Boxed Water: An Environmentally Friendly Choice?

Image coutesy of Metronews.ca

Many municipalities, workplaces, and universities are contemplating becoming bottle water free and implementing bottle free zones. The Canadian Federation of Municipalities is urging all of its members to ban the sale of bottled water in municipally owned buildings. The University of Winnipeg became officially bottled water free last year. Even the University of Ottawa’s SFUO is taking action by not selling bottled water at their events or in some businesses, such as Cafe Alt.

These changes are taking place as a response to the fact that approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil, enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year, are used to make plastic water bottles, while transporting these bottles burns even more oil[1]. Furthermore, it costs up to 10,000 times more for bottled water than tap water, a ludicrous cost, especially when living on a student budget[2].

One Michigan company has decided to offer an “environmentally product” while benefitting from all the action being taken against the sale of bottled water. So, what is the company’s revolutionary new product? Boxed Water[3]. According to their website about 85% of the Boxed Water container is made from trees that are harvested in a responsible, managed, and ethical way and the collapsed boxes transport more effectively than bottles[4]. They are also giving back to the environment, with 20% of their profits supporting water and forestation organizations[5]. The company currently only sells its product in Michigan, but is looking towards expanding up north. Have we finally found the silver bullet to solve the University of Ottawa’s bottled water blues?

In other news, another company has come up with a revolutionary new idea for getting water to parched consumers: the reusable water bottle and tap.

- natasha

[1] Treehugger

[2] San Francisco Chronicle

[3] http://boxedwaterisbetter.com/hello/

[4] http://boxedwaterisbetter.com/hello/learn.html

[5] http://boxedwaterisbetter.com/hello/learn.html

Bottled Water Part 2: Water Fountains

Have you ever drunk from one of the water fountains on campus? Did it look like this?

Have you ever seen the newer fountains that have a spout that can fill up a water bottle, that are accessible, that are clean, and have cold water? That’s what I’m talking about.

In the summer of 2008 and 2009, water fountain assessments were completed in order to find out the state of water fountains on our campus. Main reason being: the better fountain infrastructure we have, the more people will drink from it instead of buying bottled water.

uOttawa, in its efforts to improve its status as a green university and also to improve the student experience, put aside $150,000 over two years to improve water fountain infrastructure based on the recommendations from the two reports from the summer assessments. One of the major recommendations this year was to put water fountains near food service locations like the cafeteria in SITE and UCU, since this is where most bottled water is sold. The idea is that if people have the tap option near where they eat (when they want something to drink the most) they will choose it more often. Plus, it saves money.

Now, let’s tackle a few other myths around bottled water consumption. A lot of people suggest that it is bad for our health (our being the collective, i.e. our campus community) because without bottled water available, people will buy more pop. Personally, I would love to get rid of all those bottled drinks. But, given that’s not happening any time soon, we can pick this apart.

Bottled water is both directly and indirectly bad for your health because of the plastic which contains it. Also, if people decide they want to buy orange juice or pop, that’s fine by me. Pop isn’t streaming through our pipes to get to our tap at a cost that’s 10,000 times less than buying the bottle. On the other hand, pop is essentially just water and syrup anyways…

-sarah jayne

The Last Hooray

So something pretty cool is going to happen on Tuesday. It could have a substantial transformative impact on the campus community but we won’t really know until next week. But just the fact that it is going to happen is kind of inspirational in its own right.

Okay, I am sure that you are quite aware that I am teasing you right now but come on; we all love a little suspense right? Well anyways on Wednesday, City Council will be listening to delegates talking about the U-Pass. This is part of a big push to get the City to adopt a U-Pass for students at $145 per semester.

This alone isn’t really that amazing but I haven’t mentioned that the delegates of the various presentations include students from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa; as well as executives from both student federations.

This continues a long tradition of intervention in the City of Ottawa by the respective universities. Believe it or not, the University of Ottawa has a vested interest in making sure that Ottawa is a prosperous city. Call it self-interest or altruism but this makes sense; if the City thrives so does the University and vice-versa. I mean how can an institution of this size not have a significant impact on the surrounding community?

Think about it. If the University decides to open a new campus, than the area surrounding it becomes valuable for renting. If the University decides to shift the majority of its classes to a night schedule, than the traffic patterns in the City will change.

All this to say, the University has just as much of an interest in providing affordable transportation for its students as the City does. And that’s why this Tuesday January 26th on top of all the delegates presenting for the U-Pass, Allan Rock will stand in solidarity with the students and present in favour of the pass. I don’t know about you but I thought that this is pretty cool.

