So, you’re moving into residence and wondering what you should bring. Well, this is your lucky day as I, someone who has lived in residence for two years, am going to tell you what NOT to bother bringing to campus. First tip to keep in mind when packing is that you need to limit how much you should bring of everything because you are working with a small space and limited storage. Here are the most important things not to bring: Too Many Clothes I know, it seems silly! You can never have too many clothes, but it just means that students need to be conscientious of what they bring. If you’re like me, you’ll probably end up shopping at the Rideau Centre more than once and leave with more clothes than you planned, trying to make it fit in the small closet. Clothes you shouldn’t bother bringing from home are ones for special occasions like fancy dresses (how often do resident students go to fancy events?) or clothes that don’t match. These will just take space in your closet that ...

As a millennial, I have a guilty passion for Instagram. So, when I started my waste reduction journey, it quickly became one of my main sources of information. To me, waste reduction belonged to the broader minimalist movement. Getting rid of unused stuff, stopping buying things you will not use and reuse what you had seemed tinted with good old common sense. You know, the one our grandparents had?  Even though the aesthetics of owning less seemed appealing to me, I soon fell into a pit of despair as I scrolled though kitchens with matching glass containers neatly stacked in a pristine white background. Every room in the house seemed to follow the same pattern: everything matching in a neat neutral background.  Thinking of taking my reusable water bottle is a real achievement, so attaining the zero-waste home was like walking on the moon. As I kept researching, the very idea of buying containers seemed to defeat the purpose of zero waste in the first place. Why would I buy stu...