T.S Eliot wrote that April is the cruelest month and although for different reasons than his, I couldn’t agree more. Exams are stressful, your thesis might be due, you have to nail down a summer job or maybe even decide what your graduation game plan is. You’re saying goodbye to friends and professors for the summer, or maybe for longer. And on top of all this, you might even have to move out, move in or move home. I see moving as an opportunity to downsize and declutter. One of the central tenets or zero waste is minimalism, or at least that everything you own serves a purpose and was procured sustainably. But how do you get rid of the big things, like a kitchen table or all your glassware, and not just leave them on the side of the road, or worst, throw them away. The reuse economy is the best place to get things and give away things when moving. What is the reuse economy? It is so many things! The salvation army, consignment stores, selling clothing in facebook groups or even...

~ This is a piece about plastic that I really could live without and how to navigate normative grocery stores in a more eco-friendly way. Yes more than anything really, this will be a rage piece about unnecessary everyday plastic that really does not need to exist and what we can do to live without it. ~ I began thinking critically about the everyday items I buy each week at the grocery store around September when I started to transition more and more towards being plastic-free. Like most students, my life is a balance between trying to eat healthy and work hard and then eating my stresses away with sweets. We are all trying our best. Its exam time now. Nothing a few bulk chocolate chips can’t fix. It’s going to be all good. You know what isn’t all good? Foods packaged unnecessarily! Foods for sale that have unnecessary plastic packaging when you can get the same food in a plastic-free manner! So I am going to tell you how I really feel and we’re going to go through the grocer...

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to participate in the IMPACT! Youth Sustainability Leadership Conference . The conference aims to help young leaders "take their next strategic step for action: to deepen their sustainability understanding, build their leadership skills, and develop or advance projects and initiatives for meaningful change." The conference demonstrated that there are no sustainable actions too big or too small: all are worthy, all are rad and all are important. Moreover, in addition to eating some delicious vegan food and meeting some other sustainably-minded individuals in the community, I got to share my zero waste journey with others. But perhaps most importantly, I learned about some other community-orientated sustainable initiatives and social entrepreneurship actions spearheaded by some very cool folks all over the city. From ethical energy to ethical brunch, here are some sustainable actions percolating across the 613, and perhaps how you ...

The well-worn, Madmen-esque marketing mantra that "sex sells" may still hold up, but a new wave of conscious consumerism has folks many reaching for benefit-corporation over bikini-clad and eco-products over easy prices. But why can't we have both? Who wouldn't want to look hot, fun, beautiful, trendy, cool, sexy etc.  and still do better for the planet and its people? What is known as "fast fashion" is a complex and frightening issue in which the hottest trends are made to appear to come and go so quickly that consumers feel the need to buy more and more with little regard for the environmental and ethical impact of the industry. Fashion is the third most polluting industry in the world, and the second largest consumer of water. Around 13 million tons of textile waste end up in landfills each year. Furthermore, the hazardous production and manufacture process  is horrible for water systems, agriculture and even your own health. Plus, the push for fa...

Saviez-vous que certaines installations sur le campus recyclent l’eau qu’elles utilisent? Je parie que non. À condition d’appliquer un système de filtration adéquat, les eaux usées peuvent pourtant être nettoyées et réutilisées. Les installations aquatiques sur le campus l’ont bien compris. Pour souligner la Journée mondiale de l’eau, axée cette année sur le thème du gaspillage, nous nous sommes entretenus avec Bill Fletcher, gérant des installations aquatiques, pour découvrir comment celles-ci atténuent le gaspillage de l’eau ici même, sur le campus. Les installations aquatiques ont été conçues pour la recherche sur les poissons et les amphibiens. Il va sans dire qu’on y consomme des quantités d’eau faramineuses. (J’en ai profité pour demander ce que font exactement ces grenouilles. On m’a indiqué qu’elles se détendent, tout simplement. Je trouve le tout un peu inquiétant, mais qu’en sais-je?) Les installations consomment quelque 30 millions de litres d’eau par an...

L’idée de tout éteindre à la maison ou en résidence en refroidit plus d’un – l’idée peut sembler angoissante pour certains, et ennuyante pour d’autres. C’est pourquoi, largement inspirés par nos recherches sur Google, nous vous présentons ici quelques suggestions pour participer à Une heure sur Terre sans vous tourner les pouces dans le noir. *N’oubliez pas qu’il est interdit d’allumer des chandelles dans les résidences de l’Université d’Ottawa; or, les chandelles traditionnelles peuvent toutefois être remplacées par une lampe de poche ou des chandelles électriques. 1. Faites un pique-nique intérieur. Étendez une couverture au sol, invitez un ami ou deux, allumez des chandelles* et régalez-vous. Il n’y a rien de mieux que de relaxer avec des amis autour d’un repas. 2. Organisez une soirée cinéma. Cette option n’est pas entièrement sans faire appel à l’électricité, mais elle peut s’en approcher. Allumez la télévision, mais éteignez tout le reste. Certains étages en résidence ...

Did you know that uOttawa recycles water? As in use it, get it dirty, and use it again? I'll bet you didn’t. Now, of course, you can’t just use it immediately after dirtying it, but with the right filtration system, the water can be used over and over. That’s what they are doing in the uOttawa Aquatic Care facilities on campus. So in honour of World Water Day, with this year's theme being waste water, we spoke to Bill Fletcher from the Aquatic Care facility on how they are reducing water waste right here on campus. The Aquatic Care facility focuses on the research related to fish and amphibians, so you can imagine they use a lot of water. (I asked why the frogs were all like this. I learned that this is how they relax, a little creepy in my opinion but you know, I am not a frog). The facilities currently use 30 Million litres of water a year! Wow. But 85% of that water is getting reused right in the facility. How you might ask? One word: Bio-filters. ...