the d.c. climate rally “every day counts,” was hosted in collaboration with more than 30 climate advocacy groups. attendees held signs such as “stop oil now,” “green new deal now,” and “off fossil fuels,” while chanting “yolo joe” and “climate justice now.” speakers urged president joe biden to enforce stricter climate regulations and pardon climate activists — and to do it now.

acting at an inflection point

keanu arpels-josiah, a youth organizer with fridays for future nyc, the group founded by greta thunberg in 2018, urged the crowd to demand actions like designating federal lands as off-limits for drilling, canceling new oil and gas projects, and reallocating mass transit funding from the ira and bipartisan infrastructure law. 

hours after the 2024 presidential election was called for donald trump, the biden administration announced limitations to oil drilling in alaska’s arctic national wildlife refuge. although the leasing of land in the refuge for oil is mandated under a 2017 law, signed by then-president trump, biden’s outgoing government moved to lease the bare minimum amount of land before the deadline of the end of the year.

but protestors at sunday’s rally remained anxious about the signals from the incoming administration.

arpels-josiah criticized trump’s nomination of chris wright, an oil and gas executive, to lead the department of energy, calling him a “fossil fuel ceo.” he also condemned trump’s choice for epa administrator, former new york republican representative lee zeldin, describing him as a “deregulatory champion” whose plans would “tear apart” the future of the planet.  

“that ain’t right,” arpels-josiah said. “that’s not the future we deserve.”

in a post on x, wright has defended his appointment to lead the department of energy, claiming he would “better human lives” by ensuring energy is “affordable, reliable, and secure.” in a video posted on linkedin, wright denied climate change: “there is no climate crisis and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.” 

zeldin, trump’s pick for epa administrator, pledged in a post on x to restore “energy dominance” while ensuring access to clean air and water. he also criticized biden for canceling the keystone xl pipeline, a proposed extension of an oil pipeline system running between canada and the united states.

trump, through his agenda47 and the republican national committee platforms, has pledged to undo biden’s climate policies. his plans include withdrawing from the paris climate accords again, restarting oil production in recently restricted areas, and pulling away funding from the inflation reduction act. 

charting the path forward

keya chatterjee, executive director of the us climate action network, also spoke at the rally. she warned attendees against participating in “anticipatory obedience,” which she described as abandoning the fight against climate change out of fear that a second trump administration will roll back regulations. 

“we are not going to anticipate in fear and not do things,” chatterjee said. “we’re going to live big and we’re going to do big.” 

among the rally participants, mechanical engineer nick tatnall, 29, said trump’s appointments reflect his self-serving interests. tatnall’s own passion for the environment was sparked by visiting national parks, and he expressed concerns that a second trump administration will weaken regulations and expand drilling on public lands.

“i just hope the next four years are not as bad as we think they will be,” he said.

julia barnes, 30, a podcast producer, said she had hoped vice president kamala harris would win the election but was not surprised by trump’s victory. barnes criticized trump’s track record on the environment. 

“climate is incredibly low on his agenda,” she said, adding that her biggest fear is seeing no progress on climate issues for another four years.

organizers said that through the event more than 470 people signed up to participate in training, movement-building efforts, and continued organizing over the next 60 days, with plans to sustain their actions through trump’s inauguration.

the loop, run by sustainable gw, is open weekly on fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in academic building room 122. the exchange includes clothing, shoes, and accessories donated by gw community members, and free to the community. sofia tjia, an intern at sustainable gw, said the loop’s goal is to make sure students on campus have access to clothes they need and to teach students to be more mindful about their consumption habits.  

tjia said the loop started as a “random room” but was turned into a store by another intern who thrifted furniture and other decorations to create a space. besides the clothes, the addition of comfortable couches and trendy music playing in the background makes the clothing exchange a hang-out space.

“we wanted it to be a fun place people can get the clothes they need,” tjia said. 

accessing the loop

the loop is located on gw’s mount vernon campus, a 15-minute shuttle ride away from the main foggy bottom campus. tjia said she has spoken with customers who live on the foggy bottom campus who make the journey over to mount vernon simply for the loop. 

“it’s so cute people plan to go to the vern just to come to the loop,” tjia said. “it’s really heartwarming.”

tjia said the loop’s grand opening day held on aug. 30 was “very busy,” but what keeps the “momentum” of community members coming back to the loop is making it clear the clothes available change “very often” since they get new donations every week. 

in the two weeks leading up to halloween, tjia said the loop also created specific racks with customers so community members could get affordable and sustainable costumes.

limiting over-consumption

even though everything at the loop is free, customers are not required to exchange clothes but tjia said they “encourage” an exchange. tjia said she tells community members to be “mindful” about overconsuming even second-hand clothes. 

