With the ever necessary push for alternative transportation, universities need to step up in support. This can be enforced by universal bus passes and campaigns to encourage walking and cycling. Cycling is cheaper than other modes of transportation and faster than walking. It’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors or just to get from place to place! So, how about a bike co-op? In 2008, a couple of students working in Sustainable Development and Sustainable Transportation prepared a proposal for a bike cooperative on campus. They researched other campus bike coops, where we could put one, how it could be run, and how much it would cost. With a positive reception from administration and support of the SFUO, two new students have updated and prepared a new proposal outlining the ideal way a bike coop at uOttawa would function, with intentions of seeing it open in March 2010. That’s right – the University of Ottawa and the SFUO will open a bike cooperative in 2010. Okay, so...

Green Weeks, as you must know by now, was a great collection of events taking place between November 2nd and November 13th this year. There were tons of amazing events showcasing what ’s green on this campus, what students and the community are working on, and ways in which we can make changes in policy and our own lives to improve our environmen t. Hopefully you made it out to an event or two and enjoyed it! If you have any comments on Green Weeks 2009, please send them to me! sking@ uottawa.ca The final event is on November 23rd this year; David Suzuki is coming to the Bronson Centre. Tickets are available at the SFUO office in the university centre. $15 for students and alumni, $25 for community members. Get them fast! - sarah jayne

Le moment est enfin venu... vous pouvez maintenant acheter vos billets pour le 2 e Colloque annuel sur le développement durable en affaires !!! Un grand événement organisé par des étudiants pour informer les autres sur la durabilité environnementale d’entreprise. Le colloque aura lieu le vendredi 13 novembre 2009 de 11 h à 19 h dans la salle Desmarais 4101 . Les billets sont seulement 8 dollars et comprennent quatre groupes d’experts, deux discours, un dîner organique, une pause-café équitable, un événement de réseautage social avec service de traiteur (comprenant un billet pour une boisson alcoolisée) et un paquet-cadeau pour les participants. Sérieusement, pourquoi ne pas venir ? Vous avez peut-être des classes, aucun problème ! Vous pouvez assister à la session 1 (11 h à 15 h) ou 2 (15 h à 19 h) pour seulement 5 dollars. Non seulement est le prix incroyable, mais vous aurez la chance d'entendre des idées intéressantes provenant de plus de vingt professionnels d’entreprises...

I hope you’re getting excited for Green Weeks coming up! Wait…you don’t know about it yet? Green Weeks is a two week series of workshops and events to showcase the work towards sustainability on our campus. This year, the first two weeks of November are dedicated to Green Weeks. It’s an SFUO initiative that is in its third year, and Sustainable Development Office is happy to help. We’ve developed a long list of amazing events, so be sure to check out: Free stores during the two weeks Information fairs on November 10 and 12 th Screening of Borealis – Big Wild event put on by CPAWS and MEC Students on Ice with professor Copland E-Waste drive Workshops including: alternative menstrual products, eating sustainably and cheaply, and more! Tar Sands Art and Wine & Cheese with artist Louis Helbig Movie screenings: FLOW and Food, Inc Sustainable Business Conference Keynote address from David Suzuki (November 23 rd ) “Green” has been gaining a lot of support at the University of Ottawa. The...

J'espère que vous avez tous hâte aux semaines vertes! Attend une minute... vous ne les connaissez pas? Pour une période de deux semaines, les Semaines Vertes visent à vous impliquer et sensibiliser aux initiatives de développement durable sur le campus de l’Université d’Ottawa; avec des ateliers et évènements. Cette année, les deux premières semaines du mois de Novembre sont dédiées aux Semaines Vertes. C'est une initiative de la FÉUO et le Bureau du Développement Durable qui est dans sa troisième année. Nous avons développé une liste d'événements fabuleux à ne pas manquer : Gratuiteries lors des deux semaines Foires d’Information – 10 et 12 Novembre Film : Borealis – un événement organisé par la SNAP et MEC « Students on Ice » avec professeur Copland Collecte de déchets électroniques Ateliers: produits alternatifs menstruel, manger de façon durable et à moindre coût, et plus encore! Art inspiré des Sables bitumineux et un vin et fromage avec l'artist Louis Helbig Soir...

