The Sustainabilitree

David Lululemon Suzuki vs. Waste Free

2012-01-28T16:34:00.000-05:00

Recycling is the Lululemon of sustainability. It’s hip. I always get a little thrill when I toss some paper into the blue bin. But there is more to recycling than those bins. We have something called Free Stores on campus where people donate clothes, binders, books, kitchenware and much more, and then we give them away.... For FREE. Yes, that’s right, FREE!

This week, I went by the Free Store to help out, and consequently walked away with a pair of rad boots, that only need a little mending on the sole, but that are sooooo comfortable. They’re like foot cocoons. If this sounds appealing, then you may be interested in participating during RecycleMania (an inter university competition in which recycling and waste production is monitored and compared to other universities in North America).

And if that's not enough, we are also hosting a Lunch and Learn on February 2nd, during which Brigitte will speak about the Live Waste Free pledge. You can sign up for a week if you want to try it out. Or if you like a challenge, sign up for the whole two months.

To help you along the way, Brigitte will be taking out all the pledgers to a grocery shopping trip in the market to show how easy it is to buy food without all the plastic excess (February 5th). Aaaand did I mention the prize? It’s a secret, but it’s awesome.

As you can see, recycling can be pretty exciting. Beat that Lululemon!
You can learn more about RecycleMania on our website.

~ kath - campus sustainability coordinator
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Forced to Live Waste Free for a Week

2012-01-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

Jon has proposed a one-week waste free challenge for my next post. I secretly want to refuse, but my childhood shrieks to my parents of “What about the whales!” echo in my head. Instead I ask for a guide and am provided with this: http://www.sustainable.uottawa.ca/recycling.html. Realize quickly that this guide still allows for waste and ask for clarification on ‘contaminated papers’ and dental floss. Turns out floss is a plastic (good to know) and ‘contaminated papers’, which I assume also include used tissue (cleverly polite guide!), are compost.

Realize the location of my city-issued compost bin is unknown to me. Decide that starting a waste free challenge at 11pm on a Sunday is not ideal as it would mean riffling through my garage in -20 to find my green bin. Also, procrastination is fun. And the week always starts on a Monday, right?

Commit to waste free week. Starting tomorrow.

Day 1: Have decided to approach my waste free week by going on the offensive. If I don’t create waste then I don’t have to worry about disposing of it in a non-wasteful way. Seriously consider bringing back the handkerchief, and then contemplate consequences. The battle between my germaphobia and environmental aspirations has begun.

My plan immediately fails when I eat a banana for breakfast and realize I must compost the peel.

I learn the location of my green bin. It is buried under a heap of my brother’s car tools and spare parts, and was most certainly never going to be at risk of being used. The sticker announcing the start of the green bin program reminds me that I’ve had this bin for two years. I emerge from the garage coated in car grease and bleeding quite liberally from one hand, but I am now able to ethically dispose of my banana peel.

Soaked through first band-aid quite quickly. Re-applied, but am left with soiled band-aid that I must dispose of ethically. Google is useless. It is beyond useless, as it is telling me band-aids are 100% waste. Jon has said waste does not exist for me for the next 7 days. I ~~hope~~ wonder if there is a flaw in waste-free week. I do what any sensible person can do while clutching a soiled bandage and staring at the three bins that are my only options. I tweet @uottawasustain and ask them what to do. I wait. I find out I have posed an excellent question, and that it has been kicked upstairs to the ‘waste specialist’. I go on with my day, leaving the soiled bandage to its fate on the counter. I later receive another reply. I must take apart the band-aid and separate the cotton from the plastic. Oh waste-free week, you are disgusting.

Go to Second Cup with a friend, and without thinking order myself a tea. I remember to order my tea to stay in. I think to myself "I don’t have to bring this cup home and compost it as a contaminated paper". I feel proud of myself. I am getting the hang of this. As the barrista hands me my mug of tea, I stared down at the teabag inside and realize what I’ve done. When we leave, I sigh deeply and pick up the tea bag, wrapping it in a (soon to be composted as well) napkin. It quickly soaks through. I must wring out the tea bag and napkin, wrap it up again, and, while fighting the urge to wave awkwardly and inform the cafe that there is nothing to see here, drop the damp tea bag into my coat pocket. I spend my 40 minute bus ride home hoping the tea does not soak through. When I go to dispose of the tea bag, after identifying it’s various components (string, tab, and leaves in compost, bag in plastic) the whole thing explodes all over the kitchen floor.

Accidental garbage use and subsequent retrieval: 3

Day 2: Have not left house. All recycling and composting needs are at my fingertips. I am rocking my waste-free week today.

One dilemma: is the packaging of a Knorr Sidekicks contaminated paper or plastic? Mission to eat foods packaged in easily recyclable containers fails on its first night.

Accidental garbage use and subsequent retrieval: 0

Day 3: Plan to hide at home with my recycling and composting bins was so successful yesterday that I am doing it again. Incidentally, overall life productivity has gone up now that I no longer feel like popping off to a café for tea.

Jon has taken issue with my hide-from-the-challenge plan. He wants me to go out and try to find only recyclable products to use while on the go. I explain the failed incident of the tea bag. He suggests guerilla composting.

Guerilla composting is the idea that since it will all decompose anyway, one can merely ‘compost’ in a discreet location outdoors, such as a bush.

It occurs to me: I DIDN’T NEED TO CARRY A WET TEA BAG HOME IN MY POCKET.
Waste-free week is laughing at me. I can hear it.

