A summary of my first month living waste free: To sum up, I have pledged to live waste-free for nine weeks (from January 29th to March 31st) in the spirit of RecycleMania – and just to show that it is possible! What I mean by waste-free is that I will not be sending anything to landfill; I will be recycling, composting, and using my reusable containers! I have been waste-free for about a month now, and am finding it even easier that last year – now that the University recycles all forms of plastics! I am planning all my meals ahead of time, making all my own foods from scratch, and buying ingredients by bulk in jars and reusable containers. The first interesting experience I had was during my visit to the dentist. I hadn’t been in a few years, and forgot just how much waste they produce for a simple check-up: a disposable plastic ‘bib’ to protect my clothes, disposable plastic floss, a disposable cloth to wipe my face (wrapped in plastic), and a disposable plastic cup to rinse m...

Last semester, Sustainable SFUO made the decision to start hosting a Farmer’s Market inside UCU. There are a couple of reasons why this goes down as a solid bit of decision-making: supporting local vendors and farmers, promoting local and homegrown foods, and putting some fresh and healthy food into the hands of students. As Caroline Wall, a student at the University of Ottawa, states, “The quality at a farmer’s market is obviously going to be better, and you get to actually meet the person who made or cultivated [the food]”. However, the most important reason is probably this: it made Farmer’s Markets accessible to students. Of course, the Byward Market isn’t that far away, and it stands to reason most students could just amble over a couple of blocks and, through most months of the year, have access to all that fresh and local food that tastes so damn yummy. “If it’s accessible by bicycle or bus, I’m willing to go,” says Wall, and the market she most routinely visits is L...

If you have ever wondered where all the waste comes form on campus (who am I kidding, I am sure you probably haven't) ask no longer, the answer is essentially the UCU. Our long awaited Campus Sustainability Annual Report is ready to be posted, the final details are just being ironed out. A couple of months ago I said that I would keep you posted about the development of this year's report. We took a new approach this time and crammed out report full of interesting infographics for your visual consumption. Today I would like to highlight one of our waste infographics? This graphic actually tells us a lot about the production of waste on campus. First, let me say that the information represented here focuses mainly on the typical commercial waste on campus (the kind of things you would find in recycling centres and small garbage bins - not things like refrigerators or large pieces of furniture). Each square corresponds to the quantity of waste...

WARNING: this blog may offend some that invest time and energy into Valentine’s Day and realize that they are killing the planet after reading. Enjoy! I get that I am probably too late with this blog post to discourage you from buying your lover a plastic-wrapped, cardboard hidden, something or other that they probably will either devour/toss out in a few days/months/years BUT for next time around… here are some things to consider: $10 billion USD was spent in 2010 on cards which will most likely be tossed within a week after the 14th. Try sending an e-card, I found some hilarious Harry Potter ones today with Katherine. 189 million roses bought on a single day, which will wilt within a week or so and if that’s any type of metaphor for your relationship… hehe .Stick with something that is going to be around for an extended period of time like a potted plant (they can be pretty too, you know). 17$ billion dollars on chocolate- very delicious, I cannot formulate many arguments...

Our office is in a recyclemania/waste free type of mood these days and it’s seriously affecting my mind. I went for a skate on the canal at lunch time to try to clear my head, but it all caught up to me. Just as I was thinking of how sustainable it would be to skate around town (if I lived in Ottawa), my skates got stuck in slush and then a beaver tail wrapper. One word would sum up what I felt at that moment: EW. I can deal with the slush, the forgotten ice guards (I’m sure someone will eventually pick them up and use them) and the blood on the ice (it’s organic after all), but not trash. It seems that skating itself is sustainable (like walking or running), but not being a consumer on skates. Napkins, empty hot chocolate cups, beaver tail wrappers, lost mittens, a broken orange cone… it’s not the glorious Rideau Canal anymore, it’s 7.8 kilometres of dirtied ice! So this is my plight to all merchants on the ice (oh and say hi to the lovely lady in the Stone Soup Truck, she’s co...

