Photo Credit: Rosa Kouri When I saw this story, I had to share it! Help Gavin Smith bike across the continent for Ecojustice! After finishing his law degree at the University of Ottawa, Gavin is biking across Ontario and eight American states to his grandmother’s home on the Pacific coast in Oceanside, Oregon. There he will meet his family and catch a ride back to Vancouver, where he begins his articling position with Ecojustice founding lawyer Gregory McDade. Wondering how a trip through both Canada and the United States relates to Ecojustice? It does in many ways. One is that Ecojustice feels we need to support the generosity and dedication of supporters like Gavin. Beyond this, Ecojustice is increasingly involved in cross border issues. From our international success standing up for the Flathead Valley, to our efforts to stem global warming by reducing black carbon, we recognize that global environmental problems need globally minded people - and solutions. Gavin has committed years...

Photo credit: Cafepress.ca Étant un pilier de base pour toute vie épanouie, je suis l’élément clé de toutes vos salades et sandwichs. J’ai plusieurs personnalités : romaine, frisée, boston, iceberg. À toi de les découvrir et d’adapter ton jardinage à mes humeurs. Je pousse en moins de deux semaines et c’est possible de me planter en continuité toute l’été à intervalles de 3 semaines. Bien que je sois friand de soleil, ne me laisse pas poireauter au chaud et récolte-moi une fois que j’atteins mon optimum de saveur si tu ne veux pas que je te fasse la moue. A basic food staple, I provide the main component of your salads and sandwiches. I come in many different varieties and thrive in sunlight, sprouting within 1-2 weeks. Continue seeding every 3 weeks for continuous yield throughout the summer. Being so diverse, check the packaging to see our spatial requirements. Remember to harvest us quickly because we don’t like waiting around under the hot sun after reaching our height of tastiness...

Photo credit: unknown As planting season gets closer and closer we decided that we would have a series of blog posts dedicated to gardening. But since this can sometimes be a dry subject, we decided to spice things with out sexy vegetables series. La carotte Je vaux la peine. Je raffole du soleil, je suis riche en Vitamine A et ta mère t’a toujours dit que j’étais bonne pour les yeux ;) Plante mes graines en rangée, à un quart de pouce de la surface et dans un sol fin car les sols ardus briment ma peau douce. Après ce premier contact, tu ne me verras pas ne serais-ce que sortir de terre avant 3 semaines mais quand finalement j’apparaîtrai tu pourras me déguster dans toutes sortes de plats. Pèle-moi pour des collations rapides à tout moment de la journée, coupe-moi en rondelles dans des salades, bouille-moi pour des potages, mélangeons-nous à des patates pilées, Laisse-moi baigner dans un rôti ou un crockpot… Les possibilités abondent avec moi : la carotte! The carrot I’m worth the wait...

Photo source: edressme.com Suite à ma chasse aux souliers écolos la semaine dernière, j’ai décidé de pousser ma quête plus loin afin de pouvoir m’habiller de la tête aux pieds de façon complètement écologique. C’est ainsi que j’ai fait le tri de boutiques locales (Ottawa, Gatineau, Montréal et Toronto) offrant des produits locaux, recyclés ou à base de matériaux renouvelables (bambou) en résumant le tout à mon top 4. Tout d’abord, EcocentrikAppare l () offre des vêtements écolos et équitables pour homme, femme et enfant à des prix tout à fait abordables faits à partir de tissus biologiques ou réutilisés. La majorité de leurs produits colorés et d’un confort absolu sont également créés au Canada. Par la suite, on retrouve un style beaucoup plus détendu chez Susanharrisdesign , une boutique à Toronto. Cette créatrice réinvente de toute pièce des chandails chauds, des jupes, foulards et même de petites culottes à partir de motifs de vêtements ayant trépassé. Comme quoi les déchets des un...

Photo credit: Brigitte Morin Okay, I recognize that this pushes me dangerously close to the dreaded “dirty hippy” line but I can’t seem to help myself. Okay… here it goes…. I collect every scrap of plastic that comes my way. Now before you judge, you should hear why I am doing this. First of all, garbage sucks. Over the past couple of years I have been slowly phasing out as much waste as possible from my life. Thankfully recycling and composting programs are in place for Ottawa and Gatineau. This is sweet because it means that I am down to 1 half size garbage bag per month. So why would I stop there. Old clothes and household items I donate away to the Free Store or give to friends. I have been shifting from purchasing physical gifts to giving experiential gifts (theater tickets, day at the spa, etc…). And I am getting better at asking to not have any disposable straws at restaurants. But of course there is the ever elusive plastic wrapper. Somehow it has always been able to penetrate...

