The Crimson White: Environmental Edition, April 2022

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
VOLUME CXXVIII | ISSUE VIII
CW / Autumn Williams
How Bama Dining fights for food sustainability
CORRIE WILSON
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In the push toward greater food
sustainability, Bama Dining has
led many of the food sustainability
efforts on campus.
According to the United Nations,
Sustainability is the idea that
something (e.g., agriculture, fishing
or even preparation of food) is done
in a way that is not wasteful of natural
resources and can be continued into
the future without being detrimental
to our environment or health.
Often, the idea of food
sustainability conjures up mental
images of leafy greens, vegan
restaurants or miles of farmland in
the Midwest. While those images are
part of food sustainability, in reality,
food sustainability is so much more
than that. Composting, recycling,
energy efficiency and nutrition each
play a critical role in the overall
production of food sustainability.
Bama Dining has steadily
increased sustainability efforts,
starting with recycling initiatives
in 2006, where they began recycling
plastic and metal as well as
eliminating plastic trays from the
eateries in the UA Student Center’s
food court and dining halls.
In 2009, Bama Dining launched
its pre-consumer composting
program. In this program, pre-
consumer matter such as vegetable
and fruit peels, or green matter, is
delivered directly to the University
of Alabama Arboretum, where it
is mixed with the leaves, or brown
matter, to produce rich compost.
Through the pre-consumer
composting program, Bama Dining
has reduced the impact to the local
landfill, Eagle Bluff Landfill, by over
4,000 pounds per week, which is the
number of pounds picked up from
various dining locations.
However, the COVID-19
pandemic impacted how the
University approached sustainability.
Because of the pandemic, students
were required to take their meals
to go, which necessitated the move
to disposables.
Kristina Patridge, the director
of University dining services,
and Bruce McVeagh, the district
manager of the Bama Dining
administration, said the pandemic
was a major obstacle in the efforts
toward food sustainability. The
initiatives surrounding food
sustainability on campus were put
in the back seat, but not forgotten,
as the administration tried to feed
thousands of students.
As time has passed, Bama Dining’s
efforts toward food sustainability
have experienced steady progress.
The University of Alabama
releases annual recycling statistics
reports, which break down the types
and amounts of materials that UA
Recycling processes.
In those reports, Bama Dining’s
recycling profile is divided into
pounds of compost and pounds of
grease. In the 2015 to 2016 recycling
report, 1,555 pounds of compost
were delivered to the Arboretum,
while there were 87,476 pounds of
grease used.
Fast forward to the 2020 to 2021
annual recycling report: 17,930
pounds of compost were delivered to
the Arboretum and 25,869 pounds
of grease were used.
In essence, more fruits and
vegetables were consumed, and less
grease was used for cooking.
“Bama Dining guests have
requested more fruits and vegetables,
and Bama Dining has responded
to those requests,” Patridge said.
“There were also more venues
constructed that do not include
fried foods.”
The issue of food sustainability
also includes how sustainably those
foods are prepared in terms of
energy system usage. Bama Dining
has directed efforts toward the study
of sustainable energy usage in the
dining options on campus.
Bama Dining has spearheaded
the installation of the ultra-efficient
kitchen hood systems manufactured
by Melink. These kitchen hoods
possess the highest energy
efficiency and filter air and smoke
to ultimately create a cleaner and
safer environment that promotes
healthier cooking practices.
In addition to this, they’ve
introduced energy-efficient oven
systems. On-campus dining places
such as the Fresh Food Company,
Panda Express and Chick-fil-A
have started utilizing these energyefficient
cooking systems.
The benefits of these systems are
twofold: The environment benefits
due to less gaseous pollutants and
less energy waste, and the consumer
benefits with healthier and
safer food.
Bama Dining is interested in
the shift toward more vegetarian
and vegan options on campus. At
Lakeside Dining Hall, there are stirfry
options and grilled vegetable
options daily, as well as pho and
other bowls offered at Glutinvs
Minimvs. At Fresh Food Company,
there is a dedicated vegetarian
station with various grain bowls,
hummus, crudités and a vegetable
soup option daily.
McVeagh said that in the past,
most of the options for on-campus
dining were limited in terms of
vegetarian and vegan selections.
Now, it is becoming increasingly
more common to see vegetarian
and vegan meat alternatives such
as burgers, sausages and more
as the efforts continue to reduce
meat consumption.
SEE PAGE 4A
CONTENTS
1B
Bama
CULTURE
Bug Fest
spotlights the
importance
of insects
3B
NEWS
Meet the campus
organizations
advocating for the
environment
SUMMER AND FALL REGISTRATION
Now Open!
Visit sheltonstate.edu to apply and register!
It is the policy of the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees and Shelton State Community College, a postsecondary institution under its control, that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin,
religion, marital status, disability, gender, age, or any other protected class as defined by federal and state law, be excluded from participation, denied benefits, or subjected to discrimination under any program, activity, or employment.
5B
OPINIONS
Environmental justice
is for everyone, and it
cannot be ignoredw

2A
ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
EDITORIAL STAFF
editor-in-chief
managing editor
engagement editor
chief copy editor
opinions editor
news editor
assistant news editor
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photo editor
multimedia editor
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engagement@cw.ua.edu
Jack Maurer
Ava Fisher
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Jeffrey Kelly
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Autumn Williams
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ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
3A
CW File
OUR VIEW: Sustainability isn’t simple
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
All those in the conversation
surrounding
environmental
sustainability are familiar with a
common phrase: “Everyone can do
their part!” From taking shorter
showers to carpooling to work to
reducing the use of single-use plastics,
there is no shortage of advice on
how individuals can, and must, stop
contributing to climate change.
This kind of advice, while wellintentioned,
places the responsibility
of saving the world on overworked and
busy individuals that are attempting to
manage both their finances and their
time. For college students, this burden
of environmental responsibility
represents just one more thing on
their busy schedules. Between classes
and extracurriculars, they are tasked
with preventing ecological disasters.
