Wow, these past couple of days have been crazy busy. On Tuesday September 4th we launched our special International Students edition of the Free Store. We do this every year to help give international students a leg up on getting the things they need to start out their lives here in Ottawa. Also, we like to make freegans happy. Saying that it was successful would be an understatement. I think I counted about 200 people on the first day before I stopped keeping track. We easy gave away 2 to 3 tonnes of stuff over the course of the two days and I have to tell you that the experience was exhausting. Needless to say I am very proud of the volunteers who came out to lend a hand. And I also want to give a special shout out to our partners (the International Office and Community Life Services) for their continued support. The Free Store is important for a couple of reasons. First, it diverts tonnes of waste from landfill every year. Second, it demonstrates...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo This year is shaping up to be another incredible year for the Free Store. This initiative, originally started by the student members of Green Campus, has grown into a campus phenomenon. The premise of the program is simple; donations are collected and offered freely to the campus community. In 2006, the Free Store was just a small event where students would bring items they wanted to swap with one another. The whole thing was basically done on two tables and lasted like 2 hours. People liked the event but not too many people participated. The following year the Free Store got a boost from the Dump & Run . Items collected from the residences after students moved out were added to the tables of the Free Store. The event also started to give away more items than just clothing; morphing the format into a full day event. Three years ago, the International Office partnered with the Office of Campus Sustainability to create a special Free Store event exclu...