Why sell paper when you can sell the thing paper is made out of? Sorry for the crude intro but how else am I supposed to get your attention these days? Today's tale comes from a student suggestion that was proposed as a part of a project for the Office of Campus Sustainability this past year. The project focused on trying to create more indoor green space on campus. The suggestion didn't really blow me away at first. It read, "Instead of having a poster sale every semester in the University Centre, we should have a plant sale." I mean how could boring plants ever compete with sexy, sleek posters that are focus grouped, over designed, industry branded, and backed up with every marketing trick you can imagine? No brainer right? Exxxxxxcceeeeeept... So there is the concept out there known as Nature Deficit Disorder. The idea boils down to this; if you are separated from nature you become depressed, anxious, and unable to function properly. As strange as this ma...

Est-ce que tu te considère comme un environnementaliste? Est-ce que les enjeux environnementaux vous intéresse, mais vous n'avez jamais eu la chance d'en apprendre plus à ce sujet? Si ta réponse est oui à une de ces deux questions, peut-être que ceci pourrait vous intéresser… La fin de semaine du 25 au 27 octobre, les éco-mentors du jour de la terre seront les hôtes du ''Beyond Green Youth Summit'' au Campus St. George de l'Université de Toronto. Un forum de jeunesse comprenant 1000 jeunes âgé entre14 et 30 ans, 150 éducateurs ET une belle occasion de discuter des enjeux environnementales par le biais d'ateliers, de conférences et de performances. Les ateliers comprendront des thèmes tels que l'écologie et la conservation, la culture et la consommation, l'éthique et la gouvernance, et plus encore. Mais ce n'est pas tout! Il y aura aussi des spécialistes tels que The water Brothers, Rick Miller et Lee Maracle qui seront présents pour v...

Quelle est la différence entre un bon recycleur et un mauvais recycleur? Un bon recycleur divise ces matériaux recyclables; les cannes, le papier, les bouteilles de vitre, avant de remplir les bacs de recyclage. Un mauvais recycleur rempli son bac de recyclage avec de la glace et l'utilise comme frigo. L'année dernière, je vous ai donné quelques raisons pour lesquelles vous devriez devenir un Éco-ambassadeur en résidence à l'Université d'Ottawa. Plusieurs de ces raisons comprenaient l'apprentissage  au sujet des questions environnementales et comment être un citoyen qui est conscient de son environnement. Ces raisons sont encore très valables…mais maintenant nous en avons encore plus! Cette année, nous lançons une nouvelle initiative pour les Éco-ambassadeurs : un programme de leadership. L'idée derrière ce programme est de renforcer le rôle de nos Éco-Ambassadeurs en leurs offrant un système de mentorat, une formation concernant la gestion et encore plu...

Last night, as I do every year, I gave a presentation to the University of Ottawa's student ambassadors team . If you aren't in the know, the ambassadors team is, and I quote, "an essential tool for the University of Ottawa. It represents an invaluable resource for prospective students and their parents, providing everything from tours, tele-counseling and special recruitment events." So every year I give a presentation to the ambassadors about the neatest green things on campus so that they in turn will tell prospective students about them. I love presenting to the ambassadors. Not only do they dress nicely, but they also ask really great questions, which makes sense since they have to explain everything to our visitors. But last night the questions were better than my answers, so I thought I might take this post to clarify some of the great questions I got. 1. Is the University going to create a park in the middle of parking lot X? Yes, the plan is to one da...

What is the differences between a good recycler and a bad recycler? A good recycler carefully separates their recyclables, cans, paper, and glass, before filling the recycle bins. A bad recycler fills the recycle bin with ice to use it as a mini cooler. Last year I wrote a nice little post about why you should become a Green Rep here at the uOttawa residences. There were a lot of things about how you could learn about environmental issues and how to be a better ecological citizen. And all that still applies.... but there is more now. This year we are launching a new component to the Green Reps programs, a leadership program. The idea behind this program is to empower some of the Green Reps by offering them mentoring, management training, and augmented responsibilities. Don't worry though, we will still have our classic Green Rep team members who will help out with the general Green Rep activities and meetings. And this year we are putting a hard focus on recycling. Follow...