We were able to accomplish quite a bit last year to make our campus more sustainable! Take a look at some of the awesome things that happened, from transportation, to recycling, and more. Thank you, uOttawa students, staff, and community members, for helping us make our campus as green as it can be. Record Waste Diversion Rate The University has reached a record waste diversion rate of 64.5%! That means that 64.5% of materials from the campus did not go to the landfill because we reused or recycled them. Thank you for recycling! Thank you, volunteers! This year, our amazing volunteers contributed a collective 4,220 hours towards sustainability efforts on campus. Thank you to our Free Store volunteers, Muggy Mondays volunteers, and Community Service Learning volunteers, as well as those who helped out with other events. Your contributions are very valuable and appreciated.  Introducing VeloGo bike sharing program on campus  You may have seen thes...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo It is official and the results favour the idea that we could one day have a completely waste free campus. A couple of months back I blogged about the fact that we were building a new Sports Field and that a component of that sports field was going to be composed of recycled shoes. Well the rest of the project has now come to an end and the results for the total diversion of waste are now available. First, there is the total waste diversion from the old field. Since the field is composed of artificial turf, we had to find a way to recycle it. There were 2 components - the turf itself, and the infill (the little rubber pellets that are used to give the field a bouncy feel (and absorb the shock of impact). The old turf was turned into PVC pellets so it can be used to make more PVC products. The infill was collected and is being used to reinforce berms in high traffic areas. Total diversion for the old field is over 90%. Second, the waste for the re...

Photo credit: unknown Spring weather has officially arrived, and as I pull out my bike from winter storage I realize that it may need a few tune-ups so I consult my dear colleague Marie-Pier’s blog on cycling tips. And after making some adjustments I decide to go for a nice ride downtown Ottawa, although fearful at first, it turns out alright. I am fairly nervous biking downtown because the majority of my biking experience stems from growing up in the countryside where your biggest worry is the traffic around five o’clock when all the neighbours are coming home from work for the day. I’ve had a few close calls biking along highways that had no additional room on the side other than choppy gravel that pulls you into the ditch, but other than that my biking experience at home has been very enjoyable. This year I decided to bring my bike to Ottawa with the promise to wear my helmet at all times to my mother and to be cautious when biking on busy roads. The first few weeks of school I plan...