Accidental garbage use and subsequent retrieval: 1

Day 4: Plan to safely survive waste-free week by hiding in my house has been foiled by work. Thankfully I left the house prepared—with a bag to carry home my compost and recycling, thus sparing my pocket further humiliation. Said bag also made me the subject of ridicule among my co-workers, who helpfully suggested I just throw my stuff out at the store instead of taking it home, and then stared in shock as I explained waste-free week to them. Shock, ridicule, and incomprehension being the top three responses to this project; support comes in at a very distant fourth.

It is with great relief that I headed home to the comfort of my compost bin and handy recycling box.

Tomorrow will be a long day away from home, but it’s ok. I have a baggy now.

Accidental garbage use and subsequent retrieval: 1

Day 5: Did not need to use baggy today. Instead, I first convinced my friend to take up composting again, and then I got her started by sending her home with my muffin wrap and some damp paper towel.

Remembered not to order tea at all today, and found out that the World Exchange Plaza has a bin for organic and biodegradable waste. It’s the small things that make me want to weep less.

I am getting the hang of this.

But then came the arrival of a book, helpfully packaged in paper and bubble wrap, all glued together. I figured, no worries, I shall play this out Band-Aid style. Of course, I should have known: why would waste-free week let me off that easy?

It wouldn’t, is what.

My counter is now covered in tiny pieces of plastic and paper. I am desperately searching for yet another corner that I can attempt to pull from. I have none. Feel like complete environmental disaster. The whales will have to go on without my help. I don’t have the nails for ethical living!

I refuse to give up to an envelope. Instead, I throw the whole thing into the recycling bin. If someone wants to prove the outer layer wasn’t plastic, they are welcome to rip it to shreds themselves.

Accidental garbage use and subsequent retrieval: 0 (Hahahahahahaha!)

Days 6 and 7: Didn’t leave house (proven method). When waste-free week came to an end quietly on Sunday night, I considered celebrating with a shower of glitter. Realized I would have to clean up glitter afterwards (impossible) and abandoned plan. Also, is glitter recyclable?

Day 1 after waste-free week: Still composting and recycling like I can’t throw stuff out. The past week was painful, but I’ve got some great new habits to be proud of.

~ eleni - associate editor, ottawa arts review

photo credit: jonathan rausseo

Plastic Island

2012-01-25T18:01:00.000-05:00

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s a massive floating plastic island of sustainability!

It has been a while since I have graced this blog with my presence- my apologies, hopefully I can make it up to you (or at least to my boss).

A while ago I wrote about my Enviro class that did a mock Conference of Parties on Climate Change and mentioned that my group represented the Maldives, a small island nation that is well… doomed, in short. The inhabitants are already experiencing frequent flooding in most areas, the reserves of fresh water are dwindling and severe climatic events, etc. The result will be a population of climate refugees that will seek somewhere to go in the near future (the island is expected to be the first nation made uninhabitable by climate change because on average the elevation is only 1.5m above sea level).

Our group came up with multiple solutions but my personal favourite was built off the idea that they could buy new real estate in another country and move their nation and population there, which would undoubtedly cause much social upheaval but potentially be easier in terms of maintaining identity if the civilization was adequately kept intact. I’m no sociologist, anthropologist, etc. but it makes sense to me anyways… other than the issue of finding some real estate. Who the heck would be up for giving a piece of their land away, in spite of how sparsely populated or much money they received?

Solution! I am not sure how legit this is but a Netherlands architecture group has this scheme to create an island out of all that plastic floating around in the ocean. My non-ENV/GEG friends can learn about this astounding floating gyre of plastic here. WHIM architecture suggests the development of this plastic into an island in the North Pacific Gyre, north-east of Hawaii and has achieved a grant for research.

Intriguing, if it works maybe it could house them Maldivians I got so worked up over last semester. I kind of think that we might have to beef up our plastics recycling program if this is going to work.

See plastic island proposal.

~merissa - campus sustainability coordinator
photo credit - http://www.protothema.gr

The Year of the Green Volunteer?

2012-01-21T18:57:00.000-05:00

I want to make a bold statement and hopefully back it up with some observations. I think that not only is volunteering becoming more and more popular, but also that volunteering will help you succeed in life. Not only does it make you a better person, but it makes the University a better place. So why it is so hard to have a good volunteer experience.

Over the past few days I have giving a couple of presentations about sustainability in various courses on campus. I have delivered presentations to a Natural Resources Management course and two introductions to Environment and Society courses (one in English and one in French). I have another course scheduled next week for Corporate Social Responsibility and last semester I presented to some environmental sciences and environmental studies courses.

So why do I go and present in all these courses? Sure I sometimes like hearing my own voice, but the true reason I do it is harvest volunteers. My first year here on campus I had about one or two people come by and ask if there was some volunteer work they could do and I had 8 students do some community service work for me. In this past week, I have had over 20 students ask about volunteer work and I have approximately 400 students doing community service work with the Office. This is quite a difference.

Check out this video and you will get an idea of how uOttawa is trying to focus on community service learning. There are a lot of good reasons why the University would want to do this.

Everyone thinks that university is too theoretical and not practical enough... so volunteering gives real world experience.
University is sometimes really boring so it takes other interesting stuff (like volunteering in something you believe in) to keep you from losing your mind
People who have volunteer experience have a better chance of getting a job than someone who has no experience
Every time someone does volunteer work on behalf of uOttawa, the University's reputation grows.

So if you were the University, wouldn't you try to get more students volunteering?