Environmental sustainability isn’t
a simple achievement or a few boxes
to check off and disregard. Rather, it
is an evolving attitude that one must
embody. There is no definitive way
to be “environmentally sustainable.”
Instead, college students and citizens
alike must examine every aspect
of their lives and surroundings.
In adopting a comprehensive view
of sustainability, we may one day
enact change.
Individual decisions
College students make countless
decisions every day that either
contribute to or harm the cause
of environmental sustainability.
Regardless of our awareness of our
impact, we are actively shaping the
earth for the next generation. Through
simply increasing our knowledge
about these decisions, we may begin
to ensure they advance the cause of
environmental sustainability, one
move at a time.
Food
College students may find it difficult
to navigate dining halls while on a
specialized diet. While dining halls
may boast some vegan- and vegetarianfriendly
options, these options are
often rather limited compared to their
nonvegan counterparts.
Take, for example, Ithaca college,
who boasts an A-plus rating for
vegan dining hall options. Despite
the recognition, options are severely
limited, repetitive and lower quality.
While the most recognized institutions
fall behind the curve, the rest struggle
to implement basic menu choices.
This leaves most vegan students in a
double bind: they can either search
for sustainable alternatives or eat
repetitive, unhealthy vegan options
that do not satisfy basic dietary needs.
Then there’s our campus.
Despite efforts to include vegan
accommodations, marginalized
dietary needs often remain outside
the scope. Student interviews last
year exposed dining hall options to
be severely limiting for students with
religious or moral dietary restrictions.
In addition to most vegan options being
processed and sodium-filled, students
find themselves “hodgepodging a few
sides together” to make a meal. While
most students in these situations turn
to mobile ordering or other means,
it remains difficult to find accessible
limited diet options at dining halls.
Clothing
In addition to sustainable eating,
college students are faced with
another environmental challenge:
sustainable fashion.
College students are especially
prone to engage in fast fashion, or
rapidly produced clothing to follow
evolving trends. In the age of social
media and market trends, fashion
represents social capital. When this is
the case, it is understandable that the
average college student may navigate
toward Shein for their next date party.
Doing so is a quick and inexpensive
way to ensure that students feel
confident and comfortable on their
night out.
However, college students must
examine their own consumption
habits if society is to see an end
to the environmental degradation
and human rights abuses inflicted
by fast fashion, an industry that
accounts for one-tenth of the water
used by industries that produce and
clean products.
This is easier said than done. Truly
sustainable fashion presents a higher
cost of clothing due to its value of
labor, sourcing and transparency.
Students can instead seek to be more
sustainable in their clothing choices
by simply becoming more mindful
of them. This may look like reducing
consumption itself: Next time you’re
buying a dress for that one formal,
ask yourself if you already have one
that would suffice. Go thrifting
with a new friend and turn it into a
day out. Support local businesses
around Tuscaloosa.
Though these choices may appear
insignificant, we must recognize the
value of our “dollar”. Corporations will
continue to pollute our environment
as long as we let them. It’s time to
show them that their consumers value
ethical practices.
Activism
Though individual decisions are
undoubtedly meaningful to the cause
of environmental sustainability,
they cannot exist in isolation. They
must be coupled with systemic and
lasting change.
If one goes to a campus Starbucks,
this kind of change is evident. Due to
a decision in April 2019, all Starbucks
are phasing out plastic straws and
navigating toward paper and wooden
utensils. This action represents
just one in the “anti-plastic straw”
trend that is sweeping the globe.
However, this trend reflects a flaw in
placing the burden of environmental
sustainability choices. National
Geographic has revealed that plastic
straws make up just 0.025% of the
plastic found in oceans every year.
When consumers are told they’re
morally reprehensible for using straws
by the same companies responsible
for ecological disasters, it is easy to
become jaded. A 2017 report by CDP
revealed that just 100 companies are
responsible for over 70% of carbon
emissions. How can the average
college student compete with figures
such as these?
The feelings of fear and despair that
often result from this helplessness in
the face of ecological destruction are
known as climate anxiety, and they
are plaguing young people at alarming
rates. In the face of climate anxiety,
college students have a powerful
tool: activism.
As young people, our voice carries
weight. We have the opportunity to
influence the world our children will
grow up in, the world of the next
generation. One needs only to look at
examples such as Greta Thunberg or
Vic Barrett or countless other youth
activists to understand that we have
the power to change our surroundings.
With the Clean Water Act under
threat by the Supreme Court,
environmental concerns are more
relevant than ever. It’s time for
college students to act. Do the
research. Educate yourselves on
local environmental concerns. Find
an environmental bill you support
and call your representative about it.
Though these actions may not seem
monumental now, they surely will in
the future.
Here at home
While environmental sustainability
may be an elusive goal, it is a goal
worth pursuing. We don’t have to wait
to enter the “real world” to advocate
for a healthier world. We can start
now, in our own communities.
To support environmental
sustainability on campus, college
students simply need to start
conversations on the environmental
impact around them. In doing so,
students will surely find that every
aspect of campus could be improved
toward the cause of environmental
sustainability. From our dining hall
practices to the water used to maintain
the Quad, environmental impact is all
around us. It’s up to us to pay attention
to it.
If you have a concern about
environmental sustainability
on campus, address it! Consult
organizations such as the
Environmental Council. Arrange
meetings with administration. While
you may not see immediate results,
but you will change this campus
simply by bringing attention to
overlooked issues.
Instead of demonizing someone
else’s consumption choices or giving
up in the face of a complex world, view
environmental sustainability as a life’s
endeavor. We simply cannot make
every ethical and mindful decision all
the time. Together, however, we can
start a revolution.
The Crimson White Editorial Board is composed of Editorin-Chief
Keely Brewer, Managing Editor Bhavana Ravala,
Engagement Editor Garrett Kennedy, Chief Copy Editor Jack
Maurer and Opinions Editor Ava Fisher.

