Sustainability at AU

American University's Office of Sustainability

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Summer Lovin’ (the environmentally friendly edition)

As summer (finally) gets closer, we’re moving into a shorts and sun kind of mood. Here are a few easy ways that you can protect the environment AND enjoy your time in the sun.

1. Participate in clean-ups.

Grab some friends and take advantage of the nice weather to clean up your local environment. You can join sunrise beach cleanups organized by non-profits, or you can plan your own hiking trip, and take along a lunch and a few bags for trash you find along the way. Either way, you’re protecting your local environment and getting some time in the sun!

2. Cut down on your water usage.

Summer activities like taking cold showers, watering your grass, and washing your car use a lot of extra water. Luckily, these are easy fixes. Make your showers as short as possible and plant indigenous species adapted to survive on the water your region gets naturally. When you wash your car, do it on grass and use a sponge, or go waterless with a natural cleaning spray.

3. Plant some veggies or herbs in pots or in your backyard.

Summer sun turns everyone into a gardener, so invest in a few clay pots and some seeds, and grow your own veggies and herbs. Check out plants that are quick growers and easy to take care of, like tomatoes, lettuce, basil, mint, or beans.

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Living your “sustainability values”

This phrase is something I’ve heard tossed around quite a bit since I started interning with the Office of Sustainability, since that is when I first entered the realm of sustainability. I’d always interpreted it as knowing how to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. If you’re telling other people to recycle and compost, you have to do it, too. You need to shorten your showers, turn off the lights, etc, and I’ve usually felt pretty comfortable living up to the values I was trying to instill in others. However, last weekend I learned a lot about putting those values into practice.

This last year, I’ve co-organized the events that raise money for my sorority’s national philanthropy. Reducing waste is obviously a priority for me, so I talked my co-chair into planning a zero-waste event. The planning stages were surprisingly simple; in terms of food, we received donated bagels and pita chips and hummus, and we bought cream cheese and peanut butter to go with the bagels. All of the packaging from those items could be recycled or composted, and we bought paper plates and napkins and compostable utensils to eat with. We were careful to avoid plastic and unnecessary waste while planning the actual event, too, which was a sort of scavenger hunt. We even made a sign that let attendees know they should be composting and recycling everything.

But on the day of the event, all of our careful planning fell apart. Instead of bringing the paper plates my co-chair and I had packed the night before, someone grabbed styrofoam plates, and they were on the tables and being used before either of us noticed. We sent someone back to grab the paper plates, but most of the people who ate at the event used styrofoam plates.

I’ll admit it, I was really frustrated. We took down the zero waste sign, and brought over a trash can. We swapped out the styrofoam plates from the table with paper plates, and I took a deep breath, smiled, and moved on with the day.

I felt like I’d failed, until I realized what I’d learned. Even the most sustainably-minded plans can go off the rails when well-meaning people get involved. The woman who put out the styrofoam plates wasn’t thinking about hurting the planet; she just thought we needed plates. Realistically, since the sorority owned those styrofoam plates, they were going to get used. In the future, I’ll try to make sure we don’t buy more.

Now, I think the biggest part of living your sustainability values is trying your best, learning from your mistakes, and moving forward. It’s not always possible to stand on a soap-box made of 3-minute showers and reusable utensils. Sometimes, instead of running around shrieking and snatching styrofoam plates out of people’s hands, it’s more effective to smile, and put out paper plates. Instead of fighting to undo what’s been done, it’s more productive to make sure you don’t repeat those same mistakes in the future.

- Anna Johnson

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Looking for some great environmentally based community service to do this summer? Check out these awesome opportunities!