“the hype of everything being free at the loop can sometimes overshadow the fact we still do not want you to overconsume,” tjia said. 

she also said the loop is trying to draft a “policy” that discourages the over-consumption of clothes. she said the main goal of the loop is for community members to find clothes that make them happy and that they will bring back to their wardrobe and wear consistently. 

keeping clothes out of the landfill

since the opening of the loop, tjia said she has helped divert almost 2,000 items from landfills.

according to gw’s office of sustainability, they receive more than 25,000 pounds worth of clothing donations per year. before the loop, these went only to their community partners. 

these community partners include bread for the city, which provides clothing and other services to low-income residents in the district, and love and light, which helps veteran and military families in woodstock, va., among others. 

engagement associate at the office for sustainability juliana carvalho manages the loop along with other programs related to engagement and outreach on gw’s campus. 

according to carvalho, she helped create the loop thanks to several students who had the idea of creating a permanent thrift store rather than occasional pop-ups, and receiving a “surplus” of donations through bins located around gw’s campus. 

she said the loop receives clothes their community partners do not want, such as bulk sorority shirts. carvalho said the more “interesting” items they have received are a canvas tote bag with approximately 55 plushies sewn onto it, which was adopted by a patron in the first few minutes after the loop’s grand opening, and tall platform neon gym shoes which are still looking for a home. 

affordable clothing

besides the sustainability aspect, she said the loop is also addressing the needs of the gw community by providing affordable clothes students might need.

“there are certain kinds of clothing that college students might be looking for that are particularly expensive, like business casual clothing, for example, clothing for their internships and summer jobs,” carvalho said. 

she said the loop makes sure students in need are also aware of other resources available for them on campus, such as the store, which is a student-run food pantry providing resources for students experiencing food insecurity. 

“the students who come to the store know that the loop exists,” carvalho said. “we’re just cross-promoting the resources.” 

besides being open every friday, carvalho said they open the loop at different times to specific student groups who would benefit from having extra time to look around for clothes they need. 

“we really wanted to create an experience where students would feel excited about coming in and getting their clothes,” carvalho said. 

the reason you may want to: native plants support a greater abundance and diversity of wildlife by providing habitat that directly supports populations of butterflies, bees, and birds. native plants make landscapes more adaptable to future environmental stressors caused by the climate crisis, including temperature swings, drought, flooding, and pest outbreaks.

in martha’s vineyard, off the coast of massachusetts’ cape cod, the polly hill arboretum has spent decades creating an online record of more than 200 island native plants that you can browse using its plantfinder resource.

timothy boland, executive director of polly hill, says that planting native plants helps to prepare for the unknowns. “native plants are uniquely adapted to soils and stressors, and more so have a really tight connection with the animals in an environment,” boland said. 

polly hill not only informs, it sells native plant plugs to people interested in adding natives to their landscaping. some of the plants they propagate, like red columbine, which flowers in the spring, have had limited populations on the island, and polly hill has helped to restore them. 

“we knew it was here and only here, and now we can propagate it. from a conservation standpoint, with an endemic plant, what we’ve done here is kind of cool,” boland said.

orange butterfly weed is its most popular native plant due to its bright orange flowers and attractiveness to monarch butterflies, but boland encourages people to look beyond the beauty of a plant and consider what it can provide to the environment: “we tend to be enamored with just the beautiful, and don’t understand the functionality of what we would consider a grass. a lot of things have equal value, even though they don’t have the startling beauty.”

a convenient place to “check out” native seeds, the west tisbury library in massachusetts offers a seed library which contains a unique collection of seeds suited to the local environment, and the library hopes to create a locally adapted collection of seeds over time. 

the seed library there has been focused mostly on food seeds until recently. mary sage napolitan, the regenerative landscape manager at island grown initiative, has worked with the organization to create a native plants section.

“there’s a lot of energy behind it, but it’s really hard to get the plants. you can buy seeds from some companies, but they’re not always from the vineyard. the hope is that at least we’ll have some bank of seeds so that people can start,” napolitan said. 

although people are often hesitant to add native plants to their gardens, napolitan says you can still have a gorgeous, well-manicured garden made up of mostly, if not entirely, native plants.

“there are nonnative plants that aren’t bad; some of those plants are totally harmless. it’s just a matter of also making a point to incorporate native plants, because we know that they support so many insects and other wildlife,” napolitan said.

napolitan recommends native garden plants such as penstemon digitalis, a tall white flower, penstemon hirsutus, which produces a similar purple flower, and monarda fistulosa, a lavender flower that attracts a variety of bees and butterflies. napolitan herself is very fond of asters, which can be small blue, white, or purple flowers, and goldenrods, a tall golden flower that is natural bird food.

christine wiley, a horticultural expert and greenhouse grower for more than 30 years, owns vineyard gardens with her husband chuck, a self-proclaimed “plant-aholic.”

