This month we are featuring a series of blog posts from students in the ENV 2301 course "History of Environmental Thought". We are super happy to highlight the thoughts and ideas of these bright young indiduals. An iceberg in Tikhaya Bay in the Arctic Circle, Russia.Sputnik via AP/Vera Kostamo It is officially the start of a new decade, and everyone is already losing their cool- literally.   Amidst the devastating wildfires ravaging through Australia, as well as recent reports on increasing rates of melting Arctic ice* , concerns are growing around the world about the effects of climate change on important issues such as the protection of land and biodiversity. Today, the University of Ottawa and many other communities are at a turning point to face climate change with new and effective solutions. How can this be done exactly? Here are three steps that present how the University Ottawa should protect land and biodiversity: Reduce Consumption- As society...

In honour of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we are sharing the University of Ottawa's top 50 sustainability accomplishments over the past decade. Of course some of these activities have been slowed down because of Covid 19, but we wanted to show everyone our dedication to sustainability and highlight the amazing work of the community. You can see all the pictures realted to these accomplishments on Instagram . The University of Ottawa placed 20th overall for RecycleMania 2020 . The University has been the RecycleMania champions of Canada 9 out of the last 10 years. The University of Ottawa has a Community Supported Agriculture program. Every week during the growing season, a local, organic, fruit and vegetable basket is delivered to participants on campus. The University of Ottawa collects unpurchased food at the end of the day and donates it to 4 local charities. The University of Ottawa became Canada’s 7th Fair Trade campus . Today, the majority of all coffee ...

En l'honneur du 50ième anniversaire du Jour de la Terre, nous partageons le top 50 des réalisations en matière de développement durable que l'Université d'Ottawa a mises en place au cours des 10 dernières années. Vous pouvez voir toutes les photos sur notre compte Instagram . L’Université d’Ottawa s’est classée 20e au classement général de RecycloManie 2020 . L’Université a été la championne canadienne de RecycloManie 9 fois au cours des 10 dernières années. L'Université d’Ottawa a un programme d’agriculture soutenue par la communauté . Chaque semaine pendant la saison de croissance, un panier de fruits et légumes biologiques est livré aux participants sur le campus. L’Université d’Ottawa recueille les aliments non achetés à la fin de la journée et les donne à 4 organismes de bienfaisance locaux. L’Université d’Ottawa est devenue le 7e campus équitable au Canada . Aujourd’hui, la majorité du café que nous servons est équitable! Grâce à l’association étud...

We certainly live in strange times. Not many people predicted the impact the COVID19 virus would have on the planet. People are coming together (metaphorically), to share resources and support one another. But COVID19 is also sharing an important message about the impending climate crisis. The big question is, are we listening. I am definitely not the only person asking this question, but is the COVID19 crisis a sneak peek of what's to come with the climate crisis? I want to explore what we can learn and how we might adapt. I don't intend to draw a link to the virus and changes in the climate (many people have already done that). But I intend to draw the comparisons between COVID19 and climate change. The first thing to consider is how the two crises are similar. This is not an exhaustive list, but it gets the point across. Both have a global reach; Both disproportionately impact lower economic / social groups; Both have disbelievers who think that it won't impac...

Working at the Office of Campus Sustainability, well it’s doing a lot of things, discovering the campus and meeting people passionate about environment and sustainability. In January, when I started working here, I met the uOttawa Green Reps, a program created to make residences more environmentally sustainable. In our first meeting, they had the idea of doing an audit of waste infrastructures in the uOttawa residences. The purpose of this audit was to recognize some of the problems with recycling in residences and to find solutions in order to improve recycling. We got together with the University's waste coordinator to make this audit happen and on March 4th we explored the waste infrastructures of every uOttawa residences. If you were one of those people in residences who saw us taking notes and photos of bins and you were wondering why, now you have your answer. We walked from residences to residences and took the stairs to audit every kitchen and every lounge of every ...

Travailler au Bureau du développement durable, c’est faire beaucoup de choses en même temps, découvrir le campus et rencontrer des personnes tout aussi passionnées d’environnement et de développement durable. Lors de mon premier mois dans cet emploi, j'ai rencontré les éco-ambassadeurs de l’Université d’Ottawa. Le programme d’éco-ambassadeur est créé dans le but de rendre les résidences plus écologiques. Lors de notre rencontre, elles ont eu l’idée de faire une analyse des systèmes de gestion des déchets de toutes les résidences de l’Université d’Ottawa. Cette analyse a pour but de reconnaître les problèmes liés à la gestion des déchets, leur trouver des solutions pour finalement améliorer le système en résidences. Ensembles, nous avons travaillé à mettre le projet sur pied et le 4 mars dernier nous sommes allés explorer les systèmes de gestion de déchets des résidences. Si vous habitez en résidences et que vous vous demandiez ce que nous faisions à prendre des notes et de...

Vous aimeriez avoir un mode de vie zéro-déchet pour quelques semaines… C’EST FANTASTIQUE! Cependant, cela vous paraît difficile ou même impossible? Souvenez-vous que l’objectif n’est pas d’être 100% zéro déchet pour toute la durée du défi…il s’agit simplement de vivre une expérience enrichissante : celle votre aventure vers le zéro déchet! Vous allez apprendre à quel point il peut être facile de faire le changement vers le zéro déchet pour certains items et plus difficile pour d’autres. Cette expérience changera votre mode de vie pour toujours. Je le recommande vraiment! Je l’ai fait trois fois (une fois pendant huit semaines et deux fois pendant dix semaines) et j’ai adoré chaque expérience! Puisque je l’ai déjà fait, je vais vous partager quelques trucs que j’ai acquis à travers le temps. Le plus grand défi sera ce que vous consommez quotidiennement. Vous allez devoir penser à tout ce que vous consommez durant une journée et trouvez une alternative qui ne crée pas de déchet. P...

So, you are thinking about going zero waste for a few weeks; WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! I know it may seem difficult and even impossible, but remember the goal here is not necessarily to be 100% waste-free for the entire challenge... it is about the experience; your journey towards zero waste. You will learn how easy (or difficult) making the switch to zero waste can be for some items. It will be an experience that will change how you think about consumption for the rest of your life. I highly recommend it. I have done it three times myself (once for 8 weeks and twice for 10 weeks), and truly enjoyed my experiences. And since I have done this before, I thought I would share some tips and advice I gathered over the years. The main challenges will be your daily consumables. You might have to stop and think about all the things you consume in a day, and figure out if these products create waste. Take for example chewing gum, is there an alternative that does not create waste? (yes...