Photo credit: treehugger.com En ce printemps pluvieux, suite à une session universitaire bien mouvementée, je commence enfin à reprendre vie. Soudainement, sans l’angoisse des études, je décompresse et prends gout aux choses un peu frivoles. Mais comment se laisser aller, en tant que jeune femme, aux modes vestimentaires sans renier mes convictions écologiques? La mode n’est-elle pas justement éphémère (loin de durable)? Comment être écolo, tout en étant à propos? Eh bien, grâce à mon ami internet, j’ai pu me trouver quelques alternatives tout de même de bon gout! Tout d’abord, la compagnie Mohop offre de superbes sandales à semelle de bois que l’on attache avec une gamme de rubans pouvant être organisés au gout du jour. Le seul inconvénient est le prix un peu élevé, disons environ 150$ par paire. Par la suite, Mooshoes crée des souliers végétaliens, faits des manière a éviter toute cruauté animalière . Ce sont des souliers qui ressemblent à ce que l’on retrouve chez ALDO (tout comm...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo As much as I love spring, spring cleaning is an environmentalists worst nightmare. Workers moving out to break the boring chain of stability, Mothers clearing out in search of something they haven’t had since they got married to thier slob of a husband, and University students running out of money to afford living away from home. Suddenly things like mr. couch, mr. toaster and mr. not-in-fashion winter coat are useless. Well, as we all know, useless things go in the garba- WAIT! Do those things look like completely unusable, filthy, destroyed messes? No. Donate them! Okay, but you're already pressed for time, that's what you were throwing stuff out for in the first place! And if your leftovers happen to be food, a hoodie, some books, and an old toaster. How the hell do you donate that? Go to the food bank, then the salvation army, then a second hand library, then a...toaster depot? Wow, time vampire. The solution is obvious: if you’re provided wit...

Photo credit: Merissa Mueller From crutches to crowns, the Dump and Run brought many treasures to the basement of Leblanc. For the next few weeks Katimavik, Marie-Pier and I will be sorting through and organizing the mounds of clothing, toiletries, dishes and assorted goods in order to donate them to local charities. The entire floor of the basement is covered currently in somewhat sorted piles of men’s shirts, jeans, women’s shirts, winter wear, underwear, etc. After washing and sorting, we will be contacting local charities to see what they require for donations at which point we will deliver the items. I cannot emphasize how important this initiative is for our community. Being the Office of Sustainability, our main goal is to promote sustainable living on campus but this effort reaches beyond campus to the surrounding communities of Ottawa. Encouraging social sustainability, one of the three pillars of sustainability, is essential to our mandate. The chain reaction involves all th...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo Pas d’excuses mesdames et messieurs : le temps chaud arrive à Ottawa, les supports à vélos sont installés sur les autobus d’OC transpo et les pistes cyclables abondent tout comme les endroits sécuritaires où barrer vos bicyclettes durant la journée. Être à vélo procure un sentiment des plus libérateurs qui soient : Être responsable de l’effort nécessaire à ses propres déplacements; respirer le grand air à plein poumons; reposer ses muscles en descendant les pentes à toute vitesse et aussi pouvoir imaginer être en train de voler! Je vous jure d’expérience qu’il n’y a pas beaucoup de différence entre un vol en deltaplane et une descente en bicyclette. Les cheveux dans le vent, le vent dans les cheveux : une promenade en vélo, il n’y a vraiment rien de mieux. Ottawa procure à ses résidents et visiteurs amateurs de cyclisme tout ce qu’il faut pour être heureux. Voyer vous-mêmes toutes les ressources qui sont disponibles: Carte de la vaste étendue des magnifiq...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo It's that time of the year again. As all the students head home for the summer there is a mountain of stuff left behind to prove that "I was here". Two years ago the Office of Campus Sustainability collected approximately 1.7 tonnes of stuff; last year it was about 2.3 tonnes; this year... who knows. One thing is for certain though, there will always be more stuff. The Dump and Run (yeah I am know... who named this thing anyways) is technically an annual campus move out event. In reality it is really a story of perspectives an realities. Perspective #1 - The Student (in rez) It is the end of the year, I have 5 exams and 2 papers to hand in. My last exam is on the second last day of the month. I have to leave on the first of May by noon and there are still 2 parties to go to and too many friends to say goodbye to. On my last day in rez my parents arrive and I have exactly 15 mins to pack everything into the car before we leave. I can't ta...

