Though I tried to get my family to quit bottled water cold turkey, it didn’t exactly go over as well I had hoped. However, it wasn’t entirely in vain; we did reduce our household’s consumption substantially. I feel that this is going to be an ongoing battle, but one that I’m willing to fight. With that said, I figured it’d be an appropriate time to distract them from being unimpressed by their lack of “convenient” water by sneaking our compost bucket into the kitchen casually. While my mom and I were making dinner a few nights ago, I made a point of tossing all of the peels, egg shells and other compost created into the little bucket, hoping she’d get the idea. Alas, the European parent is a stubborn one. I talked to her about it afterward and we came to the conclusion that composting is only going to be happening if I’m doing it. Okay, I can deal with this. What this entails is literally flitting around my family during mealtimes and making sure everything compostable is heading into ...

Thanks to everyone that made environment week possible this year. A shout out to Brigitte, Danny, Marc, Vedrana, Amina, Matt, and Leah. We had a bunch of great activities this year but I did want to take a moment to especially mention the bike repair kiosk that Matt was running during this year's BBQ. Like every year, there are dozens of individuals that come by looking for some help getting their bikes back into working order. Well, worry no more friends, the Bike Coop will soon be finished. You can check some earlier posts about the Coop and all the cool services we hope to have but the essential is that campus community members will now have a space to fix up their bikes with the guidance of a technician. And the timing couldn't be better. At this year's bike repair kiosk there were many bikes that came our way that were just on the border of not being road worthy. In the picture below you can see a brake line that was maybe a couple of minutes away from complete failure...

Photo Credit: Pierre St-Jacques Comme une résidente depuis ma jeunesse de la région de la Capitale Nationale, il m’est difficile d’accepter les commentaires clichés sur Ottawa. J’en ai entendu de toutes les sortes. Il semble que toute personne à son mot à dire lorsqu’il s’agit de parler d’Ottawa-Gatineau. Je pense qu’il ne faut pas comparer Ottawa à de très grandes villes pour deux raisons. Premièrement, Ottawa n’est pas aussi une grande métropole, donc c’est une erreur de la comparer avec Montréal et Toronto. Deuxièment il serait anormalement stupide pour une ville de juste 90 mille habitants d’avoir autant d’activités que les grandes villes, car non seulement ca sera une perte d’argent, mais aussi par ce que le nombre des participants sera toujours minime. En fait, est-ce possible que les gens arrêtent de comparer et juste apprécier la ville telle qu’elle est? C’est ce qu’a fait Ève Dumas, chroniqueuse du journal La Presse, section voyage. L’article est bien présenté car il est divis...

Environment week is just around the corner, and last-minute preparations are underway in the Sustainable camp. Next week is looking to be a very exciting and enlightening experience for both staff and students! In a perfect world, every single week of the year would be Environment Week; unfortunately, this is not the case. What we are trying to do by planning out various activities over the week is raising awareness, one small step at a time. If you’re interested in getting involved in the festivities of next week, RSVP to our Facebook event ( http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110972942281484 ), and show up to whatever suits your fancy. If you simply don’t have the time to participate, celebrate Environment Week your own way by biking or walking to work, starting to compost, reducing energy usage, etc. It doesn’t have to be an official week for us to pay attention to, and respect, our environment. Enjoy the glorious weather, and hope to see you out in a few days! - vedrana

Photo Credit: David Kawai, The Ottawa Citizen It's back!!! The GREAT GLEBE GARAGE SALE!!!! Okay I will be the first to admit that the items are overpriced; and the merchandise is sometimes questionable; and the road is long (with many a winding road); but come on, it's the GREAT GLEBE GARAGE SALE people! And although it is no Free Store, it has its redeeming qualities. For those of you that are not in the know this is the premiere garage sale of the City of Ottawa. Not because it is the best, or because it has the best stuff, but because it is simply the largest. Yes you heard it right, this is the largest garage sale in Ottawa and therefore I contend that it is one of the green events that puts Ottawa on the map. And yes this is a contentious issue so allow me to defend my position. 1) The Sale is a massive event that basically covers all of the Glebe. This is great except that it limits people who would like to be involved in the selling but don't live in the Glebe. You c...

This is the experience of myself, at a place I never thought I would work (or more like being volun-told). This is also my first real blog that I have done, so go easy on the criticism eh? I came late in the Katimavik Program and therefore did not get to experience life before the famous Dump-N-Run program that has brilliantly put in place by Jon and Brigitte; however I found the concept thoroughly intriguing. Getting people to donate (for them more like throw away) any old, used, or just unwanted things (whether it be clothes, books, bedding, bathroom accessories, dishes, electronic equipment, etc) instead of throwing it in the trash. So Eco friendly!! There has been MANY an hour sorting through clothes, washing and folding sheets and towels, doing dishes (ugh those nasty dishes!!) nonetheless I have quite enjoyed myself! (I know, odd eh? The act of enjoying this slavery has even mystified myself) I’ve met numerous wonderful people that I do wish to keep in contact with, and see again...