Casey Trees- Casey Trees is dedicated to protecting and restoring the tree canopy of Washington DC. Almost every Saturday Casey Trees does community tree plantings, and they always need extra hands! If you want to learn more check out their website: http://caseytrees.org/get-involved/volunteer/

Anacostia Watershed Society- Their mission is to protect and restore the Anacostia River and its watershed communities by cleaning the water, recovering the shores, and honoring the heritage. The AWS offers different types of service including river cleanups, and education projects to teach those in the community about the importance of the Anacostia River. To volunteer with the AWS check out their website! http://www.anacostiaws.org/calendar

Green Impact Campaign- is a DC-based nonprofit organization that is bringing student volunteers and small businesses together to mitigate climate change, through free energy assessments. GIC gives volunteers access to awesome resources that allow volunteers to successfully give local businesses energy audits. They will also teach their volunteers the opportunity to network and learn important resume boosting skills. To find out more go to: https://greenimpactcampaign.org/volunteer/

Fairfax County Park Authority- Help Fairfax County keep its parks clean by participating in park clean-ups! There is no posted schedule, but if you call their office they will help you find the best volunteer opportunity for you! Their number is 703-324-8594.

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal- the C&O canal, one of the many national parks in the DMV, has plenty of volunteer opportunities! You can either help with a park restoration, park maintenance, telling visitors about history, or working at the visitor center. For more information check out their website at: https://www.nps.gov/choh/getinvolved/volunteer.htm

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Best Ways to Get Outside and Enjoy the Warm Weather!

Bike through the DMW with a Capital Bikeshare membership! To get important information on how to bike around DC check out the Washington Area Bicycle Association. http://www.waba.org/

Go for a hike on one of DC’s many trails! To find a trail close to you, check out this great website! https://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/dc-hiking-guide

Check out any of DC’s farmer markets and shop local! Eastern Market is in Capitol Hill and is open from 7am-7pm. Union Market is right off of the NoMa metro stop and is open from 11am-8pm.On Sunday’s you can go to the Georgetown Flea Market from 8am-4pm.

Walk around the National Mall at night. Now that the nights are warming up, enjoy seeing the monuments lit up!

Go to a Nationals game! Nose-bleed seats tend to be inexpensive and offer a fun way to spend time with your friends.

Paddle boat around the Tidal Basin. You can rent a paddle boat for under $20 and enjoy the beauty of DC for an hour.

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How to Sort Your Waste!

Starbucks cold cups and lids can be put into the green recycling bins, while the straws need to be put into the landfill bin.

Starbucks hot beverage cups need to be put into landfill, the plastic lids go into the green recycling bin, and the cardboard sleeve goes into the blue recycle bin!

Reminder: if it doesn’t say compostable, do not put it in the organic waste bin!

These utensils may seem similar, but they are actually quite different! Most utensils will go into the landfill bin, unless it says compostable on it, like the knife on the right.

Einstein’s Waste: 

The soda and coffee cups go into the organic waste bin, the coffee and soda lids both go into the green recycling bin, straws and utensils go into the landfill bin, and bagel wrappers can go into the organic waste bin!

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Sustainability Movie Night:

Here is a list of amazing sustainability films to check out this summer!

Anthropocene-  Talks about the impacts that humans have had on the environment and how industrialization has caused major shifts in climate and diversity on Earth, and the consequences that we will be seeing soon. Watch here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/anthropocene/

Before the Flood- Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, shows the amount of work that he has put into raising awareness about climate change, and how everyone can have an impact on the environment. Watch it on Amazon!

Chevron vs. the Amazon- Goes through the plight of the Amazon rainforest, and uncovers the extent to which the criminal acts of industry have ruined the rainforest. Watch here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/chevron-amazon/

Earthships- Brings viewers into the world of a post-apocalyptic landscape that requires sustainable housing. This documentary goes through the process of building these futuristic hovels, and how they can help us survive though a climate catastrophe. Watch here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/earthships/

Catastrophic Failure- On November 5, 2015, a dam collapsed near an iron-ore mine in Brazil. This collapse caused a river of toxic sludge to contaminate nearby towns and cities, causing massive environmental problems. This documentary talks to the survivors of this flood and hope to make the companies responsible for this disaster be held accountable. Watch it here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/catastrophic-failure/

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Apps to Help With Living a Sustainable Lifestyle

Nowadays, almost everyone has a smart phone. Why not use it to its full advantage, including when it comes to sustainability? Here’s a list of 5 apps that can help you to live your life in a greener, more sustainable way:

GOODGUIDE - Goodguide makes it easy to find ethical and environmentally-friendly products while at the store. The app provides health, environmental and social performance ratings for over 120,000 food, personal care, and household products. Users can even customize the app to select categories that are most common in their lifestyles.