4A
ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
As Bama Dining continues its
efforts to reduce meat consumption
and increase vegetarian and vegan
options, the administration has
sought to purchase products locally
in the name of sustainability. As
stated on the Bama Dining website,
all Bama Dining managers are
required to purchase locally grown
and produced products whenever
available.
Bama Dining receives its locally
sourced produce from FreshPoint.
Bread is purchased from the local
Flowers Bakery in Tuscaloosa, and
milk is purchased from the local
Dairy Fresh distributor.
In addition to the local food
purchasing, Bama Dining also
provides fair trade coffee. Fair trade
coffee must meet strict international
criteria, provide credit to farmers and
give technical assistance to farmers.
“Regulations and the high
demand for resources make it nearly
impossible to partner with a local
farm, but produce does come from
local producers,” McVeagh said.
Due to the high volume of students
at The University of Alabama, a local
farm would not be able to sustain the
food needs on campus. As a result,
locally sourced produce is received
from FreshPoint, which is North
America’s largest wholly owned
produce distributor.
While it remains to be seen
whether a local farm partnership is
in Bama Dining’s future, for now, the
administration plans to continue its
efforts to purchase local.
The principal obstacle that
Bama Dining faces in its food
sustainability efforts is the funds
that are needed to be
sustainable.
Patridge and
McVeagh said
that due to the size
of Alabama’s campus,
it takes a significant
amount of resources to
be sustainable. With a
campus of nearly 40,000
students, Bama Dining has the
responsibility of feeding a small
city, so to speak. Environmentally
sustainable resources and products
are generally more expensive than
their unsustainable counterparts.
McVeagh and Patridge said
another obstacle is students’ lack
of engagement in reducing food
waste. Food sustainability is just as
much about proper disposal as it is
production and consumption.
They said the first step toward
furthering the cause of food
sustainability on campus begins with
awareness.
The efforts ideally need to be
student-led, such as with student
ambassadors. The students are the
force behind The University of
Alabama’s campus, and the fight for
food sustainability is no exception.
Being mindful of recycling and
putting trash in the correct place
are small things that ultimately can
make a difference.
The University of Alabama
Environmental Council understands
how difficult it is
to live
CW / Autumn Williams
sustainably on campus, especially
as a freshman living in the dorms.
However, students can still actively
participate in sustainable practices
despite challenging circumstances.
“We are actively working to
improve the sustainability on
campus, whether it be through
recycling practices, working with
Bama Dining to reduce the amount
of plastic in the dining halls, and,
hopefully, to start a community
garden on campus. If you are truly
passionate for sustainability, it’s the
place to be,” said Megan Neville,
the co-director of social media for
the organization and a freshman
majoring in hospitality management.
In addition, the Environmental
Council provides other ways in which
students can become
involved in the efforts
towards sustainability.
“Other ways students
can engage in sustainable
practices on
campus is to
bring their
own reusable
utensils to the
dining halls,
use reusable
bags at the
grocery stores,
ditch plastic water
bottles for a reusable
one, carpool or utilize
the Crimson Ride buses,
and consider reducing
their meat and animal
product consumption. It may
seem silly to suggest such small,
simple things, but once you start
doing a few of them, your impact
truly adds up,” Neville said.
McVeagh brought up the shopping
cart model that the grocery store
Aldi utilizes and how it represents,
in his view, the ideal model of food
sustainability. In this model, Aldi
shoppers pay 25 cents to use carts,
and then, when they return the cart,
they receive their deposit back.
Such a model represents how
consumers should treat the
environment with respect, and
this idea is the foundation for food
sustainability. Without a healthy
environment, food sustainability
cannot thrive.
Economic and environmental health are compatible
AUGUSTUS BARNETTE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Charles Scribner, the executive
director of the Black Warrior
Riverkeeper, a local chapter of the
national Waterkeeper movement, said
politicians should not make it seem as
if economic health is incompatible with
environmental health.
Nearly 67% of adults in the United
States believe the government is not
doing enough to control climate change
according to a 2019 Pew Research
Center study.
In a recent press release, the United
Nations Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change warned that
inaction regarding the environment
and climate will pave the way for
future disaster.
“To avoid mounting loss of life,
biodiversity and infrastructure,
ambitious, accelerated action is
required to adapt to climate change, at
the same time as making rapid, deep
cuts in greenhouse gas emissions,” the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change wrote.
While the report said the
infrastructure and tools necessary to
combat climate change are presently
available, and the world could halve
emissions by the year 2030, emissions
must peak by the year 2025 to keep
global warming under 1.5 degrees
Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, a
threshold for continuing on with a
comfortable life.
CW / Shelby West
"When politicians say or imply
that folks must choose between the
environment and the economy, that is a
false choice,” Scribner said. “According
to the Outdoor Industry Association,
outdoor recreation is a multibilliondollar
industry for Alabama every
year. Degrading Alabama's beautiful
waterways and land will diminish public
participation in recreation, harming our
environment and economy together."
In 2020, the Bureau of Economic
Analysis reported that outdoor
recreation makes up 1.8% of the United
States gross domestic product, at a little
over $370 billion.
In 2020, the Outdoor Industry
Association reported that income
from outdoor recreation in Alabama
is similar to that of the national level,
coming in at around 1.9% of the states
gross domestic product, hovering just
below $4 billion.
Ellen Griffith Spears, a New College
associate professor with a specialty in
environmental history, said the state
could be doing more in terms of the
environment, especially in comparison
with its history.
"In the early 1970s, Alabama passed
one of the tougher environmental
laws in the southern states. ... It
added more significant fines for
violations than many of its neighbors,"
Spears said.
According to the Encyclopedia of
Alabama, the laws covered solid waste
disposal, air and water pollution, safe
water and surface mining reclamation,
and hazardous waste legislation.
