*This post is from a guest contributor. Jonathan Holmes is a core member of Green Campus and an all around passionate student activist for the environment. Dear Friends, I like to think of myself as a reasonable person. I usually don’t take strong stances on political issues. I understand that no political question is cut and dry, and I attempt to learn about all of the points of view on different issues. And yet you might have recently seen me in facebook pictures and videos wearing a dress, dancing to a fiddle, or even dropping my pants. You might think I’ve gone crazy, and am throwing away my good reputation and public respectability. You’d probably be right. But believe me – I am only doing this because I am convinced that climate change is such an incredibly serious and immediate problem that we need action NOW. To quote the most recent research, “global emissions must PEAK THEN DECLINE RAPIDLY WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE TO TEN YEARS for the world to have a reasonable chance of avoiding...

Students at the University of Ottawa may have noticed four teenagers scurrying around their campus lately, hauling bags full of sawdust or balancing cans of compost, keeping tabs on the environmentally friendly recycling bins or replacing old recycling signs with updated ones. Who are these mysterious people and why are they darting every which way around the campus? Katimavik has brought together eleven youth from across Canada to live and work in the city of Ottawa. It is a six to nine month youth volunteer program that lets youth from across the country experience diverse work placements and cultural differences, as well as being able to dapple in their program of choice, ranging from eco-citizenship to improving their second language to civic engagement. Working for the uOttawa’s Sustainability Department, four Katimavik participants are helping to implement environmental plans and spread the word that the entire uOttawa campus needs to make a difference to, well, save the world. W...

A couple of months ago I blogged about something called Open Green Maps, or if I didn’t I meant to. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Open Map concept but it is really quite simple. Take your standard map of anything and Open Maps allows you to personalize the content on the map. So you can add a picture or a description of a location to a map. Now enter the Open ‘Green’ Map. The first time I ever heard about a Green Map was at a sustainable campuses conference in Vancouver. It turns out that some geography students of Royal Roads College had collected a bunch of coordinates for some of the green characteristics of their campus and then laid those coordinates over top of a campus map. And voila; instant Green Map. But things have gotten a lot easier since those days of collecting individual GPS points and feeding them into a GIS program. We can all thank Google Maps for that. Although Google didn’t invent the concept of an Open Green Map, they certainly have ...

This isn't really anything new but it is certainly exciting. The Office of Campus Sustainability participates every year in the Experiential Learning program. In the past we have worked with Eric Crighton' s first year environmental issues class. Each year these students help conduct recycling surveys on campus that ultimately end up being used to improve the campus recycling system. This year we have been working with Renate Sander-Regier, the prof for the third year natural resource management class. The concept is simple - the students of the course have to assess the natural resources of the campus and make recommendations about how to use them all sustainably. Please allow this brief interjection. I like the ELS program because it does 3 things. First, students get to do some real work and learn some practical skills, not that theoretical stuff that sometimes leaves you feeling empty sometimes. Two, a community group gets the benefit of some much needed work / info / hel...

As you may have seen from the picture above, I am trying something new this year, winter cycling. Now I am not a rampant winter cyclist; in point of fact I have never done it before. And there is a good chance that I won’t even make it a quarter of the way through this winter. But I want to try. I am not actually going to talk about winter cycling actually, i just thought it would be nice to share this picture. All day i was actually thinking about what i would call this picture. If I had to title the above picture I would call it “Nice try winter” or “Bikers 1, Winter 0”. But I digress, this post is about making easier to do something more environmentally friendly. I don’t think that you need much more of an example beyond the above picture. I am trying out winter cycling and what i need is clean roads and accessible bike racks. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep this up much longer. In the of Sustainability world we talk about barriers. When we want people to change ...

Picture courteousy of www.bouge.c a Two years ago the University faced a stark reality... the students didn't think that the campus was sustainable. Actually, if you want to really get down to the nitty gritty, the students perceived that the Univerrsity had a low level of commitment to the environment. Every year the Globe and Mail releases a survey about universities in Canada. The survey is a perceptions based exercise which asks students to rate their campuses. Hundreds to thousands of students respond to these surveys and the G&M is able to regroup the info to grade various institutions. (Check out the special report on the environment section here ) So two years ago the University of Ottawa received a "D". Not so great. I mean it could be worse... not much worse... but it could have been. This was a wonderful opportunity actually. When universities get a bad rating, then things start to happen. The UofO responded with a massive push on recycling. My boss often t...

L’un des messages clés du discours de David Suzuki est que tout le monde a besoin de "consommer moins". Mais comment pouvons-nous faire cela avec les fêtes qui approchent rapidement? C’est aussi simple que donner un cadeau qui est facile sur l'environnement ! Voici quelques options : Cadeaux qui soutiennent des projets trouvant des solutions environnementales. Jetez un coup d’œil au catalogue 2009-2010 de David Suzuki pour envoyer une carte électronique, acheter des marchandises ou devenir un donateur mensuel ; Achetez localement et durablement ; Donnez un certificat-cadeau pour des cours de danse de couple ou traitez un(e) ami (e) à une journée de ski – un cadeau n'a pas vraiment besoin d'être un bien ou quelque chose de matériel ; Ou tout simplement fabriquez un cadeau ! Nous avons fait des cartes pour les conférenciers du colloque sur le développement durable en affaires à partir de vieux dossiers et des boîtes en carton. Des cartes pour les fêtes peuvent se ...

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...