Sometimes when people ask me what I do for a living I tell them my job is to Save the Planet. Yeah, it's a bit cheeky as far as a response goes, but whatever... and besides, shouldn't everybody's job be to save the planet. I mean after all, don't we all kind of need the planet to survive? I suppose my job is to find different ways to do things that ultimately help save the planet. Consequently, part of my everyday job is to try to walk the talk of sustainability. You would be surprised how little things mean a lot to many people. How the smallest thing can cascade into something huge, or how the simplest message can help inspire others to dream big. Earlier this month, my boss asked me to switch offices. The downside is I had to move, but the upshot was that I would have my very own office. My boss challenged me to try to make my new space as "paperless" as possible. He wanted me to try to model what a greener work space might look like. This was of c...

This is killing me. A couple of years ago I read about this lady at UBC who is magically able to make her office paperless - you can check out the article for yourself. Of course I become instantly green with envy (you like what I just did right there). I must have a paperless office too! I mean, if there is an office at the University of Ottawa that is going to be the first to become paperless.... why not our office? A couple of years later and reality of still kicking us in the gut. My desk is still a monument to paper. And so is everyone else's actually. There are a couple of hard truths that I have been ignoring. 1- I work with engineers and architects and so there is a whole lot of paper lovin' going on here (blueprints) 2- We don't have super modern equipment here... no I-Pads in every corner 3- Almost everyone here is over 50 so the ageist part of me wants to lay the blame on old school thinking Beyond that, there are also a couple of things that I ...

WARNING: this blog may offend some that invest time and energy into Valentine’s Day and realize that they are killing the planet after reading. Enjoy! I get that I am probably too late with this blog post to discourage you from buying your lover a plastic-wrapped, cardboard hidden, something or other that they probably will either devour/toss out in a few days/months/years BUT for next time around… here are some things to consider: $10 billion USD was spent in 2010 on cards which will most likely be tossed within a week after the 14th. Try sending an e-card, I found some hilarious Harry Potter ones today with Katherine. 189 million roses bought on a single day, which will wilt within a week or so and if that’s any type of metaphor for your relationship… hehe .Stick with something that is going to be around for an extended period of time like a potted plant (they can be pretty too, you know). 17$ billion dollars on chocolate- very delicious, I cannot formulate many arguments...

Let me start out by saying that I hate New Years resolutions. They kind of piss me off for two big reasons. First, they are almost always vague. Lose weight, be healthier, listen to more people,... seriously? None of these actually mean anything. Second, they aren't really resolutions... most people choose things that are better classified as common sense. So this year I propose GREEN resolutions that are precise and demonstrate resolve. 1. Get a reusable mug and actually use it! I know you have been told this like a thousand times but seriously.... get a mug and use it. I know it is tough to carry a clunky mug around with you everywhere but I am sure you can deal with it. Find a solution that works for you and go for it. You will save yourself about $20 to $50 bucks a year and you will be taking a chunk out of landfills. 2. Submit your homework electronically It is tricky handing things in electronically. The classic argument is that their professors won't let the...

Photo Credit: Elise Jerrim When you really get down to it, there is no end to the amount of a green geek that you can be. Case in point, I just changed my e-mail signature to an eco friendly one. How did I do this you ask.... well, let me tell you, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to formatting for the environment. What follows is a list of the common bad practices that people make when creating their e-mail signatures. But before we get into that, I think I should mention that there are critical elements that you should always have in your email signature. So, always, always, always include your name, your title or position, and how people can contact you. That is basically all you need to have an effective signature, but to make it a green signature, avoid these common mistakes. 1. The cool picture I have noticed a lot of people ending their signatures with punchy pictures. Although these are really cool for the people who see your signature...

Photo credit: uOttawa gazette So you say that you can’t hand your assignment in on-line because your prof won’t let you. Unfortunately that statement is bull$@!t and I think I have some proof to back this statement up. Have you seen the uOttawa lately? In a recent issue there was a nice little article about some Geography and Environmental Studies profs that decided to go paperless with their assignments. To make sure that their TAs (teacher’s assistants) were properly equipped for the task, the professors purchased some ipads and voila… a paperless semester was born. ( Article ) And of course there were the infamous Experiential Learning Sustainability surveys. I blogged about this earlier this year ( Love and Surveys ) but the results are slowly trickling in and it turns out that 45% of professors do allow students to submit their work electronically. Sure this is a little less than half but I bet it is way more than you expected. Another interesting tidbit came out of these surveys...