I don't think that I need to convince you that birds hitting windows and dying is a bad thing. Bird collisions with buildings is right at the top of the list of bird fatalities ( along with cats ), and with the huge decline of migratory birds in recent years, it makes sense that large institutions do what they can to help reduce collisions. So here is the first problem. There are no vertical transparent surfaces in nature, thus birds are completely unaware that they are about to hit a window. Birds are often confused because they see the reflection of a tree in the window and try to land on the tree. University campuses are usually covered in windows (modern buildings tend to have lots of windows to let in natural light and convey transparency... also they look cool). And, university campuses have a lot of trees. So mix these two things together and you get a lot of reflected trees causing bird collisions. The second problem has to do with the solutions, in that they are expensive....

Animal welfare has multiple facets that are received differently by the general public. Veganism, being one outlet of animal welfare, has grown in popularity whether due to concerns for animal rights, personal health, or environmental reasons. Whether you believe in ‘ speciesism ’ or not, human industrialization of the animal agriculture system is one factor driving the climate crisis . It should be incumbent upon the University of Ottawa to take a stand against this industry that is detrimental to non-human animals,  human lives, and the environment. Wide-spread support for the idea of granting rights to animals has not materialized despite arguments dating back decades. As there are many reservations surrounding animal rights activism, the environmental argument for reducing meat consumption could be the key to protecting animals (and seriously who could be against widening the moral circle in an age where Beyond Meat burgers exist?). It seems like the perfect time to begin ...

A few weeks ago I was sitting in a meeting with my boss going over the business case for why the University of Ottawa should change our building standards to build green roofs whenever possible (meaning so long as the building can take the weight). The crux of the argument came down to two things... is it better for the planet and does it save costs? Wait, this is too far ahead, I need to go back a bit. A few months ago one of our awesome student employee created a wonderful business case about why the University of Ottawa should install green roofs on campus. She created a case that took into account of bunch of factors, including construction costs, energy savings, storm water management, operating costs, and much more. Ultimately, she came up with a very important finding... Over the life-cycle of a building, it always makes sense to install a green roof over a conventional roof. Wait wait, I guess I should actually start at the beginning. Last year I worked with the ...

We've seen that post somewhere... "Headed to Toronto this weekend, I have a few extra seats". Sometimes people are doing this because they don't like o make ling drives alone, or because they are looking for someone to split gas money with. Either way, this is ridesharing and it is an important part of the sharing economy. Ridesharing isn't a new concept. The idea is fairly simple, a car is headed somewhere and there some empty seats... Ridesharing is the basically an option to fill those seats up. Think of it like carpooling but to another city. So if you have a car, you can offer a ride to people headed to the same place as you (and charge a small fee for the ride). Or if you want to go somewhere but don't have a ride, you can ask someone who is headed to the same place to drive you (and compensate them for their troubles). The internet is awash in "ride boards", places where you can see where people are headed or where they need a ride t...

Welcome welcome welcome! The summer is coming to an end and you are probably soaking up those last morsels of sunshine before you head to uOttawa for the academic year. Now for some of you, this is going to be your first year and there is a good chance that you will live in residences. For others, this isn't your first rodeo and you are getting ready to move into a place off campus. In either case, we have a handy guide for things you should and shouldn't pack on your way to campus this year. Thanks to the Free Store, your one stop shop on campus for all things FREE, there is a good chance that you won't have to waste valuable luggage space on these items.  This makes sense for your wallet and the environment. Hangers The Free Store has a virtually unlimited amount of hangers. How? Well a little known secret is that clothing stores have their products shipped to them with the hangers already added. It is cheaper to have workers add them at the factory...

There are scarce few things I enjoy more than making and sharing (and eating) food with people I care about. More than that, I love having the opportunity to change common misconceptions about vegetarians/vegan food items, food security and eco-friendly waste management through a medium as delicious as food. So I'd love to let you all in on uOttawa's best kept secret. This is an incredible initiative started and sustained by wonderful humans on our campus and in our community. It combines so many rad things like food, food waste, waste reduction and most importantly, a whole lot of love. The People's Republic of Delicious is a food collective run by student and non-student volunteers with a simple goal in mind: to Keep Campus Delicious. And this is done in such a simple manner. Anybody on campus can show up around with a reusable container and get a FREE vegan meal. Yes FREE and yes it's for anybody! The PRD used to be located in the UCU Terminus, but they ...

I am going to talk today about something that happen on the university campus that really frustrate me every time I see it and which is the food waste at the caff by the students. Last year, university of Ottawa renovated the caf and it became open buffet dining hall. All the students were really happy when they found out, but there is something that a lot of people don’t realize and it is the amount of food waste that is coming out of the dining hall! Student are either part of the meal plan or they pay at the door to get in. They get access to an open buffet and they typically put so much food in their plates that most of it ends up in the compost. People are over-consuming, and over-consuming leads to an unsustainable environment. This issue makes me sad and mad at the same time for so many reasons. One of those reasons is that in my religion, and I think in many other religions as well, wasting food is something we are simply not allowed to do. Another reason is that the...

Mainstream chocolate typically comes from cocoa plantations in developing countries where workers are exploited and earn a pittance. Many plantations further resort to child labour to provide competitive prices, exploiting those who are forced to work at a young age in order to support their families. I have heard that some children are “sold” to cocoa plantations by relatives, while others are told that the job provides adequate income. These children are subjected to dangerous work conditions that include prolonged exposure to pesticides without protective clothing; heavy, dangerous equipment, whose use violates international labour laws; and even physical abuse. Child labourers are also typically denied access to education, which then continues this cycle of poverty. Camino chocolate comes from cocoa that is grown and harvested by small-scale family farmers in the South. Farmers who work their own land and are part of a co-operative in their regional area. These farmers have an...

By this point in the school year, most of us know how awesome the all-you-can-eat cafeteria is. When you’re starving after cramming for the midterm in the library, being able to relax and re-energize there feels like heaven. The cafeteria can boast that it is Zero Waste with regards to trash, bottles, plastic, metal etc. However, there is one huge culprit of waste that most of us don’t even think about: food waste. While dining trays were eliminated to help reduce over consumption, our dining hall still turns out to be an enormous source of wasted food. To help raise awareness about this issue, the Office of Campus Sustainability and Food Services took on a mission to measure the average amount of food that is thrown out each day. Over a week long period, the average total of food tossed in the compost bins at the caf was a whopping 1,735 food servings per day! That means that every day, around 1147 pounds of avoidable food is simply composted and every 8-month school year appro...

You might not know this but when you decide to go bottled water free, you get a lot of criticism from big corporations. More specifically, bottled water companies, who by the way love to send tonnes of letters about why you need to reconsider your decision. So at uOttawa we get lots of these letters. Some nice, some bad, some threatening, some completely incomprehensible. I thought I would let everyone see what it is like when we get one of these letters and how I like to handle them. I personally believe that water should never be denied to people how need it. I is essential to our lives and to our way of life. And don't get me wrong, I do believe that there is a time and place for bottled water and that it does have some very important and very critical applications. I understand big corporations need to eek out a living as well, but sometimes you have to draw a line. As a recovering science student, one of the things I really hate is when people toss a study at you and say...