Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo Have you ever been involved in planning an event? Make that a large event and on campus. The amount of effort that goes into it is amazing, especially if the planners are trying to be “green”. Early this year, I attended the Sustainable Business Conference and although I was not around for the planning of the event, I was able to see the results of what I imagine to be many sleepless nights- all sacrificed in the name of being “green”. From the choice of food served at events to the selection of speakers, every decision made while planning an event has some sort of environmental consequence. It may be the decision to order from local caterers that are committed to local and organic produce or to hold teleconferences rather than have speakers travel far distances. Planning an event is stressful enough without contemplating the environmental consequences of every little decision, so I’m working on a “Green Guide” that will hopefully make this easier for pla...

Photo Credit: Jonathan Rausseo As Jon has already pointed out, we are on the final stretch of the STARS project. I know so much about STARS that it is slowly seeping out of my ears. In hopes of minimizing the seeping, I plug my earphones in, make myself a nice playlist on Grooveshark (Kat's STARS playlist) and plough through all the credits. And we are being quite efficient, if I may say so myself. En route, nous avons rencontré plusieurs pépins : personnes ressources en vacances, courriels et suivis oubliés/ignorés/brulés/disparus de façon suspecte, rendez-vous annulés, pages web contenant des infos datant de l’âge des hommes des cavernes. Malgré tout, nous nous sommes débrouillés à coups de téléphone, surtout. C’est solide, un téléphone! Mais aussi à l’aide de connaissances et de recherches ardues. The worst part was surprisingly not the slow if not absent feedback. It was often the fact that nobody seems to know what the heck STARS is. I understand, it’s an avant-garde thing f...

This list was taken from a 2006 article featured in the Guardian.UK Photo Credit: come on, this image is like everywhere 5. James Lovelock (1919-), Biologist Best known for his Gaia theory, which says the Earth's biosphere works as a single living organism, able to manipulate the climate and chemistry of the atmosphere and the oceans to keep them fit for life. The idea was hugely influential among fellow scientists and environmentalists, and religious and spiritual thinkers. An ex-Nasa scientist, his work on the Viking Mars missions sparked an interest in the way planets function. 4. David Attenborough (1926-), TV naturalist The voice of wildlife, conservation and all things that wriggle, fly and roam across planet Earth, Sir David is still going strong. His programs have brought the natural world into the living rooms of millions over 50 years and his contribution to public awareness of natural science brought him a fellowship of the Royal Society. 3. Jonathon Porritt (1950-), G...

So I have spent this last week working with Katherine on our STARS survey. We are in the home stretch with only a couple of more days left before we report and things are getting tense. I mean in reality I can't take any credit at all for the work done to date, it has all been Katherine's doing... but I still can't help but feel a small tinge of excitement. Now I can't speak to how well we are going to do on the survey. Frankly, I would be happy just to cross the line at this point. But doing this STARS thing has really given us a good look at all the things we could be doing on this campus to make ourselves greener and more equitable. Take our course offerings for example. The STARS survey accords points to institutions that have sustainability related courses, undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, and special programs. Points are even offered if your institution provides incentives to do research in sustainability. I think we still have a long way to go...

Photo credit: Embracing Bevin There’s something lurking in the Community Garden at uOttawa; a ferocious beast of the sort that haunts my nightmares (which could be due to my deep seeded fears of creepy crawlers but that’s beyond the point). Meet Mr. Cucumber Beetle, adorned in green and black stripes with a monstrous appetite for cucumber (obviously), squash, zucchini, beans and pumpkins. Mr. Cucumber Beetle has taken it upon himself and his minions (larvae) to devour all of Brigitte’s zucchini. Brigitte has slaved over her garden all season in all weather (most notably the recent 47 degree-heat-stroke-inducing-deathly weather) in hopes that she would be awarded with delicious veggies. So, when the day came that she noticed her zucchini was being munched on she was distraught and closely inspected her plot, noticing Mr. Cucumber Beetle. Being a lovely and environmentally conscious person, Brigitte attempted to remove the beetles using natural alternatives to pesticides including a home...

Photo credit: http://www.armengames.webs.com 5. Treasure hunting on garbage day. Go for a late night walk through fancy neighborhoods and see what you can find! Chase au trésor le soir des poubelles. Promenez-vous dans les quartiers chis de la ville et voyez ce que vous pouvez y trouver! 4. Kayak or canoe the Rideau Canal from the docks at Dow’s Lake where you can rent them. Check out the duck pond while you are on the water. It’s quite a sight. Allez en kayak ou en canot sur le canal Rideau à partir des quais du lac Dow. Si vous avez la chance, passez par le petit étang des canards. 3. Go on a Bike ride on the Trans-canadian along the Ottawa River or try its sister trail in Gatineau. Why not stop for a picnic by the rapids on Bate Island while you’re at it? Faites une promenade en vélo sur la transcanadienne d’un côté ou de l’autre de la rivière des Outaouais. Tant que vous y êtes, pourquoi ne pas faire un pique-nique sur l’île Bate près des rapides? 2. Board a random bus and go on a...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo There is an old hipster adage, "if you want to sell something, put a bird on it". The idea being that hipsters love birds and so if you put a bird on it, they will buy it in droves. I kind of think that this is what OC Transpo had in mind with their new "hipster purple" bus tickets. Seriously though, last year it could be argued that the U-pass saved transit for the City of Ottawa. Ridership was down after the strike and a fresh injection of the "youthful" variety has really helped out. Carleton University turned out to be the big winner with a huge increase in ridership. Anyways, when the U-pass was brought back to council this year for renewal, there was a resounding yes from the transit committee and the program was re-implemented at the same price of $145 per semester (this is not at anyone's expense, this is simply because the program is revenue neutral so the addition of thousands of more students to both institutio...