"It's possible, and there's a lot more
leadership that could be shown at the
state level, both legislatively from
the executive branch, and from
the regulatory agency that
handles it," Spears said.
According to an
article by the American
Bar Association,
in Uniontown,
Alabama, residents
have been
fighting against
environmental
injustice for
decades. The
town, which
is 93% Black
and has 40% of
its population
living under
the poverty line,
fought and lost
a 2007 battle
against a landfill
permit allowing
33 states to bring
toxic pollution and
coal ash into the
area. Since then, the
Arrowhead Landfill
continues to alter
the health and lives of
the residents.
According to the article,
Uniontown is considered a victim
of environmental injustice and still
“urgently needs attention at local, state
and federal levels.” In other parts of
Alabama, some local officials have been
taking note of the current environmental
crises and their effects.
Selected as a welcome speaker for the
American Water Resources Association
2022 Spring Conference, Maddox has
been nationally recognized due to his
response to the 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado,
which killed 53 people and injured
1,200 more.
Extreme weather events like
tornadoes are set only to increase in
both magnitude and occurrence if the
climate is not put under control.
When politicians say or
imply that folks must
choose between the
environment and the
economy that is a
false choice.
CHARLES
SCHRIBNER
Maddox has committed himself and
the city of Tuscaloosa to environmental
stewardship; after the 2011 tornado, the
city doubled down on recycling.
Under Maddox’s lead, Tuscaloosa
has worked to protect lakes Nicol
and Harris, created an environmental
coordinator position to make sure
the city follows the law and improved
its stormwater management system,
winning the city an award from
the Water Environment Federation
in 2015.
In 2007, Maddox signed the U.S.
Conference of Mayors’ Climate
Protection Agreement, which vows to
reduce carbon emissions along with
other climate protective measures.
While at the time Tuscaloosa was
making strides in using cleaner energy
sources for vehicles and more efficient
lighting, it is unclear if the city has kept
up these efforts to fight climate change,
although Tuscaloosa still remains on the
agreements’ 2019 list of signatories.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has shown
skepticism when it comes to the
bureaucratic nature of government
aid for the environment. In 2017,
she disbanded the Alabama Water
Agencies Working Group, which
was established in 2012 to create a
water plan for the state of Alabama
and was supported by nearly 80% of
Alabama voters.
Although dictated by state code, the
Alabama Department of Environmental
Management is managed by a small,
independent board, leading many
environmentalists inside the state to
believe there should be more state
involvement.
With this oversight by the state,
environmental stewardship once again
falls into the hands of concerned
citizens. This is the type of work
Waterkeeper organizations across the
country do, including the local branch,
Black Warrior Riverkeeper.
Scribner said this year is the 50th
Anniversary of the Clean Water Act,
a federal statute that Black Warrior
Riverkeeper uses frequently to hold
polluters accountable in the Black
Warrior River watershed.
“When Congress passed the Clean
Water Act in 1972, they wisely included
citizen enforcement provisions because
they realized that local, state or federal
government agencies may not always be
as interested or effective as citizen-based
organizations, such as Waterkeepers, in
addressing Clean Water Act violations,”
Scribner said.
The Black Warrior Riverkeeper
website has resources available for
concerned citizens to reach out to
elected officials and find environmental
agencies and events.
“Additionally, elected officials are
often swayed by receiving multiple
messages from citizens requesting
various forms of environmental action,”
Scribner said.
Spears said taking environmental
action and weighing the truth of
politicians’ promises and claims are
important steps for citizens interested
in making change.
“The environmental movement has
been active with groups like the League
of Conservation Voters and making
sure that people understand where
various candidates might lie in terms of
their perspective on the issues. And so
making sure that we have full access to
voting is really an environmental issue,
because we want to make sure that
popular opinions about conservation do
get reflected in governance,” Spears said.
This sort of activism is not blindly
encouraged; Spears said results have
been achieved through this sort of
participation, and in Alabama no less.
Amber Buck, the co-leader of the
Tuscaloosa Chapter of the Citizens
Climate Lobby, said the organization
strides toward education in
these fields.
“They [Citizens Climate Lobby]
train folks on how to lobby members
of Congress as citizens and how to use
various tools to convince members of
Congress that this is a particular issue
that constituents are concerned for ...
and then also trying to raise awareness
around people in terms of climate
change issues,” Buck said.
Spears and Buck both mentioned
the importance of voting with the
environment in mind, as marginalized
and poor communities both generate
less of a response from environmental
agencies and will deal with the effects
of environmental issues more than
their wealthier counterparts. By
voting in local and national elections,
Americans can make change for
the environment.

ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
5A
SUMMER AND FALL REGISTRATION
Now Open!
Visit sheltonstate.edu to apply and register!
It is the policy of the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees and Shelton State Community College, a postsecondary institution under its control, that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, religion,
marital status, disability, gender, age, or any other protected class as defined by federal and state law, be excluded from participation, denied benefits, or subjected to discrimination under any program, activity, or employment.

6A
ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022

ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
BAMA BUG FEST
highlights the importance of insects
1B
A student volunteer cradles a praying mantis, one of the many bugs available for
observation at the Bama Bug Fest. CW / Natalie Teat
The 2022 Bama Bug Fest was held inside of the Alabama Museum of Natural
History, located next to Gorgas Library on campus. CW / Natalie Teat
ANNABELLE BLOMELEY
ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR
The Alabama Museum of Natural
History might best be known for its
60-foot ancient whale skeleton, a
wooly mammoth skull and the Hodges
meteorite. But on April 9, the museum
hosted a festival of dinosauric
proportions in the celebration of some
not-so-dinosaur-sized creatures.
Bama Bug Fest celebrates the insects
and bugs that shape our environment
and make big impacts despite their
size. With thousands of attendees
in the span of just four hours, Bama
Bug Fest filled all three floors of the
Alabama Museum of Natural History.
Volunteers on the first floor handed
out maps and flyers while ushering
attendees up the grand staircase.