I also want to bring up the example of We Canada, an environmental organization that is working to raise awareness about the Earth Summit in June. Recently the organization posted a volunteer opportunity for an executive assistant. This volunteer position was full-time and completely unpaid. And if you can believe this, there were dozens of amazing applicants chomping at the bit to get this job. And if you had to ask me why this was the case, I would sum up my response to just one word... experience.

In the past I have blogged about the Living Laboratory project that we are working on. But now the Office of Campus Sustainability is working on creating a new Volunteer Experience program. What we want to create is a something where any person can come and volunteer for us and instantly recognize the impact that they are having. Our hope is to create a program where you can get as involved as you want and never feel that your efforts are being wasted. You should always be recognized and never feel like you are just a number.

Here is a quick photo of our volunteer matrix grid. It shows how we would like the journey of each volunteer to be a meaningful one. We haven't figured out all the kinks yet and we need your help to make the best volunteer program on campus.We would be honoured if you could make sure that we are keeping to our goals, call us on our mistakes, and help us when we are struggling. And in return, we will make sure you get the most out of your volunteer experience.

-jon - campus sustainability manager
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Hi I'm New Here... So How Do I Be Green?

2012-01-19T17:08:00.000-05:00

I enlisted in Katimavik hoping to get in right away, but I found out in July that I was on the dreaded 'waiting list'. I figured that was it; I’ll have to try again next time. And then, one day in august I decided to check my emails and found out that I got accepted into Katimavik's eco-citizenship and active life-styles. I quickly went from being so excited to being very nervous. I started thinking that I don’t know anything about being an eco-citizen! What if they judge me for not doing this "green stuff" back at home and not knowing everything about everything when it comes to the environment? When I finally calmed down (stopped thinking of the negative things) I thought well maybe I’ll learn... maybe this is something that I could bring back to my community and make a small difference.

Honestly back in Prince Albert Saskatchewan there is not a whole lot of recycling or composting so most things go right to the garbage (or even, right on the ground). Since I have been here (I just got to Ottawa two weeks ago) I realise how wrong that is and how we could do so much more with almost the same effort. And now I know for sure that we will be making a big difference to help our environment.

Now I am thinking to myself that I don’t just want to only do this for 6 moths and forget about it, I want to take this life-style back home... and not just for myself but everyone around me. Now the question is how will I do this! Well that's what I am here for; to lean as much as I can and bring my new thoughts and experiences back home.

~ lia - katimaviktim (guest blogger)

photo credit - jonathan rausseo

The Second Most Sustainable Campus in Canada

2012-01-18T11:50:00.000-05:00

There is a very famous advertising campaign that was created by Avis back in the 90s that still makes me laugh to this day. It is the "We're Number Two" campaign, celebrating the fact that Avis had become the number two provider of car rental services in the U.S. The marketing team knew that being number two wasn't as good as being number one.... but that didn't stop them. The commercials they produced showed an ecstatic group of people waving flags sporting the number two while popping bottles of Champaign. In the commercials, there were people passing out from the shear excitement of being number two. They were celebrating like it was nobody's business.

That was basically what happened at our office last week. The UI GreenMetric World University Rankings for 2011 came out and the University of Ottawa was ranked number 2 in Canada and number 15 in the world. PARTY TIME!!!! And just so you know what the GreenMetric rankings are all about, "the aim of this ranking is to provide the result of online survey regarding the current condition and policies related to Green Campus and Sustainability in the Universities all over the world."

The overall Canadian leader was York University, who scored 7245.76. The University of Ottawa was narrowly edged out with a score of 7241.23 (a difference of 0.0625% - a photo finish). There were four other Canadian universities that made the top 178, including Sherbrooke (21), Laval (51), Simon Fraiser (54), and Acadia (118).

The enthusiasm of the Office actually spilled out into the digital streets, so to speak. For four hours last week, @uOttawaSustain (our Twitter handle) was the number one trending topic in all of Ottawa. We were more popular than #Harper, #Ottawa, #Sens, #StuntManStu, etc...

Most of the buzz was actually generated by two people; a uOttawa employee (Marc-Andre Gougeon), and an alumni (Celeste Cote). Their tweets were picked up by everybody else and the word spread quickly.

So this is the part where I thank each and every one of you for helping make this happen, and seriously you deserve it. Sustainability is not one person in an office working on projects; it is a community of people working together to do the right thing. Sustainability is not a one-off choice to recycle a can or a bottle; it is a lifestyle change to systematically make an ethical choice as opposed to a selfish one. And so I thank every person in the University of Ottawa community for making this possible. So go ahead, pop the cork, colour your face green, paint a number two on the side of the car, and start celebrating.... We're Number Two!!!!!!!!!

~jon - campus sustainability manager
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Eco-Campus Campaigning

2012-01-15T19:19:00.000-05:00

Creating a greener campus takes a lot of work, and for the University of Ottawa, that has meant a lot of green campaigns. With elections coming back, it’s time to take a look back at previous green campaigns—and who's been helping push them through.

The bike co-op came into effect after passing through a referendum in February 2010, creating a space on campus for bike enthusiasts to hang out, swap stories, and help each other with repairs, and also encourages and helps new cyclists.

The U-Pass, a not-uncontroversial issue, has passed through two referendums to offer cheaper bus fare on OC Transpo to students, getting a few more cars off the roads and helping make travel more affordable for students living in the city.

The Green Fund, another referendum measure, added a $2 fee to each student’s tuition in order to create a financing source for green projects on campus. The money helped set up the Sustainability Centre, and supports green initiatives in campus clubs and organizations.

The ban on selling bottled water came into effect in 2010, a year after the first national Bottle Water Free Day on March 11th. In part, it reduces waste on campus, and it also makes healthy tap water a priority for all students.