If you feel like showing your support, drop by City Hall on Tuesday at 10:30 am for the budget delegations.

-jon

Bottled Water Part 1: Basics and Campus happenings

This year, the bottled-water free campaign will continue. In this two-part blog entry we’ll discuss the issues of bottled water in general and on campus, and then go into the water fountain assessment later.

To quote Jon in an earlier blog post regarding bottled water:

“In one hundred years from now is it possible that historians will look back and think that we were crazy to try to commodity water and sell it at thousands of times the price of what it costs to get from your tap? Is it possible that we are draining precious aquifers for limited profit at the expense of future generations? And is it possible that in the future, wars may be fought over water instead of oil?”

Water is a huge issue. Some people don’t have enough water, some people don’t have clean water, some people have to travel many kilometers to find water, some people pay too much for water, and some people abuse water.

I’m not about to try to solve in one fell swoop all of these problems. But there are definitely a few fairly small actions that can improve this situation.

First of all, stop drinking bottled water. It’s not tested as much as municipal sources (where they exist of course) and it is up to 10,000 times more expensive than tap water. Drinking bottled water encourages governments to decrease funding to municipal sources. Water bottles don’t get recycled, and are harmful to your health.

Second, conserve water. In some parts of the world there are strict limits on the amount of water per person. We can all do things like take shorter showers, use less water when doing the dishes, and have more efficient toilets. You can even turn your toilet tank into a sink to wash your hands pretty easily. Only downside is the water gets pretty cold.

Third, learn about water issues on campus. The SFUO has a campaign called “Right to Water” through their sustainability office. Both the SFUO and uOttawa sustainability have been working on creating more “Bottled Water Free Zones” on campus, and looking to a future with no bottled water sales on campus at all.

Also...keep posted for the upcoming Bottled Water Free Day on March 11^th – more to come!

- sarah jayne

Êtes-vous prêt à utiliser votre Bac vert?

Il est vrai que l’université d’Ottawa est à l’avance en ce qui concerne l’adoption d’un programme de compost mécanique, par contre, c’est quand même un soulagement que la Ville d’Ottawa ait décidé de diminuer leurs déchets! Comme la plupart d’entre vous le savent déjà, grâce à l’impressionnante campagne de marketing, le programme des Bacs verts d’Ottawa est arrivé! La Ville collectera les matières organiques toutes les deux semaines pendant l’hiver. Elles seront ensuite ramassées une fois par semaine au printemps, à l’été et à l’automne. Veuillez consulter votre Calendrier de la collecte 2009-2011 pour plus de détails.

Comme moi, vous pourriez ne pas avoir reçu votre bac. C’est peut être parce que la première étape du programme visait seulement les résidences individuelles, les petits immeubles de six logements ou moins et les résidences en zone rurale où la Ville effectue une collecte en bordure de rue. Voici les prochaines étapes de distribution :

Étape 1b : Les résidents des autres immeubles à logements multiples dont la collecte se fait en bordure de rue recevront leurs bacs verts et commenceront à participer au programme d’ici septembre 2010.

Étape 2 (2011) : La deuxième étape vise les tours d'habitation à logements multiples.

Étape 3 (2012) : moyennant l’approbation du Conseil, la troisième étape vise les propriétés rurales qui n'étaient pas comprises dans la collecte des feuilles, des résidus de jardinage et des déchets organiques aux termes du dernier contrat.

Les résidents de Gatineau ne sont pas oubliés! Un programme géré par la Ville de Gatineau effectuera la première étape de distribution de bacs de mai à juin 2010. Je suis très excitée au sujet de ces programmes et je crois que tous devraient participer! Apportons du bien à la région de la capitale nationale en enrichissant sa terre avec le compost riche en nutriments et en prolongeant la vie de ses sites d'enfouissement!

Voici des liens et des documents intéressants pour vous aider à préparer pour le bac vert :

• Comment utiliser votre bac vert (vidéo)
• Guide de l’utilisateur du bac vert
• De l’origami pour votre bac vert (vidéo)

Pour plus amples de renseignements, composez-le 3-1-1 ou visitez ottawa.ca/bacvert

- danielle J

Are you ready to use your Green Bin?