Photo Credit: Jonathan Rausseo As a child, this message was ingrained in my brain from the time I was able to understand what a blue box was for and to this day it has been repeated over and over, especially since I began my job here at the Sustainability Office on Campus. However, it has taken on a different meaning than when I was a child because I am no longer focused on which bin should my juice carton go in, in fact, I am not focused as much on recycling at all. It started way back during Recycle Mania when our Waste Diversion Coordinator decided to go waste free for the entirety of the competition. This brought up some important messages from previous courses including “life cycle analysis” which focuses on the environmental impact from the creation to the disposal of a product. Brigitte was concerned about the end point of her products, where her waste would go and how she could REDUCE her impact. After trying waste free for a week and picking up the book “No Impact Man” by Coli...

Photo credit: uOttawa After spending a week in bed recovering from a nasty kidney infection (watching bad Ashton Kutcher movies, reading and sleeping) I am back at work! Of course, drinking enough water to become PRS’ very own Niagara Falls and begging for kidney rubs from my chair (a lazy boy would certainly optimise productivity). Anyhow, once at my desk, comfortably seated with water, the first step was answering a gazillion emails and step 2 was scheduling meetings to get this STARS business done with! Now, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love meeting new people and learning awesome facts about the university campus. But I’m still on the road of recovery here; I walk as fast as a turtle and the highlight of my day is going back to bed. Last Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Zlotorzynski, a very friendly Environmental Health & Safety Officer in Gendron. As I came into his office, I shot out a joyful “Good morning Mr. Zloto….sky… ANDREW”. Fun fact is that the only oth...

Photo Credit: Jonathan Rausseo I just got this letter from our partners at LOOP TECHNOLOGIES. They were the group that helped u s with our new Sports Field; specifically, making sure that there is a hefty does of sustainability involved. I thought that I would share it with you. The depths to which they are willing to go to make sure that we made the best choice for the environment are ... well they are simply fantastic. "We want to share some interesting sustainability information with you regarding the Matt Anthony Field Replacement project. L.M.L chose to ship the new turf rolls from Atlanta, Georgia to Montreal, Quebec via rail, rather than truck. Using standard emissions factors produced by the US EPA, we can estimate the CO2 emissions of various methods of freight transportation. We used the following assumptions to determine the approximate CO2 produced for both rail and truck transportation: Assumptions: Freight Distance (truck or rail): 1,200 miles (1,920 kms) Weight of...

And I blame humans. We started this war and Mother Nature is finishing it; playing dirty to get even with us. I like to believe I am a healthy individual. I eat properly, exercise daily and generally speaking take care of myself. It does not matter how many vegetables I eat or how many kilometers I run a day because dearest Mother Nature has launched a vendetta against me and my fellow humans. She’s hitting below the belt, attacking where it hurts most and frankly, I’m sick of it. Literally. Today, I realized that many of the things that are physically wrong with me have some sort of link to my environment. Sure, maybe I was simply reflecting fondly on my environmental epidemiological paper I wrote last semester for Health Geography, but still. From Kawasaki Syndrome to my sucky kidneys that I have been struggling with since having E coli last summer- I can attribute most anything to my environment (thanks presumably to heavy cleaning chemicals and barn animal feces in my drinking wate...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo I recently got into a conversation about the quality of food on campus with a colleague. I know that I was defending a losing battle but I do want to mention a couple of highlights... or milestones. The campus has become a bottled water free place. I know this seems like a water issue but it is related to food. Increasing the number of fountains on campus does in fact increase access to water. No word yet though as to whether people are buying more unhealthy things (like soft drinks) instead. We are experimenting with mobile food. This year marked the arrival of the Soup Truck on campus. Yummy local, organic treats located halfway between classes. Easily one of my favourite things. More interesting food options. I don't just mean the addition of Quiznos and Bento Sushi, but even in the Café Écolo there was a nice change of pace with local artisan bread for the sandwiches. The continuation of the community gardens on campus. This year we have found a m...

Photo Credit: Jonathan Rausseo Normative behaviour is a very strange beast. It is perhaps even the ‘holy grail’ of environmental psychology. It is thought that with the right strategy, normative behavior could save the planet. Dramatic pause….. Okay, maybe this statement means nothing to you right now but give me a moment and maybe I can give this statement some impact. First we need to lay out some ground rules; some guiding principles that will help us move through this conversation quicker. You will have to take these on faith but feel free to explore them in detail later. Everyone just wants to belong. Maybe not to the mainstream, but to something that’s for sure. There are very few actual loners. Most people may actually associate some form of subculture. Think about it; geeks hang out with geeks, jocks hang out with jocks, goth hang out with goth, and gleeks hang out with gleeks. All this is not to say that there isn’t inter-click mixing, In the absence of direct peers, people wi...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo This isn't a long post and it is certainly a message that you have heard before.... but.... please remember to bring your water bottle with you when you are headed outdoors, especially for things like festivals. Tonight I am headed out to Bluesfest and I will be packing my trusty water canteen with me. Now if you have been to any festivals in Ottawa lately you will certainly be familiar with the WATER STATIONS that are popping up like weeds (I guess they are well watered- hahahaha... oh... I am lame). I really like these stations because they are really reminding people to bring your bottle or suffer the consequences. I know this is a tough habit to pick up; after all, people like to travel light at these events. But water canteens are really more like a necessity now. Better to bring the bottle than be stuck with paying $4 for bottled water. Trust me, you will be happier buying a CD or a t-shirt from your favourite band. -jon http://thesustainabilitr...