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By Jillian Webber

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I was a freshman when GW Composting began as a university-sponsored pilot program with the uncertainty of progressing even into the following semester. Launched in February 2018, this program was run by interns at the Office of Sustainability and Campaign GW, with weekly Friday collections in Kogan Plaza. (Alex Rubenstein covered this story back in 2018.)

Intern Colin O’Brien drove much of the effort to begin this program, as well as trained a group of interested volunteers in January. I began collecting compost in my freezer and participating in the program, volunteering when I could. These Friday collections were very successful, amassing over 2,400 pounds from February to May and seeing an average of 36 participants each week.

By that summer, GW Composting hit the ground running as a permanent program, headed by intern Jonathan Kvilhaug. 

During Fall 2018, the program collected over 3,400 pounds with an average of 46 participants each week, showing an increased awareness of the program and expansion of the compost community. I volunteered with Jonathan many Fridays, often helping him set up and staying until other volunteers arrived. The program continued to have plentiful volunteers after partnering with sustainability service courses. 

The success continued into Spring 2019, with increased participation of graduate students and university departments, as well as expansion to GW’s Mount Vernon Campus. This semester totaled upwards of 3,500 pounds with an average of 58 weekly participants, both notable increases from prior semesters.

In Fall 2019, the program was run by intern Brianna Reynolds and achieved success yet still, collecting over 3,600 pounds that semester. Additionally during this semester, Student Association VP for Sustainability Jan Nowak gathered numerous composting stakeholders, including members of the Office of Sustainability, Residence Hall Association, and Campaign GW, as well as myself, to discuss expanding GW’s composting infrastructure. Soon thereafter I began working for the Office of Sustainability and Zero Waste Department, and was tasked with developing the new Residence Hall Composting Program.

This program is set to begin as a pilot in three residence halls on campus and provide composting convenience as well as encourage students to become involved with the composting community. Student volunteers in each pilot dorm will serve as monitors for bin contamination and student participation. The goals of this program are to increase composing awareness, expand composting accessibility, and have self-sustained, contamination free composting residence halls. Additionally, through my Zero Waste position we were able to begin expanding compost collections to GW events, the first of which was with the law school in March 2020.

Implementation efforts for the Residence Hall Compost Program and event composting were halted due to the pandemic. However, campus composting did not stop altogether!

In Fall 2020, I have been working with intern Natalie Wright to collect compost in Kogan Plaza every Friday. We have seen great success despite the public health crisis and an extremely limited number students on campus. To be successful this semester we have operated outdoors, worn masks and gloves, and always ensured our participants are wearing masks and practicing social distancing. We had 172 unique participants and a total of 4,750 pounds of compost for both Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, substantial numbers given the circumstances. We have utilized Instagram to expand our audience, educate on the importance of compost, and share what can and cannot be composted. One of my favorite aspects of this semester has been the immeasurable bonding with different folks during this tough quarantine period. Even Anne LeBlanc, the wife of GW’s President, composts with us! Compost education and fostering an inclusive community are two of the most important aspects of my compost journey at GW.

I will graduate in a matter of days and younger sustainability changemakers will take the infrastructure and participation to new heights! I see the future of GW’s composting expanding to the residence hall program, increasing collection opportunities in Kogan Plaza, catering compost bins at campus events, developing front-of-house composting in District House and other university vendors, and more. Building on past composting iterations is what has allowed us to come this far, and hopefully that trend will continue. Whatever it may be, I am excited to see the difference students make!

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By: Adrian Britt

Understanding how pesticides interact with non-target organisms is a challenge for today’s scientists. There are simply too many variables to be considered for each species that may come into contact with a pesticide once it runs off the intended application site. Thus, regulatory agencies tasked with setting pesticide thresholds rely, in part, on independent studies from the scientific community at large. Our study focused its efforts on a keystone estuarine species, Crassostrea virginica, the native eastern oyster of the Chesapeake Bay. Our lab sought to answer a vital question: How does the broad-spectrum herbicide, atrazine, effect the microbiome of the Chesapeake Bay oyster? Atrazine has already been banned from use within the E.U. because exposures to concentrations as low as 0.1 parts per billion of atrazine in surface water have been shown to adversely affect aquatic animals, causing the male gonads to produce eggs.