So uOttawa might have won the race against the City of Ottawa in getting a mechanical composter, but it’s quite a relief that the City is diverting waste. As most of you are aware, thanks to an impressive marketing campaign, the Ottawa Green Bin program is here! It will be collecting organic waste once every two weeks during the winter Throughout spring, summer and fall, it will be collected weekly. To know when you should put your green bin to the curb, view the collection calendar to keep track of pick up dates.

Like me, you might not have received your bin. This might be because the first phase of the program only delivered to single residential properties, low-rise multi-unit residential properties with six units or less and rural village residents with curbside pick up. Here are the following distribution dates:

Phase 1b: The remaining multi-unit housing with curbside collection will receive their green bins and begin participating in the program before September of 2010.

Phase 2 (2011) will include high-rise, multi-unit residential properties.

Phase 3 (2012), with Council’s approval, will include the rural properties that were not included in the leaf and yard waste / organics collection over the duration of the last contract.

Do not worry Gatineau residents, the first phase of bins will be distributed between May and June 2010 through a program operated by the City of Gatineau! I am beyond happy about these programs and believe that everyone should participate! Let’s all make a difference by helping the National Capital Region to enrich its earth with the nutrient-rich compost while extending the life of its landfills!

Here are some interesting links and documents to help you prepare for the Green Bin:

• Using your Green Bin: A How to Video
• Green Bin User Guide
• Organic Origami: How to make a liner for your kitchen container

For more information, call 3-1-1 or visit ottawa.ca/greenbin

- danielle J

New Push for the U-Pass

Last year the stage was set for a U-pass in Ottawa. The orchestra was primed to play a wonderful sonata: the SFUO and the University of Ottawa were ready to put forward the money and administration to get things rolling. The actors had rehearsed their lines: City council and OC Transpo had a plan laid out before them. And at the pivotal moment as the show was about to start, the audience collectively held their breath. But the curtains never opened, the spotlights never lit up, and everyone was just told to go home... no show tonight ladies and gentlemen.

Well one year later and everyone is back for another show. Once again there is an opportunity to provide students at the University of Ottawa with a fare-reduced bus pass. But there are a couple of differences in this year’s campaign that are worth mentioning, and are turning heads over at City Hall.

The first major change is the cost. The Student Federation is pushing for a new $145 price tag for the pass. The kicker is that the notion is backed by OC Transpo, which was the biggest point of contention between the two groups last year. This is an extremely pleasing development for the City; many councillors agreed that they were in favour of a U-Pass but couldn’t reconcile the price.

The second major point is the fact that CUSA is also on board. That’s right; the Carleton Undergraduate Student Association is running a referendum to also have the pass. That means that approximately 50,000 students would be eligible for the pass. This is also a very attractive development for the City.

This makes for the potential of a pretty exciting show; however there are still some hurdles. City Council still has to vote for the program. Although this push for the pass has all the trappings of a great deal for the City, it is budget season and there is no accounting for where the program could end up. The City might just not want to have to burden the potential budgetary constraints. Then there is the fact that the student federations still have to pass a referendum vote. And finally there is a need to establish an agreement with STO to make sure that the U-Pass is honoured on both sides of the river.

All this aside, I believe that this is the best chance for a pass in years. And the supporters of the program are looking for your help. A clever website has been set up that allows individuals to send a letter to their councillors demanding a Universal Bus Pass (I say clever because the site not only e-mails your councillor but all City councillors as well). So if you would, take a moment to visit the site and send off a letter, you might be helping turn the tide for transit in this City.

www.u-passottawa.ca

-jon

What I call organic, my Grandma just called food

100 Mile Bread made by uOttawa student Sarah Campbell

Food that is now seen as “specialty” and that one has to go out of her way to find, such as local, organic fare produced by small scale farmers, was once the only food available. It’s true that in those days people had to put more effort into food preparation and had to think a bit harder about how to keep meals interesting with ingredients limited to what was grown in the region, however, even in situations of energy scarcity, trade conflicts, or war we were guaranteed a food supply.

Now the average item in the supermarket comes from over 1500 kilometres away and needs large water, energy, pesticide, and fertilizer inputs to support the large-scale, industrial, commodity crop farms it comes from. In fact, most the diversity we find in the supermarket is simply a manipulation of commodity corn and soy in the form of many different cereals, sauces, crackers, and candies. Our industrialized and commoditized food system has led to obesity, diabetes, a loss of land and jobs, increased greenhouse gas outputs, and the input of many toxic chemicals into our environment.