On the second floor, Flow
Tuscaloosa had a lantern-making
space with insect cutouts and markers
for attendees to decorate their own
lanterns, which will be lit during a
parade at the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk
on May 21. Across the way, The
University of Alabama Fashion
Archive had a display about insects
in fashion, particularly focusing on
silkworms and cochineals.
The vast majority of
insects have nothing to
do with us, other than
[that] the planet that
we live on would not
survive if there weren’t
insects in the way that
we know it.
JOHN ABBOTT
The third floor had insect artists,
worms, bees and microscopes for
attendees to get up close and personal.
Bama Bug Fest had a little something
for everyone. The University of
Alabama Department of Theatre
and Dance projected bug drawings
onto the wall and the West Alabama
Beekeepers Association showed off a
live beehive. A booth on entomophagy
taught people how to cook food
with bugs.
“Everyone has a fascination with
insects,” said Kendra Abbott, the
research and outreach coordinator
for the Alabama Museum of Natural
History and an ecologist. “It may
not always be a positive fascination
or an appreciation. It might be more
that they’re scared or intrigued, but
everyone has a fascination with them.
And more often than not, people
really want to learn about them.”
John Abbott, the chief curator and
director of research and collections
at the Alabama Museum of Natural
History, became interested in insects
after his father, who was also a
scientist, exposed him to them at a
young age.
Kendra and John Abbott, who
are married, are no strangers to
celebrating bugs. Before they entered
their positions at the University,
they started an “insect siesta” at
their previous jobs at the University
of Texas. After moving to Alabama,
they wanted to bring their love for
bugs and insects to the Capstone and
greater Alabama area.
“At its crux, we just love to share
our passion for insects, and that’s what
it boils down to,” John Abbott said.
“We can’t take credit for the idea of
an insect festival. There are a number
of these all around the country, and
some of them are substantial. The
North Carolina Museum of Nature
and Science brings in something like
40,000 people in one day for their
insect festival. Purdue has the Purdue
Bug Bowl, where they bring in more
people than to a football game. ...
There’s not one in Alabama, and we
just see it as an opportunity and a
niche that we could fill.”
Bama Bug Fest started in 2019 with
more than 1,500 people celebrating
the insects. With the 2020 and 2021
Bug Fests held online due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Abbotts
hoped that their in-person return
for 2022 would yield big results, and
it did.
Bama Bug Fest has grown in
more than just attendance; more UA
students than ever before have been
helping with the preparations, from
manning bug art stations to taking
care of the bugs during the semester.
Emily Otter, a sophomore majoring
in geology, signed up to work with
UA Museums at Get On Board Day
and has since worked in the “bug
room” in the Alabama Museum of
Natural History.
While the bugs typically stay in
their room during the year unless a
researcher moves them, Bama Bug Fest
gives them the unique opportunity to
be celebrities for a day.
“I think Bug Fest is important just
overall for the University, so we can get
people outside of the college involved
in the science that we’re doing here
and the research that we’re doing here,
and just show what students are doing
and what is happening on campus,
especially for the museum,” Otter said.
Cockroaches, particularly
Madagascar hissing cockroaches,
ruled the day with two events. On the
third floor, volunteers dipped them in
paint and let them walk across a piece
of paper to create bug art for guests.
Here, Otter volunteered to help the
cockroaches paint across the page and
make their artistic mark.
In a second-floor lecture hall, the
cockroaches raced across a miniature
raceway lugging tiny tractors while
four children chosen out of the crowd
tickled them with feathers to get them
to move.
Otter hasn’t always been so keen
to work with bugs though. Before
volunteering at the museum, she said,
she was terrified of them, and she
isn’t alone.
In Chapman University’s Survey
on American Fears, it was found that
nearly 25% of respondents are afraid
of insects or spiders, which is more
than the percentages of people scared
of violent crimes and germs.
Bama Bug Fest
hopes to change
minds just as the
museum changed Otter’s. By getting
up close and personal with the insects
and learning about their diversity, the
Abbotts want to change the way we
interact with bugs.
Kendra Abbott said 75% of the
animals on earth are bugs, with over
5 million species around the world.
Despite the magnitude of insects, only
around 1 million species have been
described and studied.
“The No. 1 thing that I would love
people to walk away with is that they
don’t need to kill every bug they see.
Not every bug is a pest,” Kendra Abbott
said. “They’re beneficial, and they do
so many things for us. Take a second
look at that mantid or cockroach that
you see and say, ‘You know what? I’m
okay, I’m good.’”
Kendra Abbott said the biggest
misconception about bugs is that
they're dirty, when they’re actually
constantly cleaning themselves.
“The only reason a roach might be
dirty walking across your counters is
if you’ve got dirt on your counters,”
Kendra Abbott said. “They’re only
dirty if you’re dirty.”
To help demonstrate the difference
between good bugs and bad bugs, the
2022 Bama Bug Fest was sponsored
by Burnum-Hahn Exterminators,
a Tuscaloosa-based, family-owned
business that’s been serving the West
Alabama community since 1946.
Clay Hahn, a vice president and the
third generation at Burnum-Hahn,
said the company joined Bama Bug
Fest to get more involved with the
community and to help the Alabama
Museum of Natural History educate
people about insects.
“We think that everybody should
learn about insects and become aware
of the good and the bad about insects,”
Hahn said. “It’s a time where you can
celebrate insects that are beautiful to
look at, like caterpillars that turn into
butterflies and insects like that, but it’s
also important to be aware of insects
like roaches, mosquitoes and fire ants
that could bring harm to you or any of
your loved ones.”
The number one thing
that I would love
people to walk away
with is that they don’t
need to kill every bug
they see. Not every bug
is a pest.
KENDRA
ABBOTT
While some bugs can cause harm,
such as venomous spiders and viruscarrying
mosquitoes, the majority of
bugs stay out of the way.
