Chaque année a lieu le Défi du bac à déchets pendant le concours RecycloManie . Mais qu’est-ce que le Défi du bac à déchets? C’est une activité qui met au défi la communauté de vivre sans déchet pendant une période précise de la RecycloManie. Ce défi qui peut sembler impossible à relever, Brigitte Morin l’a réussi à de nombreuses reprises. Voici quelques commentaires de cette valeureuse participante. Tout est dans la préparation Selon Brigitte, la clé du succès réside dans la planification. Vous n’avez qu’à prévoir longtemps à l’avance les denrées que vous aurez à acheter et les repas que vous ferez. Ce que vous avez déjà à la maison compte Si vous avez de la nourriture dans des contenants jetables à la maison, consommez-la avant le début du défi. Ces aliments compteront comme des déchets si vous les mangez pendant le défi. Nul besoin d’éradiquer complètement les déchets Les participants au défi ont l’impression qu’ils ne pourront plus produire aucun déchet. C’est faux. ...

Le campus regorge de lieux réservés aux initiés, ces secrets bien gardés que seuls les étudiants plus vieux connaissent et dont l’existence n’est révélée que par le bouche-à-oreille. La Gratuiterie amasse 22,5 tonnes de dons par année. Vous pouvez avoir n’importe quel de ces articles… gratuitement! 1. Boîte de dons La boîte de dons ne cesse de se remplir et doit être vidée chaque semaine. Venez voir le choix incroyable d’articles sur lesquels vous pouvez mettre la main! 2. Déposez et dégagez Lorsque les étudiants quittent leur résidence à la fin de l’année, nous mettons à leur disposition des endroits où ils peuvent se débarrasser des objets dont ils ne veulent plus au lieu de les jeter aux poubelles. Imaginez la montagne de couvertures… 3. Papier hygiénique et papier essuie-tout Il y a un nouveau projet consistant à amasser des rouleaux de papier hygiénique et de papier essuie-tout à moitié terminés et de les offrir gratuitement. En effet, qui tient absolument à s’...

Here on campus we have a lot of cool places that are sort of university secrets, ones you only find out by word of mouth, only the senior students know, etc. We want to let you in on one of the coolest ones. The Free Store, which collects 22.5 tonnes of donations every year, and you can have any of it...for free! 1. Donation bin This bin fills up and has to be emptied every week. That is awesome, so many items for you to get your hands on. 2. Dump & Run When people move out we have locations in residences where they can dump all the stuff they don’t want instead of throwing it out. Think of all the blankets... 3. Toilet paper/paper towel They have this new project where they take the toilet paper and power towel rolls that are partially used and you can take them for free. Cause who wants to buy more toilet paper? 4. Super nice staff They are actually super nice and helpful. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! 5. Gorgeous building I mean what other st...

Every year during RecycleMania the Waste bucket challenge is issued. What is the Waste Bucket challenge? It is trying to live waste free for a period of time during RecyleMania. This may seem impossible but Brigitte Morin, uOttawa's Waste Diversion Coordinator, has done it many times successfully. Here is what she had to say about it. It’s all about preparation Brigitte says the key to succeeding in this challenge is to prepare. You have to think about it all ahead of time, what you have to buy, what meals you are making etc. Stuff you have at home already counts If you have food in disposable containers at home you need to finish them before the challenge starts because if you finish them while on the challenge you have to count it as waste. You don’t have to produce zero waste just less than normal When people hear about the challenge they assume they cannot produce any waste to be successful, but that’s not the truth. The challenge is about reducing waste not elim...

In the spirit of Barney Stinson and in an attempt to really walk the sustainable walk, this past week I accepted a challenge from a fellow environmentalist to truly trashless. What challenge you ask? Sure to be the latest mannequin or ice bucket challenge to have all the youths blowing up their social feeds, the waste bucket challenge raises awareness to the amounts of waste we produce every single day. So this is how the challenge works. Any trash you produce is kept in a bucket or receptacle or whatever of choice allowing you to see how much of what you consume regularly is non-compostable or non-recyclable. So to reiterate, if it cannot be composted or recycled, it goes and stays in the bucket. I used a 32 oz. glass container rather than any sort of garbage cans as I moved about my normal life for a week. I also equipped myself with my trusty travel mug, Nalgene, mason jars, canvas bags, a fork/spoon and reusable containers. So now five days later, with a glass container...