In November ten brave University of Ottawa students, many of whom are vegetarian, attempted to break free of this food system and retreat to the ways of our grandparents, eating only food grown within 100 miles of Ottawa. During their adventure they discovered the variety of food grown in the Ottawa valley, met the great farmers of the region, enjoyed fun meals together, and uncovered some unfortunate truths about the state of sustainable eating in Ottawa. While there is a lot of variety of what can be purchased locally, ranging from organic flour, to free range eggs, to tofu, to apples and beets, some products grown in the area, such as beans, are only sold in large bulk shipments for export, inhibiting a well integrated local food system.

We as individuals, and the University, as a large food purchaser, can help reverse this trend by weaning off fruit loops, however delicious they may be, and opting for sustainable, organic, local, and ethical food options instead. Read more about the discoveries of the uOttawa 100 mile diet challenge at http://solefooduottawa.wordpress.com/ and see the Ottawa Eat Local Guide at http://www.spcottawa.on.ca/ofsc/.

-tasha

Breath easy... really!

Imagine my surprise a couple of years ago when I strolled into the office and found out that our office does regular monitoring of the CO2 levels in classrooms. I wasn't surprised that we did it, I mean this only makes sense right? People exhale CO2 with every breath and if not monitored it can really accumulate. No I was surprised that we won an award for doing it.

It turns out that not very many, if any, other institutions do this. I was flabbergasted to say the least. CO2 is natural occurring gas that has of course recently found notoriety because of Climate Change. Of course too much CO2 can have dramatic impacts on the Earth's capacity to retain heat, but it can also kill you if the concentrations are too high.

I am being a tad melodramatic here; the concentrations needed to actually kill a human are ridiculously high. But that doesn't mean that the concentrations that are present in your typical indoor environment can't cause major discomfort.

At 1% CO2 in the environment (and this is indoors) there are basically no health impacts. At 2% some people are susceptible to headaches after consistent longterm exposure. At 3% we start seeing the seal problems (including change in blood pressure, fatigue, migraines, and mild performance impairment). Needless to say we want to keep ourselves in the 1% range.

So you might notice one day, while you are in class, someone sitting at the back of the room with a small monitoring device and a sign that says "Air Quality Monitoring". Feel free to go talk to them but rest assured that this is part of the program to make sure that when you are in your classrooms that you are alert and focused and not likely to suffer the accute affects of high levels of CO2.

And PS, the award that we won was the 2005 CAUBO Award for Quality and Excellence.

- jon

Please, let me explain!

*This post is from a guest contributor. Jonathan Holmes is a core member of Green Campus and an all around passionate student activist for the environment.

Dear Friends,

I like to think of myself as a reasonable person. I usually don’t take strong stances on political issues. I understand that no political question is cut and dry, and I attempt to learn about all of the points of view on different issues.

And yet you might have recently seen me in facebook pictures and videos wearing a dress, dancing to a fiddle, or even dropping my pants. You might think I’ve gone crazy, and am throwing away my good reputation and public respectability. You’d probably be right.

But believe me – I am only doing this because I am convinced that climate change is such an incredibly serious and immediate problem that we need action NOW. To quote the most recent research, “global emissions must PEAK THEN DECLINE RAPIDLY WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE TO TEN YEARS for the world to have a reasonable chance of avoiding the very worst impacts of climate change.” (1)

The good news is that it is becoming clearer and clearer that transitioning to a green economy, if done smart, won’t cause our economy collapse, and may even make us better off. (2)

The bad news is that Canada, the country for which I am so proud, seems determined to derail global climate talks and ensure that we never meet this target. In the Copenhagen conference on climate change, we have already won the most “fossil of the day awards,” which are given to countries trying to block the creation of a fair, ambitious and binding treaty. (3)

When scientists agree that there is a problem, and when an obvious solution is available, I think we should go for it. And yet that is the opposite of what we’re doing. That is why I am willing to make a fool of myself – because I am much more embarrassed of Canada’s climate action plan than I am of wearing only boxers on Parliament Hill.

So, have I lost your respect? Will you ever be able to ever take me seriously again? Please post any thoughts or questions here.

NOTES:

1 – The quote is from the summary of the Copenhagen disgnosis, written by 26 climate scientists and available at http://copenhagendiagnosis.com/press.html. I understand that the science of climate change is confusing, but let me assure you that the “debate” on the existence of human-caused global warming has been resolved among those who have spent their lives studying these issues. For those who are still unconvinced of this fact, an extensive review of the evidence (as well as a thorough debunking of the arguments most used by skeptics) can be found at www.realclimate.org (click on “start here”). For research into why we’re still debating this issue despite agreement among the actual scientists, check out www.desmogblog.com.

