The very beginning of a university semester can either be ridiculously laid-back or incredibly jarring; either way you're going to want a drink. In addition, my father recently took a "beer appreciation" course, and so over the Christmas holidays I got my ear chewed off about the difference between lagers and stouts, brewing history and proper glassware. This all got me thinking about the impact of the beer industry and if brewing and beer consumption could be done in a sustainable manner. So I did some research (and some sampling) and here is what I would love to share with you about how to make greener choices about beer, or sustainabrews, if you will. As with most things, buying locally-made/sourced products can be better for the environment and also for the local community. Primarily, there is less energy used in transporting the products when they are domestic. Furthermore, you support small businesses in the community. So when choosing between something loc...

Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) Have you ever heard of it? The concept is simple, you give a farmer some money and they grow food on your behalf. Every week you get a box full of fruits and vegetables and the farmers get paid for their hard work. Quid pro quo. This past semester an intern student from France joined our office and worked on a project designed to increase community agriculture on campus. Coraline's idea was to get a CSA started on campus and help build a more sustainable food system. Here's the thought process; People on campus need more access to locally grown food. Partnering with a local farm that has the capacity to deliver food to uOttawa greatly increases the chances that the community will take advantage of it. Access is one of the greatest challenges people face when trying to make healthy food choices. The easier it is to get your food, the more of it you will eat. Bringing healthy foods right to the campus will make it easier for more people ...

If you’re anything like me, coffee is not just one of life’s little pleasures, it’s also a lifestyle. That sweet smell in the morning makes my mind go into a frenzy and when it’s time for that first sip I can’t help but feel as though everything is right in the world. But then when reason seeps its way back into my brain I am reminded that even something as perfect as my morning cup of coffee can sometimes come at a cost. Now I am a student so admittedly, I am always looking for a way to cut costs and until recently, not knowing what Fair Trade meant fed right into my disinterest in paying more for what appeared to be the same product. I loosely understood Fair Trade = Good, social benefits, better working conditions, all things I had heard but somehow my consumption behaviour was still not affected. While on a recent trip I was fortunate enough to tour a coffee plantation. This experience put me face to face with the costs associated with coffee which previously slipped my min...

Si vous êtes comme moi, le café ce n’est pas simplement un petit plaisir, c’est un mode de vie. L’arôme délicat de ma tasse de café le matin stimule mon activité neurologique et lorsque c’est finalement le temps de prendre ma première gorgée, tout est bien dans le monde. Mais quand la raison retourne à mon cerveau je me souviens que même quelque chose d’aussi parfait que ma tasse matinale peut parfois avoir des coûts. Je suis une étudiante alors je l’admets, je suis toujours en train d’essayer de trouver une manière de couper mes coûts. Ne pas comprendre les enjeux des produits Équitable justifiait mon désintérêt pour payer plus pour ce que je croyais était plus ou moins le même produit. Les produits équitables ne sont pas nouveaux, je savais déjà que Équitable = Bon, bénéfices pour les travailleurs, meilleures conditions de travail mais pourtant ce n’était pas assez pour changer mes habitudes de consommateur. Lors d’un voyage récent, j’ai eu la chance de faire une tournée d’un ...

Summer is an amazing time of the year, complete the sunshine we crave on those cold winter days, ice cream cones, beach days, and music festivals. Every summer I find myself having to carefully budget my finances to allow myself enough disposable income to see my favourite bands play at various different music festivals across this part of the country. Every genre you can imagine finds itself on display in front of heat stroked fans, who in some cases have been camping out in tents in the rain for days taking in the sights and sounds and atmosphere of the music festival scene. Now a days there seems to be a festival every weekend, and at a growing cost to festival goers. Festivals fight to bring in the hottest bands from around the world, they set up stands to sell over priced food, and drinks, whilst preventing you from bringing in your own. They encourage you to drive, bus, train, and fly from wherever you are, to attend the best, biggest, and hippest festival of the summer....

Last semester, Sustainable SFUO made the decision to start hosting a Farmer’s Market inside UCU. There are a couple of reasons why this goes down as a solid bit of decision-making: supporting local vendors and farmers, promoting local and homegrown foods, and putting some fresh and healthy food into the hands of students. As Caroline Wall, a student at the University of Ottawa, states, “The quality at a farmer’s market is obviously going to be better, and you get to actually meet the person who made or cultivated [the food]”. However, the most important reason is probably this: it made Farmer’s Markets accessible to students. Of course, the Byward Market isn’t that far away, and it stands to reason most students could just amble over a couple of blocks and, through most months of the year, have access to all that fresh and local food that tastes so damn yummy. “If it’s accessible by bicycle or bus, I’m willing to go,” says Wall, and the market she most routinely visits is L...