And the move towards a fair trade campus is underway with the help of Engineers Without Borders and Fair Trade Canada, with Café Alt leading as an example.

So who’s been helping these campaigns along? Two candidates who were involved with a lot of these initiatives were Ted Horton and Sarah Jayne King. Both did excellent community outreach over the issues and intensive research into the initiatives, especially a bottle water free campus and a U-Pass. They also both got re-elected.

Supporting bike initiatives on campus was part of Danika Brisson’s campaigns, which saw her elected to the SFUO twice. Not to mention her involvement with OPIRG.

In 2007, Dean Haldenby started talking about a U-Pass, and over two elections went from VP Finance to President.

And Seamus Wolfe, who’s enjoyed an almost infamous career with the SFUO, was elected to office three times, campaigning on numerous issues, including a Sustainability Centre.

This year, Amy Hammett’s running for re-election, having successfully won as VP Student Affairs in last year’s election with issues like the Sustainability Centre and the bottled water ban.

So I’m intrigued. What’s this year going to bring?

There’s an Environmental Charter of Rights for campus in the works, one of the first to guarantee rights to all parties involved. It seeks to prevent serious environmental harm by any persons or organization on campus, and guarantees a healthier campus by doing things like preserving green space. It also promotes a more transparent process of environmental planning on campus and encourages public participation.

Far be it for me to suggest anything to this year’s candidates…but they might want to have a look at this, since while having a green campaign won’t guarantee you victory, it’s worked for everyone else.

Leni - associate editor of the Ottawa Arts Review (guest blogger)
photo credit - jonathan rausseo

Take Baby Steps.... and then recycle them!

2012-01-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

About 6 months ago we posted about how the Office of Campus Sustainability and the Gee Gees are working together to recycle running shoes for the renewal of the Matt Anthony sports field. A couple of weeks after we posted the blog, the first shipment of shoes was sent out to find a second life.

Well, I am here to report to you that the second shipment was sent out just two days ago. I thought it was important to follow up on this story because I personally hate when projects get started and you never hear about them again. It sucks when a program like this is just done once and when all the cameras are gone... it dies. That's not how we like to operate here.

And apparently, neither do you. This second shipment contained hundreds of pairs of shoes; the donations keep rolling in!. I think that there might have even been more shoes this time then there were in the first shipment. The company was more than happy to accept this second round. And just in case you had forgotten what we use these shoes for, they are recycled to create rubber granules to pad the field.

You can find out more at the Field Turf website. Thanks again everyone for giving us your shoes... the shoes raise quite a stink, but we never will. Don't forget, RecycleMania is just around the corner and if you have a pair of shoes that have seen better days, you can donate them to the cause at either of the gyms on campus.

~jON

Something Cool To Do During Reading Week

2012-01-05T14:54:00.000-05:00

Photo credit: jonathan rausseo

How would you like to help the environment, earn credentials, and learn some professional skills all in one week?
The Centre for Global and Community Engagement (CGCS) recently approached our office with an interesting proposal, alternative study breaks. In short, take a student's boring reading week and turn it into an amazing learning experience with the end goal of making the campus more sustainable.

In case you don't know who CGCE is, they are the group that operates the Community Service Learning program (you know... volunteer as part of your course work). They also run the co-curricular record and are basically a one-stop shop for volunteering on campus.

So in the last little while, the CGCE got a lot of questions from students asking if there were more intense volunteering opportunities (you know.... a lot of intense volunteering in a short period of time). Then the idea was floated to do this during the reading week because there are tonnes of students who don't have anywhere to go or who have community service hours to fill. The cogs starting turning and thus the Alternative Study Breaks were born!

The concept is simple; you and a group of volunteers are brought together with a community partner to work on a project. Over the course of one week you receive training, do some hands on work, and work on reflection pieces to reinforce your learning capacity. This all happens during 5 full days (at least 8 hours a day... not for the faint of heart).

So here at the Office of Campus Sustainability we decided that our project would be to construct our RecycleMania displays on campus. In the past we have built cup towers, garbage bag traffic jams, and cardboard box building blocks (here are some pictures from years past). This year we a re putting the creative control and construction of the displays in the hands of our Alternative Study Break Students.

We got so excited about his prospect that we ripped off the University's marketing campaign so we could promote the opportunity. For more information about the program, please visit the website.

~jon

Sustainable Families

2012-01-04T14:36:00.000-05:00

Photo: jonathan rausseo

Happy New Year dear sustainabilitree friends! I hope you all enjoyed the two weeks off from school and enjoyed the snow! On my part, I was with my huge family in the Eastern Townships where 21 people squeezed into one country house for a week. Some would call it hell; others would say it’s sustainable. For that one week, we produced so much body heat, we had to turn the furnace down and only needed a cosy fire in the hearth in the living room after rolling in the snow. We all received wool socks and warm sweaters in our stocking anyways, so we might as well use them! Furthermore, we sure did lay off the interwebs, as there is no WIFI out there and a smartphone’s screen is small enough to write any email or Facebook stalk… painful.

Also, everything is so far away that we just had to make do with what we had in the house, so gift bags were re-gifted, broken ornaments fixed and the food re-heated. Speaking of which, there was none left. We ate it ALL. What with our daily 8 km hikes and sweaty games of trivial pursuit and talent shows, we had to sustain ourselves. The men in the family were the best at making a 10-layer sandwich with turkey, ham, gravy, stuffing, chilli, rice, tomatoes and cheese. Oh and did I mention pie and fruit cake?

