One of the most important days for the Office of Campus Sustainability is the Dump and Run. As students move out of residence and summer arrives, many simply leave what they no longer wish to keep in their old rooms. Some leave them in the temporary donation bins left by our office, but most don’t know what happens to the items left behind. This event saves thousands of discarded items from being thrown out and instead, breathes new life into them by giving them the opportunity to be reused. The huge amount of wasted items saved is then sent to the Free Store where students and members of the community can take these second-hand items that are often still perfectly good and give them a new home. Some of the most common items found in the Dump and Run and in the Free Store can be very useful to students, especially those living in residence. These include kitchen appliances like pots, plates, utensils, and wooden spoons, home appliances (we’ve even gotten a vacuum and a great looking co...

Wait wait, before we get started, you can check out our uOttawa move-out guide for those living in residences! I know I know... final projects are due, papers need to be handed in, and exams are getting started. So the last thing on your mind is how to be sustainable when all this is done and you head home for the summer. But, like many things in life,  little bit of planning can go a long way. So by taking just a hot second to look over this list, you can do some real good for the planet and your community. So this list isn't going to focus on how you travel (although if you are travelling under 500 km, consider the train instead of the plane), instead it is going to focus on what to do with all the stuff you accumulated and can't take with you when you leave. Yes, we all sometimes get more stuff then we need... no judgement here. This list will help you figure out the best way to get that stuff out into the world so it can help others. Now one option you can consider before ...

One day, I found myself lost in a deep dive on YouTube, watching videos on how to restore old furniture. As someone who has always loved anything related to home decor, I thought to myself, "How hard can it be?" So, I drove to the nearest thrift store and spent $20 on what my mum described as "the dingiest dresser there." I quickly realized that restoring furniture is much harder and more time-consuming than it appears in videos, but I loved the process. The completion of my first project left me eager for more. Soon enough, I became hooked on browsing Facebook Marketplace and scouring thrift stores for hidden gems. It was incredibly rewarding to breathe new life into an old piece of furniture that otherwise would have been considered trash. In a society where mass production and consumerism run rampant, we have lost sight of the value that pre-loved pieces hold and have resorted to purchasing brand new products without a second thought (Berg, 2021). The reality is,...

During the pandemic, a group of students working on a project for Ventures and the Office of Campus Sustainability came up with an idea to give away environmentally friendly menstrual products for free at uOttawa. Giving away free menstrual products is not a new idea, but it is new to uOttawa, and targeting environmentally friendly, local products is entirely novel. The students created an  Instagram account and got some funding from uOttawa's Student Life Services, UOSU, and Facilities Service. The Office of Campus Sustainability and Sanitary Services created a working committee with student representatives and got to work installing dispensers and spreading the news. It has been over a year since the project kicked-off and the Office of Campus Sustainability has completed the first Impact Report for the Period Project . And so far, the numbers look very promising. Bottom line, 13,149 menstrual products have been distributed through the distribution machines and at partner loc...

I can't imagine how many posts you are going to see this year telling you about all the sustainable things you can do to respect the planet and still have a good time. Well, we thought we would also put together a list of the easiest things you can do too, except our list will be bare bones and only give you the "greenest" options. No razzle, no dazzle, all killer, no filler. Sorry that these suggestions are pretty christian focused. Don't use wrapping paper, put your gift in a reusable bag instead. I have honestly been doing this for years. I throw my gifts in a sack and present them to my friends and family each year. Nobody cares that the gift is in a reusable bag, and if they want they can even keep the bag afterwards (I mean who doesn't have a 1000 of these things all about anyways).  I think I might even be as bold as to say that some people are relieved that they don't have to deal with that paper afterwards. It might seem innocuous but wrapping paper i...

If there was one thing that you wish you could recycle but don't think you can, what would it be? Cosmetics, shoes, wipes? Well we are looking to add a few new recycling programs on campus and we need your input!! Is Recycling Good? There are some really good arguments out there that suggest recycling systems are broken. And I am not going to lie... they make a lot of sense. On the one hand, many people don't understand that recycling is an energy intensive activity that sometimes takes more energy than it might be worth. Recycling programs, especially curbside ones, don't recycle all the products they could... or sometimes companies promise their products are recyclable but they aren't actually in your city. But on the other hand, doing something is better than doing nothing, right? Getting onto the habit of trying to recycle helps lead to other positive environmental behaviours. And asking for more recycling will help push for better recycling and events and in your c...

Si nous devons revenir sur la façon dont tout cela a commencé, il faut être honnête et commencer par une déception. Je n'ai pas obtenu le poste de coordinatrice de la durabilité que je voulais (clin d'œil à mon incroyable collègue). On pourrait donc penser que ce n'est pas un très bon départ.  Eh bien, la vie est pleine de surprises et trois mois plus tard, je reçois un appel me disant que je devais vraiment postuler à ce poste de coordinatrice du recyclage. J'étais passionnée par la question des déchets et cela ne pouvait pas être si éloigné du développement durable, alors pourquoi pas ? Me voici, un an et quelques mois plus tard, en train de réfléchir à ce parcours absolument incroyable.  Je suis entrée dans le bureau des immeubles sans aucune attente et avec un esprit très ouvert. J'y ai trouvé un sentiment d'appartenance et d'acceptation qui s’est avéré assez rafraîchissant, surtout après un parcours professionnel compliqué depuis mon arrivée au Canada. ...

When I go back and reflect on  how all of this started, I have to be honest and start with disappointment. I did not get the sustainability coordinator job that I wanted (wink wink to my amazing colleague). Not off to a very good start , you might think . Well , life is full of surprises and three months later I got a call encouraging me to apply for the recycling coordinator position . I was passionate about waste, and it could not be that far from sustainability , so why not? Here I am, one year and a few months later, reflecting on this absolutely amazing journey.   I walked into the F acilities office at uOttawa with zero expectation s and a very open mind. T here , I found a sense of belonging and acceptance that has been quite refreshing , especially after a rocky career path since moving to Canada. I landed here in 2018 with two suitcases and a desire to pursue a career in s ustainability. I have been blessed in finding jobs easily but findin g m...