Campus Sustainability: A Year in Review

In 2011 there were a lot of positive things going for the campus in terms of campus sustainability. Some setbacks for sure, but I would like to think more positives than negatives. Here is the whirlwind tour of what the office accomplished in 2011.

CULTURE
The year started on a high note with the Vision 2020 process, which included an entire pillar dedicated to becoming a more environmentally sustainable campus. Unfortunately by the end of the year the Destination 2020 plan (which was the implementation phase of the visioning exercise) had dropped campus sustainability as a priority.

Another setback came with the Fair Trade Campus Certification. Brought forth by students with the uOttawa chapter of Engineers Without Borders, the certification is a program created by FairTrade Canada to get campuses to offer more fair trade selection. The program started out very strong in the Spring but slowed down in the fall as issues related to the variety of coffees available as fair trade came into question. It is hoped that the campus can still pursue a fair trade certification in the new year.

This year, the University celebrated its one year ban on bottled water with virtually no violations and an incredible amount of good will from the community.

And finally, the University of Ottawa made some progress both nationally and internationally when it received a "B" in the Globe and Mail University Ratings and a Silver Rating for STARS.

COMMUNITY
The Office has made strides in engaging the campus community in becoming more sustainable. This year marked the one-year anniversary of the EcoNetwork, which has grown to 44 campus community members. And whereas the EcoChampions focus primarily on staff members, a push was undertaken to create more student volunteer opportunities. The volunteer opportunities webpage was launched.

The relaunch of the Sustainable Development Committee was also a big event for 2011. The reconstituted SUDCOM is working on creating the sustainability targets for uOttawa for the next 5 years.

Finally, the office boned up its social media offerings and launched its Community Calendar and Four Square page this year. Now all our social media pages are synchronized. And the cherry on the cake is our monthly newsletter, which brings together all the news from our office and whatever we could gather from the community.

CURRICULUM
This year the office pushed the Living Laboratory into full swing and engaged over 300 students in Community Service Learning opportunities. Students helped create sustainability surveys for the campus, a sustainable development policy for the campus, and a series of videos for the upcoming RecycleMania competition.

Good news also came from Destination 2020, when it was announced that the university will create "a living lab where experts from different disciplines will join forces to advance the social, political and legislative aspects of environmental protection and sustainable lifestyles."

CAMPUS
Recycling tops the list this year of the most exciting news for campus sustainability. The University of Ottawa once again came out of RecycleMania as the Canadian National Champions and placed 14th overall (out of over 300 institutions). The year also saw the installation of a new recycling counter inside the UCU cafeteria, and the purchase of a new mechanical composter (the old one having already surpassed its capacity). This was accented by the new Plastics Recycling Program, which for the first time allowed us to remove waste as an option from some recycling stations.

The U-pass saw its second year on campus, as did the bike coop. Daniel Spence also stepped in as the new Sustainable Transportation Manager, replacing Danny Albert who moved on to the One Card initiative.

The campus opened its doors to Première Moisson, a family run food provider who will move into the new Social Science Tower and provide sustainable food options. The Community Gardens were also a big hit this year with approximately 50 plots available on campus. This year saw the opening of a new location on King Edward to compensate for the space lost to the new CAPEA building.

I could go on... but in all honest I think that I have made my point and I think that if I add anymore links to this post, our blog will crash.  I didn't get to mention the amazing FreeStores we had this year, or the record breaking Dump & Runs. I didn't get to talk about the inspiring work done by the SFUO's Sustainability Centre, nor did I get a chance to talk about the incredible advancements we made in energy reduction. But truly the most important gain from 2011 is the number of supporters who have come to our aid.

Thank you all, I can't wait to see what 2012 brings.
-jON

I'll Have a Coke+ With That!

Not too long ago, I filled out an opinion survey on a variety of household and personal products (cleaners, hygiene, etc.). My goal was to voice my opinion about the toxicity of the average product. Last week, I received a ‘thank you for your opinion’ booklet of coupons (I am sure the Extreme Couponing people would be absolutely senseless for these ‘free X products’, ‘free Y products’, and ‘free Z products’). I noticed that several – more like 25% of them were for diabetes-related products…by this I mean different blood sugar testing machines, strips for these machines, sugar-free nutrient shakes for people suffering from diabetes, and a variety of foods marketed towards diabetics. You are suffering from type-2 diabetes when your body makes insulin, but it is not able to use it properly. It is usually caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, including lack of exercise, and eating unhealthy foods.