“The vast majority of insects have
nothing to do with us, other than
[that] the planet that we live on would
not survive if there weren’t insects
in the way that we know it. Now if
all of mankind was to disappear, the
planet might, in my opinion, be a
better place. If all of the insects would
disappear, mankind would disappear,”
John Abbott said.
John Abbott said that without bugs,
the economy would suffer too because
bugs save humans $57 billion per year.
From helping leaf litter decompose
and eating dead things to pollinating
plants around the world — which
is done by beetles and butterflies as
well as bees — the world would be
drastically different without insects,
and humans would have a hard time
finding food and generally surviving.
It’s a time where you
can celebrate insects
that are beautiful to
look at, like caterpillars
that turn into butterflies
and insects like that,
but it’s also important
to be aware of insects
like roahes, mosquitoes
and fire ants that could
bring harm to you.
CLAY HAHN
“There’s lots of reasons why insects
are declining: pesticides, climate
change, light pollution,” Kendra
Abbott said. “But there is evidence
to suggest that there is a huge decline
in the abundance of the biomass of
insects globally. ... Again, that’s a
really bad thing.”
Despite bugs suffering from climate
change and environmental problems,
the Abbotts said there are many ways
to help the bug populations.
John Abbott said ditching
monoculture and manicured grass
lawns and instead allowing the
natural flora to prosper is a great
way to help insects in your own yard.
Many homeowner associations have
a minimum amount of space that has
to be made of grass in yards, but by
planting native plants, people can
enable the pollinators to work better
and more effectively.
“It’s a rethinking of ‘What is pretty
or attractive?’” John Abbott said.
“For some people at golf courses, a
homogenous grass line that they cut
is pretty, but that is not very good
for insects. But a meadow of flowers
growing and a bush rolling lawn can
be very attractive in so many different
ways. So it’s just kind of thinking
about it differently that way.”
Whether attendees walked away
from Bama Bug Fest with new
ways to save the endangered insect
populations or with a little less fear of
bugs than they had before, Bama Bug
Fest is happy to give insects their own
special day of celebration.
“There is something there for
everybody of all ages: the enamored,
the curious, the fearful, everybody,”
John Abbott said.
CW / Pearl Langley

2B
ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
Landscaping and grounds staff impact
UA’s natural environment
MADISON DUBOISE & SAVANNAH ICHIKAWA
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Year-round, The University of
Alabama’s facilities and grounds
employees work to create and maintain
the Capstone’s lush landscape.
From the beds of blooming flowers
that surround various building
entrances to the vibrant green grass
and picturesque trees that cover the
Quad, the scenery around campus
draws in tourists and students
alike. Southern Living highlighted
it as one of “The South’s Most
Beautiful Colleges.”
The University of Alabama was
named Tree Campus USA for the
seventh consecutive year.
The facilities and grounds
department has been ranked the
No. 1 grounds department among
100 universities across the nation
and even received an award for
effective and innovative practices
from the Association of Physical
Plant Administrators.
“We have over 12,000 trees, so it’s a
big deal to take care of our trees and
be recognized for that year in and
year out,” said Bryant Anderson, the
director of the grounds department.
With over 50 species of trees, the
University is home to some that have
been here for over 100 years. Oaks
and magnolias are most prevalent,
while the Chinese pistache trees are
the rarest, gifted by the Queen of
England in the mid-1800s.
We put so much work
in the campus, and it
doesn’t take but one
football game for you
to see where it has
been beaten up.
BRYANT
ANDERSON
According to the Arbor Day
Foundation, having a campus
that is dedicated to cultivating an
environment with many trees, flowers
and plants can help absorb carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, reduce
amounts of energy used on campus,
provide mental health benefits to
students and staff, and encourage
The trees on the Quad are part of the collection of over 12,000 trees on the
campus that earned UA the title of Tree Campus USA for the seventh consecutive
year.CW / David Gray
physical activity.
Josie Gillette is a freshman
majoring in Spanish and economics
who previously worked at a state
park and currently volunteers at local
parks near Tuscaloosa. She said the
green space and outdoor areas drew
her in when she considered attending
Alabama. As a runner, she loves that
the University has a large campus.
“I have heard so much from other
students about how the constantly
green grass makes them feel happy
on a rough day, it definitely rings true
for me too,” Gillette said.
In a 2019 study, researchers from the
American Psychological Association
found that contact with nature is
connected to increased happiness
and well-being and decreased mental
distress. Additionally, it was shown to
promote positive social interactions
and a sense of meaning and purpose
in life.
Anderson has been working for the
University for 11 years. As director of
the grounds department, he oversees
over 100 grounds personnel, ranging
from managers, groundskeepers,
irrigation technicians, and garbage
truck and street sweeper operators,
to tree trimmers and landscapers.
The department has grown
some as the campus expands, but
Anderson said the largest challenge
his team faces is taking care of such
a large area of land. There are only 70
groundskeepers in charge of taking
care of about 1,500 acres.
During the spring and summer, the
campus rapidly grows and changes;
whether it’s weeds that need to be
removed or the upkeep of flowers,
there is always work to be done.
While it may look less lively
during the winter as the trees lose
their leaves and the flowers wilt, the
campus comes to life as the season
transitions to spring.
Alabama has a humid, hot climate
that creates issues when it comes to
keeping the grass green, keeping
flowers alive and keeping the large
trees sufficiently watered. It can
be difficult for the groundskeepers
to give attention to all areas in the
summer with so much land to cover.
“The biggest challenge is to keep it
looking the same week to week and
month to month,” Anderson said.
The employees work from 6 a.m.
to 2:30 p.m. During football season,
they may work for up to a month
straight because game days require
intensive cleanup on Saturdays
and Sundays.
“We put so much work in the
campus, and it doesn't take but one
football game for you to see where it
has been beaten up,” Anderson said.
“It all goes back to that bigger picture.
It is for the good of the University,
for the good of Tuscaloosa, just for
the people to be able to come and
enjoy themselves.”
