Previous Years: 2014-15

Resources About Sustainability

At WSU and Across the Region

There are several ways to get involved in the WSU community around the state to become more sustainable and knowledgeable.  Below are several resources for students and faculty interested in reducing waste around the area.

Websites and Articles

• Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute website provides information to promote the environmental sustainability, ecological welfare, and restoration of the Palouse-Clearwater region.  They also have Facebook, Twitter, and Orgsync pages.
• Sustainability at WSU.
• Seattle’s Bullitt Center – the World’s Greenest Building  Craig Curtis was a double major at WSU in Architecture and Construction Management and was a designer of this project, quoted in this article. The Bullitt Center opened on Earth Day in April 2014.
• Facebook page for the Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition that seeks to educate people about climate change and other harmful threats to the environment.
• Moscow recycling booklet and pamphlet (latest edition).
• Lessons and activities revolved around waste management and conservation.
• Compilation of environmentally-based articles and information including bio-jet fuels, sustainability, and beef production, along with archives of older articles.
• Burrowing Shrimp and Invasive eelgrass issue report from WSU extension.
• Information about vegetable gardening and community well-being.
• Learn about the voluntary stewardship program and its participation by Washington counties.
• Reducing obstacles to eat nutritious fruits and vegetables.
• Sustainability and  benefits of organic farming.
• Zoom-in art galleries of the impacts of environmental waste on the living creatures and the earth, including a gallery focused on plastics.
• Washington Environmental Council is a non-profit, advocacy organization that seeks to increase awareness on environmental issues.
• Smart Growth and Sustainable Development in Washington state.
• Sustainability article focused on three apple production systems.
• Washington Refuse & Recycling Association
• An article detailing the upholding of stormwater rules.
• Education for Sustainability in Washington State: A Whole Systems Approach.
• Center for Environmental Excellence
• Sustainability efforts in King County, Washington.
• List of conferences and workshops mainly in the Western Washington/Oregon-area related to the environmental industry.
• EarthShare Washington serves an important role in promoting environmental education, volunteerism, and charitable giving by partnering with businesses across Washington.
• This site called Curriculum for the Bioregion, created by a multi-year project of the Washington Center, includes an extensive curriculum collection, promising pedagogies, and sustainability resources.
• Sightline is an independent nonprofit think tank based in Seattle that provides research, news, and tools on Pacific Northwest environmental issues.
• This NSF funded site at Carleton College, focusing on geosciences curriculum, includes several curriculum ideas on Pacific Northwest topics.

Videos

• Ted Talk of Chris Jordan and his use of art to depict the impact of waste on the earth and its natural resources.
• Edward Burtynsky and his photographs capture the impact of humanity on the environment.
• James Hansen, an adjunct Earth and Environmental Sciences professor at Columbia University, speaks about climate change.
• WSU student teaches sustainability to Pullman 2nd graders.
• Environmental Stewardship from Washington to Alaska.
• Addressing how the U.S. beef industry has made improvements to reduce its  impact on the environment.

At WSU Libraries

WSU Libraries puts together a research guide for Residence Life and First-Year Focus that includes resources for discussing and presenting Common Reading materials. The entire guide is online for students and faculty

Documentaries

The libraries also purchase a number of documentaries about the Common Reading topic to be checked out by students and faculty.  Here is the current listing:

The Clean Bin Project (2011), Dir. Grant Baldwin; www.cleanbinmovie.com

The documentary follows a couple in Vancouver, BC, as they engage in a year-long challenge about who can produce the least amount of waste.

Waste Land (2010), Dir. Lucy Walker and Vik Muniz; www.wastelandmovie.com

Artist Vik Muniz returns to Brazil to document in art the lives of Brazilian trash pickers in the world’s largest garbage dump.  In doing so, his life and those of the trash workers are fundamentally changed.

Bag It (2010), Dir. Suzan Beraza; www.bagitmovie.com

In the style of a Michael Moore film, this documentary explores the prevalence and legacy (on the environment and human health) of plastic, especially plastic bags.

GreenLit (2009), Dir. Miranda Bailey; http://greenlit.org

This documentary follows the unexpected challenges of making a “green” Hollywood movie.

Trashed (2006). Dir. Bill Kirkos; www.trashedmovie.com

This documentary explores both the challenges and potential solutions to trash, including new business models.

From National Sources

Websites and Articles

• In Sunset magazine, coverage is devoted towards sharing a story of a family who produce roughly two handfuls of trash each year.
• Rio intends to construct an ecologically-friendly structure in preparation for major events including the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
• An interview with Edward Humes, author of the Garbology book, provides information about waste, landfills, and the pitfalls of using plastic-based products.
• This website discusses how wasteful junk mail is for the environment and how different strategies can be implemented to reduce it.
• This mobile application allows individuals to identify the location of drinking fountains in the area as well as the quality of drinking water.
• This article explains how the Japanese have devised numerous ways of discarding waste products, including visuals.
• An editorial briefly describes trends in wastefulness of Americans and how people need to devise their own ways of responding to the environment.
• A 19-year old student created a cleanup device that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic from the world’s oceans.
• Waste-to-energy plants in Denmark (and in other parts of Europe) have reduced almost all of the pollution and emissions created by the process.
• A trash museum in Hartford, CN closed after 16 years.
• Dave Chameides kept all of his trash contents in his basement for a year in order to better understand his waste footprint.
• Sweden, due to its extensive recycling and waste management efforts, is needing to import waste from neighboring countries in order to heat and provide electricity to the country.
• This article the discusses relationship between mafia/organized crime and their involvement in the lucrative waste management business.
• Recommendations provided on recycling and reusing to become a zero waste home.
• A challenge to do one thing to help the environment.
• The website for Edward Humes, Garbology author.
• Landfill harmonic of members of an orchestra in Paraguay and their use of garbage to create musical instruments.  Also, watch them perform.
• 1. Find a piece of litter; 2. Photograph it with Instagram; 3. Hashtag your photo with “#Litterati”; 4. Throw away, recycle, or compost the litter.  Litterati.
• Single-use bag ban efforts from around the world.
• MIT trash tracker following waste products from Seattle to different parts of the country.
• The National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project website.
• Recyclemania competition results according to major U.S. universities.
• Save Our Beach campaign for two major beaches located in CA.
• A clean beach initiative designed to encourage people to remove three items each from a beach/waterway.
• This website promotes the recycling of waste by shipping it directly back to the company.

Videos

• Associated students recycling squad contains a three-part video of CSUN students.
• Bea Johnson gives a tour of her home and performs a Q & A on repacking and reusing in order to decrease wastefulness.
• Andy Keller dresses as a “bag monster” to speak with individuals about ways to decrease waste
• “Don’t Call it a Dump”
• “Plastic State of Mind” parody to mimic “Empire State of Mind.”
• Life as a plastic bag.
• “The Lightbulb Conspiracy Theory” movie of how companies design products that are meant to fail.
• A compilation of videos on plastics and waste.
• San Francisco is on track to become a zero-waste city.
• “Story of Stuff”
• A documentary on the how Brazilians have derived meaning from their life while being situated on the world’s largest landfill.

Garbage Art

• A variety of ecologically-friendly structures being built around the world.
• Mechanical structures built from discarded objects.
• Scavenged art in a sanitation garage.
• Nathaniel Stookey’s musical composition: “Junkestra.”
• Richard and Judith Lang have created works of art from various plastic items that they have retrieved from a beach in Northern California.  In addition, this is the website for the beach the Langs use for their art.
• Information about the Recology artist-in residence program in San Francisco.
• Wearable Trash
• Transformations of trash into art.