“we want to have a positive environmental impact and do anything we can to slow down climate change,” christine wiley said. “native plants have been here for a long time, and we know they do very well here.”

vineyard gardens hosted a garden worksop on june 22, 2024, where attendees were taught how to plant for climate resilience. the workshop was led by guest speaker andrea berry, executive director of the wild seed project in maine. “it’s nice to host a well-known speaker and to support ecology. we are a small island here, and it’s nice to support our environment,” wiley said.

wild seed project is a maine nonprofit that works to build climate-resilient habitats in northeast landscapes. its mission is to inspire people to take action in increasing the presence of native plants grown from wild seed that safeguard wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

“native plants are plants that have evolved in the place they are for millennia in relation to the creatures. therefore they are really critical parts to a healthy and vibrant ecosystem,” berry said. 

native plants have interrelated partnerships with insects. milkweed is a good example, as the plant is a select place for monarch butterflies to lay their eggs. those eggs hatch and the caterpillars feed on the milkweed exclusively, then as adults, the monarch feeds off the plant’s blooms. “they have evolved this beautiful relationship with this plant over time that is really critical,” berry said. 

berry included that native plants can be wonderful garden plants because they are adapted to the environment they are experiencing. “when you actually stop and slow down and take a look at a garden, the beauty of a garden is in all the different pieces moving within it, and all the life that it supports. a healthy, living place where all different creatures live and can thrive is actually what i define as beautiful,” berry said.

native plant adaptation continues. the island’s recent rainstorms and windstorms resulted in a great amount of erosion, and conservation efforts have turned towards native plants. 

“when plants evolve in parallel with stressors coming at them from our ecosystem, they develop adaptations that allow them to respond to or mitigate some of those outside challenges. if we have a biodiverse ecosystem, then we are going to have a population of plants diverse enough to be resilient in the face of whatever nature is throwing at us,” berry said.

this story was originally published in mv times.

but along with the fun and celebrations of the holiday, comes a lot of waste. thus, halloween is a great time to assess your waste production. 

there are many ways to reduce your consumption levels surrounding the spooky holiday, including trading old costumes with friends, making your halloween decorations out of repurposed materials, and diying your halloween costumes. check out this fun and informative video published on planet forward last year about the importance of sustainable halloween costumes. 

however, one area that we still find to be a bit of a sustainability challenge is halloween candy wrappers. 

the issue of candy wrappers

candy and snacks pose a big problem due to the single-use plastic that comes with the treats. on average, americans buy more than 600 million pounds (based on recent sales numbers) of candy per halloween season. this candy produces a massive amount of discarded plastic packaging and individual candy wrappers. 

multiple organizations have created candy wrapper recycling programs to help mitigate this problem.

loggerhead marinelife center ran a nationwide unwrap the waves program to collect candy wrappers and recycle them, to prevent them from entering our oceans. for the three years this program ran, unwrap the waves recycled more than 450,000 candy wrappers.

similarly, rubicon created its trash to treasure program in 2019 to distribute recycling boxes during the halloween season to businesses, schools, and community organizations, in which people were encouraged to bring their candy wrappers. once filled, the candy wrapper-filled boxes were sent back to rubicon to be cleaned, sorted, and turned into renewed plastic to be used once more. 

in its five years of operation, trash to treasure saw great success, expanding to schools and organizations in every state of the country and valentine’s day season, in addition to halloween.

despite this apparent success of the program, rubicon announced that it would be pausing trash to treasure for the 2024 halloween season.

with rubicon’s program also suspended, there isn’t an equivalent free candy wrapper recycling program.

terracycle sells candy and snack wrapper recycling boxes. however, with a small recycling box at $105, this price range is unfeasible for most individuals.

so what’s the solution to the candy wrapper conundrum?

short answer: it’s not so easy

while consumers can do their best to opt for buying halloween candy with the least amount of plastic packaging, halloween candy exists on the short list of foods that need some sort of individual packaging. 

trick-or-treating etiquette necessitates that candy given out is pre-wrapped with seals and closings intact. this is so parents can ensure that the candy their children are given is safe to eat. thus, we cannot get rid of candy wrappers entirely. 

candy corporations should do their part

we should encourage candy corporations, such as hershey, nestle, and mars, to produce our favorite candies with compostable or recyclable packaging.