All in all, I believe we did our share to greenify our holidays with our turkeys raised by my aunt and our “leave no food behind” motto. Enough about me, what did you do over the holidays?

~kath

Mes fameux petits gâteaux ( végétaliens ! )

2012-01-03T09:05:00.000-05:00

Dans l’esprit de la compétition RecycloManie (qui commence au début février), je vais finalement partager la recette de mes fameux petits gâteaux au chocolat et beurre d’arachides (ils sont végétaliens!). Je vais aussi vous donner des conseils afin de les faire sans produire un seul déchet (je me prépare à vivre sans déchets pour 9 semaines).

Donc, les ingrédients :

1 tasse lait soya (choisissez les sortes réfrigérés – le bouchon est presque toujours recyclable)
1 cu. thé vinaigre de pommes
3/4 tasse sucre non raffiné (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
1/3 tasse huile de canola (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
1 cu thé extrait de vanille (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
1/2 cu thé extrait d’amades, ou plus d’extrait de vanille (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
1 tasse farine à tout usage (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
1/3 tasse poudre de cacao (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
3/4 cu thé bicarbonate de sodium
1/2 cu thé poudre à pâte
1/4 cu thé sel
moules en papier pour petits gâteaux (choisissez des moules avec un emballage recyclable – http://www.ifyoucare.com/product/baking-cups)

Directives :

Préchauffé le four à 350°F et ajoute les moules en papier dans le moule à muffin.
Fouette le lait soya et vinaigre dans un grand bol et laisse cailler (1-2 minutes). Ajoute le sucre, l’huile, et les extraits à la mixture avec le lait et faire mousser.
Dans un bol séparé, tamisé la farine, cacao, poudre à pâte, bicarbonate et sel; bien mélanger.
Ajouter la mixture sèche à la mixture humide en deux ou trois parts et fouette (aucun gros mottons).
Verser dans les moules (à ¾) et cuire 19-21 minutes, jusqu’à ce qu’un cure-dents ressort propre.
Refroidir avant de glacer.

Le glaçage :

Une tasse beurre d’arachides crémeux (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
½ tasse margarine (choisissez les variétés sans pellicule de plastique ou recyclez-la sur le campus!)
2 tasses de sucre à glacer (en vrac aux épiceries organiques)
½ cu thé vanille
3 cu table de lait soya

Fouette tous les ingrédients ensembles et ajoute du lait soya pour obtenir la consistance désirée.

Bonne année et bonne chance avec vos petits gâteaux!

~brigitte

Green New Years Resolutions for Students

2012-01-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

Let me start out by saying that I hate New Years resolutions. They kind of piss me off for two big reasons. First, they are almost always vague. Lose weight, be healthier, listen to more people,... seriously? None of these actually mean anything. Second, they aren't really resolutions... most people choose things that are better classified as common sense. So this year I propose GREEN resolutions that are precise and demonstrate resolve.

1. Get a reusable mug and actually use it!
I know you have been told this like a thousand times but seriously.... get a mug and use it. I know it is tough to carry a clunky mug around with you everywhere but I am sure you can deal with it. Find a solution that works for you and go for it. You will save yourself about $20 to $50 bucks a year and you will be taking a chunk out of landfills.

2. Submit your homework electronically
It is tricky handing things in electronically. The classic argument is that their professors won't let them submit their work electronically because it hurts their eyes or something. Well from our surveys we found that there are very few profs that don't let their students do this. And if push comes to shove, you didn't hear this from me but send a letter to the dean of your faculty explaining your outrage and I think you will get some results.

3. Make an effort to recycle properly
I get it, recycling is complicated.... so many different products going to so many different places. But, this is an institution of higher education. If you can't take the time to figure out how to recycle properly what chance does the rest of society have? It only takes a minute to figure things out and if you need some help, check out our website for a recycling cheat sheet.

4. Practice your ABCs (Anything But a Car)
Admittedly this is a tougher one; not everyone has easy access to the campus. But this is also the one that can have the biggest impact on the environment and your wallet. The campus offers an avalanche of tools to get here by foot (foot patrol, pedestrian malls), by bike (bike share, bike parking, bike coop), by bus (u-pass, eco-pass), and even by car (car share, ride share, carpooling) if you have to.

5. Eat a little less meat
I would love to shock with all the facts related to eating less meat (better for your health, your wallet, and the environment) but I simply don't have enough room. I also understand that getting some people to eat less meat is like asking them to cut off a finger. So I will only ask that you try eating one less meat meal a week. The impacts are huge and it will give you something interesting to talk about with strangers (you know.... if you are into that kind of thing).

I realize that this list is pretty big. I am not saying to do all of them. Try one or two or three if you would like. Just keep in mind that making an impact for the environment is not a one-off, it takes a shift in lifestyles. One day at a time you can make the planet better!

~jON

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo

Campus Sustainability: A Year in Review

2011-12-30T10:29:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-21T16:43:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-15T11:32:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-12T14:40:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-09T17:40:00.001-05:00

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?

2011-12-07T20:54:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-12-03T21:22:00.001-05:00

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

C'est Noël, mais sans cadeaux

2011-11-29T21:49:00.001-05:00

Photo credit: www.craftypod.com

Le mois de décembre arrive bientôt, la recherche de cadeaux a probablement déjà commencée pour certains d’entre vous et est peut-être même déjà complétée pour d’autres. Offrir un présent à tous nos proches et s’assurer qu’ils l’apprécieront réellement et qu’ils s’en serviront peut s’avérer être une tâche épineuse et difficile. C’est pourquoi on voit souvent ma tante recevoir un parfum qu’elle n’utilisera jamais, grand-maman recevoir une troisième mijoteuse comprenant 2 ou 3 options quétaines de plus, notre petit-frère et ses 20 transformers/dragons/petites voitures/soldats etc. Et pour finir, papa avec son nouveau coffre d’outils complet, parce qu’il a perdu quelques tournevis dans l’ancien.

