prior. I have always tried to reduce, reuse and recycle when it was convenient for me but this competition made me identify my own personal wasteful habits: using tissues, plastic sandwich bags and Q-tips, commuting by car too often, leaving the hot water run and buying treats in non-recyclable packaging, just to name a few.

Have I made an oath not to use these products and behave in these ways ever again? No. Becoming more sustainable is like getting in shape - it doesn't happen overnight. I can't promise that I'll never contribute to a landfill, drive a car or enjoy an all dressed chip from a non-recyclable bag. However, each time I am wasteful, I'll think about modifying my consumption and activities next time around in order to lessen my impact on Mother Earth.

My conclusion is that no one is perfect but we can all be a little better.

~ renée m - campus liaision officer