 

For this study, we relied on long-standing evidence that supports the importance of maintaining healthy populations of microbiota for the survival, homeostasis, and complete development of marine mollusks. We chose frequently detected concentrations of the chemical in surface waters to be the focus of our most recently published study, “The Effects of Atrazine on the Microbiome of the Eastern Oyster: Crassostrea virginica”. Relatively little is known about the impact that agricultural activity is having on our fallen oyster population, however, in this study we succeeded in shedding some light onto the enigmatic effects atrazine could be having on the native oyster’s microbial community, which in turn provide essential services for the oyster’s survival.

 

Through our study, we found that oysters which were exposed to concentrations of atrazine as low as 3µg/L saw a significant loss of key mutualistic microbial species and underwent a subsequent colonization of pathogenic bacteria. We concluded that exposure to atrazine in the Chesapeake Bay may be contributing to a significant shift in the microbiomes of juvenile oysters that reduces overall fitness and impedes natural and artificial repopulation of the oyster species within the Bay. Since the late nineteenth century, the oyster industry – including the catch, sale, shucking, packing and shipping of oysters – has contributed millions of dollars to the region’s economy.  Managing oyster populations by limiting the over-use of toxic substances will ensure that the oyster industry will become a sustainable effort. 

 

This is the first long term study of how ecologically relevant concentrations of atrazine affect the eastern oyster. Thus the findings this study provided will help to form the foundation for future investigations into the toxicological effects of commonly used pesticides on non-target organisms.   

 

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Embroidery Tutorial

By Esther Stoppani, Intern with Campaign GW

Hi! I’m Esther, one of the Campaign GW interns. Embroidery is one of my favorite hobbies, and I know that a lot of people want to learn how to do this craft, so I offered to create a little beginner’s guide to embroidery! It’s a lot simpler than people tend to think and is a great way to repurpose old clothes.

 

-What will you need?

An embroidery hoop

An embroidery needle

Embroidery floss: comes in a variety of colors, it’s the same stuff that comes in a lot of “friendship bracelet” kits

Fabric: which can be pretty much whatever you have on hand, but I would avoid super tightly woven fabric and stretchy materials

Scissors

 

-The basics

To get started with embroidery, you only need a few materials.

Your embroidery hoop has two separate pieces. Lay your fabric over the inner loop so that the outer loop can be tightened around it, holding the fabric in place. You want the fabric to be taut, so stay away from stretchy materials like spandex that might warp from stretching.

 

If you’re working off a pattern or design, use an erasable or water-soluble pen to draw the design on. I would also recommend starting with embroidery floss that is not metallic or sparkly. These types of thread are harder to work with, especially when you’re first starting out.

 

Regular embroidery floss is typically 6-stranded, so you’ll want to separate out 2-4 strands, depending on how large you want your stitching to be. I almost always use 2 strands and vary my stitch types to change the size. Thread your needle and leave a tail that’s about 2 inches long. On the longer (working) thread, tie a knot at the end of the string. Now you’re all set up to start stitching!

 

-The simplest stitch

This one is probably the easiest stitch in embroidery. To create a straight stitch, push your needle up through your fabric from underneath. Pull your needle all the way through so the string is taut. Then, push your needle back down through the fabric in a different spot. This creates a small, straight line of stitching. By repeating this process, you can fill in the space between your stitches and create shapes. I use straight stitches mostly for filling in areas of color, because these stitches don’t create as much texture or variety as some of the other stitches.

 

 

-Back stitch

This starts out with a single straight stitch. Once you’ve created a single straight stitch, your needle will be back under the fabric. When you bring your needle back up through the fabric, you want to come up one stitch-length from the hole you came through. I usually make my stitches about ¼ inch long, but it depends on the design you’re making. Pull the string taut, then go back down through the hole at the end of the previous stitch to connect the two. These stitches create uniform lines and are great for outlines and letters.

 

 

-Stem stitch

A stem stitch is very similar to a back stitch, but instead of coming up one stitch-length from your previous stitch, you will bring your needle up just to the side of the hole you came through. Pull the string taut and push the needle back down one stitch-length away. This will create a staggered line of disconnected single stitches. I don’t typically use this stitch type a lot, but it can be helpful when filling in areas.

 

 

-Split stitch

Start again with a single straight stitch. This time, when you bring your needle up through the fabric, do this in the middle of your previous stitch, so that the two threads of the stitch separate around your needle. Pull the string taut. You now have a single stitch with thread coming up through the middle of it. Continue along your line and push the needle back down through the fabric. Repeat. This creates a very textured stitch with little V’s in it. I like to use this stitch for outlines and decorative borders.