Le problème, c’est que ces articles en remplacent d’autres qui auraient encore très bien pu servir et qui n’avaient pas à être changés. De plus, la pluparts de ces bidules qu’on achète sont souvent faits à l’étranger et vendus par des firmes multinationales avec des politiques controversées.

Ce que je dis n’est pas d’arrêter complètement l’achat de biens de consommations en guise de cadeaux, mais plutôt de prendre un moment pour s’interroger sur l’utilité et la provenance du produit. Il existe aussi plusieurs alternatives souvent plus originales et probablement plus appréciées par les personnes qui les reçoivent.

Par exemple, en offrant un cadeau expérimental comme un ticket de concert, un billet pour une partie sportives, un saut de parachute, une journée dans un spa, un abonnement dans un club de tout genre, on s’assure d’encourager l’économie locale tout en faisant attention au problème de surconsommation. Et pour ceux qui sont habiles manuellement, faire son propre cadeau peut également être une bonne idée originale et même si c’est complètement inutile, le temps passé à la confection rend le cadeau plus personnel et lui apporte un aspect sentimental et unique. Enfin, si vous êtes a cour d’idées il reste toujours le bon vieux chèque qui, disons-le, est un peu ordinaire, mais très simple, vite fait et versatile.

Il existe beaucoup d’options pour montrer à nos proches que l’on tient à eux autre que des articles de cuisine ou de rénovation cheaps qui brisent après 2 semaines; il s’agit de faire preuve d’un peu de créativité.

-keven

The ECO Friendly E-mail Signature

2011-11-28T08:49:00.001-05:00

Photo Credit: Elise Jerrim

When you really get down to it, there is no end to the amount of a green geek that you can be. Case in point, I just changed my e-mail signature to an eco friendly one. How did I do this you ask.... well, let me tell you, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to formatting for the environment. What follows is a list of the common bad practices that people make when creating their e-mail signatures.

But before we get into that, I think I should mention that there are critical elements that you should always have in your email signature. So, always, always, always include your name, your title or position, and how people can contact you. That is basically all you need to have an effective signature, but to make it a green signature, avoid these common mistakes.

1. The cool picture
I have noticed a lot of people ending their signatures with punchy pictures. Although these are really cool for the people who see your signature, not everyone actually can see your picture. Here at the University of Ottawa, student email accounts are not HTML enabled (this is done to save server space). So any picture you send will end up as gibberish.
The Solution: Don't use any pictures in your signature if you can.

2. Colourful text
This was an eco-crime that I was very guilty of. I mean who doesn't like a little colour in their emails. But the thing you have to consider is that some people are going to print the email you are sending them. And if they do print the email, the colour will technically waste more resources (including money... colour copies are super expensive).
The Solution: If you want to use colours for the purpose of differentiation, use different shades of grey. This is a good idea anyways because if the e-mail is printed in black and white, you will have an idea of how the tones of grey are going to look.

3. Vertical lines (skipping lines)
Many people like to separate the information in their email by skipping lines. This does make the signature a lot cleaner but it wastes a bunch of space. Again, think of the idea that someone might print your e-mail. If you add up all those extra lines, we could be talking about hundreds, maybe thousands of pieces of paper over your lifetime.
The Solution: Use a horizontal banner. Rather than using separate lines to space out your text, use a dash or a symbol to separate your text, but do not skip lines. What you will have is a signature that takes as little space as is required.

4. Announcements
The final big thing that I want to mention is the little ads that people add to the end of their signatures. I, for instance, would always add this little line that said "Please consider the environment, don't print this e-mail". I used to think this would remind people to not print the email. In actuality it was more like a distinguishing thing that let people know that I was an environmentalist. And really, I am not sure that it made people print less paper... it did in fact make me super angry every time I saw an e-mail with no reminder.
The Solution: Don't use ads, if you have to just include a link to a website. It will likely take less space and could prompt people to actually follow the link.

Some people have asked me what font they should use to save the environment. I usually say go with Eco Font but really just don't use bold and you should save on ink. And really, that is the true secret to eco friendly signatures, just think about what would use the less amount of resources if someone where to print your e-mail. Here is my new e-mail signature just in case you were wondering.

-jON

What is your waste production’s impact on greenhouse gases? (Part 2)

2011-11-25T15:33:00.001-05:00

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo

To recap my last blog on greenhouse gases (GHG’s) and waste:

Items sent to landfill NEVER decompose, except organics;
When organics decompose in a landfill, they produce methane (20X the impact of CO2);
If you choose to compost 1 ton of organics, you will sequester 0.2 tons of CO2;
If you choose to send that ton to a landfill, you would create 0.8 tons of CO2

Now let’s talk about uOttawa’s waste production and recycling rate; what do they mean in terms of GHG’s? Do we recycle and compost enough to cover the GHG’s emitted due to waste disposal and landfilling? Before I go on, I must say that whatever the result, nothing needs to be sent to landfill if you choose the right products – nothing will ever make entombing perfectly usable ressources in a landfill reasonable (even sequestering GHG’s!).

