gw purchased 26,000 reusable water bottles from didómi, a water bottle company with the mission to combat the water crisis in developing countries and provide high-quality reusable water bottles to encourage individuals to reduce their plastic consumption. 

not only will gw’s purchase of these reusable water bottles reduce plastic use on campus –– this financial investment will reach beyond campus. didómi partners with the nonprofit organization water is life to provide reliable access to water across africa. according to didómi, each bottle purchased provides 10 years of water access to a person in africa. using the funds from the partnership with gw, didómi will donate 50% of its profits to fund the nonprofit’s water projects. 

on the morning of march 21, two of didómi’s founders, lamah bility and brian bishop, came to gw’s campus to distribute water bottles. while telling the mission of their company, bility shared the personal story of fellow co-founder anaa jibicho. jibicho, a refugee from ethiopia, lost two siblings to water-borne diseases. when jibicho lived in liberia before his family won a lottery to move to the united states, he had to wake up each morning to walk miles to fetch water for his family, billy said. jibicho had a realization about the accessibility of water once in the u.s., where clean water conveniently flows from the tap in many places.

while listening to didómi’s story, students colored and personalized their water bottles. junior sarah teague painted clouds on her new bottle, placing her personalized design around the gw’s plastic campaign logo and didómi’s logo, the partnership aesthetically represented on the bottle.

teague says her interest in sustainably centers on gw divesting from fossil fuels. in 2020, after seven years of student organizing on the issue, gw committed to divest from all public and private companies with a focus on fossil fuel extraction by 2025, in alignment with recommendations from the university’s environmental, social, and governance (esg) responsibility task force. yet, there is a need for education around gw’s positive changes and events to announce gw’s sustainability-related efforts. 

volunteer audrey litto, a junior at gw involved with take back the tap, a student initiative to transition away from using single-use plastic water bottles to reusable, refillable bottles, shared that she hopes people will take advantage of the new water bottle stations popping up on campus and the new high-quality didómi water bottles. 

senior jack mcmorrow, a volunteer through a service-learning class at gw, has participated in passing out didómi bottles outside of the covid test trailers for the past week. 

“it felt great to be part of such an important initiative to reduce single-use plastic on campus,” mcmorrow said. “i was truly excited to see the enthusiasm of the members of our community who were willing to utilize these water bottles. so many people were excited to approach us and were eager to learn about ways to reduce plastic use.” 

didómi was named after the greek word meaning “to give.” the logo symbolizes crossed fingers representing hope, or optimism for better days together. through efforts like this, there is hope for gw as a collective to make a difference to reduce waste and help save the environment. 

what do you see? ivied buildings, trimmed hedges, and manicured lawns full of students scattered about? looks to me like the college experience.

but here i sit in my gw dorm, receiving emails urging me to witness swarming bees outside my window – a phenomenon unfit to the foggy bottom backdrop, yet they came from dr. hartmut doebel’s bee farm atop bell hall. their small but strong presence reminds us that wildlife is campus life. whether we recognize it or not is our choice.

gw’s campus contains over 200 different species [1] and grounds manager, zach pittinger has chosen to recognize our neighbors, rooting campus grounds in ecosystem services and making gw more sustainable for students and bees alike.

cities house denser species populations than those in the wild – from pollinator trees like redbuds to synanthropic species like house sparrows. but urban ecosystems are less diverse [2]. through development we’ve disturbed the vegetative structure and resource availability of previous ecosystems [3],[4], driving native species richness down and allowing invasives to exacerbate that decline. continued planting of annuals and non-natives purely for beautification reduces species richness, productivity and sustainability.

to bring the biota back, we need to cultivate larger, native, and resilient environments on our campuses. increasing native vegetation allows for native-adapted animals to return and pollinate. this restructuring creates corridors for urban species dispersal [5], improved air quality [6], runoff retention and filtration [7], cooled urban heat island effect [8], higher carbon storage [9] and enhanced student wellbeing [10].

“sustainable landscape design is propelling young people in my industry to turn back to horticulture” says zach, with decreasing pesticide use, storm water solutions, and a focus on wildlife and education. but zach points out this is a rediscovery of early agricultural practices of native cultivation. we are moving from a post-world war ii era of neatly manicured land covered in mulch to a different ethos.  