There is a landscape strategic
plan in place for the department to
ensure a standard for the style of the
landscaping and groundwork.
“We created a standard that is kind
of like Nick Saban football,” Anderson
said. “All our leadership expects
the campus to look this way all the
time. There is a little bit of added
pressure on us to make sure we keep
that standard.”
One hundred and four
people are dedicated
to take care of the
campus and make it
safe and beautiful for
you all.
BRYANT
ANDERSON
Anderson said his job requires trust
between him and his employees.
“One hundred and four people are
dedicated to take care of the campus
and make it safe and beautiful for you
all,” Anderson said. “[Students] are the
reason we’re here. It’s all about making
the campus look good for students,
family, faculty and staff.”
Hannah Shedd, a freshman
majoring in environmental science,
said the large outdoor space and
overall feel of the campus caught her
attention and was important to her
college decision.
“UA stood out to me because it
didn’t feel urban, and I believe that
it’s due to the many outdoor spaces on
campus,” Shedd said.
Kim Byram, the associate manager
of the grounds department, has seen
the campus grow and change in his 11
years at the University. He is in charge
of six individuals who are responsible
for turf installation, planting trees and
assisting with the flowers, fertilization
and use of herbicides.
Byram encourages students to
appreciate his department’s hard work
seen by this department as they walk
to class.
“Enjoy it while you're here. You get
caught up doing the things that you
want to do and you miss the forest
for the trees per se,” Byram said. “And
that's pun intended.”
At a landscaping conference he
attended, Byram learned how other
schools better manage their organic
waste, which he hopes to see soon at
The University of Alabama.
When it comes to being
environmentally friendly, Byram said
there is always more they can do.
“I would hope to use less water. We
can cut back on water usage, but that
might mean the landscape at periods
may not look as nice, so there's a catch
there,” Byram said.
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ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
‘We deserve better’:
Campus organizations push for a greener future
ISABEL HOPE
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
With over 300 members, the UA
Environmental Council is the largest
environmental student organization
on campus.
The organizations
Rilyn Todd, a sophomore in the
New College program, is a member
of the Environmental Council. Todd
got involved with the organization at
the beginning of the fall 2021 semester
because she was interested in activism.
Environmental justice is a priority
for her following her selection as the
organization’s vice president for the
upcoming academic year.
“There are a lot of people who I talk to
in the organization, like in meetings and
through other events, that are interested
in the same kind of thing,” she said. “A lot
of people, including myself, are frustrated
that environmentalism, especially in the
South, is perceived as just recycling and
using metal straws and stuff like that. We
really want to get involved in actually
pushing for legislation.”
Last semester the Environmental
Council began petitioning the City
Council of Tuscaloosa to declare a
climate emergency or create a plan
to combat climate change and limit
carbon emissions.
Delanie Williams, a junior majoring
in environmental engineering, is the
incoming president of the Environmental
Council. Williams has served as treasurer
of the organization for a year and has
“loved every second of it.” She raised over
$500 for the Black Warrior Riverkeepers
and wants to increase outreach.
“I wanted to run for president for
the 2022-2023 year to help expand
our membership and club outreach
efforts,” Williams said. “I think everyone
nowadays is aware of the climate crisis,
and they just need the opportunity to
get involved and organized to make
a change.”
Williams wants the organization’s
efforts to be more “member-led.” She
highlighted the danger of eco-anxiety,
the fear around climate catastrophe in the
present and future.
“To help combat eco-anxiety, I think
it is extremely important for members of
our community to feel they are helping
to address the climate crisis,” she said.
“This involves grassroots organizing and
Campus Development, the University of
Alabama department that plans, manages
and delivers infrastructure services across
the Capstone, is looking to strike a balance
between style and sustainability.
University Lands, which reports to
Campus Development and is part of
the University’s Division of Finance
and Operations, provides long-range
campus planning, entrepreneurial
development and management of the
University property.
The University’s land management
has been expanding since the school
was founded in 1831. Most significantly,
in April 1884, Congress voted to grant
the University 46,080 acres of public
lands to increase the
University’s endowment
and strengthen the
institution’s total
academic program.
Tim Leopard, the
senior associate vice
CW / Anna Butts
support from our executive team.”
Thomas Franzem is the outgoing
president of another environmental
organization on campus: Conservation
Biology Society. The organization
discusses conservation literature,
organizes litter cleanups and more.
Franzem said he initially wanted to get
involved with the organization because
he likes “getting outside and seeing cool
plants and animals.”
“That’s been a thing throughout my
whole life,” he said. “As I've gotten older
and more educated, I’ve realized that
we're actually doing a lot of harmful
things to nature, which gives so much
to us. I guess my motivating thing is just
trying to advocate for the stuff that can’t
advocate for itself and just try to effect
change as far as society's relationship to
nature and to the environment.”
Franzem said his goal for the two year
old Conservation Biology Society is to
have it exist 10 or 20 years from now.
He said it makes him feel optimistic that
new people will be taking the reins this
academic year.
The University’s efforts
Todd said the “extent” of environmental
efforts on campus is the University’s
recycling center and bins placed in
classroom buildings.
“That's about it,” she said. “Recycling is
better than nothing, but it's not even that
great in terms of sustainability. So things
that the University could do first and
foremost, they need to divest their assets
from fossil fuels. I think it's irresponsible
of them to be funding fossil fuel
companies with their endowments when
they claim to be educating their students
for the future. If they're preparing us for
a future that they're actively destroying,
it just doesn't fit very well. It's kind
of hypocritical.”
Franzem said the University could
help by treating land in a way that benefits
the environment and surrounding
ecosystems. Franzem said he would
suggest incorporating native landscaping
into the University’s work and utilizing
wildflower gardens.
Franzem argued that the University’s
use of much of its land for lawns
is detrimental to the environment,
particularly for insects, birds, and other
organisms who would benefit more from
more natural environments.