Last year, the University sent 1082 tons of waste to the Trail rd. landfill, and 1105 tons of recyclable material (of which 98 tons were organics) to different recycling and reuse plants, programs, etc. which gives us a 51% waste diversion rate. When we plug all these values into the Environment Canada’s GHG’s Calculator for Waste Management, we get the following result (all shown in tons of CO2 equivalent values):

This means that we produced 191 tons (metric) of CO2 during waste disposal, and we sequestered 2,439 tons (metric) of CO2 through our recycling efforts. THAT IS AWESOME! Thank you for recycling! To conclude on my two blogs, recycling (and composting) is the easiest direct action you can take to impact our environment; why don’t you learn to recycle properly on campus? Click here

-brigitte

Quel est l’impact gaz à effet de serre de vos déchets? (Partie 1)

2011-11-24T11:48:00.001-05:00

Je trouve que les gens ne sont pas nécessairement conscients de l’impact qu’à leur production de déchets personnelle sur l’environnement. Oui, c’est vrai, la plus part des gens recyclent parce qu’ils ont appris que c’est la bonne chose à faire (ce qui est formidable!) et que nous épargnons beaucoup d’énergie et ressources lors de la production d’un article recyclé (bonus!).

Mais j’ai souvent le sentiment que les gens agissent comme si le « mouvement » du recyclage est un peu passé. J’utilise des exemples d’étudiants qui ne veulent plus travailler sur des initiatives de recyclage dans leurs écoles (le recyclage est une initiative des années 90’!); ou des personnes qui croient réellement que l’article qu’il ou elle recycle n’aura pas d’impact direct sur l’environnement. Ils se disent : ‘Qu’est-ce que ça fait si je ne recycle pas cette bouteille?’ Ou ‘C’est juste UNE pelure de fruit!’.

Bien, j’ai des nouvelles pour vous! Cette bouteille et cette pelure ont un impact direct sur l’environnement; si vous recyclez les articles, ils seront transformés en un autre contenant ou produit (éliminant le besoin d’extraire de nouvelles ressources, les transformés, pollué des endroits où il n’y a aucune régulation environnementale ou droits humains, et le transport sera énormément réduit). Si vous choisissez de jeter l’article à la poubelle, l’article sera transporté au dépotoir, et enterré dans un des niveaux de déchets à tout jamais; non, il ne se décompose JAMAIS! Ils ont extrait des papiers journaux des années 50’ dans le site d’enfouissement lors d’un projet d’extraction; il était en parfait état!

Le seul matériel qui se décompose est la matière organique (tel que la nourriture). Lorsque la matière organique se décompose dans un environnement en l’absence d’oxygène (anaérobique), elle produit du méthane (CH4) qui est 20X plus puissant comme gaz à effet de serre (GES) que le dioxyde de carbone (CO2)! Pour vous donner une idée de la valeur environnementale réelle (et mesurable) de l’action du compostage, à l’aide de la calculatrice GES pour la gestion des déchets (merci Environnement Canada!), pour chaque tonne de matériel organique composté au lieu d’être envoyé au site d’enfouissement, nous retirons 0.2 tonnes de CO2 de l’atmosphère (carbone est entreposé dans le sol).

Si nous envoyons cette même tonne de matière organique au site d’enfouissement au lieu de la composter, nous produisons et relâchons 0.8 tonnes de CO2 dans l’atmosphère! Composter est une action directe FACILE avec un immense impact sur l’environnement; donc, est-ce que c’est vraiment juste UNE pelure de bananes?

-brigitte

Maybe I Will Become a Snow(wo)man

2011-11-23T07:48:00.001-05:00

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo

Hi, my name is Katherine and I am a cycling addict. I bike to school/work every day of the week, rain or shine, though I much prefer the shine. During the summer, I could proudly wear my tight biking shorts, biking shirt and red helmet and zoom through the Gatineau Park like a pro.

Now that the temperature ranges between -2 and -10 (at 7 am and 6 pm), those shorts have joined my bikini and sun hat and out came the long johns and gloves. As much as I felt somewhat attractive this summer, now I feel like a duly padded snow(wo)man: I wear a breathable jacket with long johns, uber warm gloves, a wool scarf and a pink tuque. I could deal with the whole thing until I had to add a tuque under my helmet. I’m toasty warm going down les Allumettières, but I sure hope I don’t meet anyone I know.

By the time I reach campus (12 km later), I have a runny nose, a frozen tushy (and yet sweaty armpits) and only a secure bike storage standing between my hot coffee and I. But this is only the beginning of a thread of cold bike rides, though I’m debating putting my bike through slush and salt, I’d feel bad for it. I would love to be able to bike year-round as it is my downtime, work out and transportation all combined into one awesome sport! Ah, dear bicycle, I shall miss thee!

-kath

Stick that gum somewhere else!

2011-11-22T08:38:00.001-05:00

Photo Credit: www.privilegedclub.com

All of last week and most of this week, several employees at theUniversity of Ottawa have been peeling old gum off all those exam tables thatwill be placed in the gyms. That is disgusting! You mean to tell me that peoplecannot wait until they are done their exam and throw out their gum? Then someof those people complain that everything is expensive, or that there is notenough money for those things that they care about at the University…well, maybeif staff weren’t forced to waste over seven days of work to peel off everysingle piece of gum off of thousands of exam tables, these funds could be usedon those things that they care so much about!

Let’s break that down: four tofive people for over 7 days of work…about $ 6,000+. What’s worse; imagine thatyou had to spend over 50 long hours scratching at old gum on the backs of tables,or cleaning up a mess in residences (you cannot even imagine the worst ofthem)… any volunteers?

