We want to start the year off by offering you a fresh twist on the big sustainability stories from uOttawa from 2025. Instead of condensing the stories into a tight list and trendy infographic, we want to "unwrap" these stories to tell you about the impact to the uOttawa campus. It's the start of a new semester and I am sure that last thing you want to do is scroll through yet another "wrapped" list for last year. Sure, these wrapped lists have become really popular over the years with Spotify leading the way; offering you a look back at your personal music consumption over the previous 12 months. This was quickly adopted by every company in the world, offering not so much a personal experience of the year's events, but more of an self ingratiating celebration of their own accomplishments. Essentially, they took the "year in review" concept, relabeled it with the trendier "wrapped" title, and hoped no one would notice.  Well, we noticed a...

That's right friends, the Free Store is getting a new space, a new look, and a couple of new features... but more about that in a minute. First, a little background. The Free Store has been bringing a unique retail experience to University of Ottawa students for two decades! What is that experience you ask? Well everything is free for starters. But, really the biggest feature is that everything in the store was considered garbage at one point. And so, the store is quite literally keeping things out of landfill while saving the customers money. The first time anything resembling a Free Store happened was back in 2007, when a bunch of items were left in some residence rooms and then given back to new students arriving on campus in September. That first event was very modest... imagine a picnic blanket on the grass with a sign that said "FREE" in front of a few donated items. Fast-forward a couple of years and the Free Store has moved into its own retail space and grown imm...

Les fêtes ont une drôle de façon de me prendre par surprise. Une minute, on est en novembre, et la suivante, je me retrouve à faire défiler des boutiques en ligne à minuit, submergée par les messages de surconsommation, en me demandant quoi offrir à mes proches… et combien d’objets une personne a réellement besoin. Cette année, changeons de perspective : passons de l’achat de choses à des cadeaux offerts avec intention. Les cadeaux durables ne signifient pas dépenser moins ou être « parfait ». Il s’agit plutôt de choisir des cadeaux qui créent des souvenirs, soutiennent les communautés locales et ne finissent pas oubliés au fond d’un tiroir d’ici février. Voici quelques idées pour vous aider à offrir de façon plus intentionnelle (et avec moins de stress) pendant la période des fêtes, avec beaucoup d’inspiration directement d’Ottawa. 🎁 Le cadeau du temps (ou d’expériences) Si trouver le cadeau parfait vous semble stressant ou que vous n’avez aucune idée pour quelqu’un, c’est probableme...

The holidays have a funny way of sneaking up on me. One minute it’s November, the next I'm scrolling online at midnight, overwhelmed with consumerist messages, swirling thoughts of what to gift my friends and family, and wondering how many more things someone really needs. This year, let’s flip the script, from buying more stuff to giving with intention. Sustainable gift-giving isn’t about spending less or being perfect. It’s about choosing gifts that create memories, support local communities, and don’t end up forgotten in a drawer by February. Here are a few ideas to help you give more intentionally (and stress less) this holiday season, with plenty of inspiration right here in Ottawa. 🎁 The Gift of Time (or Experiences) If finding the perfect gift feels stressful or you don't immediately have a great idea for someone, that’s your sign to stop shopping for things and start thinking about moments. Experiences are personal, flexible, and often nearly free. And the best part? ...

uOttawa heat map art. Monday July 22nd might have been a wholly unmarkable day for you. It was a fairly hot day in a fairly hot month, which of course has been part of a fairly hot summer. If you live in this little part of the world, you might have noticed a lack of rain and a hint of smoke in the air from the forest fires in central and western Canada. What you might not have known was that the record for the hottest recorded in human history was being set. Many news outlets reported on the record breaking temperature  but it didn't get much coverage (the world has a lot of complicated things happening right now). I think this kind of information tends to make people's eyes glaze over. "Oh yes, yet another time we broke the record for the hottest day..." It seems to happen so often that people have become numb to the news.  This is problematic because the increase in temperature has a bunch of very serious and dangerous impacts to the natural environment and to peop...

