You might not know this but when you decide to go bottled water free, you get a lot of criticism from big corporations. More specifically, bottled water companies, who by the way love to send tonnes of letters about why you need to reconsider your decision. So at uOttawa we get lots of these letters. Some nice, some bad, some threatening, some completely incomprehensible. I thought I would let everyone see what it is like when we get one of these letters and how I like to handle them. I personally believe that water should never be denied to people how need it. I is essential to our lives and to our way of life. And don't get me wrong, I do believe that there is a time and place for bottled water and that it does have some very important and very critical applications. I understand big corporations need to eek out a living as well, but sometimes you have to draw a line. As a recovering science student, one of the things I really hate is when people toss a study at you and say...

A while back, I want to say maybe 5 or 6 years ago but I am a little fuzzy on the details, my colleague Brigitte and I resolved to create a very lofty goal for ourselves. We resolved to become a zero waste campus! What I am not fuzzy about was the reaction. Essentially laughter and disbelief. The Conversation Well here we are some time later and I am sitting in a meeting with the Director of Food Services and we are talking about the new Dining Hall. Patrick, he's the director I was talking about, is all excited about what he's got in store for the space. He's talking pasta bar, like fresh pasta bar, like there's a machine in the background making the pasta from the raw ingredients; he's talking a game room, like a bunch of new PlayStations or X-boxes set up for people to relax and enjoy themselves; he's talking a space where you make your own food... no joke, pots and pans and a pantry overflowing with food for you to do as you please. Now Patrick is g...

Packing to move to university can quickly turn into a Tetris-like nightmare. Fitting your life into one minivan isn’t easy- how about fitting all those essentials into a suitcase and carry-on, a challenge presented to many international and out-of-province students each September? What if I told you you’ll be able to find almost everything you’ll need once you arrive, available right on campus, for FREE? Let me introduce you to your new favourite place - the Free Store , a converted house where donated items are cleaned, sorted, and offered back to the university community, free of charge. Though you can downsize all you want, there are still certain items you’ll need whether moving into a university residence or an apartment off-campus. Here is a list of the top things you’ll need during your time as a student- but should NOT pack! Basically any kitchen items Most incoming students will benefit from the all new Dining Hall and will realize they have hardly any need for th...

The University of Ottawa just became an institutional member of the CaGBC. What does this mean? Well for the most part it means that we are entitled to get cheaper rates for training and certifying our buildings. But if you dig a bit deeper, it means that we are putting our support behind a program that understands how buildings play an immense role in building a better world. As it stands, uOttawa only has one LEED certified building on campus, the FSS Building. But, as we all know, quantity doesn't always tell the whole story. In early 2000, the SITE Building was the latest and greatest thing on campus. The building even won a couple of awards for its environmental design. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out according to the design once the building was up and running. This wasn't necessarily anyone's fault but it did spur the University to take a harder look at their buildings.  In 2012, a deep energy retrofit of the SITE building succeeded in reducing ...