Working at a University gives me the chance to work on a bunch of really big projects with big budgets. Currently the University of Ottawa is getting started on the second phase of the EcoProsperity Project , a series of deep energy retrofits that will help save uOttawa millions of dollars in utilities costs. But that's not what I want to focus on, I would rather focus on something much smaller because I think its impacts could be much bigger. Today I want to advocate for the little things that you might not normally think of but nevertheless could be the key to unraveling our energy problems. Have you ever thought of getting rid of your screen saver, deleting the extra content in an email, or using the stairs whenever you are going down a floor or two? Now most people`s first inclination to save energy is to cut the heat and turn off the lights. Sure, that is certainly useful but there are many emergency lights that just can`t be shut off and let`s face it, who wants to sit...

Whether you’re packing it up and heading out of town for a weekend with family and friends or sticking around and planning your own feast, there are a number of things you can do to show some gratitude to the Earth and make your festivities a little more sustainable this year. All together now! — There’s something to be said for gathering people together under one roof, using energy in one place instead of multiple houses. Bonus points for carpooling to get there.   Buy local and in season — Ever notice how yams aren’t really so popular in the summer? Eating seasonally around this time of year is almost built-in to the holiday, since Thanksgiving stems from the Fall harvest tradition. That said, your yams could be trucked into your local grocery store from halfway across the continent. Try hitting up a local farmers’ market, and check your food labels. Buy organic if you can. It tastes better, is better for your health, and bees everywhere will thank you.   Use re-usab...

If Part One was freeing myself from the shackles, Part Two was being blinded by the light. In non-Plato's-Allegory-of-the-Cave terms, this was the hump of the trip. A lot happened over the course of the last 9 days. Over 900 km and the equivalent of two solid days of biking will take a toll on anyone. However, this was not just the biking. There were tears and tantrums, hours spent lost and confused, torrential downpours and wicked winds that cut my speed in half. Quebec was not for the faint of heart. Or lungs. Or abs. Or legs. Taking all that into consideration, Theodore Roosevelt once said: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” So has this venture been worth doing? Most certainly. Has it been sustainable? That is a question that can not be answered so easily. Let's loo...

Why sell paper when you can sell the thing paper is made out of? Sorry for the crude intro but how else am I supposed to get your attention these days? Today's tale comes from a student suggestion that was proposed as a part of a project for the Office of Campus Sustainability this past year. The project focused on trying to create more indoor green space on campus. The suggestion didn't really blow me away at first. It read, "Instead of having a poster sale every semester in the University Centre, we should have a plant sale." I mean how could boring plants ever compete with sexy, sleek posters that are focus grouped, over designed, industry branded, and backed up with every marketing trick you can imagine? No brainer right? Exxxxxxcceeeeeept... So there is the concept out there known as Nature Deficit Disorder. The idea boils down to this; if you are separated from nature you become depressed, anxious, and unable to function properly. As strange as this ma...

Est-ce que tu te considère comme un environnementaliste? Est-ce que les enjeux environnementaux vous intéresse, mais vous n'avez jamais eu la chance d'en apprendre plus à ce sujet? Si ta réponse est oui à une de ces deux questions, peut-être que ceci pourrait vous intéresser… La fin de semaine du 25 au 27 octobre, les éco-mentors du jour de la terre seront les hôtes du ''Beyond Green Youth Summit'' au Campus St. George de l'Université de Toronto. Un forum de jeunesse comprenant 1000 jeunes âgé entre14 et 30 ans, 150 éducateurs ET une belle occasion de discuter des enjeux environnementales par le biais d'ateliers, de conférences et de performances. Les ateliers comprendront des thèmes tels que l'écologie et la conservation, la culture et la consommation, l'éthique et la gouvernance, et plus encore. Mais ce n'est pas tout! Il y aura aussi des spécialistes tels que The water Brothers, Rick Miller et Lee Maracle qui seront présents pour v...

Quelle est la différence entre un bon recycleur et un mauvais recycleur? Un bon recycleur divise ces matériaux recyclables; les cannes, le papier, les bouteilles de vitre, avant de remplir les bacs de recyclage. Un mauvais recycleur rempli son bac de recyclage avec de la glace et l'utilise comme frigo. L'année dernière, je vous ai donné quelques raisons pour lesquelles vous devriez devenir un Éco-ambassadeur en résidence à l'Université d'Ottawa. Plusieurs de ces raisons comprenaient l'apprentissage  au sujet des questions environnementales et comment être un citoyen qui est conscient de son environnement. Ces raisons sont encore très valables…mais maintenant nous en avons encore plus! Cette année, nous lançons une nouvelle initiative pour les Éco-ambassadeurs : un programme de leadership. L'idée derrière ce programme est de renforcer le rôle de nos Éco-Ambassadeurs en leurs offrant un système de mentorat, une formation concernant la gestion et encore plu...

Last night, as I do every year, I gave a presentation to the University of Ottawa's student ambassadors team . If you aren't in the know, the ambassadors team is, and I quote, "an essential tool for the University of Ottawa. It represents an invaluable resource for prospective students and their parents, providing everything from tours, tele-counseling and special recruitment events." So every year I give a presentation to the ambassadors about the neatest green things on campus so that they in turn will tell prospective students about them. I love presenting to the ambassadors. Not only do they dress nicely, but they also ask really great questions, which makes sense since they have to explain everything to our visitors. But last night the questions were better than my answers, so I thought I might take this post to clarify some of the great questions I got. 1. Is the University going to create a park in the middle of parking lot X? Yes, the plan is to one da...