I wear old man sweaters; not just because I am a filthy hipster or because I am thrifty and can get them for super cheap at the Bargain Box on Laurier (though, those are probably contributing factors) but because Ottawa is freezing and I am playing an active part in reducing my energy consumption. Back home, the weather is on average 10 degrees warmer and still my house is freezing. My dad is a big supporter of layers, and he gets exasperated when one of us tinkers with the thermostat. I guess that’s where my love of chunky knits started, stealing my dad’s, mom’s, or anyone’s sweaters to stay warm around the house or in the shop. Here in Ottawa, I don’t have the privilege of controlling my heat which is a major disadvantage of being a tenant, especially because I still end up forking out the money for heating bills. Last week our heat was out and I remembered what it meant to be constantly bundled up in woollen sweaters, even sleeping in them to stay warm. My boss mentioned tha...

For the second year in a row, I have decided to live waste free during RecycleMania. From January 29th to March 31st, I am pledging to not produce a single item that will end up in a landfill. Now that does not mean that I cannot use anything recyclable! Nonetheless I will try to keep this at a minimum by purchasing food in bulk with my reusable containers and jars whenever possible. Last year, I pledged for eight weeks, and my box of shame contained a Band-aid, a few pieces of plastic dental floss, and a piece or two of gum (I am seriously addicted to the stuff!). It was much easier than I had thought; waste-free versions of all the same products I use on a daily basis are out there, you just have to find them…and learn to cook a new thing or two!. My favourite finds were vanilla or almond extract in bulk, and compostable dental floss, which can be purchased at most organic food stores in Ottawa (Silk Floss). If you are unsure about giving it a try, I give a ‘how to live waste-...

**** Just for the edification of the reader, this post originally opened with one of the most awe-inspiring introductions ever. It was utterly captivating. It brought tears to the eyes of the assistant director. It put our entire existence on this planet into perspective. It was lost when we accidentally saved the file under the wrong extension. Easy come easy go I guess. Now let's join this blog post already in progress**** ... Now this isn’t my first job so I know that it is natural to experience a little bit of anxiety on the first day of a new job, but what I felt on my way to work my first day wasn’t anxiety but what I call enxiety. What is enxiety you may ask? Enxiety is the overwhelming feeling of fear and concern in regards to the impending doom of our environment. Enxiety can create feelings of fear over environmental degradation, helplessness in changing national and international policies on the environment, and frustration about the extent of the problem, other...

I am going to do a couple of things in this post that I promised to never do so if my words seem a little out of place, don't worry... it's not you, it's me. First, I am going to admit that my first reaction to our University's slogan, "Canada's University" was not one of ecstatic enthusiasm. The slogan was launched 10 years ago as a means to differentiate uOttawa. It was clever because the university teaches in both official languages and is located in the National Capital. But I had the reaction that most people had... "that slogan sounds a little pretentious". Well it is 10 years later and I am not a student anymore, I am a staff member. And until a little while ago, I still wasn't really sold on the University's slogan. I mean seriously, come on... what makes us so good that we get the coveted title of Canada's University? And maybe I would have kept thinking that way until... So I have been following this group called...

L’année dernière, j’ai vécu huit semaines sans produire des déchets; bien avec une minuscule boîte de ‘honte’ qui contenait quelques morceaux de soie dentaire (mi-défi, j’ai trouvé de la soie compostable) et des petits morceaux de plastique (avant que l’Université ait commencé à recyclé tous les plastiques). Cette année, je vais vivre neuf semaines sans produire de déchets (du 29 janvier au 31 mars), et je vais essayer de minimiser ma consommation en emportant mes contenants à l’épicerie pour acheter mes produits en vrac. Je dis ‘les premiers jours sont toujours les plus difficiles’ parce qu’il faut que je m’habitue de planifier tous mes repas, planifier mes visites aux épiceries, et m’assurer que j’ai fait assez de déjeuners à emporter sans déchets – Bien trop facile d’emporter une tablette déjà préparée et enveloppée! MAIS, même si je me suis fait un menu sans déchets pour la semaine, j’ai oublié d’acheter un ou deux articles…pas de tablettes granola cette semaine…il faut improv...