additionally, candy corporations themselves should run large-scale candy wrapper recycling programs. taking from the structure of trash to treasure, these corporations should give schools, businesses, and organizations recycling boxes, free of charge, to collect candy wrappers and reuse for the production of future candy. 

mars has done this on a microscopic scale. in 2022, the candy corporation that makes snickers and m&ms, partnered with rubicon to distribute 17,400 candy waste collection bags to u.s. consumers. people were able to fill the bags with candy wrappers and mail them back to a special recycler, g2 revolution, in illinois. 

if all 17,400 bags were mailed back full, mars would have recycled 2 tons of recycled wrappers, which is only a fraction of the total amount of candy wrappers discarded every halloween season. 

better recycling infrastructure

even if more candy corporations ran candy wrapper recycling programs, there still exists the issue of a lack of proper infrastructure to recycle candy wrappers.

candy wrappers and plastic wrappers, in general, pose a difficult challenge for recycling because they are often made of mixed materials, such as plastic and foil. these different materials must be separated during recycling, which adds time and energy to the recycling process. 

additionally, candy wrappers tend to be thin and flimsy, which allows them to easily bypass recycling sorting machines.

candy wrappers must be thoroughly cleaned of the food waste prior to being recycled and the mix of colors on candy wrappers often produces an unappealing brown color when recycled into new materials.

these difficulties cause recycling candy wrappers to be costly and they produce such low-grade plastic that the value of the new plastic doesn’t meet the value of the recycling process. which, in turn, means candy corporations are not inclined to commit to this process. 

better, more efficient recycling infrastructure must be invented to reduce the cost of candy wrapper recycling and make it more profitable for the organizations that engage with this process.

looking to the future

hershey has stated that it is committed to having 100% of their plastic packaging be recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2030.

additionally, mars has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to redesign 12,000 packaging components to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable.

this is a large feat to surmount, and we will all be watching to see if the first and fourth-largest candy corporations by sales, respectively, can do what it takes to minimize candy wrapper waste and advocate for more sustainable practices, especially with seasonal candy. 

with that, have a safe and festive halloween!

meanwhile, in county cleveland in teesside, northern england, one-third of families re-wear dirty clothes and  one-quarter are in hygiene poverty, however many feel they are priced out of buying the newest fashion trends or new clothes in general.  

thrift for the future

enter the festival of thrift, an annual celebration of sustainable living that is looking to make a change in the fashion industry and help aid residents in teesside while also aiming to make an impact on a global scale. every september, the festival of thrift erects dozens of stalls for local second-hand clothes sellers and artisans to offer items for sale, in a new chosen location across teesside and cleveland. 

while the festival provides an opportunity for selling and recycling clothes, co-creative director at festival of thrift, tanya steinhauser sees the festival as a chance to educate and inspire those attending. “the idea of the festival is to showcase a really diverse and vibrant program that’s filled with hands-on workshops and innovative performances, interactive installations and provoking talks. everything revolves around sustainability in the smallest and widest senses,” she said.  

in its 12-year lifetime, the festival has grown year-on-year. this has meant that steinhauser and her team have had to find creative ways to engage the festival goers as well as make good use of the site. this year’s event hosted various workshops on how to plant, grow, and harvest your own food. just a 20 yard walk around the ground would show you the ins-and-outs of repurposing old, ripped jeans, as well as  workshops in ancient japanese mending skills to bring broken household items back to life.  

being an epicentre of all things sustainability with so much on offer i asked stienhauser to pick one must-visit for future festivals. “i am quite excited about the future foods activity area,” she said.  “i’m really into growing and cooking from scratch and these workshops  on kind of fermenting things, because obviously food waste and kind of methane waste from food  waste is a big issue as well. so just teaching people hacks again around how to turn  something that might be going off in your fridge to something that you can put in a jar and  eat in a couple of months. but the future food area is kind of, there’s a mural that and i’m  quite excited about that.”

cutting out fast fashion

fast fashion is on the rise, but many don’t know what it is and whether they are endorsing it. in short, fast fashion is all about making clothes quickly and cheaply, usually copying the latest trends. the idea is to get people to buy a lot of new clothes frequently because it’s affordable. but these clothes often don’t last long, and the process can harm the environment and exploit workers. it’s about quantity over quality, leading to a throwaway culture where people buy, wear, and toss things at a rapid pace.

throw-away culture is taking the hot seat right now, from 2000 to 2015 the rates of clothing sales has more than doubled, while the general usage of clothes decreased.

but according to steinhauser this quickening pace of buying, wearing, and discarding is unsustainable. “so we really like a slogan, ‘decades, not seasons,’” she said. steinhauser recommended thinking long term about your wardrobe, investing in higher priced items of higher quality. 

nicer clothes tend to last longer, ultimately cutting down the cost in the long run and mitigating the environmental effects of fast fashion. “the materials used are a really important thing to consider. buying clothes made of natural materials like hemp and staying away from stuff like latex and polyester makes a huge difference,” she said. 

