Promoting sustainability during the Christmas holidays is probably one of the most grim things I have to do each year. Don't get me wrong, I think that there are a tonne of really important things that should be done during the holidays; it's just that often doing the right thing for the environment seems like a real drag on the spirit of the season. Well, I don't think that you have to be a killjoy while doing things for the holidays. I think that there can be a balance between easy, fun, and right for the planet. Here is a list of the things that you can do on campus and at home to make it a green Christmas (other than by global warming of course). Before you leave the campus: 1. SHUT IT ALL DOWN I know this must seem like the most obvious thing, but it is really important. And if you want to have the biggest impact possible, just unplug everything from the wall. This guarantees no power loss to phantom loads. Some items are much worse in terms of being energy v...

I failed - but not miserably - at being waste free for a week. A pessimist would tell you it's impossible to live waste free while an optimist would say that accepting the challenge is already an improvement from the week prior. I have always tried to reduce, reuse and recycle when it was convenient for me but this competition made me identify my own personal wasteful habits: using tissues, plastic sandwich bags and Q-tips, commuting by car too often, leaving the hot water run and buying treats in non-recyclable packaging, just to name a few. Have I made an oath not to use these products and behave in these ways ever again? No. Becoming more sustainable is like getting in shape - it doesn't happen overnight. I can't promise that I'll never contribute to a landfill, drive a car or enjoy an all dressed chip from a non-recyclable bag. However, each time I am wasteful, I'll think about modifying my consumption and activities next time around in order to lessen my i...

WARNING: about to geek out really hard. Beware. It is already pretty impressive when I get to explain to people what I do here at the Sustainability Office on Campus. I can rave for hours about how great it is to be working in a field that is legitimately connected to my field of study- how applicable what I learn in the classroom is to my some of the projects I am working on here at the office. Beware, I am about to go on one of those tangents… concerning the Sustainable Development Committee (SUDCOM) at the University of Ottawa. The committee is comprised of three faculty, five admin staff, two students, and two community members and its role is to provide advice and insight to uOttawa’s Administrative Committee on matters related to best practices and socially responsible behaviour. This boils down to being a committee of persons who seek to make our campus green. The first meeting took place during reading week and went really well—luckily for myself, being that I had s...