The University of Ottawa is trying to create a clean air community. This is not an easy task and is often overshadowed by the other big air-related sustainability issue... climate change. But poor air quality is a huge issue and it has a direct impact on your quality of life. So we are going to discuss a few of the things uOttawa has done to improve air quality on campus, but first - a small history interlude! Imagine this, you just finished a long week of work and magically you have the entire weekend off... no reports to finish or class work to get caught up on... just time for you to relax. You decide to spend your day outside because you already spend so much time in front of a screen. So you grab your bike or your hiking shoes, choose a location, grab your water bottle, and head out. There's only one problem, when you get outside the air is dense and grey... in fact it's so thick you find it hard to breathe. It is a little hard to remember now, but there was a time in Otta...

 Last year for Earth Day, we recapped the top 50 things uOttawa has done in the past decade to be a more sustainable campus. We promised to never try to put out that much content in one day ever again... but then 2021 happened and we didn't have to because everyone else at uOttawa shared their stories for Earth Day. Here is a recap of all the Earth Day messages that we could find shared around the campus. And you can check out our website to see some of the highlights. Impact Rankings uOttawa participates in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, which track an institutions progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We had some outstanding results this year! Flying Less in Academia Researcher Ryan Katz-Rosene has helped author a resource guide on Flying less in Academia . The guide is meant to help reduce the carbon footprint of academics. Canadian Plastics Pact Sustainable Prosperity, an environmental think-tank on campus, has helped launch the Canadian Pla...

One year in and we are can sort of see the light at the end of the tunnel. With a COVID vaccine on the way, we can take comfort that many of the restrictions we see today will be toned down. But, with vaccines having an efficacy rate of up to 95%, that could still potentially mean  a lot of cases after everyone is inoculated. (5% of Canada's population of 35 Million = 1,750,000 potential cases across the country after vaccination, but herd immunity will slow down and prevent infections)  So it is prudent to think that there will still be the need for some COVID precautions after mass vaccine campaigns are finished. But beyond COVID, there are other reasons we might want to keep up some precautions. This time last year, Canada had reported over 26,000 cases of the flu, and this year there were 57 ... IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!!! Clearly, with a bit of prudence, there can be a significant drop in communicable diseases. At the start of the summer of 2020, people were venturing outsid...

Sometimes it can feel like a huge weight is pushing down on your chest. You hear about the impending doom of climate change but it doesn't seem like people are concerned. Every day you see people acting like it's all cool. Instagram photos from a secluded beach, or a delectable steak dinner, or a mini shopping spree... air travel, red meat, consumerism. I mean the Amazon is literally burning and all your friends are doing is wondering if you are up for a pub crawl on Friday. That feeling you are experiencing, that weight on your chest, is what people are starting to call climate anxiety. It is a recent phenomenon, although we can hardly say that anxiety is something new. What has really changed lately is the constant reporting on climate related issues. On one side, it is great that people are learning more about climate change and wanting to take action. But on the other hand, people are starting to confront the difficulty of the task at hand and it is admittedly pretty t...

Hey, so I think we need to talk. I guess you could sort of say that I’m asking you for a favour... Anyway, here it goes: The Office of Campus Sustainability is holding a couple of public consultations soon and you should definitely be involved. Okay I get it, but before you say no, hear me out. This year we’ve been running around, pumping out ideas. It’s a lot of work. Lately, we’ve been trying to get some attention from the uOttawa community. The office I am working with has been thinking about ways to get you to notice us and to make you happy because it really means a lot to us. Yes, we understand that Green Spaces are great but hey, we have a bunch of other issues as well that we want to put our efforts towards. Soooo, we started developing a sustainability plan as part of the new campus sustainability policy. Now, "what even is a Sustainability plan" you ask? Good question! We want uOttawa's sustainability plan to outline who we are, what our mission i...

It might be strange to think about this but often the most influential and impactful technology on campus tends to be older technology, especially when it comes to environmental sustainability. I was recently asked to speak at a course about Technology, Society, and the Environment. The idea behind inviting me was to speak to the group about how campus sustainability has been helped along by technology. I thought that I might share this list with you too so you could learn a bit about the new, the old, the unconventional, and the interesting technologies that helped shaped our campus over the past few years. The Living Wall One of the most popular pieces of technology is the University of Ottawa's living wall. In fact, the wall is not just a pretty assortment of 1500 plants, it is a biofilter which is being used to help filter the air inside the FSS Building. The wall helps cleanse 80-85% of the volatile compounds in the air  and it was also instrumental in helping soli...

The new Free Store is up and running and so far it is turning out to be a great success. Every day we bring another 10 boxes or so to the store and they are gone before the store closes. Funny thing though, no matter how much stuff we bring, there is always a hundred times more stuff waiting for us in our storage rooms. Sometimes it feels like a battle that can't be won. When you are trying to reduce the amount of things people consume, there is a tidal wave of entrenched conditioning to overcome. Think about it; every commercial is designed to get you to want something new. The first day of school means you need a new outfit. Going to a wedding means buying a new outfit. Want to take up yoga? New outfit. Want to turn over a new leaf.... new stuff is needed for that too. It seems that every time you want to do something new or different, or if want to mark an occasion or celebrate something, there is an understanding that a purchase is in order. And in case you aren't co...

Admittedly, starting off with a title that includes the word "policy" is a really good way to lose readers. But wait wait wait wait.... don't go yet. I promise there is some really interesting stuff ahead. Stick with me for a bit. Ever since I started working at the University of Ottawa I have been chasing the holy grail of campus sustainability... a sustainability policy. No really, it is one of the most coveted things any sustainability coordinator desires. And now, uOttawa has adopted a new environmental management and sustainability policy . If really thing about it, a sustainability policy can... lend legitimacy to sustainability issues create procedures for the community to follow obligate groups to create sustainability plans Let's talk about legitimacy for a second. Now I don't want to give you the wrong impression and say that people don't take sustainability seriously, but often when times are lean people tend to rank environmental and ...

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 ...