5 Things You Shouldn't Pack on Your Way to uOttawa

I know this sounds a little counter-intuitive.... you know, make sure you don't pack for your trip back to university. But if this sounds a little out of the box, then it's clear you don't know about the Free Store.

Let's make this brief in case you do know about the Free Store. Every year the Office of Campus Sustainability collects all the stuff that students leave behind on their way out the door for the summer. We clean it, fix it, sort it, whatever it.... and get it back into the hands of students via this nifty little shop called the Free Store. And so the Free Store is perfectly named as it is a store where everything is free. We do this because we are reducing waste on campus and conserving precious resources.

Now that you know the whole story, here is a quick list of the top five things that we get so much of that there is no point for you to bring your own to campus this year.

Binders!

Don't do it man, just don't do it. We have hundreds of binders waiting for you. They cost like $5 bucks if you want to buy them in a retail store - a complete waste of good money. I promise if you want a binder, 5 binders, 10 binders, infinity binders.... we can work something out for you.

T-Shirts

I think that you could walk into the Free Store at the start of the year and get enough t-shirts that you could spend your entire semester never wearing the same t-shirt twice. We have boxes upon boxes of t-shirts in every conceivable style known to humanity (and some not known to humanity).

Ice Cube Trays

I will never understand the fact that we need ice cube trays in a country that spends a good half of the year in sub-zero temperature. But there you have it, hundreds of ice cube trays find their way to the Free Store every year. This year, chill and just grab some trays from the Free Store. We have shelves full of ice cube trays , and yes even specialty trays (my fave is of course this amazing retro space invaders tray!)

Scarves

We actually have so many scarves that I have been thinking about sending them to the South Pole to outfit each and every penguin with a stylish, colourful scarf. I know your parents would have a fit if you left home without your scarf... tell them the Free Store's got you covered.

Plastic Cups

First of all, what are you doing drinking out of a plastic cup? That stuff's toxic maybe! That being said, if you do want one, drop by and we'll give you two (seriously, we need to get rid of these abominations). Whatever you do, don't buy your own plastic cup, they will be the end of all things.

 ~jON - campus sustainability manager