What is the differences between a good recycler and a bad recycler? A good recycler carefully separates their recyclables, cans, paper, and glass, before filling the recycle bins. A bad recycler fills the recycle bin with ice to use it as a mini cooler. Last year I wrote a nice little post about why you should become a Green Rep here at the uOttawa residences. There were a lot of things about how you could learn about environmental issues and how to be a better ecological citizen. And all that still applies.... but there is more now. This year we are launching a new component to the Green Reps programs, a leadership program. The idea behind this program is to empower some of the Green Reps by offering them mentoring, management training, and augmented responsibilities. Don't worry though, we will still have our classic Green Rep team members who will help out with the general Green Rep activities and meetings. And this year we are putting a hard focus on recycling. Follow...

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...

Last week, I was grabbing beers with an old friend and her friend that was passing through Ottawa. Matthew explained to us that he was on his way to university in a less than conventional way. He is undertaking his journey to Halifax by bike—a method which obviously interested me due to its sustainable nature. I have never been on any sort of lengthy bike ride and I asked if he would write to me about his experiences. The following describes part one of his travels. About a week ago, I left on my bike from my parents' farm in Northumberland County, Ontario, with one goal in mind: get to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 23 days. That number includes off-days in Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. So far, after 700 km of biking, I have made it to Montreal. Although that seems like a large distance, it is barely more than a 1/4 of my journey east. I guess a logical question would be "why did I decide to do this?"  The short answer is that last fall I traveled to Europe and in...

I know that there is a lot of controversy these days about bike lanes, especially of the segregated variety. Ottawans have been fiercely debating the infamous "Laurier segregated bike lanes", specifically as to whether the lanes should stay in place or be removed. But regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, bike lanes make cyclists safer. And not only that, bike lanes also make everyone safer. So it is with great pleasure that we would like to announce that the Parking and Sustainable Transportation Office at the University of Ottawa is creating a new counter-flow bike lane that will span a majority of the campus. Although the completion date has not yet been determined, the plans have been approved and early construction has already begun. What this means is good times for everyone on campus; cyclists, pedestrians, and even individuals in cars. Allow me to explain. But first, one small step backwards to explain what is a bike lane. Well d'uh, of course ...

It seems that every second or third article that comes my way on Facebook or Reddit is somehow related to the death of a bunch of bees, the lack of Monarch butterflies, and the implications of fewer pollinators in the environment. As a science student who took several ecology courses, I am very aware of the implications of having fewer pollinators. I mean if I could boil it down into a concise series of events it would go something like this.... Bees and wild pollinators start dying for some reason No more pollinators means no more pollination Fewer plants get pollinated and so less fruit is produced With less food comes sky-rocketing food prices Sometime shortly there after Armageddon ensues There are a lot of theories that have been going around about why there are so many bees and butterflies dying. I recall not even a year or two ago we though the answer might be cell towers or fungus. Today the prevailing wisdom says it is overuse of pesticides. In any event, it sucks ...

There was once a time when university campuses where funded almost exclusively by land endowments.Some noble person would bequeath a plot of land to a university in the hopes of providing a place for education to flourish. These parcels of land were typically enormous, and small sections of the land could be sold or leased for a profit. In this manner, the institution would be able to pay for the cost of operating their institution. Need to hire more profs, sale a patch of land over in the East corner. Need to build a new library, log some of the forest and make a profit from the timber. And thus an institution could thrive perpetually on the land endowed to them. But, the world changes and gone are the days of land endowments functioning as the sole money generator for universities. Today, most endowments are financial in nature and are vulnerable to the whims of the market and political popularity. If the market slumps, universities have less operating funds. If the government t...

There are two realities for students that call the University of Ottawa there campus. On one side there are tens of thousands of students that scurry in and out of the classrooms, lounges, sports facilities, etc. And on the other side there are thousands of students that call the university more than just there campus... it is there home. Here at the UofO there are 2885 residence beds spread out over seven residence buildings on campus. In addition, there are some residence houses in the Sandy Hill community and a few students that stay over at the St. Paul residence. So in the end, we are talking about 10% of the community that lives on campus. So imagine our reaction here at the Office of Campus Sustainability when the idea of a model room in residences started floating around.With such a huge number of the campus community living in residences, it would be a gigantic win for us if we could get students to practice sustainable living habits. So here is what we are proposin...

Eight months ago the Office of Campus Sustainability and the SFUO Bike Coop were approached by a student named Isabel. She had seen these cool things on the internet called Fixtations . I have to admit they are pretty nifty little inventions. Essentially a Fixtation is an outdoor bike stand with tools attached. The first thing that popped into my mind was AWESOME! Do you know exactly how many times I have had a little problem with my bike and all I needed was a place to look it over, maybe adjust a spoke, or even inflate a tire? Well me neither but I can tell you it is lots. It took all of about 2 minutes to convince Seamus and I that these Fixtations should be on the campus. We struck a deal, if the Bike Coop purchased the Fixations, the University would install them and put signs on them. I kind of get the impression that Isabel was a little taken aback by how quickly we agreed to the whole project. She asked if we needed some kind of report or justification. Seamus and I ...