The next time you are writing an exam, and feel the need to get rid ofyour flavourless gum, just think of the person who is going to have to scratchit off. Just wrap it (in a piece of anything!) and please wait until you canthrow it out.

-brigitte

“You are the leaders of tomorrow!”

2011-11-20T14:24:00.001-05:00

My dear, old French teacher in high school would pointedly announce periodically throughout the semesters, during which he taught 15, 16 and 17 year olds. Mind you, I have another old high school teacher who recently quoted K. Vonnegut on Facebook, “True terror is to wake up and discover your high school class is running the country.” Mixed messages- but they motivated this blog.

Recently, my Environmental Approaches to Geographical Issues course had a mock United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change- the class was divided into groups and each was assigned a country to represent in a Conference of Parties to discuss possible mitigation and adaptation policies that were previously set out in a “University of Ottawa Accords 2011”. I’m sure some of you have experienced similar simulations, especially if you are in a political sciencey program of study, but this was my first “debate-style” presentation.

I want to congratulate all of the students that took part in the mock conference (and of course Prof. Jackie Dawson); a lot of work was put into researching countries and attempting to come up with feasible policies which I had not honestly expected. You know those awkward “class discussions” where the prof generally has to spur conversation and usually only one or two students contribute at all or the contributions are not really relevant at all? Well, this mock debate gave me faith in our “future leaders”. Some students in the course have actually attended some UNFCC/similar conferences and really knew their stuff; others clearly researched their countries and got into character. There were some tense moments and I think I can speak for the entire class and say that we now have an appreciation for the difficulty in decision-making especially concerning such a complex subject as climate change.

If you were wondering what sort of policies we discussed:

The reduction of GHG emissions (much debate on the %, baseline year, annex 1 vs annex 2 requirements, and the associate tariffs per tonne overage)
Whether countries reliant on oil production as a main source of economic income or growth should be exempt from these regulations (created quite an outcry from most countries)
Policies regarding Cap and Trade global emissions trading systems
Clean Development Mechanisms as a means to promote transfer of technology from Annex 1 countries to Annex 2 countries
Developing climate refugee immigration programs
Adaptation Fund allocation and those able to claim from it discussion and negotiation

As a representative of the Maldives, the small islands country that will be the first to experience major effects of sea level rise—we were adamant about the last two points in particular. I am kind of thankful now for the whole process. I think that it is important that as students, we get the chance to be a part of these kinds of discussions and to walk in another person's shoes.

-meriss.

The Sustainabilitree

David Lululemon Suzuki vs. Waste Free

Forced to Live Waste Free for a Week

Plastic Island

The Year of the Green Volunteer?

Hi I'm New Here... So How Do I Be Green?

The Second Most Sustainable Campus in Canada

Eco-Campus Campaigning

Take Baby Steps.... and then recycle them!

Something Cool To Do During Reading Week

Sustainable Families

Mes fameux petits gâteaux ( végétaliens ! )

Green New Years Resolutions for Students

Campus Sustainability: A Year in Review

I'll Have a Coke+ With That!

Confessions of a Disgruntled Mind

Giftable Apps for a Green Holiday

Recto et verso!

No Seriously... how cool is this?

X-mas spirit, sustainability style!

C'est Noël, mais sans cadeaux

The ECO Friendly E-mail Signature

What is your waste production’s impact on greenhouse gases? (Part 2)

Quel est l’impact gaz à effet de serre de vos déchets? (Partie 1)

Maybe I Will Become a Snow(wo)man

Stick that gum somewhere else!

“You are the leaders of tomorrow!”

Des jeunes qui ont choisi de vivre sans déchets pour un an? | Youth choosing to live waste free for a year?

Trick or Eat

SUDCOM... the geek out edition

Back When I was a Kid, Halloween was Waste Free !!!

The Hidden Life of Disposable Cups

Ce ne sont pas des ordures!

You like recycling? How Do You Like Dems RECYCLING?

Biologique ou Locale? What's Better?

A Tree is NOT a F*#@king Post !!!!

Occupy uOttawa?

My phone? Which one?

Where on earth did my Veggie Chilli come from?

Matinée caféinée

“45.4257, -75.6873”

Accessibility.... have I got a story for you!

The Singing Wall

Sew Little Time

Freshly Frozen: Eating Well on a Student Budget

NO! We don’t compost here.

Putting the Mug in Mondays

Biodiversity Zone: uOttawa

EcoEquitable

Is It Realistic To Ban Cars On Campus?

A, B, ZZZZ

I Liked Planning a Garden

The FREE STORE Has Entered The Building

Thank You Housing Services!

Top 5… Recettes de pommes | Apple Recipes

play, live, love, RECYCLE, sports

Live Simply.

Pour une rentrée durable…

What Goes Around, Comes Around

Imagine a Cube of Water...

Environmental initiatives at Mont Tremblant

Water Under the Bridge

Mind the Gap

Petit don va loin…

De quoi faire de mon monstre?

School Time Approacheth!

Have you heard? Green is the new black

Out with the Old and in with the 2.0

Top 5… Restaurants végétariens | Vegetarian Restaurants

“Where are we?” - Don’t worry people, I’m a Geographer!

Fifty-Three Feet and Counting

Before we continue I should tell you... I am making a green guide

The Misunderstood STARS

Top 5… Greatest Eco-heroes of all time

One Small Step for the Campus...

Why Mr Beetle? I love my cucumbers just the way they are

Top 5… Sustainable things to do on a date / Rendez-vous verts

Bus Tickets Now Available in Hipster Purple

REDUCE, REUSE and then Recycle

Put That Hemp Away, Just Recycle Instead