IRECYCLE - iRecycle brings together a database of over 100,000 recycling locations for different products. The app lets you specify the item and find recycling options based on the location. It also provides contact information for the recycling locations so you can also call and make sure that the information is correct.

CARBON FOOTPRINT CALCULATOR - This app helps you to estimate your footprint in three areas: home energy, transportation and waste. Knowing your carbon footprint can help you to be aware of your actions and try to reduce resource usage.

RIPPL - Rippl is a perfect app for you if you are new to sustainable living. It allows you to set personal goals as well as track your progress along the way. Daily or weekly routine will build up and result in a happier you and a greener planet.

BUSTRACKDC - BusTrackDC is best for those who primarily rely on buses to get around the city. This app allows users to plan their trips ahead of time, locate nearby bus stops, and even save favorite stops for future usage. Use transportation to reduce more carbon emissions!

WAZE - Waze is a necessity for those who drive in busy cities, such as Washington DC. The app allows users to share real-time traffic and road information with other drivers in the area, which saves everyone time, gas money, and carbon emissions.

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DC Waste Disposal Guidelines

             Whether you live on campus at AU, or just come for classes and extra-curriculars, you are probably at least aware of the zero-waste program and our four-bin waste sorting system.  One of our roles in the Office of Sustainability is to educate students on whether their pieces of waste should go into landfill, compost, plastic/metal/glass, or paper/cardboard. But we also realize that a good portion of the student body at AU lives off campus. So, for those of you who only deal with the blue recycling bins and the green waste bins, here is a guide to dealing with household waste in the District of Columbia.

 We’ll start with recycling. Obviously, the absolute best thing you can do to reduce your waste impact is to reduce your consumption and output of waste. But your second best option is to recycle, and in doing so, reduce the amount of extracted earth materials needed to make new products. As they say in sustainability, recycling helps to “close the loop” of endless extraction, manufacturing, use, and disposal. 

Anyways, recycling in DC: it’s not terribly different from AU, even a bit easier since it can all go into the same bin. The accepted products include plastics labeled #1-7, glass containers, magazines, newspapers, and junk mail. They even accept aerosol cans (make sure all of the aerosol is sprayed out), containers with the lids on, and aluminum food containers and foil.

 Food waste should ideally be composted. When old food decomposes in a landfill, it releases methane gas that is 21 times more harmful to the ozone per unit than CO2 emissions. Look into composting by yourself at home, or you can hire local companies like Veterans Compost to do it for you. 

Any items you don’t see on the list above should either be thrown in the trash or brought to hazardous waste/electronics disposal. 

Common trash: Styrofoam, soiled plates or napkins, thick plastic packaging (for products such as batteries, toothbrushes, ping pong balls, etc.) 

Hazardous waste/old electronics should be taken to: every Saturday between 8 am and 3 pm, except holidays, the Ft. Totten Transfer Station, 4900 John F. McCormack Drive, NE.

 Thank you for your participation in sustainability efforts, and always feel free to contact us with any questions!

All information gathered from: https://dpw.dc.gov/service/residential-recycling-collection

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Get Engaged!

The importance of action and energy within social movements is one to be carefully thought out and engaged strategically. In his piece for Yes! Magazine, Jim Schultz, founder of The Democracy Center in San Francisco, CA and Cochabamba, Bolivia, discusses this issue of continued engagement within the fight for environmental justice.

Here are some events for citizen action so you can plan accordingly, now!

