Turning Today’s Waste into Tomorrow’s Energy: Vote Yes on Measure E
Will Troppe and Elena Stamatakos

Palo Alto, arguably one of the most progressive cities in the United States, still uses a dirty incinerator to destroy its sewage sludge. On Tuesday, Palo Alto voters have the opportunity to vote for a ballot initiative that will clear the road for the construction of a new, cleaner waste management system, an anaerobic digester, to turn the sludge and compost into biogas. It should be that simple. Unfortunately, misinformation and skewed facts have cast doubt on the benefits of this initiative. Let’s clear things up.

Forty-five years ago, the City of Palo Alto decided that when a landfill near the Bay was decommissioned, the land it occupied would be turned into a park. That time has come and gone, and still only 30 acres of the total 126 are open to the public. The park still resembles an old landfill, void of vegetation. Measure E simply proposes to rededicate 10 acres of the park bordering a sewage treatment plant for the express purpose of constructing an anaerobic digester. Impartial analysis by city attorney Molly S. Stump has confirmed that the wording of Measure E only permits the land to be used for that purpose. This means that no loopholes exist in the measure that could allow the land to be developed in another way.

An anaerobic digester on the site would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20,000 tons per year compared to current practices, the equivalent of planting 1.5 million trees, while saving the city $1 million each year in waste management costs. At the same time, the biogas the digester produces can generate 1.4 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,200 to 1,400 homes. Some people equate biogas and natural gas, since both are primarily composed of methane, and thus attribute natural gas’s negative qualities to biogas. But biogas is a natural part of the Earth’s carbon cycle, resulting in no net emissions. Incinerating this potential renewable energy resource is not only wasteful, but also irresponsible. We have to dispose of our organic waste somehow, so why not extract some useful energy in the process?

Some opponents view anaerobic digesters as smelly, noisy industrial facilities that mar an otherwise natural landscape. There are two problems with this assertion. First, the digester would be constructed next to a sewage treatment plant, so industrial activity already exists in the area. Second, a consultant hired by Palo Alto studied a fully enclosed digester that uses a vacuum, sucking in air and filtering it before it is released to prevent the leaking of bad odors. If a digester emits odors, that means it was incorrectly constructed, as lost biogas is lost profit and energy. In Europe, digesters are unobtrusive enough to be located in residential neighborhoods.

Palo Alto made a promise to its citizens to transform this landfill into beautiful parkland with space for residents to enjoy. Since that decision was made, a lot has changed, including the rise of green energy and a focus on environmental justice. Today, voters have a choice to eliminate pollution caused by an incinerator and efficiently dispose of their organic waste, thereby ensuring clean skies and clean energy at the expense of 8% of a former landfill. The Democratic Party, Republican Party, Green Party, Palo Alto Weekly, League of Women’s Voters, and Students for a Sustainable Stanford all support Measure E. You should too.

“The State Department is in charge of analyzing this, because there’s a pipeline coming in from Canada. They’ll be giving me a report over the next several months. My general attitude is, what is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short term and long term? But also, what’s best for the health of the American people? We want to make sure that we’re taking the long view on these issues…I think folks in Nebraska like all across the country aren’t going to say to themselves, ‘We’ll take a few thousand jobs if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health.’” -President Obama

Check out the full article here: http://www.350.org/en/about/blogs/big-news-keystone-pipeline-obama-steps-and-takes-ownership-decision

Exciting news: The SSS blog is back, and better than ever! Stay tuned through the rest of the year for subgroup and outreach updates, opinions on current sustainability issues, and much more! We’ll be a voice and a forum for our members, and for the sustainability community here as a whole. Alright, that’s enough for now. Peace out!

-Christina

P.S. Stay tuned for a story from the distant lands of… Moscow =)

Suggestions for modifications of the game? Suggestions for reusable prizes?