 

 

-Chain stitch

To start a chain stitch, bring your needle up through the fabric and pull the thread taut. Bring your needle back down through the same hole you just came up through, but don’t pull the thread taut! Leave a loop of thread sticking up from the fabric. One stitch length away, bring your needle back up through the fabric. Take the loop you just created and bring your needle up through it. Now, pull the string taut. This should make the loop get smaller and lay flat. Bring your needle back down through the fabric close to where you brought it up. You can change the shape of the loop, which is now your stitch, by gently pulling the sides. Repeating this stitch will give you a very textured, chain-shaped stitch. I love the way this stitch looks, and it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Doing a single chain stitch is also a fun way of making leaves and petals on floral designs.

 

 

-French knot

This stitch is a little trickier, but it’s an important one. To start a French knot, bring your needle up through your fabric. Pull taut. Then, push the tip of the needle back down through the fabric just to the side of where you brought it up. Don’t push the needle all the way through! Instead, tip the needle back up through the fabric a couple millimeters from where you just pushed it down. Again, don’t pull the needle all the way through. At this point, you should have your string sticking up towards you from the fabric, and your needle should be tucked through the fabric so that both ends are above the fabric (the middle is below). Gently take the long loop of thread and wind it around the needle 2-3 times. Pull the thread a bit to get it fairly tight around the needle. Slide these loops down the needle so that they rest next to where it comes up through the fabric. Using your nail to hold the thread in place, gently pull your needle all the way through. Pull taut. You should now have a small knot at the base of the thread where it comes up through the fabric. If the knot is loose, pull the string more and push the knot towards the fabric. To finish off the knot, push your needle back down through the center of the knot. If your knot was a little messy, you can try to tuck any loose parts in during this final step. French knots can be difficult, but find the way to make them that works best for you! I like doing it this way because if you want to make flowers, wrapping the thread around the needle 5-7 times instead will create a longer knot that looks like the petal of a rose. Making several of these and tucking them together is my favorite way to make roses.

 

 

-Tying off your stitch

When you want to switch thread colors or are moving to a different area of your fabric and don’t want to waste thread, you tie it off. After you finish your stitches, your needle will be underneath the fabric. Keep the needle and thread on this side of the fabric. Use your needle to tuck your thread under a nearby stitch, and then tie a double knot. You want to make sure the knot is secure before cutting the thread.

 

Now you know how to make some of the main stitches for embroidery, but what will you do with them?

Finding a pattern online and following it is a great place to start. This way you have instructions and a clear idea of what your design should look like. You can also just stick to practicing the different stitches until you feel comfortable. If you feel good about these stitches, you can try creating your own design or learning new stitches. Embroidery is great for making patches (I like to use felt as my fabric for these), covering up holes or stains in older clothes that you don’t want to throw out, and just adding some personalization to your clothes.

 

A couple tips and tricks before you go

You can always “undo” your stitches. Whether with a seam ripper or by just pulling the stitches out, your work can be undone if you don’t like how it turns out.

Trim the ends of your threads. All of your threads will end on the backside of your design, and it can be tempting to let it get messy since it won’t be seen. The more loose ends you have, the more likely it is for your floss to get tangled. Avoid this issue entirely by always trimming your strings after tying them off.

Don’t sit next to someone, you might poke them in the eye. When you’re embroidering, you have to pull the thread through with your needle, which means that you’re constantly reaching your arm far out to the side with a needle in your hand. You can probably see where this is going. I’ve poked enough friends to know not to sit too close when I’m working (or at least to have them sit on my left since I’m right-handed).

Always pull gently on the string. Trying to work fast and pulling the thread through quickly will lead to tangles and knots, which get frustrating. It’s a lot easier if you just slow down.

Hello! My name is Ragavendra Maripudi and I am the newest intern for the Office of Sustainability at GW. With each and every experience I have with this position, it becomes increasingly evident to me that the driving force behind the sustainability movement is a collective spirit that is strengthened by meaningful collaboration. This spirit is a dedication to the conservation of the very Earth that sustains us, and I have felt the immense power of this collaboration since the day I started working with the Office of Sustainability: when I was asked to volunteer at the GW Green Move-Out.