Has it really become commonplace for the average person to be diagnosed with type-2 diabetes (or obesity) over the course of their lifetime? (Over two million Canadians have type-2 diabetes) I find that amazing; we have clearly lost touch with our food and lifestyle cultures! What’s worse, even people who make an effort to read labels and eat healthy products get two-timed; the majority of products are marketed in a way that will make you believe you are purchasing a product that is healthy (i.e. Added Omega 3’s, for example in children’s colourful cereals!). Meanwhile it is likely processed and full of refined sugars and flours. When you refine flour, you remove the protein and most of the healthy fats; even if you add them afterwards, your body will not have the enzymes (contained in the flour prior to processing) needed to properly absorb those nutrients.

Not only are companies allowed to sell and market those products to us, but they are creating similar products so that when people are diagnosed with diabetes they can keep spending their money on new wonderful (and unhealthy) products just for them. My favourite: Diet Coke Plus, infused with (yes…I know!) — Vitamins! Each 8-ounce serving provided 15% of your recommended daily intake for niacin and vitamins B6 and B12, and 10% for zinc and magnesium (http://dietcoke.com/about-diet-coke/our-products.jsp). What’s your take on that?

-brigitte

Confessions of a Disgruntled Mind

Dear Canada, why do you let me down so?

I can distinctly recall being in grade seven and clipping news articles about the Kyoto Protocol for a science journal. Granted, I was a HUGE geek already and adored the idea of Canada emerging as a world leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving our planet (I am pretty sure the idea involved hearts and rainbows doodled around images of trees in the margins of my notebook) but the simplified version of the protocol that a teacher explained in laymen’s terms seemed easy enough…

I mean, we are a developed country with an above average standard of living and we theoretically should have been able to lower our emissions without severely compromising our growth or citizens’ lifestyles. Oh wait; there are those tar sands that we are exploiting out west- well, if it’s for the sake of progress, yes? Even with our failure at reducing our own national emissions, Canada had the opportunity to take advantage of Clean Development Mechanisms and Emissions Trading with other Annex countries to lower its’ overall ghg count (which in my opinion is kind of like using hack codes to further yourself in video games, but whatever).

Sigh. One has to admit that even though the U.S. did not commit at all, that it sounds better than promising reductions and not delivering. Not to mention the embarrassment of receiving “Fossil of the Year” repetitively at climate talks. We can blame our terrible performance on our southern neighbours, on our exhaustive oil sands or even on our conservative government that did not initiate the protocol but the fact remains: we suck and what are we going to do about it?

Sincerely,

Disgruntled,

~Merissa

Giftable Apps for a Green Holiday

Photo credit: http://www.progadgetreview.com

The Holiday season is around the corner, and some gifts are difficult to come by. Put aside the gift cards and boxes of chocolates. Apple has recently made apps “giftable” so that you may share the Angry Birds fun with your other iphone friends.

For the environmentally conscious friend, why not the Carbon Footprint Calculator? It will help with some decisions and possibly motivate those friends to plant some trees as it calculates the number of these needed to offset their carbon footprint.

Diamond Grading, an app for the occasional diamond buyer. After all, diamonds are a girl’s best friend!

Others wish it could be summer year round so they may go for a sail on a December afternoon. Your budget may not let you buy him a house in the South, but the Waterski Duck should keep that friend busy on those cold days.

Then for those who constantly get lost. In an effort to help them get around, the GPS coordinates may be a sweet choice.

Furthermore, in the new era of technology, it’s always good to know where you stand. With the 4G Speed – Internet Speed Test, your buddy will always be in tune with your bandwidth.

When youtube just isn’t enough for personal entertainment, Funny Pictures should add some cute kittens to their day.

The New Yorker for iphone for those who like to stay informed and entertained.

If work has come between this good friend and you, offer them Mind your business, app which lets them bring the office with them in their back pocket.

Google search would please those always seeking answers about everything (How many teeth does a wombat have?)

In the end, Apple offers an app for everyone, why not use it to your advantage for the holidays? One last piece of advice would be to wait before sending them!

~katherine

Recto et verso!

Photo credit: Marie-Pier

Je vais faire une exception à mes principes et me permettre de CHIÂLER publiquement.

Imaginez-vous que je viens de constater qu’un prof m’a enlever des points de présentation sur un travail qui était imprimer recto-verso. On m’a dit que ce n’était pas professionnel et que ça avait l’air moins propre. PARDON?

