There are about 42,000 students at the University of Ottawa. What if each of them used just one single-use cup each day? 42,000 cups to dispose of? That is a lot of waste! Yes, single-use mugs are compostable (*not the lids!), but are students actually composting them? Not really… They are being put into waste bins, or worse, into paper recycling bins. Sometimes they still have coffee in them, which contaminates the paper that was going to be recycled. Sorting properly is one thing – (if you must use a single-use coffee mug, please put it in compost!), but how about trying to kick that habit? NO, don’t get me wrong, I would never suggest going a day without coffee! I am trying to say ditch the single-use for a month, maybe even just a week – YES, use a reusable mug! Your coffee will stay warmer, you save money, and you will help create a greener campus. Did you know you get a discount if you use a reusable mug anywhere on campus ? (Between 10 and 25 cents off your hot beverag...

Every year during RecycleMania the Waste bucket challenge is issued. What is the Waste Bucket challenge? It is trying to live waste free for a period of time during RecyleMania. This may seem impossible but Brigitte Morin, uOttawa's Waste Diversion Coordinator, has done it many times successfully. Here is what she had to say about it. It’s all about preparation Brigitte says the key to succeeding in this challenge is to prepare. You have to think about it all ahead of time, what you have to buy, what meals you are making etc. Stuff you have at home already counts If you have food in disposable containers at home you need to finish them before the challenge starts because if you finish them while on the challenge you have to count it as waste. You don’t have to produce zero waste just less than normal When people hear about the challenge they assume they cannot produce any waste to be successful, but that’s not the truth. The challenge is about reducing waste not elim...

In the spirit of Barney Stinson and in an attempt to really walk the sustainable walk, this past week I accepted a challenge from a fellow environmentalist to truly trashless. What challenge you ask? Sure to be the latest mannequin or ice bucket challenge to have all the youths blowing up their social feeds, the waste bucket challenge raises awareness to the amounts of waste we produce every single day. So this is how the challenge works. Any trash you produce is kept in a bucket or receptacle or whatever of choice allowing you to see how much of what you consume regularly is non-compostable or non-recyclable. So to reiterate, if it cannot be composted or recycled, it goes and stays in the bucket. I used a 32 oz. glass container rather than any sort of garbage cans as I moved about my normal life for a week. I also equipped myself with my trusty travel mug, Nalgene, mason jars, canvas bags, a fork/spoon and reusable containers. So now five days later, with a glass container...

We often like to blame our wasteful ways on businesses. Why do they have to have so much packaging? Why do they waste so much during production? Why can’t they make things more durable? These are all very undoubtedly valid points, but we often have trouble taking a hard look at ourselves to see why on the consumer end so much is going to waste. If there is one thing I learned from my Waste Bucket Challenge , it is that my nemesis was never businesses putting this or that thing in 10 inches of plastic packaging, rather my nemesis was my own tendency to live life in a big rush. Always busy! Always on the go! It was always very possible to avoid garbage but as soon as things started getting busy that went out the window. I forgot to tell my waiter to leave the straw behind, I stopped by the corner store for a snack, I went to get groceries but forgot to bring bags. All of these things happen to me on a regular basis but I only realized how wasteful that busy lifestyle may become, eve...

RecycleMania has launched at the University of Ottawa, and indeed around North America, and this year we are using a new tactic that we picked up from our friends over at Penn State Sustainability. It's called Toilet Paper. Basically every 2 weeks we are posting infographics about food waste and recycling in the washroom stalls around campus. The beauty of this approach is that we basically have a captive audience. The downside is that we get complaints about using paper to promote recycling. But rest assured that we did do a lot of thinking before we decided to post paper... Here are our findings. Large Posters vs. Small Posters We considered using large posters to spread the word about food waste and found that because of their positioning on the walls, the visibility of most posters is low and they are rarely read. Numbers vary wildly, but it could be assumed that between 4% and 8% people that pass by a poster will read it. Conversely, nearly 100% of posters posted i...

You could almost feel the tension blanket the entire office. For the past couple of days Brigitte, our waste diversion coordinator, would snap into her chair, quickly head over to the RecycleMania website, and then let out a little huff. The computer would diligently inform her that the results of the 2015 competition were still be tabulated. Great, another couple of hours before she could check again. It's kind of strange to think that we were a little nervous to get the results for RecycleMania this year. This certainly wasn't our first rodeo, uOttawa has been the Canadian champion for the past six years running. But this year, well this year we were hoping to set a personal best, We really wanted to set a new high point for ourselves. So ignore the title of this post for a moment and put yourself in our shoes. What could we do to engage the community? Well we ran a couple of fun events that I think were worth mentioning. Ugly Sweater Day Yes I know this isn't...