2 –For those who are interested, Stuart Elgie, a prof at the Univeristy of Ottawa, does a good job of arguing this position here. I’ll admit that this is a complicated issue, for which there is still academic debate. However, what is clear is that there exist many policy instruments, such as carbon taxes, which make economic sense given the great risks and uncertainties associated with climate change. If you want to chat more about this, please send me a message – this is likely going to be one of the central parts of my future studies, so I love to talk about it!

3 – The most recent Canadian fossil of the day award, which follows a long history of similar awards. (http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/recent/fossil_day_barcelona and http://www.nupge.ca/node/2609 for example).
Richard Littlemore also talks about another recent action here .

And for those of you who are still reading, please check out Bill McKibbon’s call to action here:
- jon holmes

Katimavik @ uOttawa

Students at the University of Ottawa may have noticed four teenagers scurrying around their campus lately, hauling bags full of sawdust or balancing cans of compost, keeping tabs on the environmentally friendly recycling bins or replacing old recycling signs with updated ones. Who are these mysterious people and why are they darting every which way around the campus?

Katimavik has brought together eleven youth from across Canada to live and work in the city of Ottawa. It is a six to nine month youth volunteer program that lets youth from across the country experience diverse work placements and cultural differences, as well as being able to dapple in their program of choice, ranging from eco-citizenship to improving their second language to civic engagement. Working for the uOttawa’s Sustainability Department, four Katimavik participants are helping to implement environmental plans and spread the word that the entire uOttawa campus needs to make a difference to, well, save the world.

What’s the average day like for a Katimavictim at uOttawa? Trick question. No two days are the same for the volunteers, but they’re always busy. Participants might be deconstructing retro furniture at 200 Lees to recycle the separate parts, sorting through student’s donations to organize for the campus Free Store, or preparing old uOttawa coats to donate to protect homeless from the harsh Ottawa winters. The Sustainability Department is definitely helping put the old “reduce, reuse and recycle” that everyone knows into effect.

Jonathan Rausseo and Brigette Morin at the Sustainability Department lead the Katimavik participants into a two-month long environmental excursion throughout the mazes and tunnels of uOttawa. Geared and ready with science, knowledge, and plenty of recycling bins, the team is prepared to tackle any eco-dilemma that presents itself to them on campus and beyond.
- Kayla Doucette

Open Green Maps

A couple of months ago I blogged about something called Open Green Maps, or if I didn’t I meant to. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Open Map concept but it is really quite simple. Take your standard map of anything and Open Maps allows you to personalize the content on the map. So you can add a picture or a description of a location to a map.

Now enter the Open ‘Green’ Map. The first time I ever heard about a Green Map was at a sustainable campuses conference in Vancouver. It turns out that some geography students of Royal Roads College had collected a bunch of coordinates for some of the green characteristics of their campus and then laid those coordinates over top of a campus map. And voila; instant Green Map.

But things have gotten a lot easier since those days of collecting individual GPS points and feeding them into a GIS program. We can all thank Google Maps for that. Although Google didn’t invent the concept of an Open Green Map, they certainly have helped guide the trend. Using the Open Green Map website, anyone can locate thousands of green maps from all over the planet. And guess what... the University of Ottawa has one too.

Again, we need to pause and give thanks to someone else because I certainly didn’t create the University’s green map; it was the GSG Library that came up with and implemented this gem. And for those of you who didn’t know, yes we in fact do have a dedicated core of personnel that work on maps and mapping technology.

Now if we want to get to the heart of the matter, here are the straight goods. The map is simple; there is a list of available icons that you can select from (for example – recycling center, tree, wildlife, bike path, etc.) and simply place unto a map of the University Campus. The current University of Ottawa Open Green Map has a tonne of things listed; including all the outdoor recycling centers, the vermi-composter, and the community garden.

And here is the most important thing, the map is an OPEN map, which means that not only can anyone see it but they can also add content. That’s right... anyone. Lat post I promised you that I would talk about some of the projects that came out of the Natural Resource Management Class and there is a link here. Students from the walking group created their own map (I did mention that you can create your own completely separate map as well ?) and posted it on line.

Just for your info, the walking group listed all the main congestion points, degraded paths, and potential pedestrian bridges. The beauty of a tool like this is that you don’t only have to add things that exist, you can add things that you would like to see or would like to see improved.

Check it out and maybe add something to the map.

Walking group map

uOttawa map