The Faculty of Education's EcoClub set out to uncover the truth behind our recycling habits, and the results were were eye-opening.  Digging into the Waste Audit In late October, a dedicated group of professors and teacher candidates joined forces with Facilities to conduct a waste audit of Lamoureux, the Faculty of Education's main building. A waste audit may sound a bit technical, but it's simple: we collected all the garbage, tracked where each bag came from, and then weighed and sorted the contents. This hands-on approach allowed us to see what people are really recycling and composting, as opposed to what could be properly sorted and recycled. Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of our findings, let's address why this matters. Sending compostable organics to a landfill is not just bad for the environment; it's contributing to the climate crisis. And when recyclable items end up in the wrong bin, it's a tremendous waste of valuable resources in a worl...

Coca-cola helped popularize the modern image of Santa Clause... they didn't invent it but they used it to great effect to help sell their product and forever link Christmas and Coca-Cola. Every year our office participates in something known as the Alternative Student Break (ASB) . This activity gives students the opportunity to do a full semester of volunteer work in just one week. During the winter semester, we give a workshop about concepts related to waste and then we do a waste audit to see how the campus is doing. This past month we experimented with a new topic... anti-consumption! This idea came to us as we debated the topic of whether it was a bad thing that the Free Store was promoting the idea of consumption... which means consuming more resources. I won't spoil the entire workshop but I am going to give you a breakdown of what we did and what we discovered. The Workshop Our first day was spent going over the concepts of consumption, consumerism, and marketing. Ess...

Look, I know composting isn’t always easy, I sympathize as I have a hard time doing it myself, but the campus is trying to make it easier on you and all of us to do our part. Having an institution like uOttawa that has initiatives and programs in place saves a lot of organic matter from going to waste. Let’s start by talking about the rules/guidelines. What uOttawa does is extremely similar to the city of Ottawa’s guidelines, so they are very strong. They are so similar because we send our compost to the same facility as them. You’re likely recycling or throwing out numerous things that can actually go to compost! Here are all the things you should put in compost: All food scraps (fruits and vegetables, snack foods, nuts and shells, eggs, breads, meat and fish – including bones, salad dressing and sauces); Coffee grounds and tea bags; Disposable paper coffee cups (NO lids); Pizza boxes and other soiled paper-based take-out containers; Paper towels and tissues; Pet and human hair. ...

If there was one thing that you wish you could recycle but don't think you can, what would it be? Cosmetics, shoes, wipes? Well we are looking to add a few new recycling programs on campus and we need your input!! Is Recycling Good? There are some really good arguments out there that suggest recycling systems are broken. And I am not going to lie... they make a lot of sense. On the one hand, many people don't understand that recycling is an energy intensive activity that sometimes takes more energy than it might be worth. Recycling programs, especially curbside ones, don't recycle all the products they could... or sometimes companies promise their products are recyclable but they aren't actually in your city. But on the other hand, doing something is better than doing nothing, right? Getting onto the habit of trying to recycle helps lead to other positive environmental behaviours. And asking for more recycling will help push for better recycling and events and in your c...

When I go back and reflect on  how all of this started, I have to be honest and start with disappointment. I did not get the sustainability coordinator job that I wanted (wink wink to my amazing colleague). Not off to a very good start , you might think . Well , life is full of surprises and three months later I got a call encouraging me to apply for the recycling coordinator position . I was passionate about waste, and it could not be that far from sustainability , so why not? Here I am, one year and a few months later, reflecting on this absolutely amazing journey.   I walked into the F acilities office at uOttawa with zero expectation s and a very open mind. T here , I found a sense of belonging and acceptance that has been quite refreshing , especially after a rocky career path since moving to Canada. I landed here in 2018 with two suitcases and a desire to pursue a career in s ustainability. I have been blessed in finding jobs easily but findin g m...