Photo credit: Unknown Yes! Examinations are coming to a close and because I am not studying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am ecstatic that second year is almost over and that summer will soon officially begin. For those of you in residence, you may be relieved that your parents are on their way to collect you and bring you to your hometown OR they are coming to move you into another apartment for the summer months. Either way, the process of moving is stressful especially if you do not have a parent with a truck. Once the backseat gets filled, your father will start complaining about all the clothing you have accumulated over the semester and will start to threaten you with garbage bags. If this happens, and you are forced to leave some things behind, tell your father to put those garbage bags away and that Dump and Run will gladly take your stuff. We’re collecting basically everything in decent condition: your half empty cleaning supplies, gently worn clean clothing...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo I cannot overstate this enough, PEOPLE REALLY WANT TO GARDEN! I have received an endless flood of emails from enthusiastic gardeners looking for a plot on campus. I suppose this all started last year when we dramatically increased the garden plot offerings on campus. We surged from about 8 plots to about 50. There were a couple of problems for sure last year. First, we didn't get the garden going until July, about a month later then when everyone typically starts seeding. On top of that there was the possibility that the land would eventually be taken away for another development. And of course we had never managed a garden of that size so everything was a new experience. Of course some dude named Murphy showed up and we were told that the garden land was going to be developed for the CAPEA project. No one was really surprised though, we all knew that there was a possibility of that happening. But the community didn't give up and dozens of success...

Photo credit: Jonathan Rausseo Consider, for a moment, the average day of the average office worker...the desks that must accommodate him...the wheelie chairs he must sit in...the counters he must splay things on...the phones he must answer...the cabinets he must put files in...the cupboards he must open....Have the picture? That's what's needed to sustain 1 office worker. Now let's do some multiplication. How many office workers are there per office? How many offices are there per floor? How many floors are there per building? How many buildings are there per district? How many districts are there per city? How many cities are there on the Earth? Granted, the numbers vary a lot from to city-to-city to district-to-district to building-to-building to floor-to-floor to office-to-office to office-worker-to-office-worker. But multiplying seven numbers together, regardless of how small they are originally, is usually going to have a huge result. Considering the fact that 25 citi...

Photo credit: unknown Chances are your exam period is split into a few sections of intense studying, stressing, no sleep, and lots of energy drinks versus sleeping all day to catch up those crazy few days. I went through all of that several times, and I wish that I knew what I do today to go through that period again and do it right (for my body!) Here are a few facts for the students studying for that A in Biology, and for the average person who is wondering why they might always tired (either way, I was definitely wrong about a couple of questions!): Q: A good night’s sleep can improve memory and boost creativity. True or false? TRUE : Recent research shows that sleep actually strengthens, reorganizes, and restructures our memories. While we sleep we hold on to the most emotional parts of our memories. Subjects were shown a scene with an emotional object such as a car wreck. After a full night’s sleep, subjects were more likely to recall the car wreck (the emotional object) rather th...

Photo Credit: Jonathan Rausseo Despite being almost 50 years old in origin, 'Freeganism' is not a very well known philosophy. It's a way of life in which people attempt to eliminate their negative environmental and economic impact on the world by living only off of, well, garbage. If Jimmy dislikes his sandwich and decides to throw it in the trash, Bill can take that opportunity to indulge on Jimmy's half eaten 'waste-food' and eat that sandwich himself. By eating what would have been garbage anyway, Bill ate a meal that didn't require production AND he saved something from the landfill. A Sandwich saved is a sandwich earned. "They eat garbage?! That's disgusting!!!" If that food was a half-eaten Jimmy-slobber sandwich, I would agree with you. If that food was infested with mold and disease and decay, I would agree with you. If that food was actually inedible, I would agree with you. Freeganism would just be the nice way of saying 'rat mimi...