It was a hot and lethargic morning when I walked into South Hall on my first day as an intern. My eyes were transfixed on a group of people in matching white t-shirts, each holding a garbage bag, jostling for position around a seemingly endless pile of household supplies. There was a deep, tangible passion that seemed to connect every one of these people. I was handed a bag myself and asked to gather ‘household goods’ (anything other than food and textiles) until I had filled the bag. As I approached the pile, I could feel the energy and  excitement radiating off of every person, and as I reached for the pile, I felt it rushing through my own body. From an outside perspective, our task would have seemed relatively mundane, yet every single person seemed deeply engaged. In a flurry, we replaced the pile with organized stacks of garbage bags and within two hours, we loaded them onto multiple trucks to be taken to a recycling center. It was engaging, effective, and fun. It was a clear example of what it takes to bring people together around sustainability.

GW Green Move-Out is an initiative that encourages students to drop off recyclable items such as clothing, perishable food, small furniture, and kitchenware in cardboard boxes in the lobbies of their residence halls as they move out for the summer. A bevy of volunteers then work to sort the left-behind goods and send them to recycling centers and charity partners. In 2014, when the initiative began, Mr. Kris Ferguson, the Zero Waste Coordinator at George Washington’s Facilities Resources and Planning Department, reported that Green Move-Out collected and donated 44,010 pounds of materials to recycle. This May, Mr. Ferguson’s team recorded 59,792 pounds, or almost 30 tons, of materials collected, the most it has ever collected. 

This staggering increase is due to collaboration efforts between different communities on and off campus to help preserve these reusable materials. For example, the Department of Energy and Environment for DC has helped through a program called Re-Thread DC to place year-round recycled clothing bins in three residence halls, where they are easily accessible to students and faculty. Green Move-Out has also partnered with “The Store”, GW’s student-run food pantry for food insecure members of the community, to put out boxes for food recycling and monitored them for contamination. Green Move-Out is working to involve every individual and organization in the GW community to recycle massive amounts of materials during late May and early June. 

With my experience volunteering for them, I learned Green Move-Out is more than simply a service for a few weeks in the year. It is a movement that brings people together in their passion to do something, no matter how small, to conserve the massive amounts of waste we produce. The kind of camaraderie that this campaign produces fosters a feeling of tremendous love for the conservation of our earth. In order to face climate change with a bold attitude, we must create more emotional and meaningful movements like the GW Green Move-Out.

For more information about Green Move-Out and to sign up for volunteering, check out: https://living.gwu.edu/green-move-out

Cool People Doing Cool Things: DC Climathon 2018

Lucy Hummer

GW hosted the DC Climathon over this last weekend. I had the opportunity to watch and admire the teams as they developed their ideas throughout the 24-hour event. From 3pm on November 9th to 3pm on November 10th, dozens of community members from throughout the DMV came together to make change regarding issues both within the city and across the globe.

So, what is Climathon? Climathon is a variation on the hack-a-thon. This type of event brings people together from various different fields, areas of study and general interests to “hack” a climate issue. Ideas are brainstormed, teams are formed, and business plans are developed very quickly during a fast-paced, overnight model. Each year, the Climathon has a different theme. This year, the content was centered around food access. Therefore, all of the finalists came up with unique ideas for innovating solutions and supplements geared towards dealing with food insecurity in our urban setting.

This year, there were six finalists in the competition. All of these teams, in my opinion, quality as really cool people doing really cool things. It is clear that when bringing together a large group of people in an inspiring environment like this, positive things will come. The two winning teams, District Connect and Last Call (both pictured below), radiate positive energy and a fresh perspective on issues in DC, including food.

The best part is that Climathon connects GW to the broader DC area. Many of the individuals who participated did not have an affiliation with the university. The school largely operated as a medium in which the community could engage with one another more simply.

It is clear to me that everyone who participated in the event is going to make an impact on our city, especially District Connect and Last Call. I know that anyone who is willing to spend the night working in MSPH must be ready and excited to make change!

While the participants in the Climathon have of course manifested many interesting ideas for “hacking” food access, there are many, many more people in DC who are working on this as well. Organizations throughout the DMV and beyond are working every day to solve issues such as the food deserts and inequitable access to cheap and healthy food throughout the 8 Wards of the city. DC Climaton 2018 was a way to see these initiatives, recognize their successes and view how the community can help as well.

Pictured above: The teams of District Connect (left) and Last Call (right) pose with coordinators of the event after learning that they have won.

Interested in hearing the final pitches that earned them the prize? You'll be able to watch them on our Facebook Page coming soon!