A bunch of friends have shared the K-Cup horror movie with me recently. I getting the feeling that K-Cups are making people feel a little helpless. I mean great coffee that's prepared perfectly every time.... vs huge waste generation that is, in its own little way, killing the planet. I recently embarked on the Waste Bucket Challenge . I was challenged by our 2014 Free Store coordinators and I have been trying to reduce my waste consumption for the past couple of weeks. I think that one of the only things keeping me going is the fact that I recycle my K-Cups. That's right, they can actually be recycled. I think that the first thing you need to know is that my office is equipped with a Keurig coffee maker. When the machine appeared in our space three years ago, I wasn't crazy about the amount of waste it produced; nevertheless, the machine grew in popularity in my office until eventually everyone was getting their coffee from the machine (sadly, even me). At f...

It’s happened… I have fallen down the waste reduction rabbit hole. I am not necessarily proud of this but digging through my household trash has become a nightly routine, a mission to properly sort any and all misplaced recycling and compost! I’ve seen and smelled it all, yet I continue to do it because, in my heart of hearts I know that although I am just one person, my waste has a large environmental impact. The average Canadian produces 2.7 kg of waste every day! To me, that represents a whole lot of stuff that doesn’t necessarily have to end up in a landfill. This year, as part of Recylemania, a group of brave crusaders will set out on a clandestine operation to properly sort waste on campus! A year ago, had you told me that burrowing through bags of trash would be an eye opening experience; I would not have believed you. Having performed waste audits I can tell you that digging through garbage is FASCINATING! Not only have I learned how to properly dispose of my items (an...

As you may or may not have heard, the University of Ottawa is again the Canadian Champions of RecycleMania. This marks the 6th straight victory for the uOttawa and a milestone in terms of our diversion rate (we are closing in on the elusive 60% diversion rate). But this is not a blog post to brag about our accomplishments, this is a post to honour the winners of our "Pledge to Live Waste Free" contest. This year's winner is in fact not one person, but the entire uOttawa Health Promotion's Nutrition Team. Congratulations! Only with your efforts can uOttawa truly become a waste free campus. Here is the blog post from the winning team. Living "waste free" was not the most difficult aspect of taking the Recyclemania Pledge. When there was something that had to be "thrown away," there were remarkably few things that did not fit into the any of the recycling categories found widespread on campus: Plastic, Metal and Glass, Compost, and Mixed Pap...

Recycle Mania So this week I am pledging to recycle mania, meaning I am not going to be purchasing or throwing out anything that cannot be recycled or composed. You should try it and see how well you do! Please share if you do in fact try this out! Recycle mania blurb The hardest tasks to accomplish without wasting are the smallest tasks, like air drying your hands after washing them, bringing your own sugar for coffee or just drinking it black. But you know what it’s worth it, so go out and reuse (maybe recycle)! Recycle Mania Summary All in all, recycle mania is a great concept. Reusable mugs, containers and water bottles for the week wasn’t actually that hard to do at all! Just carrying around a bottle is great because you can always quench your thirst without having to buy and throw out a plastic bottle. Containers as well, it is so easy to just rinse them when you are done and use them again the next day. The hardest part of this week would have to be realized that eve...

Waste Free Month Done... Waste Free Life Begins! Ok, so my waste free month is technically done, and I realized that living waste free isn't as hard as it sounds; especially at Uottawa. We have this fantastic recycling program here where practically ANY type of plastic can be recycled at any recycling station on campus! This makes living waste free a lot easier!  During this month I learned a few things.  Mainly I learned that living waste free is the most difficult when you go out places. When you go to a restaurant or a function it is almost impossible to know where your food scraps and things will end up because you can't control that. I also stayed at a hotel with my family and I realized that it's pretty hard to live waste free there because there is no compost or recycling, and even though we put our recycling in a box; who knows where it is going to end up?! Also, living waste free was impossible at my work. I work at BeaverTails on the canal and even though ...

I failed - but not miserably - at being waste free for a week. A pessimist would tell you it's impossible to live waste free while an optimist would say that accepting the challenge is already an improvement from the week prior. I have always tried to reduce, reuse and recycle when it was convenient for me but this competition made me identify my own personal wasteful habits: using tissues, plastic sandwich bags and Q-tips, commuting by car too often, leaving the hot water run and buying treats in non-recyclable packaging, just to name a few. Have I made an oath not to use these products and behave in these ways ever again? No. Becoming more sustainable is like getting in shape - it doesn't happen overnight. I can't promise that I'll never contribute to a landfill, drive a car or enjoy an all dressed chip from a non-recyclable bag. However, each time I am wasteful, I'll think about modifying my consumption and activities next time around in order to lessen my i...

Living waste free is a huge learning experience. Even before I began my official two week period of Pledging to live waste free I had become more aware of the amount of waste/recyclables I go through and was already trying ways to cut back on the waste I produce. Watching the documentary "The Clean Bin project" and learning from the Office of Campus Sustainability, I had already acquired useful tips on how to live waste free before my official two weeks. The amount of items able to be recycled on Campus is amazing, which helped me be able to recycle more. So I admit I was at an advantage to someone who hadn't thought about how to live waste free and who began cold turkey for the Pledge. Since I became more aware of my waste, I have come across situations that I wouldn't have thought twice about if I hadn't been trying to cut back on waste. Take for example paper towels in the campus bathrooms. If there are no hand dryers and only paper towels, I could not thr...