-Dani, Peer Sustainability Educator 

1) April 22nd - March for Science and Earth Day Rally

2) April 28th - People’s Climate March: Youth Convening

3) April 29th - People’s Climate March

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A composting field trip

As it turns out, 77 degrees with some sun and a strong breeze is the perfect weather for touring a composting facility. On Tuesday, April 4th, I hopped into a car with two other Student Sustainability Educators, and we drove down to Fairfax, VA. The drive was full of surprises, including wrong turns and an attempted pitstop at Ben & Jerry’s, but the biggest surprise was the facility itself. As we drove through the DC metro area and into mini-mansion country, I wasn’t expecting a farm of just under 250 acres, complete with cows, pigs, chickens, and a few guinea fowl. But that’s what it is.

Veteran’s Compost DC is part of the larger company Veteran’s Compost, which has a facility located in Aberdeen, Maryland. Veteran’s Compost DC partners with Whitehall Farm, which allows them to use space on a farm in Fairfax. It produces about a thousand yards of compost a year, which is used by both Whitehall Farm and customers of Veteran’s Compost DC .

The owner, Fritz, was able to point to the scraps of food from AU’s dining hall, which had been dropped off earlier that morning and were waiting to be mixed in with the rest of the day’s food scraps. Fritz explained the composting process to us and the staff of the Office of Sustainability, showing us all how the compost will be moved from the original concrete landing and mixing area to a long, concrete-walled rectangle. It will be shaped into two long mounds that run the length of the rectangle and it’ll sit for four to six months, decomposing at temperatures that can reach 150 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Finally, it will be sifted to sort out the big pieces and any contaminants that are still left, and then it’s ready to be used!

While we were there, we got to explore Whitehall Farm. We watched pigs eat leftover lettuce from AU’s dining hall. We pet a chicken. We met Daisy, a rescue dog with brown eyes that could melt the most avid cat lover, and Henry, a red-brown cow with a face so recognizable it became the pattern for a corn maze. We listened as Fritz told us about the different types of vegetables that will grow in his compost this summer, and we saw the seedlings that had just been potted.

Seeing the compost that is made of my food scraps made me feel much closer to my food. Composting is one of the ways that we can close the loop that connects our farms to our food and back again, and it’s pretty cool knowing that the food scraps of what I eat in the dining hall will provide nutrients to spring flowers and summer vegetables growing at Whitehall Farm.

- Anna Johnson

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Student Sustainability Summit

Sunday, March 26, was the second Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference Student Summit, co-hosted by AU and UMD at College Park. Watching attendees and presenters arrive felt a little like I was dropping a kid off at college. This summit had been in the works since September for me, and even longer for the Office of Sustainability and UMD. It had evolved into a full-fledged conference, with people that were excited to attend and present at it, some of whom came from as far as Texas. At that point, there was nothing else to be done but hope that we’d prepared adequately.

And we had! I wouldn’t say the summit went off without a hitch, but it was pretty close. Two parts that really stood out to me were our plenary speaker, Preston Mitchum, and the students at the summit themselves.

Preston Mitchum works at the Center for Health and Gender Equity. He works mainly with human rights for LGBT communities and women. He spun the concept of sustainability around, and asked us to think about how human rights and sustainability are interdependent; you can’t achieve one without the other. Since the planet is pretty essential to our wellbeing as a species, I had thought that it should be everyone’s first priority. His speech made me realize that as an environmentalist, I need to be fighting for a world that protects its people, just as much as its people protect it.

The second part that stuck with me was the attendees. Everyone at the summit was professional and knowledgeable, but they were also down-to-earth and happy to ask and answer questions. They were participatory and engaged in every session, and the general atmosphere felt friendly and collaborative. The idea of the summit was to share ideas about spreading sustainability values on campuses, and because of the students at the summit, I walked away with at least three new ideas to use at AU (and contact information to go with them!).

Overall, the student summit was a huge success. Everyone I spoke to reiterated how much they had learned, and how connected they felt to this newly formed network of other students. Working in sustainability can sometimes be difficult, isolating, and frustrating, and events like this one help me realize how much hope and innovation this field generates. I left on a “sustainability high” that carried me through the rest of the day.

