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The Period Project: One Year Later

During the pandemic, a group of students working on a project for Ventures and the Office of Campus Sustainability came up with an idea to give away environmentally friendly menstrual products for free at uOttawa. Giving away free menstrual products is not a new idea, but it is new to uOttawa, and targeting environmentally friendly, local products is entirely novel. The students created an  Instagram account and got some funding from uOttawa's Student Life Services, UOSU, and Facilities Service. The Office of Campus Sustainability and Sanitary Services created a working committee with student representatives and got to work installing dispensers and spreading the news. It has been over a year since the project kicked-off and the Office of Campus Sustainability has completed the first Impact Report for the Period Project . And so far, the numbers look very promising. Bottom line, 13,149 menstrual products have been distributed through the distribution machines and at partner loc...

So What is uOttawa Doing About Sustainability These Days?

 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...

50 Sustainability Accomplishments for the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day

In honour of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we are sharing the University of Ottawa's top 50 sustainability accomplishments over the past decade. Of course some of these activities have been slowed down because of Covid 19, but we wanted to show everyone our dedication to sustainability and highlight the amazing work of the community. You can see all the pictures realted to these accomplishments on Instagram . The University of Ottawa placed 20th overall for RecycleMania 2020 . The University has been the RecycleMania champions of Canada 9 out of the last 10 years. The University of Ottawa has a Community Supported Agriculture program. Every week during the growing season, a local, organic, fruit and vegetable basket is delivered to participants on campus. The University of Ottawa collects unpurchased food at the end of the day and donates it to 4 local charities. The University of Ottawa became Canada’s 7th Fair Trade campus . Today, the majority of all coffee ...

uOttawa, I'd Like to Introduce You to Zero Waste Dining

A while back, I want to say maybe 5 or 6 years ago but I am a little fuzzy on the details, my colleague Brigitte and I resolved to create a very lofty goal for ourselves. We resolved to become a zero waste campus! What I am not fuzzy about was the reaction. Essentially laughter and disbelief. The Conversation Well here we are some time later and I am sitting in a meeting with the Director of Food Services and we are talking about the new Dining Hall. Patrick, he's the director I was talking about, is all excited about what he's got in store for the space. He's talking pasta bar, like fresh pasta bar, like there's a machine in the background making the pasta from the raw ingredients; he's talking a game room, like a bunch of new PlayStations or X-boxes set up for people to relax and enjoy themselves; he's talking a space where you make your own food... no joke, pots and pans and a pantry overflowing with food for you to do as you please. Now Patrick is g...

Top 5 Green Move-in Tips

It's the end of the summer and you know what that means? MOVING TIME!!!!!! Yes, the moment has come for that time-honoured tradition whereby thousands of students flock to the University of Ottawa and hunker down for 8 months of intense working, studying, and partying. And for about 3,000 students who will be living in residences, this will be their first trip to Ottawa. Now being the helpful people we are here at the Office of Campus Sustainability, we thought that we would share our top 5 tips for ensuring a green move-in here on campus. In fact, even if it isn't your first year, this list could really help you out. Don't bring your entire closet with you! I know it is tempting to make sure that you have hundreds of clothing / accessory options available to you when you arrive on campus, but take it from us, traveling light is the way to go. There are tonnes of free shirts available at virtually every major festival on campus and let's face it, after your f...