I definitely left inspired.  For one thing, I went to a workshop on campaign planning that made me feel confident in the Stanford Farm Project, the student campaign for an on-campus Stanford farm!  For another thing, I think there’s a great opportunity to create a student-lead course in gardening on campus– this will help Stanford students fit gardening into their busy schedules, bolster the Campus Garden Initiative (which supports Row House gardens), and get people digging.  It’s also a great chance for me to learn way, way more about gardening, and a way to lessen the pressure on ES180B (the sustainable ag class, extremely popular.)

I also went to a workshop about transforming how we think of protest.  The woman leading the workshop had built community support for reclaiming some abandoned space in San Francisco, using creative messaging like projecting questions onto the wall of an abandoned building and asking students to text answers.  Later, she also created a poster where passersby could fill in their vision for the abandoned city space.

Apparently, you do not have to get a permit to project things on walls.  Clearly this is a great opportunity to project the SSS message around campus…

All told, there’s a large movement around the country around food and agriculture, especially encouraging better dining hall practices, getting farms installed on campuses, incorporating sustainable ag into the school curriculum, and much more.  If you want more information, check out the Real Food Challenge website, or come to a Food group meeting!

Other people who went to the conference, feel free to pitch in with comments!

Leftover sushi rolls

Stuff like wasabi

I say to compost that

No it’s not just a hobby

I’m at Tressider

But I can’t meet you in the lobby

Girl I gotta watch this trash

I’m not just anybody

So when you stand in line

And get your forks and plates

Just remember this rhyme

Gotta love food – hate waste!

Food and plates in herrr

And also silverwerrr

Oh was that your meal?

I thought I recognized herrr

Baby, got this silverware on you, baby?

Are they compostable too, baby?

Compost hits the green spot

Call me Captain Planet

Cuz I can make your forks rot!

Don’t put it in the trash spot!

Compost makes it real hot!

Turn it into nutrient-rich soil that helps plants grow, reduces methane, and conserves landfill space… baby!

Pretty much the best rendition of Bed Rock ever.

Food group did a little ground work for the farm campaign last night.  We split into groups and discussed a 2-minute elevator speech (in case we ever encounter the Provost in a long elevator ride — Hoover Tower doesn’t have an elevator, does it?); discussed options for how to throw an educational food-related party at a Row House; and brainstormed ways to quantify educational impact on students.

“What is this farm campaign?“, you ask?  Well, originally it began as a response to the University’s postponement of a decision about a proposed 2-acre FARM on campus (!).  Now, the campaign mission has expanded; 12 dedicated people are organizing a campaign to not only build a grassroots network of support for the farm, but to revolutionize how food and agriculture is perceived by students, faculty, and staff– whether it’s in terms of what they’re eating, or what they support academically.

To the campaigners: great work!

To interested people: join us!

To the world: food revolution, here we come!

Next time on Food Group:

-farm campaign updates and projects begin!

-KM outreach (incorporated into the farm campaign; events are coming up soon!)

- talk about FutureFest!

See you all soon!

-Veggies

This week, I’m taking the place usually held by Akwasi of blogger in chief!

We need to write a summary for greenfund of what we’ve done so far… Hannah and Andrew (me) are gonna send drafts to Akwasi for him to put together and send off…

As for the actual rain catchment project itself, we need to add a few connectors and finish installing the barrels, but we’re almost done. And the barrel nearer to the gutter is already collecting rainwater!

We’re still thinking about greenfest celebrations. We’re thinking jeopardy about CA and local water issues, where the winner wins a cactus? Or possibly, a raffle where instead of buying a ticket people answer a question about local water issues to get a raffle ticket; the winner would win a… cactus.

Also – an obstacle course? Yes, maybe.

We still have the dream to make a mini model rain catchment for greenfest, too.

Cooperation with SAGE (Students Advocating for Gender Equality) on International women’s week (first week of March)? Talk to Ayana aka stingray… They/we need to think of something that educates about water access issues facing women without being to speaker-focused… Hmmm…

That’s all folks!

-andrew