Here are some tips from uOttawa students to help you survive Ottawa’s harsh winters:
- Moisturize!
Always keep lip chap in your jacket pocket, and hand cream in your
backpack. Rinse and moisturize your face daily. Coconut or argan oil is a
great inexpensive fix for dry, frizzy hair.
- Invest in a
good winter jacket, that is preferably cruelty free (down padded and/or
knee-length are the best), as well as earmuffs, hats, scarves, gloves, and
waterproof cruelty-free boots (preferably).
- Buy thermal
socks - feet are the main temperature conductor of your body (thermal
conductivity, regulate body temperature changes). Thermal socks are
available in a variety of cute patterns from Mark’s, a Canadian-owned
store.
- Wear two
pairs of pants and shirts (e.g. leggings under jeans or yoga pants, and a
long sleeve top under a big, comfy hoodie). Thermal undershirts and
leggings are available for under $10 at Giant Tiger (another Canadian
store)!
- Take
advantage of the passageways on campus connecting nearly every building to
get to class. Get from Perez to FSS (via MRT, UCU, MNT, LMX/CRX and VNR).
Get from Marion to SITE (via STEM and CBY).
- Visit the
Health Promo Centre at UCU 203 to use the SAD Lamp (light therapy) if you
suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) for your daily dose of light.
No appointment necessary!
- Take vitamin
D supplements if necessary
- Embrace the
cold! Put on your winter attire and embrace your inner child by starting a
snowball fight or build a snowman! Skate on the canal! Go skiing, tubing,
snowboarding, snowshoeing! Check out Winterlude from February 1 - 18!
Offer to shovel your elderly neighbor’s driveway. It’s not as bad as we
think it is. We will be begging for winter to return once the humidity of
35°C leaves us sweaty and stinky in an
apartment or car without air conditioning.