“repairing and renting, even sharing or swapping clothes are all good options,” steinhauser said.  

with fashion so readily available, us consumers have also had a change of mindset on how we buy and use our fashion and for some possibly sleepwalk into the fast fashion culture. steinhauser believes it is also down to us to be proactive and change the way we think about how we buy and consume fashion: “the modern world has given so many kind of other options that just make us not really rethink what we’re doing and that there are alternatives that actually, help us, live towards a more hopeful, hopeful climate future which is something we need to make an active decision to find and utilize.”

this immediately caught my attention because watsonville is a mere 30 miles from where my parents live in california, and where i was residing before moving to d.c. over the summer.  

not only did the homesickness kick in with the realization that these strawberries had come from only a near distance from my family, but it also raised my awareness of the environmental implications of the strawberries i was about to eat.

these strawberries had traveled nearly 2,900 miles from watsonville, ca to washington, d.c. in order for me to enjoy in my breakfast. 

you may be thinking, “while that is an awfully long distance for fruit to travel, why does this matter in terms of environmental sustainability?”

i’ll tell you why. 

the cross-country road trip my strawberries had taken to end up in my local trader joe’s for me to purchase and eat produces a ghastly amount of carbon emissions. 

“food miles” have been defined as the distance from where the food is produced to where it is consumed, according to carbon brief. studies have found that yearly, food miles produce 3bn tonnes of carbon emissions. 

if, like me, you aren’t a science-minded person and this metric doesn’t make sense to you, note that in the same study, the transport of fruit and vegetables was responsible for twice the amount of greenhouse gas than was emitted to actually grow them. 

while the implications of “food miles” are serious and concerning, there are ways we can all cut down our “food miles” and help the climate fight.

with that, here’s my guide to eating sustainably!

1. eat local

the first tactic to decrease the “food miles” of your produce is to eat locally grown foods. shopping at farmers’ markets is the number one way to do this. farmers’ markets are a great way to ensure that your produce has been grown locally and to support local farmers in your community. 

produce from farmers’ markets not only has fewer “food miles” but also tends to be more nutritious and flavorful than store-bought produce. due to the great distances that store-bought produce has to travel before it’s eaten, such produce tends to be harvested before peak ripeness and stored in coolers to preserve its freshness. however, this process strips the produce of its natural nutrients and flavor. 

shopping at farmers’ markets can also cut down on your single-use plastic consumption. instead of buying fruit in plastic clamshell containers, bring your reusable bags to the farmers’ market and buy produce straight from the producer.

for help finding farmers’ markets near you, use the usda’s local foods directory.

2. eat seasonally

the next tactic can be slightly more difficult. eating seasonally means eating fruits and vegetables during the months that they are in peak harvest.

while harvest months for produce vary widely from region to region, a rough guide to the foods that are in peak harvest in large swaths of the u.s. during the year is as follows:

summer

• melons
• cucumbers
• tomatoes
• eggplants
• peppers
• stone fruits
• summer squash
• herbs 

fall

• squashes
• root vegetables
• onions
• potatoes 

winter

• brussel sprouts
• citrus 
• pomegranates 
• squashes
• potatoes 
• beets 

spring

• asparagus 
• spinach 
• radishes
• rhubarb 
• scallions
• chives
• leeks 

for a complete list of seasonal foods that grow where you live, check out this seasonal food guide. 

eating seasonally goes hand-in-hand with eating locally. when shopping at the farmers’ market, be aware of what kinds of produce tend to be at the market during different times of the year. the produce at the farmers’ market is a direct indication of what foods are at peak harvest and what should be eaten during that season.

3. plan ahead

a big part of eating seasonally is planning ahead. if there are summer foods that you can’t go the winter months without, look to preserve them at their peak harvest to enjoy during the off-season. for instance, this could be done by freezing fresh berries during the summer and enjoying them during the fall and winter months. other techniques to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables include canning, pickling, fermenting, and dehydrating foods.