Vous emménagez en résidence ou dans votre premier appartement hors campus?  Avant d’emballer littéralement toutes vos affaires, lisez ceci. Votre futur vous (et votre espace de rangement limité) vous remerciera. Ce qu’il ne faut PAS apporter Trop de vêtements Toute votre garde-robe n’a pas besoin de faire le voyage. Misez sur des basiques polyvalents, quelques couches confortables et deux ou trois belles tenues. De toute façon, vous passerez sans doute vos journées en vêtements uOttawa ; c’est presque l’uniforme étudiant. Cartables Presque tout est en ligne aujourd’hui. En avez-vous vraiment besoin? Et si oui, la Gratuiterie (notre friperie gratuite sur le campus) en a des centaines. Gardez votre argent pour le café. Appareils de cuisine N’achetez rien à l’avance! Coordonnez-vous avec votre colocataire pour éviter de vous retrouver avec deux grille-pains. En plus, si vous êtes en résidence, vous mangerez probablement plus souvent à la salle à manger que dans votre chambre. Livres A...

Moving into residence or your first off-campus apartment? Before you pack literally everything you own , read this. Your future self (and your cramped storage space) will thank you. What NOT to bring: Too many clothes Your entire closet doesn’t need to make the trip. Stick to mix-and-match staples, comfy layers, and a few nice outfits. You’ll probably live in uOttawa merch anyway; it’s basically the student uniform. Binders Pretty much everything is online these days. Do you really need them? If you do, the Free Store (our on-campus thrift store that’s FREE) has hundreds. Save your cash for coffee. Kitchen appliances Don’t pre-buy! Coordinate with your roommate so you don’t end up with two toasters. Plus, if you’re in res, you’ll probably be eating in the dining hall more than in your room. Books Hold off on buying textbooks until after your first class, many courses use online readings. Don’t spend $150 on a glorified paperweight. Same goes for novels and hobby books: check the uOttaw...

Concept art of the transformation garden There are many reasons why you might want to create a garden. Gardens are spaces where nature and recreation come together to create a sense of calmness or a place to escape. Often gardens are covered with greenery (planned or natural), they have places to sit or things to see. They sometimes focus on growing food; or providing habitat for pollinators; or gathering together rare or native plants. Sometimes you create a garden because you want to make a statement, and sometimes you create a garden to preserve the past. But sometimes you create a garden because you have lost a friend and colleague. This is one of those gardens.  Concept art of the transformation garden The University of Ottawa has dozens of gardens, or at least green spaces that could be considered proto-gardens. Personally I don't ascribe to the idea that any patch of grass is considered a garden. I think that there needs to be some something that draws you to the space and g...

Concept de la forêt de Tabaret Êtes-vous déjà allé dans un parc national ou provincial? Je ne sais pas si cela vous arrive aussi, mais lorsque je me trouve dans une forêt profonde, tous les arbres semblent se fondre les uns dans les autres pour former un magnifique rideau de fond. Les sons sont apaisants et la canopée procure un fort sentiment d'intimité et de connexion. Lors de ma toute première année sur le campus, j'ai proposé un événement qui invitait les gens à imaginer à quoi pourrait ressembler le campus dans 100 ans. L'idée était que, sur le court terme, il est difficile d’imaginer de grands changements — mais sur le long terme, tout devient possible. Ma proposition était de recouvrir le campus d’arbres, faisant de nous une forêt urbaine au cœur d’Ottawa. Concept de la forêt de Tabaret Mais je suis pragmatique, et je sais que c'est très difficile de planter une forêt sur un campus urbain, en plein milieu d’une grande ville. Non seulement parce qu’il faut beaucou...

Tabaret forest concept Have you ever been to a National of Provincial park? I don't know if this happens to you but when I an in the deep forest, all the trees start to blend together to make a beautiful curtain background. The noises are soothing and the canopy gives a strong sense of privacy and connection. In my very first year on campus, I proposed an event to image what people would like the campus to look like in 100 years time . The idea being that in the short-term, it was hard to imagine big changes, but on a long time scale, anything was possible. My proposal was to blanket the campus in trees, making us an urban forest in the middle of Ottawa. Tabaret forest concept But I am a pragmatist and I know that it is really hard to actually plant a forest on an urban campus in the middle of a major city. Not just because it will take a lot of time to grow, but also because every place you plant a forest is a space that you can't build on and make some money (which is somethi...