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Feeling overwhelmed by the information wave?

Here are some tips for staying informed without losing your mind:

Limit your time online. Focus your mental bandwidth on sites you trust and know are accurate, relevant news. Personal sources I use: NPR Science, The Economist, and BBC.

Do daily check ins with yourself. Ask yourself if you feel prepared for the day. If not, scan some headlines from your trusted news sources.

Tune In. Check out some of NPR’s environmentally based podcasts: the salt has food related stories, the two-way provides the latest national updates, and goats and soda has international life accounts to take your mind off our immediate problems.

Tune out. Put on your favorite playlist and take a walk on your favorite trail. AU’s walking trail is 2 miles all across campus for a perfect destresser between classes.

Personal sustainability and wellness are just as important as their environmental counterpart. Be sure to take a break and care for yourself often! 

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Flint, MI : 1, 039 Days Later

It has been over 1,000 days since Flint, Michigan has had clean water.

In April 2014, residents of Flint Michigan noticed a sizeable change in the quality of their water. The change was due to a switch in drinking water sourcing to the Flint River, which has unsafe levels of lead due to corroded pipes, improper dumping practices, and lack of treatment prior to distribution to Flint residents.

What can you do to help?

Donate: The United Way of Genessee works directly in Flint and has started a Flint Water Fund to purchase water bottles, filters, and emergency support services. The organization provides the bottles directly to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and has a driver who also distributes water to those unable to get to the Food Bank themselves. http://www.unitedwaygenesee.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=5 

Call: Your representatives. Voice your thoughts on the matter. Ask them what they are doing to help. https://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Sign: Change.org has a petition out to call for action to be taken from Michigan governor Rick Snyder. Sign it here. https://www.change.org/p/rick-snyder-stop-making-flint-residents-pay-for-poisoned-water 

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Easy Steps to a Green Dorm Room at AU

Buy Reusable Things - We all know the convenience of keeping single-use plastic utensils, bowls, and cups in the room. But this is an expensive and wasteful way to live! Buy some personalized mugs and reusable utensils to keep in your room instead. They can also serve as decor to make your room look a little more homely and cozy.

Buy Locally - Dorm rooms typically come equipped with beds, desks and closets, but students have to bring their own essentials like bedding and storage units. At a place like American University, where the student population is incredibly diverse and comes from all corners of the world, students often ship their things from across the country or across the world. Rather than emitting greenhouse gases through these long-distance shipments, buy from local stores! Checkout the Container Store in Tenleytown, or the Target in Columbia Heights which is just a bus ride away.

Buy Used - Most students can’t afford to buy everything brand new all the time. Luckily, the AU Office of Sustainability and Zero Waste Club hosts Project Move-In at the beginning of the year where students can buy inexpensive, lightly-used goods donated by students from the previous year. Cheap and sustainable - what’s not to love?

Check the Heat - We’re all familiar with the chill or heat that comes with having a broken AC/heating unit in our dorm rooms. The typical quick and easy solution is to open up the window which lets in fresh air that balances out the temperature in the room. But this method wastes tremendous amounts of energy. Put in a 2FIX request instead and have your unit fixed. And you don’t have to keep reaching for that window.

Open up the shades - It’s convenient and easy to reach for the light switch in the morning. But why not open up the shades? Studies have actually shown that students in daylit rooms with more exposure to natural light actually achieve higher test scores. Natural light leads to healthier lifestyle and reduces energy consumption - double whammy!

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AU Partners with Veteran Owned Veteran’s Compost

Since the start of the new year, American University’s Facilities Management and Office of Sustainability have found a new way to promote the university’s Zero Waste goal while also supporting veterans.  AU is contracted with Veteran’s Compost, a local business that employs veterans and their family members, for the removal of organic food waste from the Terrace Dining Room and the Davenport Coffee Lounge.