4. limit meat consumption

lastly, i’d be remiss to write a column about sustainable eating without mentioning reducing your consumption of meat. eating less meat reduces methane emissions that occur from the raising of livestock. according to the epa, a single cow produces between 154 to 264 pounds of methane gas per year. additionally, raising livestock consumes copious amounts of water in cleaning and processing the cattle, as well as watering the crops that the cattle eat.

thus, in order to have a more sustainable diet, people should try eating more plant-based meals rather than meat-based meals. for instance, protein substitutes for meat include beans and legumes, eggs, tofu, nuts, quinoa, grains, and mushrooms. these foods and more can provide you ample protein, without the need to consume meat. 

additionally, in 2024, there now exists a slew of meat alternatives that provide the nutrients and taste of meat, without the cardboard texture and lack of flavor that the meat alternatives of 10 years ago had. my favorite meat alternative is impossible meat, but there also exists beyond meat, gardein, and boca, to name a few.

now i’m not suggesting that people should quit eating meat cold turkey (turkey, get it?). instead, i’m hoping to share reasons why eating meat isn’t the best for the environment and suggest small ways you can make a difference. even just cutting down the frequency in which you eat meat, especially red meat, can go a long way in creating a more sustainable diet.

the big picture

for all these recommendations, assess the possibility and limitations for implementation into your own life. most importantly, we should all do what we can to adjust our eating habits to better protect the environment and fight climate change.

happy sustainable eating!

we received a number of interesting questions pertaining to sustainability. however, one question stood out to me: how do you compost in d.c.?

i chose this question not only because of planet forward’s location in the heart of washington, d.c. but also because it has been at the forefront of my mind recently.

i recently made the cross-country move from california to washington, d.c., to join the planet forward team as an editorial assistant and begin graduate school at george washington university.

the move to d.c. from california has come with numerous exciting and eye-opening moments. however, one of the first differences i noticed about my new home was the lack of green trash cans around the city to dispose of organic waste. 

growing up in california, it was the norm to have a green waste bin alongside your recycle and trash bins. for me, the green bin was the receptacle to throw lawn clippings, fallen leaves, and — after hopping on the compost train a few years ago — my food scraps.

to hype up my home state for a moment, in 2022, california began to require organic waste collection services for households and businesses in every city.

the convenience of composting in california is key to the state’s success. when every household is equipped with a green bin that’s taken from the curb weekly, there’s almost no excuse not to compost. 

in stark contrast, there exists a lack of government-provided composting services in d.c. this means people have to get crafty with how they compost in the district.

with this column entry, i hope to show you that while composting in d.c. may be more difficult than in other parts of the u.s., it doesn’t have to be an impossible task. 

why compost?

composting is important because it reduces the greenhouse gas emissions emitted when organic waste is sent to and decomposed in landfills. according to the epa, food waste accounts for 58% of landfill methane emissions. separating food waste from other trash allows bacteria to decompose the organic material and recycle the waste into nutrient-rich soil.

by redirecting food waste from landfills to the compost bin, we as students and individuals can do our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

what can you compost?

the foods that can be composted are:

• fruit and vegetable scraps
• eggshells
• bread
• dairy products
• meat
• bones
• soiled cardboard
• coffee grounds and tea bags

however, make sure that items commonly attached to produce, such as fruit stickers, rubber bands, plastic wrap, and other non-degradable items, are kept out of your compost.

composting around d.c.

the easiest way for those in d.c. to compost is by collecting compost at home and depositing it at one of the food-waste drop-off locations around the city. these drop-off locations are at designated farmers markets and are open the days of the market. check out this website for a complete list of where and when to drop off your compostable items. 

between your weekly trips to the compost drop-off locations, look into purchasing an at-home compost bin for smell and pest control. here’s a link to an affordable compost bin with a filter.

alternatively, you could withhold from purchasing a compost bin if you use a bucket with a lid and store it outside. the final option is to store your compost in the freezer, to reduce the smell and rotting of the food.

it’s crucial to keep an eye on your at-home compost to ensure it’s not taken over by mold or pests. check your at-home compost daily by noting the look, smell, and aura of the compost.

composting at your university

to see if your university offers composting bins and other options, a good place to start is by looking up your campus sustainability department. 

at george washington university, students have additional resources that aid their composting efforts. sustainable gw offers students free countertop-size compost bins for use in their dorms or off-campus residences. to request a compost bin through sustainable gw, complete this form.

additionally, gw now has a compost drop-off location on campus. gw students and community members alike, can drop off their compost at the smart food waste collection bin, located in kogan plaza. 

for those on gw’s campus, i recommend signing up for sustainable gw’s newsletter to stay up-to-date on the hours of operation for the kogan plaza collection bin.

the last option is for people willing to spend. if you have an extra $32 a month lying around, there are multiple compost pick-up services that will conveniently pick up your compost from your house. compost cab and compost crew serve the local d.c. area, but similar compost pick-up companies exist in other parts of the country.