Jon wrote a post in January about defining Sustainable Development. Here, we’ll revisit and maybe go a bit further, just for fun. Right now, I’m taking a course on environmental policy and sustainable development. Here, sustainable development refers to development in the developing world. Not just, “development” as in “progress” or any other way you might fathom before we get into more definitions. We’re at a university. And we work in sustainable development for the university, which is not a developing country. So, what does it mean here? Universities have a huge role to play in becoming the leaders of sustainable development. They are building and growing, researching new ways of doing things (integrated environmental approach anyone?), and teaching people who are going to influence the world we live in. At the university, we’re looking at environmental “sustainability” as a goal. So, Jon took the pretty well known definition, coming from an important report (the last of a s...

Click here to link to video Have you seen the piano stairs video? Really? Are you serious, cause it’s posted like everywhere. I even added a link from my Facebook account. Anyways you should take a look because it is pretty awesome and it reveals one of my big pet peeves; lazy stairs people. Allow me to preface with my list of annoying lazy people things. First are people who take the elevator when they could easily take the stairs, next are people use the handicapped button to open doors, then it’s people who don’t turn off their computers at night, and finally people who stand still on the escalator. Each is especially annoying in its own magic way (Seriously you can’t open the door with your hands? Cause the more you use the handicapped button for your own lazy purposes the more you increase the likelihood that it will break when a person who really needs it comes by – Or standing on the escalator? I know it isn’t the biggest crime in the world but if you don’t have a mobility i...

A little while ago, I came across this website for a program that runs in Toronto called Not Far From the Tree . The basic premise is that this group of volunteers goes around picking the fruit out of the yards of those who register on their site. They then divide the fruit 3 ways between themselves (as payment for their work), the owner and a charitable organization such as the food bank or a soup kitchen. I thought this was a great idea since I myself have an apple tree and a grape vine that I rarely find the time to harvest and thus the majority of the fruit go to waste. I started to look into the possibility that Ottawa has such a program, and it kind of does. Vegetable Patch operates a land sharing program within Ottawa’s city centre. The idea is that you offer up your unused land, they come in and make a totally organic garden and care for the plants all season long. In return, you get a weekly vegetable basket from the stuff grown in your yard and elsewhere around...

Il semble que les colloques/congrès sur le « développement durable » ont augmenté au cours des dernières années. La raison est assez simple : la durabilité est très importante ! Pour être honnête, la durabilité peut être un concept difficile à appréhender et certains pourraient penser qu'il n'est rien d'autre qu'une tendance, en particulier du fait que les entreprises font beaucoup de « lavage vert » avec leurs produits, services, événements, etc. L'affaire est, la durabilité ne touche pas seulement l'environnement ; elle affecte également la société et l'économie. C'est pourquoi les colloques/congrès sont idéales pour éduquer les gens à propos des solutions durables ! SPECTRUM 2009 a touché ce concept à différents niveaux avec des experts en matière de politiques ainsi que des dirigeants communautaires et des représentants de tous les ordres de gouvernement, du milieu universitaire, du secteur privé, de groupes communautaires et d’organisations ...

School’s in! It is probably appropriate to talk a bit about courses on campus. Why? Because they can contain sustainable development content, or they can be environmentally conscious in the way they are run. We’ll touch upon the latter first because it’s pretty basic: less paper, less resources, less waste. Tips for students and professors to green their classroom (these items generally must be mutually agreed upon) Double-side your assignments, or print them single spaced or on already used one-sided paper Have assignments submitted online or via email Use online course material (also lowering costs to students for copyright material) Encourage taking notes and not printing all slides or readings on paper Buy recycled paper notebooks, or reused one-sided paper notebooks (can be purchased at Reprography) As far as sustainable content, there are a number of courses offered that talk about issues of sustainability and sustainable development. The next blog post will likely be an offs...