When faced with the idea of turning all the power off in your home or in rez, people kind of run away. The idea seems somehow terrifying and boring all at the same time. So we came up with (but mostly Googled) some ways to participate in Earth Hour without sitting in the dark and doing nothing for a hour *Please keep in mind that candles are not allowed in the residences at uOttawa and can be substituted by a flashlight or a electric candle. 1. Have in indoor picnic. Put a blanket on the floor, have a friend or two over, light some candles* and dig into some good finger foods. Chilling with friends and lots of food? Nothing better! 2. Host a movie night. This one is not going full 0 power but still pretty close. My floor and the floor below us in residence are having one for earth hour so that the only power used will be the tv, but all our rooms are powered down. 3. Sketch in the dark, then compare with friends when the lights come back on. Lots of fun and you might even...

As a long time fan of brushing my teeth, I was hesitant to adopt this popular zero waste lifestyle change. I love making things and I love trying new things, but most natural toothpaste recipes I researched called for simple yet not super appetizing ingredients. Baking soda? Bentonite clay? The skepticism was high even though most recipes called for a sweetening or flavour agent like essential oil or stevia. But then I looked closer at the ingredients in typical tooth paste and did a 'lil internet research. This is what I found: Triclosan : So this chemical is actually classified as a bioaccumulative, non-biodegradable pesticide! It is bad for the environment and our waster systems as it is very toxic to aquatic organisms. But it also isn't great for you, as it is linked to hormone interference and contributes to antibiotic resistant bacteria. Propylene Glycol : This chemical is often contaminated with known carcinogenic ethylene oxide and 1,4 dioxane during the manu...

Ces derniers temps, vous avez peut-être remarqué dans la salle à manger des affiches faisant la promotion de l’événement J’aime la bouffe, pas le gaspillage. Vous vous demandez peut-être de quoi il s’agit? Eh bien, nous allons vous l’expliquer! Qui : Étudiants bénévoles et Services alimentaires Quoi :  Semaine de réduction des déchets dans la salle à manger Où :  Salle à manger 24/7 Quand :  Du 6 au 10 mars, de 11 h 30 à 13 h Pourquoi :  Pour encourager la réduction des déchets générés par l’utilisation de la salle à manger Comment : Pendant la semaine et aux heures indiquées ci-dessus, des étudiants bénévoles se tiendront près des comptoirs de recyclage. Leur rôle consistera à récompenser les personnes dont les assiettes sont vides et à leur en demander la raison. Cet exercice aura pour but de comprendre pourquoi tant de nourriture finit à la poubelle, étant donné que la quantité de ces détritus alimentaires s’élève à 314 kg… au quotidien. Pen...

You might have seen promos around the cafeteria lately advertising the love food not waste event. You might also be wondering what even is this event? Let us explain Who Student Volunteers and Food Services What A week of promoting the reduction of waste in the cafeteria Where The 24/7 cafeteria When Mar 6-10 between 11:30-1 Why To reduce the waste produced through the cafeteria How During the week between the designated hours, student volunteers will be standing at the compost stations in the cafeteria. Their job is to reward those with empty plates and to ask the people with stuff on their plates why that is. The purpose of this is identify why so much food goes to waste (that number being 314 kg of food waste everyday). During the event there will be a table showing us what that much food looks like. The volunteers want to know if something was cooked wrong, too spicy or even just if you took too much food. Their goal is to identify the reasons food goes to wa...

There are scarce few things I enjoy more than making and sharing (and eating) food with people I care about. More than that, I love having the opportunity to change common misconceptions about vegetarians/vegan food items, food security and eco-friendly waste management through a medium as delicious as food. So I'd love to let you all in on uOttawa's best kept secret. This is an incredible initiative started and sustained by wonderful humans on our campus and in our community. It combines so many rad things like food, food waste, waste reduction and most importantly, a whole lot of love. The People's Republic of Delicious is a food collective run by student and non-student volunteers with a simple goal in mind: to Keep Campus Delicious. And this is done in such a simple manner. Anybody on campus can show up around with a reusable container and get a FREE vegan meal. Yes FREE and yes it's for anybody! The PRD used to be located in the UCU Terminus, but they ...

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...