Recyclemania was coming up again this year, and I decided to give it a whirl for three weeks – a week longer than I did it last year. In preparation for the event and throughout the three weeks, grocery shopping became a little more arduous – no products with sneaky plastic wrap or Styrofoam (ie. fresh fish and meat) or plastic bags. Luckily, I already use mesh bags instead of the available thin plastic bags to contain fresh fruits and vegetables. I also carry a reusable grocery bag (one of those ones that roll up into a little bundle) with me all the time in case there’s ever an unplanned grocery trip/purchase/need of a bag. For nixing the plastic wrap/foam plates found with fresh meats, simply buy frozen seafood with recyclable plastic packaging, and meats from a butcher – butcher paper is compostable! In addition to some modifications to my grocery purchases, the disposal of my everyday items needed to be reassessed. Dryer lint? Compostable. Cotton cosmetic pads? Compostable. V...

Day 1: Feb. 3 Today is the first day of RecycleMania, an event held in universities across the country to promote sustainability and waste reduction. I’ve pledged to live waste-free for the entire duration of RecycleMania meaning from today until March 30th, I will throw NOTHING in the garbage!  I’m nearly one day in and so far so good! I had a couple close calls ending with having to fish tissues/cotton balls out of the trash (my own trash, luckily) and put them in their rightful place (my compost bin!). I think Google will be my best friend throughout all of this. Every phrase I’ve searched today has begun with “can you recycle/compost ___?”. Carrying a reusable bag is also a must. Public compost bins are few and far between (even recycling bins can be rare!) so I’ve been chucking all of my things in a bag and carting them back to campus where I can dispose of them properly. So far my only two stumbling blocks have been gum wrappers and the stickers on all of my fruit. Ev...

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when people hear the term “Recyclemania?” Well, if they’re anything like me, most people think of that elevated and energetic sense of arousal one gets when separating paper and plastics. As it turns out, Recyclemania is actually an international recycling competition. And for the University of Ottawa, it’s a yearly waste-reduction campaign, aimed at shedding light on the necessity of sustainability, recycling, and responsible forms of waste management. So it turns out I’m not a doctor of recycling. Who knew? This year’s RecycleMania included a Guerilla Recycling event, which occurred each Thursday night for the month of March. It’s all about black hoodies, latex gloves, and getting elbow-deep in other people’s trash. While part of that may not sound appealing to most of you (really?), the whole process is much more rewarding than it sounds, and that’s not even considering all the loose change to be found at the bottom of the compost bin...

Reading week is upon us and that means another edition of the Alternative Student Break (ASB) has arrived. Some of you might remember that last year we had about 9 volunteers that joined our office to create recycling installations on campus. The installations were pretty cool. Our volunteers made a giant chess board out of recycled bottles, a forest out of textbooks, a throne out of cans, etc... The installations were placed all around the campus to share the message of recycling. The participants of course took tonnes of pictures of the experience and told all their friends. I think that they did an amazing job and they actually helped us win RecycleMania (last year the University of Ottawa beat the next group by less than 1%). So this year we of course have to do something to help get people into that recycling feeling again. I think that we might have found the perfect balance between awareness and social marketing. This year we are going to be working on the "Breaki...

Bonjour tout le monde/Hey Everyone! My name is Julie Cook and I’ll be taking over for the amazing Brigitte Morin as Recycling Coordinator on campus for the next year while she is on maternity leave. It is an absolute honour. I’ve had the good fortune of working alongside Brigitte for a few weeks so she could teach me the ropes of this very important position. One of the coolest things I’ve done so far is to take the Pledge to Live Waste-Free for the entire eight weeks of RecycleMania . For anyone who doesn’t already know, RecycleMania is an international competition among over 600 universities and colleges in the world that compete to produce the least amount of waste and the most amount of recyclables per capita. The University of Ottawa has been the top university in Canada for the past four years, and we’re aiming to make it five! RecycleMania this year runs from February 3 to March 30th. We could really use some more volunteers for some of the awesome initiatives we have pl...

I wonder if you remember the One Million Acts of Green campaign that was spearheaded by George Strombolopolous a couple of years ago? I thought it was a great idea. Everyone could easily register their act of green and share it with the world. The benefit of doing this of course was that it normalized public commitments to being a more environmentally friendly citizen. Well OMAG (that's the abbreviation just in case you were wondering), is still running strong. It is no longer just associated with the CBC and CISCO Systems; it has grown its own wings and taken flight. The group has been looking to find ways to branch off into new territory and one of the things that they dreamt up is to create a more personalized and interactive app for Facebook. This makes a lot of sense since the whole idea of the OMAG is to share your experiences in the hopes that it will inspire others to do the same. So to that end, the group has partnered up with universities to start creating c...