the big picture

composting is a small act that makes a big difference in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and fighting climate change. while in contrast to california and other compost-friendly states, d.c. may not be the easiest place to compost, that shouldn’t prevent us from trying. hopefully, the sources listed in this column provide a platform to kick-off your composting journey. 

however, as i’ve been a resident of d.c. for less than a month, i’m open to learning composting tips and tricks from more seasoned d.c.-ers (is that what we call ourselves?). please feel free to share your composting insights with us by dming us on instagram.

happy composting!

the farm’s growing season lasts from march to october, during which the space is open and hosts a plethora of health and wellness activities for the community, said charles rominiyi, the well’s program manager.

according to dc greens, a nonprofit organization that works to advance health equity and build a more resilient food system, the well harvested more than 4,000 pounds of fresh produce for the local community in 2023.

community members are allowed to plant and pick produce during the well’s hours of operation.

breaking new ground

dc greens opened the well in june 2022. “it was really a collaboration by community members, government agencies, and nonprofit agencies who dreamt of a space where community members could come and reconnect with nature, the land, and take wellness classes,” rominiyi said.

washington, d.c.’s ward 8 councilmember trayon white was one of the well’s largest donors, rominiyi said.

councilmember white said he has been working on ways to curb food insecurity in anacostia and the well was a way of doing that.

“we’re looking to bring in more grocery options to the ward, especially healthy grocery options, but it’s becoming tougher. we put a lot of energy, in the last couple of years, into the well at oxon run, a state-of-the-art community farm. it’s probably one of the biggest community farms in the city and in ward 8,” white said.  

cultivating community

this year, march 18 marked the well’s opening week, for which there were several on-site events. there was a seed giveaway, a “plant a seedling” workshop, a senior lunch, tours of the well and a community volunteering day — all shared with the community through the dc greens newsletter.

rominiyi said the events had a great turnout, with attendance varying from 20 to 50 people per event. “opening week was great. it’s really when we can get everyone excited and let the community know about all our plans for the year. we think it was a great success,” rominiyi said.

when entering the well, people are greeted by mimi the tree, which stands as a witness to the success of the community through the years, even in the face of adversity, rominiyi said. when the land was being excavated, the original plans were to cut the tree down. however, community members wanted to preserve this hundred-year-old sycamore oak tree as a reminder of how far the well has come, rominiyi said.

“we ask the community what we should grow, and we grow what they ask us to,” rominiyi said.

greatness on the horizon

according to the well’s farm manager, kenneth bridgers, the farm has eight growing fields scattered across the space which grow various foods such as bok choy and kale in the spring, strawberries and figs in the summer, and swiss chard, and snap peas throughout the year, among other crops. 

most of the seeds are provided by johnny’s seeds, a national seed provider, but members of the community can also drop off seeds at the farm’s seed exchange bench, rominiyi said.

the well is not the only community farm in anacostia, according to rominiyi. however, what makes the well unique is that the staff also conducts wellness and peace programs, which engages the community in several ways, such as in the youth section of the farm, rominiyi said.

“we partner with the green scheme, which brings young people to the well to use the youth garden beds, learn about environmental literacy, environmental sustainability and environmental justice,” rominiyi said.

another unique aspect of the well is the programming pavilion, the structure of which allows for rainwater collection during the off season. the staff treats this rainwater and uses it to water plants in the greenhouse when the well is closed to the public, rominiyi said.

“i’ve been here since the start and we’ve seen tremendous growth in engagement. we can’t wait for all the great things that are happening this season,” said bridgers.

the 2024 storyfest competition and winners

this year over 154 stories were submitted from 60 universities within six categories: 

• best story written by a media student 
• best story written by a non-media student
• best multimedia story written by a media student 
• best multimedia story written by a non-media student
• best video by a media student
• best video by a non-media student

additionally, two of the 32 finalists were selected for the gw award for excellence in storytelling and the spotlight award for community storytelling. 

on april 18th, at the planet forward summit the 2024 winners were announced. joy reeves, ayah mahana, and mickki garrity were selected to accompany frank sesno and aaron dye on a nine-day trip to the galápagos islands where they worked to create additional stories to be published on planet forward. sesno and dye serve as the students’ editors-in-residence by helping the students shape their stories, answer questions, conduct interviews, and coordinate with lindblad expeditions and galápagos naturalists.  

these trips have become part of the planet forward tradition, sesno believes the trip helps “incentivize and recognize great student storytelling around the planet and gives students a once in a lifetime awesome experience to travel the world.”