 As their name suggests, Veteran’s Compost will collect food scraps from designated bins at both locations and turn them into high-quality compost at their licensed and permitted sites.  The company’s services also will be available for the university’s Zero Waste events, upon request.  Their composting process is fueled entirely by wind power, and the compost is 100 percent organic and approved for organic farming. Veteran’s Compost takes particular pride in its reliability and trustworthiness by reasoning, “If we can show up on time and on target on the battlefield, you can trust us with your food scraps.”  

 Veteran’s Compost’s dual mission is to “fuel (their) growth with people and material that others pass over,” and to that end, their hiring and employment practices help to address the fact that Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans have an unemployment rate that exceeds the national average.  In addition to its work at AU, the veteran-employed firm has provided composting services for notable events such as the Marine Corps Marathon and the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, as well as countless weddings and festivals.    

 “This partnership not only helps AU move forward in our goal of zero waste sent to landfill,” remarked Director of Sustainability Programs Megan Litke, “but embodies the AU values of service and community partnerships.”

  For more information about AU’s composting and sustainability practices, contact [email protected].  For information about Veteran’s Compost, visit their website. 

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How to use seasonal vegetables in healthy, cozy meals this winter

Part of reducing your carbon footprint is making sure you know where your food comes from! When you live in DC and buy strawberries from California, oranges from Florida, and avocados from Guatemala, the energy required to get your food to you takes a toll on the environment. Instead of featuring out-of-season produce that has to be shipped across a country to you, check out winter farmer’s markets! They sell fresh produce from local farms, and if you know how to use them, those vegetables will add flavor and color to your winter meals. Here are a couple ideas to get started!

Brussels sprouts. These little sprouts have a pretty bad reputation, but I’m positive it’s just because they haven’t been cooked the right way. Try slicing them all in half, tossing them in olive oil and a little salt and pepper, and throwing them in the oven at 400 degrees until the thinnest edges are toasted brown and crispy. Trust me, they’re so good they’ll be gone before you can get them off the baking pan. For more detail on how to cook them, check out this recipe from the Food Network. Bonus points if you chop up broccoli and cauliflower to roast with the Brussels sprouts!

Kale. Kale is at its best in the winter, and even though some would consider it earthy-crunchy, there are a thousand non-hipster ways to use it. It’s fantastic steamed with a little lemon juice, but if you’re still hesitant to embrace the kale craze, try this recipe from Saveur. Steam kale from your local market, and then a food processor to turn it into a pesto with garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix it with pasta and parmesan cheese and you’re ready to eat! Feed this easy, delicious (and healthy!) recipe to your pickiest friends for rave reviews.

Root vegetables. Carrots, turnips, rutabaga, acorn squash, potatoes… and the list goes on. Root vegetables are widely available at farmer’s markets in the winter. One of the simplest ways to cook them is a warm vegetable stew. Highly customizable, a hearty stew can be meatless, dairy-free, or gluten-free, if you’re cooking around dietary restrictions. Add beans for protein, different spices to change up the flavor, winter greens to lighten the stew up, or serve it over brown rice for a little extra fiber. Use carrots, butternut squash, and kale in this chickpea stew from Fine Cooking, but don’t be afraid to branch out!

If you’re in DC this winter, check out the Dupont farmer’s market, Eastern Market, or the Arlington farmer’s market and take home some fresh winter produce with you. Your taste buds and your planet will thank you!

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LED Switch at AU

American University Facilities Management (FM) is currently working with NextGen, a Rockville, Maryland-based lighting distributor, to replace all campus exterior lights with LEDs. This includes any lights on campus that are not inside of buildings, such as lights on the quad. This project is expected to be completed before the end of December, not taking into account any rainy or snowy days that may prevent work from being done. Electricity savings should be substantial.

Looking ahead, Facilities Management also has plans to replace lights inside of campus buildings with LEDs. However, that requires a payback of under five years. Currently, FM is experimenting with fixtures to determine energy savings. The question that is being asked in all projects is whether it would be more cost-effective to do the LED switch now or to renovate the buildings first and then install lights later.