The Sustainabilitree

It might be strange to think about this but often the most influential and impactful technology on campus tends to be older technology, especially when it comes to environmental sustainability. I was recently asked to speak at a course about Technology, Society, and the Environment. The idea behind inviting me was to speak to the group about how campus sustainability has been helped along by technology. I thought that I might share this list with you too so you could learn a bit about the new, the old, the unconventional, and the interesting technologies that helped shaped our campus over the past few years. The Living Wall One of the most popular pieces of technology is the University of Ottawa's living wall. In fact, the wall is not just a pretty assortment of 1500 plants, it is a biofilter which is being used to help filter the air inside the FSS Building. The wall helps cleanse 80-85% of the volatile compounds in the air  and it was also instrumental in helping soli...

The new Free Store is up and running and so far it is turning out to be a great success. Every day we bring another 10 boxes or so to the store and they are gone before the store closes. Funny thing though, no matter how much stuff we bring, there is always a hundred times more stuff waiting for us in our storage rooms. Sometimes it feels like a battle that can't be won. When you are trying to reduce the amount of things people consume, there is a tidal wave of entrenched conditioning to overcome. Think about it; every commercial is designed to get you to want something new. The first day of school means you need a new outfit. Going to a wedding means buying a new outfit. Want to take up yoga? New outfit. Want to turn over a new leaf.... new stuff is needed for that too. It seems that every time you want to do something new or different, or if want to mark an occasion or celebrate something, there is an understanding that a purchase is in order. And in case you aren't co...

Something pretty big is on the way and we think that you should be excited about it. The Free Store at the University of Ottawa is undergoing a change, or maybe a better way to say it is an evolution. But this evolution comes at a cost and before the end of this blog post, I am going to try to give you such a compelling argument that you will want to help us pay this cost. Because what comes afterwards might be the most fundamental shift in the way you deal with waste in a generation. Now that I have the hype out of the way, let's talk a little about history. uOttawa's Free Store was born from the dream of a place that could never really exist. It was a concept or an idea that people whispered about; more of an urban myth than an actual place. Think about it... a store where everything is free. What does that even mean? How could it sustain itself without an income? When I was a student back in the early 2000's, I had heard that there was a Free Store over at Carlet...

It shouldn't come as a surprise to many of you who like to cycle but bicycle parking sucks. They are the afterthought of urban design, something you add after all the important things have been considered. They are the parsley garnish on your plate, the very last thing you toss in there in the hopes it will make you look fancy. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Office of Campus Sustainability at uOttawa has just completed a full annual assessment of the bike parking spaces on campus and the results are... well they are pretty awesome. This year, an audit was conducted to determine the state of the bike racks on campus. The assessment included the number of spaces available, the proximity to a major building entrance, if they were covered, and the ease of access. These criteria were selected as measures of how attractive and effective the bike racks are to users. The report revealed that there are 58 distinct parking locations on campus, with approxima...

In her cozy office tucked away on the third floor of the University Centre, Maryann Moffitt is working on a project that could help significantly reduce waste on campus and nourish people in the community. Maryann is a dietitian at Food Services , the group on campus responsible for the managing uOttawa's food service contract. But since she arrived on campus just a few short years ago, she has also worn the hat of sustainability practitioner, a role that that  Chartwells added to the University's food service contract. But don't think for one moment that she has taken this adopted role lightly. Since the beginning, it has been a baptism by fire. Maryann has successfully worked on the uOttawa Fair Trade Campus designation, helped Food Services earn a certification from the Green Restaurant Association , and now she has helped create a process to help donate unpurchased food to local community organizations. Donating food is not as easy as one might think. The foo...

Admittedly, starting off with a title that includes the word "policy" is a really good way to lose readers. But wait wait wait wait.... don't go yet. I promise there is some really interesting stuff ahead. Stick with me for a bit. Ever since I started working at the University of Ottawa I have been chasing the holy grail of campus sustainability... a sustainability policy. No really, it is one of the most coveted things any sustainability coordinator desires. And now, uOttawa has adopted a new environmental management and sustainability policy . If really thing about it, a sustainability policy can... lend legitimacy to sustainability issues create procedures for the community to follow obligate groups to create sustainability plans Let's talk about legitimacy for a second. Now I don't want to give you the wrong impression and say that people don't take sustainability seriously, but often when times are lean people tend to rank environmental and ...

A few weeks ago I was sitting in a meeting with my boss going over the business case for why the University of Ottawa should change our building standards to build green roofs whenever possible (meaning so long as the building can take the weight). The crux of the argument came down to two things... is it better for the planet and does it save costs? Wait, this is too far ahead, I need to go back a bit. A few months ago one of our awesome student employee created a wonderful business case about why the University of Ottawa should install green roofs on campus. She created a case that took into account of bunch of factors, including construction costs, energy savings, storm water management, operating costs, and much more. Ultimately, she came up with a very important finding... Over the life-cycle of a building, it always makes sense to install a green roof over a conventional roof. Wait wait, I guess I should actually start at the beginning. Last year I worked with the ...

Did you know that you can recycle pens at the University of Ottawa? A few years ago, the Office of Campus Sustainability introduced Pen Recycling on campus as an expansion to the recycling program. There is only one problem... how can you get people to recycle something they don't know that they can recycle? Before we go too far down the rabbit hole, let's start with how pens can get recycled. It's actually really simple, we use Terra Cycle - a company that specializing in hard to recycle things. We use them on campus a lot actually. Coffee pods, cigarette butts, plastic gloves... even shoes from time to time. Terra Cycle has a team of people who disassemble things and recycle the components separately. No magic involved, just some elbow grease. The materials (like plastics) get transformed into new items like park benches. One of the programs they operate is pen recycling, which is currently free and is being covered by Staples Canada . So the first part is c...

Au courant de la dernière, nous avons accompli beaucoup de choses pour rendre notre campus plus durable.  Jetez un coup d’œil aux nouveautés en matière de transport, de recyclage, et plus encore.  Merci à tous les étudiants, employés et membres de la communauté d’uOttawa de nous aider à rendre notre campus plus vert chaque jour. Taux record de réacheminement des déchets L’Université a atteint un taux record de réacheminement des déchets, soit un taux de 64,5%! Cela veut dire que 64,5% des matériaux utilisés sur le campus ont pu être réutilisé ou recyclé plutôt que de finir dans un site d’enfouissement.  Merci de recycler en aussi grand nombre! Merci, les bénévoles! Cette année, nos merveilleux bénévoles ont collectivement accompli 4 220 heures de bénévolat envers des efforts de durabilité sur le campus.  Merci à tous les bénévoles de la Gratuiterie, des Matinées caféinées, à nos participants à l’Apprentissage par l’engagement communautaire, ai...