Un travail professionnel doit avoir une page titre, une table des matières, être paginé, avoir un style uniforme et soigné, une structure logique, des références en bas de pages, une bibliographie, des annexes à la fin du travail…

Ne pas imprimer ses feuilles recto-verso pour faire plus beau c’est une CONVENTION, non une règle. Vous savez ce que ça donne des conventions? Des institutions anachroniques comme le parlementarisme canadien.

Qu’est-ce que ça peut bien leur faire que j’imprime mes travaux recto-verso? C’est déjà complètement outrageant qu’on doive imprimer à double-interligne et utiliser le double du papier nécessaire pour soi-disant permettre au prof de nous laisser des commentaires bien que la plupart des copies corrigées aient, au plus, quelques petits crochets ici et là!

Ces pacotilles me frustrent au plus haut point. Je perçois la pénalité pour recto verso comme étant la seule excuse trouvée par le correcteur pour éviter d’avoir à admettre que je méritais un A+. Il faut vraiment avoir du front!

-MP

No Seriously... how cool is this?

Photo Credit: Jonathan Rausseo

Take a look at the picture. What do you notice? Nothing at first right? Just your typical everyday light switch... sitting on a window... wait, on a window?

So this past week the University's Energy and Environment Engineer (Faizal) decided to try out a new piece of tech in the office. It is a wireless light switch with a piezometre activator. He did this because our office is a giant open space and we needed to divide up the lights in the area. I mean come on... this is an office full of environmentalists. Do you know how close we were to taring each other apart over having the lights on?

So let me dissect this wireless light switch with a piezometre activator thingy.
First, the light switch is wireless, so that means there is no need to make a giant hole in the wall and run a bunch of copper wires everywhere. This is super handy if you have to move a wall for example. Rather than pulling our the light switch and all the wires that go along with it, you just remove the two-way tape and place the switch somewhere else. Neat and tidy, less raw materials and less construction.

Second, the switch has no batteries. The way it works is to use a piezometer (a pressure sensing device) which generates electricity with the force you use to turn the light on. This eliminates the waste coming from batteries altogether.

And third, this switch uses radio waves. This might not seem important at first glance but radio waves are not microwaves and as far as I know, there is no controversy about if they give you cancer. Each switch has it's own radio frequency and they can work from up to 300 feet.

Can a light switch change the world? Probably not but it can certainly make it a whole lot more sustainable.

-jON

X-mas spirit, sustainability style!

Photo credit: furniturehomedesign.com

You will need: glitter, left-over ribbons, old cards and limited creativity

Decorations in general around this time of year are for the majority plastic and will end up in the trash either this year or within the next five. Aim to purchase decorations that are either going to last (my family has a collection of tiny porcelain houses that we have had for as long as I can remember) or make your own decorations from materials you can recycle or compost. That’s right, compost. Trees that have been sustainably grown and harvested can be used and chipped up for your mulch in the spring or use a potted tree that you can replant in the spring. Make wreathes out of pruned branches, pinecones, etc and add some flare with ribbons (my dad enjoys throwing sumac in there) and compost them when you’re finished. I also came across an interesting blog about creating x-mass tree balls out of aluminum cans and stars out of plastic bottles, if you are feeling motivated.

Cards consume hundreds of thousands of trees during the holiday season- dig through last year’s cards and get crafty, cutting out those holiday images and pasting them on cardboard from your recycling bin. I personally prefer using thin, cereal boxes for the backing- glued together to hide the images. If you want to add extra holiday spirit, add some glitter or ribbon.

Wrapping paper, don’t even get me started on how many types of wrapping papers cannot be recycled! And unless you were one of the lucky few to get your hands on some FREE wrapping paper at the free store on Nov.30th, then you may want to try wrapping your gifts in reusable bags or even newspaper. I know what you’re thinking; that black and white print may not look so dashing under the tree- but take a walk outside (closer to gift-giving time) and prune a tree. Adding a bough or pine cone wrapped in ribbon or doused in some silver sparkles will spruce up your gift’s appearance while ensuring the wrapping is recyclable.

Energy efficiency should be kept in mind, if you have those neighbours that love making elaborate lighting displays on their front yard- glare at them. Use LED lighting and keep them on timers to prevent the accidental running-all-night-eating-energy-like-candy-canes-on-x-mass-morning incidents.

Happy x-mass decorating!

-meriss