LIFE
10
Zero Waste program urges students to trust sustainability process Survey conducted by management shows students distrust composting, recycling system by Kelly McDonnell
Managing Editor for Life
American University’s zero waste policy is designed to reduce campus waste and get students involved in sustainability. The Zero Waste Project team, established in 2016, has worked daily to sort recycling and compost on campus alongside the Compost Crew, a student group that sorts waste into compostable and noncompostable items weekly. Both of these groups make sure that on-campus waste is sorted by recyclable and compostable material to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfills. Ben Scheiner, a Compost Crew member and Zero Waste Office student intern in Kogod, organized the survey to see what students understand about campus sustainability and whether or not they are invested in it. Over 530 students, faculty and staff completed the survey, and only 47 percent of respondents said they trust the Zero Waste process. Manager of the Zero Waste program Tyler Orton said he was surprised at how high the level of distrust is in the University’s processes. “Students want to know where their recycling goes, where the composting goes,� Orton said. “Their lack of trust is reasonable.� Orton said this is especially reasonable after incidents when compostable items were just being thrown away to end up in a landfill and not composted at all. “AU students are pretty motivated about zero waste,� Scheiner said. “Our survey showed that students are pretty knowledgeable about composting and recycling.
So now we want to focus our program on trust.â€? According to the survey, a majority of respondents said that they do take the time to sort their waste, but they have trouble sorting particular items like packaging, coffee cups and utensils. Survey respondents suggested improved signage throughout campus or scannable QR codes that describe which items should be tossed in which bin to help students more easily sort their waste. Orton agreed that students are motivated at AU, saying that he doesn’t know of any other campus that has a Zero Waste Club that gets 40 people at their meetings. But “AU has a general ‌ skepticism with students and faculty,â€? Orton said. “We are transparent, but we’re not good at advertising it,â€? Orton said. The Zero Waste team plans on creating videos that show the process of composting and recycling so that students can begin to trust the system, Scheiner said. “Our process is unique," Orton said. "We manage waste internally, and that makes it trustworthy." CARLY JOHNSON / He explained in an email that THE EAGLE waste from trash, recycling and compost bins is collected by the University’s own recycling or housekeeping staff and then transferred to the right processing facilities by AU’s own truck. When students and staff understand the program and the process better, the campus will be more sustainable,
Scheiner said. “If they’re aware of what they’re throwing away [and] what it can do to the environment, their support and trust will help us,� Scheiner said. The survey also said that nearly 90 percent of students carry around reusable water bottles. Orton optimistically sees this as an “entry point� for sustainability. When students understand the basics of composting and adopt sustainable habits, the Zero Waste program can focus more on communicating with them and gaining their trust, Orton said. Campus sustainability dynamics have also been changing over the past few months with the introduction of the new dining vendor, Chartwells. Composting is better now than it was with Aramark, Scheiner said. With Chartwells, AU is composting 800 pounds a day, but with Aramark, the campus composted only 1,000 pounds in a week, Scheiner said. In survey responses, students suggested more trash bins outside to help with controlling campus waste and voiced the desire for more compostable food containers to be used at dining locations. Luckily, these suggestions are feasible, and AU is willing to work on adopting them, Orton said. Some of them are already being implemented and researched, like more readable signs that are now placed in MGC above waste bins. “Students know [the Zero Waste program] can influence decisions,� Scheiner said. “Their voice goes a really long way.� kmcdonnell@theeagleonline.com
AU graduate debuts his first novel, “Seventh Flag� Sid Balman, Jr.’s historical fiction novel examines the radicalization of the United States by Stephanie Mirah Life Staff Writer
One morning, Sid Balman, Jr., an AU alumnus, walked into a coffee shop in Dupont Circle, holding a novel. A woman in the shop looked at the novel and said, “That looks like an interesting book, what’s it about?â€? Balman explained the plot to her. As he walked away from her, he stopped, turned back and said, “I wrote this book.â€? “It was such a strange feeling, really,â€? Balman said, reflecting back. “I really did write this book. It’s a weird thing. Not weird, but, you know, gratifying.â€? The author, businessman and Pulitzer Prizenominated journalist combined his areas of expertise to craft his first historical fiction novel, “Seventh Flag,â€? which debuted on Oct. 9. According to Balman, it is “a modern parable about the radicalization of the United States ‌ told through four generations of two families in the small west Texas town of Dell City. One is a prosperous farmer family, the other is a family of Syrian immigrants that helps them build an empire on the high desert.â€? A fourth-generation Texan, Balman grew up in a rural town outside of Dallas. He studied literature and business at Vanderbilt University, where he realized he wanted to write. He took a course in New Journalism, where journalists interpret and bring artistic liberties to the news. The most impactful New Journalist Balman said he studied was Jack Kerouac. “The book that really, really hit me was Jack Kerouac’s book, ‘On the Road,’ that looked at a time not dissimilar from the one that we’re in now,â€? Balman said. “That book, just the way it was written, the story it told, the characters, really appealed to me. That’s when I started writing.â€?
Becoming a novelist was a distant dream of Balman’s, but it felt too risky for his writing abilities, he said. “A writer is someone who makes a living writing,� Balman said. “A 24-year-old novelist? I certainly wasn’t at that level. So, I figured journalism would be a way for me to make a living as a writer.� After graduating, Balman traveled the world for about a year and a half until he started attending American University, where he got his master’s degree in journalism and public affairs. He interned for the Dallas-Times Herald, which landed him a job at the paper covering police officers and crime in Dallas. At the age of 28, Balman began his last major job in journalism as the diplomatic and national security correspondent for the United Press International. In this position, Balman covered all the wars of the ‘90s, including Iraq, Somalia and Kosovo, and traveled overseas with presidents and secretaries of state, such as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright. “I was always gathering yarn like every journalist,� Balman said. “I felt like I had a novel in my back pocket, but I needed to find just that way to stitch through it.� His time abroad was only one of the “pieces of yarn� Balman needed to help him tie together his ideas for “Seventh Flag.� Balman said that people often ask him how long he spent researching for his novel. He usually responds, “I have been researching it my entire life.� After his time abroad, Balman became a division director at an international development firm, the D.C.based Creative Associates International. He and his division took a public health approach to counter violent extremism in behavior-change communications. With his research in violent radicalism, Balman said he felt like he was a step closer to understanding how all his ideas could
be stitched together into one novel. Two more experiences would solidify his plot. The first came from the small west Texan town of Dell City, with a population of 300 people. This would become the setting for his novel. “A buddy of mine, about 15 years ago, bought a piece of land in west Texas, [which is] one of my favorite spots in the world,â€? Balman said. “They were completely off the grid ‌ I got to know the community there. Those families became the quilt for a couple of the families in the book.â€? The final influence came from a YouTube documentary about a football team in Dearborn, Michigan, that was primarily comprised of Muslim students. It depicted the stigmatization of Muslim people in post-9/11 America and the hardships students went through with multiple practices per day during Ramadan, when Muslim students fast from dawn to dusk. “At that point, it really just clicked for me,â€? Balman said. "Through iconic themes in our society, I would tell this fun, rollicking and global story that showed how our nation has become radicalized since World War II but emphasized the commonality between all these different kinds of people.â€? Balman views the U.S. as a radicalized country. In a highly polarized nation, how could he make a change? “When you think about what you can do to make a difference in the world, I know some people run for office [and] journalism is one way to do it,â€? he said. “It may sound a little bit corny ‌ but I felt that this book could contribute to making an impact, to making a change. And in the end, the places where our country can be held together are in family and community." smirah@theeagleonline.com