What’s the first thing that comes to mind when people hear the term “Recyclemania?” Well, if they’re anything like me, most people think of that elevated and energetic sense of arousal one gets when separating paper and plastics. As it turns out, Recyclemania is actually an international recycling competition. And for the University of Ottawa, it’s a yearly waste-reduction campaign, aimed at shedding light on the necessity of sustainability, recycling, and responsible forms of waste management. So it turns out I’m not a doctor of recycling. Who knew? This year’s RecycleMania included a Guerilla Recycling event, which occurred each Thursday night for the month of March. It’s all about black hoodies, latex gloves, and getting elbow-deep in other people’s trash. While part of that may not sound appealing to most of you (really?), the whole process is much more rewarding than it sounds, and that’s not even considering all the loose change to be found at the bottom of the compost bin...

When you think campus sustainability you might think that the solution is more trees or solar panels. What about a campus sound map, or a campus recyclopedia, or maybe a residence neighbourgoods program? Students in the first year Global Environmental Challenges course (ENV 1101B) recently handed in their poster projects for the semester. Their assignment... make the campus more sustainable in their own little way. This semester the course was taught by Dr. Sonia Wesche  who decided to work with the Office of Campus Sustainability through the Community Service Learning program in order to give students a chance to have the opportunity to do some hands on work to improve campus sustainability (yet another Living Laboratory project). And I can tell you that the students did not disappoint. Every project was amazing but I only have enough time to highlight a couple. Campus Noise Map Concept: Create a noise map of the campus that shows the highest levels of noise. ...

It’s that time of year again, the time of year when friends and family get together and celebrate simpler times. So often we find ourselves so consumed in our busy lives that we forget what this time of the year is really about, what every time of the year should be about: energy conservation. This Saturday March 23 from 8:00 to 9:00 pm Earth Hour will once again be upon us, and we here at UOttawa will be turning off the lights, in conjunctions with people and organizations around the world in the collective efforts to draw attention to the need for energy conservation. So here is a list of things you can do this earth hour (in no particular order), while your lights are off 10- Build an epic blanket fort (in hopes that it maybe as awesome as this one ( video )  9- Candle light games night 8- Candle light dinner with that special someone 7- Make and launch your own aerial luminary ( article ) 6- Glow in the dark nerf gun fight with your roomates (be careful of furni...

En 2008, l’université d’Ottawa a lancé un projet pilote afin d’évaluer le potentiel de réutiliser et/ou recycler les meubles à travers ses campus. Le projet consiste en la réutilisation des vieilles stations de travailles, chaises et autres meubles de bureaux par différents groupes sur les campus de l’université. En 2009 seulement, le projet pilote a sauvé près d’un millions de dollars en frais de rachat de meubles ainsi qu’en frais associées à la disposition de ceux-ci. Suite au succès du projet pilote, le Bureau du Développement Durable a pris charge du projet et a commencé à prendre note du montant et type de meubles réutilisés/recyclés dans le but de comptabiliser les frais associés au recyclage de meubles ainsi que les coûts sauvés de l’achat de nouveau meubles. En plus de donner la chance aux départements qui n’ont pas les moyens d’acquérir des meubles, le projet a aussi aidé à meubler quelques écoles, charités ainsi que d’autres groupes à dans la communauté. Nous sommes f...