the 2024 trip marks the first time a gw president has accompanied the team on the trip. in 2023, former gw president mark wrighton began to speak with university leadership and trustees about planet forward and the storytelling expedition which led to four trustees joining the 2023 trip to iceland. trustees grace e speights, michelle rubin, judith lane rogers, and donna hill staton self-funded their trip. they found the trip wonderful and enjoyed interacting with the storyfest winners while they sought out new story ideas. upon hearing from the trustees about the trip, president granberg decided she would join the 2024 trip in order to experience planet forward and watch the students create stories as well.

the winners’ stories

joy reeves joined planet forward during her second year of graduate school at duke university. reeves has a background in environmental management and environmental economics and policy. despite having no formal journalism training, she decided to apply for storyfest because she was inspired by innovative initiatives in her field. reeves spent her practicum working in community based environmental management with local environmental justice organizations. this eventually allowed her to connect with the north carolina environmental justice network. this network is where she learned about the “spider web initiative” where scientists are using spider webs to track air pollution and particles in the air. reeves’s submission “your friendly neighborhood spider-party: community scientists use spider webs to monitor air pollution” uses her cartoonist background to create a visual and textual hybrid, found here. 

reeves went into the trip to the galápagos knowing she wanted to write about a community science initiative, and chose iguanas. this initiative uses drones and aerial technology to crowdsource the counting and monitoring of the iguana population through zoom. during covid-19 people had to stay home and work remotely, however this counting still needed to occur. drone technology made this task possible. reeves says “there is no way to prepare yourself for the splendor of the galápagos islands, in all my studies i have never felt the environment instead of just seeing it.” to learn more about this innovative tracking technology check it out here.

ayah mahana, who graduated from gw in december of 2023, took professor sesno’s sustainable reporting class which inspired her to get involved with climate reporting. she said “sesno taught me a lot about journalism, storytelling, and sustainability which brought me into planet forward.” her first story was written about a youth climate organization called zero hour, which can be found here. zero hour is entirely run and funded by people under the age of 30 and based in the metro dc area. they believe that we can turn anxiety about the climate into actions that can change the world. mahana felt the trip was “a once in a lifetime opportunity and privilege”, because “there is nowhere else in the world as pristine and preserved. the animals are happy in the galápagos, and they are much more relaxed versus the rest of the world.” mahana went into the trip unsure about what she was going to write about, and decided to take the route of exploring the island and its people before coming to a conclusion. 

eventually mahana landed on writing about the experience of one naturalist who grew up in the galápagos. celso montalvo has been working as a naturalist for the past 21 years, and is planning on retiring from his role in the galápagos next year. montalvo, while sad to be leaving the galápagos, hopes he is not present for the next el niño. el niños are a periodic warming of sea-surface temperatures that affect the central and eastern tropical pacific ocean, near the equator. el niños usually occur every two to seven years, and can have a variety of impacts on the climate including increased rainfall, droughts, and hurricanes. montalvo believes that with increasing temperatures and growing pressure in the atmosphere the next el niño will be devastating, and could seriously impact the wildlife in the galápagos. montalvo says “i have cherished my time in the galápagos encountering both the ugliness and the beauty of nature, and through it all my love for it has endured.”

president granberg’s impressions

president ellen granberg found the trip equally as meaningful and impactful as the students. granberg believes the work that has been done to protect the land and wildlife of the islands is unmatched anywhere in the world. granberg feels the storyfest winners taught her a lot on this trip. she said, “i am from a different generation. growing up in the 60s and 70s we were taught about climate change, but it was a far off thing not to worry about. the students of the world today are experiencing climate change and they see it as a problem for right now.”

granberg believes the trip will have a lasting impact on her, particularly due to witnessing sustainable tourism and the galápagos’ long term commitment to treating their land as a reserve. granberg thinks that other tourism locations can learn from the prominent and sophisticated role that tourism plays in the galápagos. “they are not taking away from the environment, but actually strengthening it through tourism,” said granberg. she also believes the efforts to not hunt animals and to restore the wildlife to the way it existed before human impact is inspiring. when asked what she would write if she were to write a story for planet forward about the trip she stated, “what really hit me the hardest was the behavior of the wildlife. because there has been no hunting for over 70 years, they were not afraid of us. i became intrigued by the relationship between these interactions and the sustainability of the species on the island.”

president granberg views planet forward and gw’s alliance for a sustainable future as “innovative thinkers on campus who are helping to bridge the gap between departments and solve problems that require an interdisciplinary approach. these organizations are helping to make information available to others about the work we are doing here at gw.”

the storyfest cycle begins each year as schools reconvene for the fall semester, with the deadline to submit stories in late winter. any interested students should keep an eye on planet forward for more information.