Now, a year into her continuing sustainability role, Carolyn can share some hard learned lessons about culture change, applicability, and going green.  As her collaborator on the original sustainability plan, I wanted to ask her a few questions about her adventures in sustainability at the K-12 school level.

Carolyn Anthon, Johns Hopkins graduate student.

Q: What have been your biggest challenges?

I think the most challenging aspect of our sustainability adventure at my school is changing behavior. Status quo is easy to maintain, and overcoming that – even with folks who are on board with the idea of sustainability – has proven quite difficult. Also, I found it challenging to get students involved. The change has to come from within in order to create buy-in and sense of ownership within the community. I could list more roadblocks and hurdles, but these are the two biggest things that come to mind.

Q: What were your easy wins?

The easiest win was creating a sustainability committee almost immediately after delivery of the sustainability plan. Following that, we’ve started a GOOS (good on one side) paper collection in several areas of the building to capture and reuse paper one more time before it hits the recycling bin. A group of students is currently campaigning to have a meatless lunch day once per week all year long in support of climate change and sustainability. Plus the school had already reached some of the low-hanging fruit, so much of what lies ahead is more challenging.

Q: How did staff, teachers, and students respond to “sustainability”?

This question makes me chuckle. In my naiveté, I didn’t realize that there would be so many different responses! Based on the survey we conducted before the sustainability plan, most folks really saw sustainability the same as recycling. Others saw it as being “green” or conserving resources. Once we began talking about it some more in the community, others began to see it as a long-term, never-ending effort to manage our resources in an efficient, financially responsible, and environmentally friendly way. The general response has been very positive – verbally – but the actions have yet to catch up with that spoken support. I’ve found that unless it’s easy or convenient to be sustainable, many just do whatever comes naturally to them. I fear I’ll always be pulling out compostables from the trash or telling people to be careful that they only have one plate for their lunch.

Q: Composting is a big action item for schools these days, what did your composting program look like?

Our composting program began spring 2012 with five pick-ups a week from Envirelation. I think we are very fortunate to be working with a company that takes ALL food scraps so no sorting or scraping is necessary. Envirelation also accepts waxy paper, such as dixie cups, paper napkins, and our compostable dinnerware and utensils. Waste stations adorn each lunch room with additional compost scrap pails in faculty lounges and the on-site kitchen. Our staff has been mindful of purchasing compostable-only materials for serving, so this year we’ve also replaced all fancy plastic cups used for campus events with a compostable option. Thus far we’ve decreased our regular trash pick-ups from five times to twice per week. I hope to see continued decrease as waste sorting improves.

Q: Hindsight is 20/20 they say. What do you wish you knew a year ago that could have helped you?

I wish I had a better idea of the structure for decision-making within my school. I also wish that I was more assertive and confident when delivering information. Without an official title, I’m just a volunteer advocate for a volunteer committee. Getting things done seems to get hampered by that trivial missing epithet. Finally, I really wish I knew how painfully slow the process of change would be. I think I would have been better prepared for the frustrations associated and appreciated the easy-wins much earlier.

Q: Do you have any advice for someone starting a sustainability program in their school?

I think the first thing you need to do after getting permission to start one is to establish buy-in. If you don’t already have a group of folks pumped-up about sustainability who are willing to share in the advocacy with you – and even if you do – go out there and get buy-in from the students, faculty, and staff. Connect their actions to reasoning for change. Show them the powerful photographs of Chris Jordan’s Midway series. Talk about the importance of the compost cycle to our agricultural process. Ask your community to think about one action that they could do to make a difference and have them each make a pledge. And realize that you’re not alone in the good fight, but that you will need a lot of patience and fortitude to persevere.

Carolyn Anthon, graduated from the MS in Environmental Science and Policy Program in 2012.

Jessica Riehl, will graduate in 2013 with an MS in Environmental Science and Policy.

I considered this slightly ironic as a student in an environmental science program. And it led me to Larry Silverman’s class at JHU called Public Lands and Private Interests. It was through this class that I learned to see beyond the camera and into many of the issues plaguing our public lands. The class mostly focuses on lands in the west and draws attention to water resources, energy development, forestry concerns, climate change, and wilderness ideals among many other topics. Taking the time to study about our public lands has given me a greater attention to detail and curiosity when traveling. It is much easier to identify inconsistencies in the landscape that highlight environmental problems even in the most beautiful of landscapes. As a photographer, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of what is in front of the camera to more effectively tell the story of a place.

My favorite assignment for this class was developing an environmental field guide for a piece of public land. This assignment was timely; my husband and I made two car trips cross country and used the guides created by classmates. The class challenged us to look behind the curtain at the history of our public lands, what environmental and social stresses they are under, and how they are currently being managed.

If you are interested in understanding the bigger picture, here are a few tips to guide your exploration:

*Start with the park or wilderness area’s history section on their website. Do a search on the legislation that created a park to understand why and how it was created.

*Research the ecology of the place and take a look at the plant and animal species that call the land home.

*When visiting, speak with the volunteers, docents, and staff about what you are seeing. A great starter question is to ask if climate change is affecting the land. From there, you can explore different environmental concerns.

*As you explore the park, look for inconsistencies in the landscape such as prohibited activities (off-road vehicle tracks), man-made features such as berms or irrigation ditches, and read the signs that identify invasive species which threaten native inhabitants.

The answer to these questions will inform your photography and quite possibly your desire to help conserve and preserve our public lands. After all, we do own them!

The Bosque National Wildlife Refuge located near Sorocco, New Mexico and within in the Rio Grande River floodplain is home to thousands of wintering birds such as sandhill cranes, arctic geese, and ducks. It is a mecca for photographers with its easy and close access to the birds. The annual sandhill crane festival boasts sold out photography workshops and birding seminars. © Jessica Riehl 2012

Water availability in the arid west is a problem these days and the refuge depends on an allocation from the Rio Grande River to provide the needed habitat for wintering birds. In times of drought, the refuge is unable to draw its full allotment, requiring adjustments in the amount of habitat provide. An irrigation system provides water to fields which are flooded creating the required marsh ecosystem. © Jessica Riehl 2012

Sandhill cranes and snow geese forage and rest in one of the refuge’s fields before flying to one of the marshes where they will spend the night safe from predators. © Jessica Riehl

The refuge is a highly managed ecosystem which includes farming, prescribed burning, exotic plant control, moist soil management, and water level manipulation. Active farming within the refuge and by local farmers provides food (grains) for the wintering birds. The partnership with local farmers is unique because the cranes have previously been a nuisance by destroying crops. © Jessica Riehl 2012