“now we are asking for the return of wild spaces – to work with nature, not against it and evoke a sense of wild,” says zach.

when diagnosed with lyme disease in high school, zach spent his year off gardening with his mom. when i asked, “why gardening?” zach replied, “creating beauty in your backyard is very healing.” in this combination of passion and a love for native plants, zach saw the college campus as a perfect opportunity for beauty, efficiency, and healing to fully integrate for students.

initially attracted to the 2016 gw’s sustainable landscape guidelines – a resource for gw grounds cultivation, it was no coincidence that zach found himself running gw’s 22-person grounds department, “injecting renewed energy and enthusiasm in implementing these guidelines” says kimberly williams from the gw office of sustainability.

in 2018, sustainable grounds – an informal coalition of zach and eager faculty and staff was born. spearheaded by gw’s director of sustainability, meghan chapple, this group unites diverse expertise – from adele ashkar’s prior work as director of gw’s landscape design program to dr. ginger allington’s focus in biogeography. when new projects arise, sustainable grounds huddles together to increase native perennial species richness and develop their optimal placement for pollinator/migratory species attraction and water retention.

“the landscape is the first thing students and parents will notice,” says zach.

it’s a difficult task – preserving the campus image and student experience while cultivating wilder grounds. the urban campus environment is dynamic, as zach exclaims, “we may have just finished landscaping a small townhouse garden, only to be ripped up by the need to excavate a crushed sewer pipe”. though heavy traffic and student life stress the ecosystem, they also present an opportunity to test resilience and to educate our community. “if it can handle hurricane winds, torrential flooding, salt spray, foot traffic, cigarette butts, harsh changes in soil ph, and constant disturbance, then you’ve got yourself a winner,” says zach.

this “living lab” is a uniquely holistic initiative allowing “gw to improve its impact on the local ecosystem and provide students with opportunities to learn about urban sustainability,” says kimberly – a fitting goal for a research university.  

in fall 2019, g street park will be sustainably renovated – a space currently devoid of biodiversity and a “sense of place,” says zach. students use the space as a thoroughfare now, but kimberly illustrates, “with native plants that attract pollinators, outdoor seating, and a sharp aesthetic, g street park will provide a beautiful location for students to gather.”

future plans include planting over one hundred new trees at mount vernon campus, adding thousands of native perennials, renovating flowerbeds at most residence halls, and transferring to locally sourced or our own leaf mulch. zach is looking to enhance our green roofs and ultimately certify campus as an arboretum or botanical garden.

gw grounds is reinventing their community role, taking interns and student volunteers as well as providing future tours to engage students with their new campus. the gw community can further aid in these efforts “by appreciating the native, natural landscape and seeking to view landscapes that are not formally manicured as beautiful,” says kehan desousa from gw’s office of sustainability.

“this work flies under the radar for most of the gw community, but by stopping to smell the asters, students, faculty and staff can not only enjoy the greenery of our urban campuses, but also appreciate their valuable role in restoring a healthy ecosystem,” says kimberly.

it’s time to tweak the campus vision. can you re-imagine the wild side of campus life?

have you ever considered the threads that keep you warm may be contributing to the warming of the planet?

clothing production has steadily increased for the last 2 decades due to fast fashion. and yet, nearly 60% of the clothing produced is disposed of within a year. 

come along with victoria middleton, a student journalist and fashion junkie, to explore various options for dressing sustainably in dc, including stops at reformation, the dc sustainable fashion collective, and georgia avenue thrift store.

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citation

a new textiles economy: redesigning fashion’s future. the ellen macarthur foundation, 2017, www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/publications/a-new-textiles-economy_full-report.pdf.

the price of fast fashion – nature news journal, nature publishing group, 2018, from www.nature.com/articles/s41558-017-0058-9.

kestenbaum, richard – secondhand clothes are a threat and an opportunity. forbes, forbes magazine, 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2018/04/03/secondhand-clothes-are-a-threat-and-an-opportunity/#3a7151716fdd.

operation green team is affiliated with keep america beautiful, inc., a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving waste handling practices in american communities. through this affiliation, operation green team is able to offer curricula that teach our youth how to manage the waste we produce, intelligently and responsibly.

by shifting the energy use to off-peak time, this technology reduces the load on the electric power plant and helps to avoid the need for building additional peak power plants, or keep old, dirty plants running.

this video was submitted by energy huntsville.

moderator: frank sesno, founder and host, planet forward
vincent gray, mayor, washington, d.c.
mark mallory, mayor, cincinnati, oh
tommy battle, mayor, huntsville, al
steven knapp, president, the george washington university
melissa keeley, assistant professor of geography, the george washington university

the minnehaha-hiawatha community is experimenting with 6 different led bulbs and 3 different types of induction lights both of which are high efficiency in order to measure which work best.  this not only saves money from a decrease in electricity use but these new bulbs also last longer which means the city doesn’t have to pay a maintenance crew to go out and change the bulbs very often.  this project saves money and the environment.