Look, I know composting isn’t always easy, I sympathize as I have a hard time doing it myself, but the campus is trying to make it easier on you and all of us to do our part. Having an institution like uOttawa that has initiatives and programs in place saves a lot of organic matter from going to waste. Let’s start by talking about the rules/guidelines. What uOttawa does is extremely similar to the city of Ottawa’s guidelines, so they are very strong. They are so similar because we send our compost to the same facility as them. You’re likely recycling or throwing out numerous things that can actually go to compost! Here are all the things you should put in compost: All food scraps (fruits and vegetables, snack foods, nuts and shells, eggs, breads, meat and fish – including bones, salad dressing and sauces); Coffee grounds and tea bags; Disposable paper coffee cups (NO lids); Pizza boxes and other soiled paper-based take-out containers; Paper towels and tissues; Pet and human hair. ...

“uOttawa is committed to becoming a zero-waste campus.” This is probably something you’ve heard several times during your time as a student here. What does that mean though? How are we trying to be a zero-waste campus? What are the measures and initiatives we are implementing? Many articles on this blog explain exactly this, but this one, in honour of Plastic Free July, will focus on how we are trying to limit our plastic intake.  Friendlier Friendlier is Food Services most recent initiative to reduce plastic waste, one we are excited to be supporting. It is a reusable plastic container program that was launched in June at Premiere Moisson on-campus and will in the fall, be brought to other on-campus food retailers including Go Cafés and Elements. The way it works is that when you order a meal that comes in a Friendlier container, you pay a small deposit of 50 cents, and to have that deposit returned, scan the container once finished with your food, return the container to the Frie...

Bonjour, je m'appelle Mégane, l'agente du développement durable et programme d’Objets Perdus qui travaille cet été pour le Bureau du développement durable sur le campus! Les objets perdus ne seront plus gérés par les services de protection de l'université, mais par le Bureau du développement durable du campus. Depuis que j'ai pris mes fonctions le 1er mai, nous avons déjà apporté de nombreux changements pour améliorer l'efficacité du service des objets perdus. Tous les changements à venir intégreront le développement durable, car il s'agit désormais d'une valeur fondamentale des Objets perdus.  Les Objets perdus se trouvent dans l'UCU, salle 02A (près de la boutique campus). Il est ouvert les lundis, mardis, jeudis et vendredis de 9h30 à 12h et de 12h30 à 15h pendant l'été. Au cours de ma première semaine de travail, j'ai passé beaucoup de temps à passer en revue les sacs d'objets perdus éparpillés dans la pièce, attendant d'être catalo...

Hi, I’m Mégane, the Sustainability and Lost and Found clerk working for the Office of Campus Sustainability this summer! The Lost and Found has gone from being managed by the University’s Protection Services to the Office of Campus Sustainability. Since I started on May 1st, we’ve already made a lot of changes to improve the efficiency of the Lost and Found. Any changes going forward will incorporate sustainability as this is now a core value of the Lost and Found.   The Lost and Found is located in the UCU, room 02A (near the bookstore). It is open and you can stop by on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM and 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM for the summer. During my first week of work, I spent a lot of time going through bulk bags of lost item scattered across the room, waiting to be catalogued. Slowly but surely, the room has started to feel less claustrophobic as more light could reach the den of lost treasures. I was feeling good about myself, well at lea...

Years ago, I attended the World Urban Forum (WUF) in Vancouver. WUF is a gathering of groups who are obsessed with urbanism and how, if done correctly, it could help solve many of the world's problems.  The gathering, hosted by the United Nations, really is a geekfest of policy ideas, new technologies, and networking opportunities. But the thing that really caught my eye while I was there was an installation representing an Edible Landscape.  For those who don't know, an edible landscape is basically a garden where all the plants are switched for edible varieties. By doing this, people can grow food and have a lovely garden aesthetic (existing in harmony rather than in opposition). Fast forward a bit more than a decade and edible landscapes are starting to take root at uOttawa. In 2021, the Office of Campus Sustainability started filling some planters on campus with edible plants instead of the traditional non-edible ones. An extension of the community gardens, the edible land...

Most students are unaware of the University of Ottawa’s history with making campus buildings more sustainable because it was before our time. I certainly knew only the minimum before working with the Office of Campus Sustainability.    Our first attempt at making a sustainable building was the SITE building built between 1997 and 1999. SITE won many awards prior to construction in anticipation for what was planned. Unfortunately, once the building was built, it failed to be as sustainable as promised. What made this attempt a failure is that the building utilized a lot of energy. A deep energy retrofit, also known as DER, was done between 2012 to 2014 to correct some of the problems with the building. However, the giant south-facing six story atrium (essentially a giant wall of windows) continues to cause pretty significant draws on air conditioning and heating, thus using a lot more energy than what was originally produced in the building design.   To avoid any futu...

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...