Get ready to flip your lid for sustainable giving! Although I rarely encourage folks to get paper cups when they are getting their caffeine fix, but this year's annual Roll Up The Rim season is a little different. Cuppa Change , a charitable start-up imagined by a group of lovely uOttawa students, is rolling out their Roll Up For Change initiative! It's a simple way to give back to the local community. Picture this: It's Roll Up The Rim season. You get a cup of coffee from one of three campus Tim Horton's before class. En route, you roll up the rim and for once this time it's not "please play again!" You won a free cup of coffee! Way to go! Then you pass one of uOttawa's many amazing recycling stations. You rip off the winning rim and you obviously put the remaining paper cup in the proper receptacle, because hello it's 2017. But wait! Above the recycling stations there is a new addition... a little red box where you can donate your ...

It has been a weird past couple weeks. Like many other students who enjoy living in the relatively progressive bubble here at uOttawa, I feel numb and nauseous in regards to many of actions and statements of President Trump. Since November 8th, I have been processing my feelings, watching a lot of  Seth Meyers' A Closer Look and trying to stay away from the toxic political wasteland that tends to be social media. And I truly hate having to get political online. I commend people who do it, but I do not find the internet to be a safe space and continually sharing a Huffington Post articles is not going to help anyone. However, being brave and standing up for one's beliefs is the only way to incite change. Climate change, the environmental crisis and indigenous issues are not dismissible as "fake news". Yet it is easy to start feeling all of the feelings in incredulous times such as these: anger, sadness, apathy, denial, hopelessness and fear. A steady downpo...

The very beginning of a university semester can either be ridiculously laid-back or incredibly jarring; either way you're going to want a drink. In addition, my father recently took a "beer appreciation" course, and so over the Christmas holidays I got my ear chewed off about the difference between lagers and stouts, brewing history and proper glassware. This all got me thinking about the impact of the beer industry and if brewing and beer consumption could be done in a sustainable manner. So I did some research (and some sampling) and here is what I would love to share with you about how to make greener choices about beer, or sustainabrews, if you will. As with most things, buying locally-made/sourced products can be better for the environment and also for the local community. Primarily, there is less energy used in transporting the products when they are domestic. Furthermore, you support small businesses in the community. So when choosing between something loc...

New year, new earth? Unfortunately that's not really quite how it works. In the immortal words of Eminem, "you only get one shot". We’ve reached a point where we can no longer remain complacent in regards to the environmental crisis, especially when considering the current political atmosphere. Simply thinking about climate change, waste pollution, food sustainability and conservation is not enough. We need tangible actions, both big and small. So here are five tangibles actions to reduce your environmental impact in the new year and new academic semester. Perhaps you can even pull Marshall Mathers and lose yourself... in sustainability! That might be a weak joke, but the earth certainly isn't getting any cooler and the new year is a great time to make small changes so you can keep living your best life for you, but also for the planet. Here’s how: Make your travel mug your new best friend Travel mugs are should be as essential as coffee is to university s...

I was at home today making some dinner, as I do, listening to the CBC, as I do, and thinking a little bit about meat. I don't really eat it you see. Not because I am an animal rights activist, not because of any religious inclination, not because it is expensive..., maybe for environmental reasons (resource consumption and what not). I actually don't give it too much thought as to why I don't eat meat, I just don't do it. Some of my friends have tried to pin me down on a reason and some people have asked me why I don't advocate vegetarianism more... I guess I am just not that kind of vegetarian. So there I am, making my dinner, listening to my CBC, and wouldn't you know it, it just so happens that there is show on the radio about meat: The Matter of Meat . I am not listening too keenly until the subject turns to famous vegans - turns out Frankenstein's Monster was a vegan. I started listening a bit more closely. The radio show continues with some in...