“There's a little patch of wildflower
gardens past Marr’s Spring, but it's maybe
15 feet long, and they need to do more to
really make a difference,” he said.
3B
The UA Conservation Biology Society recorded hundreds of observations across the span of
two days during “bioblitz” on October 9, 2021. Courtesy of UA Conversation Biology Society
Williams said the Environmental
Council is currently working with Bama
Dining to reduce waste and the use of
single-use plastics, but she believes UA
leaders could always be doing more.
“I think UA also needs to investigate
food waste programs, develop a glass
recycling program in the dorms and
encourage native species biodiversity on
campus,” she said.
Todd said the Environmental Council’s
wants the University to localize food
production. The organization is currently
trying to implement a community garden
at the University to help achieve this goal.
The Student Government Association
has an Executive Cabinet member
designated as director of environmental
affairs. The outgoing director is Heisman
Olszewski. The incoming director has not
been announced yet, and will be selected
by SGA President Madeline Martin.
Todd said she feels disappointed
by a lack of effort from the SGA
on environmentalism.
“They have no contact with us,” she
said. “No collaboration whatsoever. The
extent of their work this year was when
he [Olszewski] proposed a project to
make a place where people could hang
their hammocks. It's not great. We
deserve better.”
Olszewski did not respond to multiple
requests for comment, and SGA press
secretary Olivia Davis declined multiple
interview requests.
The future
Todd said she would encourage
students to join the Environmental
Council if they want to get involved.
“Organizing and finding like-minded
people is going to be really good for your
mental health if you're anxious about
environmental stuff,” she said. “Second
of all, it is a great way to get things done.
If we have more people working on these
projects that I've already mentioned,
they're going to get done faster and
they're going to be way more effective. Put
pressure on the people in these positions
that are failing you right now. What is
important to you, and what should they
be doing?”
Franzem pointed out the mission of the
Conservation Biology Society in relation
to making positive change on campus.
“To address all the crises that humanity
is facing, we need big changes at high
levels, but you have some power to effect
positive change,” Franzem said. “I think
that's an important message that really
needs to get out there more. We can help
nature. We can help the environment just
by doing things in our everyday lives.”
Williams said students dealing with
anxiety over climate change can make
a difference.
“Climate anxiety is very prevalent
currently, and I think a lot of people
feel like they can’t make an impact, but
I promise you can,” she said. “Small
changes build up, and one less singleuse
plastic is better than nothing.
I also highly encourage joining a
group to try and make a collective
difference. It’s empowering and makes
a bigger impact. Might I suggest the
Environmental Council?”
UA seeks balance between style and sustainability
GRACE SCHEPIS & JENNIFER BAGGETT
STAFF REPORTER AND CONTRIBUTING WRITER
president for Campus Development,
said that investment in the University’s
appearance and structural layout has
contributed directly to the growing
student body.
“There’s a lot of proof over time that
the look of a campus has a tremendous
impact on recruiting and retaining
students,” Leopard said. “We feel that
if the University can get a student to
campus [before enrollment], we have a
90-plus-percent chance of getting them.
A lot of that is based on what they see
on campus — the look, the feel, the
people, the programs — so we think that
what Campus Development does is very
important to that.”
Leopard said that this attraction is based
on the way prospective students see people
interact with the campus when they come
to tour.
“When you walk on
campus
a n d
y o u
see that collegial feel, with a quad and
green space and trees, and see people on
scooters and bikes and walking around,
it makes a dynamic and vibrant place,”
Leopard said. “It makes you want to
come here for what you think of as a
college experience.”
Along with his team, Leopard has
added 5,000 beds to campus residence
halls and overseen the construction of
Shelby Quad. Currently, the Campus
Development team is restoring the Bryce
Hospital campus, which includes a new
welcome and performing arts center.
The Building Bama webpage outlines
the University of Alabama’s ongoing and
upcoming capital projects. This includes
access to dates for bidding on campus
projects, the capital projects portal and any
impacts to campus activity.
The portal currently lists 31 active
campus projects, including the new
Tutwiler Residence Hall, an Athletics
Competition Area, the Peter Bryce
renovation, a performing arts academic
center and more.
With projects always underway,
Leopard strives to minimize the impact
of construction on campus by working
hardest when students are away.
“We work each year over Christmas,
over spring break and over the summer to
do a tremendous amount of work just to
minimize that impact,” Leopard said.
When it comes to the environmental
impact of construction on campus,
Leopard and his team work to balance
the economic feasibility of a project with
its sustainability. When buildings are torn
down, parts are often saved to apply to the
next project.
Brick and wood flooring from the
original Bryce Hospital has been set aside
to use in the ongoing remodeling.
“Resiliency and long-lasting things are
very important for sustainability, and so
we work really hard to create a beautiful
campus,” Leopard said.
While the team looks to reduce its
contribution to ongoing climate issues, the
cost of greener options sometimes holds
it back.
“Carbon and greenhouse gases are
tremendously important, but it all has to
make financial sense,” Leopard said. “If
there were a better mousetrap out there
that was more efficient and effective, I
promise you we'll be using it. I mean, why
wouldn't we?”
There’s a lot of proof
over time that the look
of a campus has a
tremendous impact on
recruiting and retaining
students.
TIM LEOPARD
Currently underway, Leopard said,
is a $28 million project dedicated to
enhancing the energy efficiency and
comfort of several campus buildings. The
Campus Energy Delivery Optimization
and Efficiency Project is an initiative to
enhance the effectiveness and efficiency
of the system that provides reliable heating
and cooling to many buildings on campus.
The financial benefit and return were
considered, along with the performance of
the system throughout its life cycle.
The Campus Development team also
recruits UA students to join them in their
efforts at the Capstone. These positions
range from engineer to analyst.
“It is tremendously humbling to have
been doing something that matters for so
many people,” Leopard said. “You have
the opportunity to support people doing
incredible things.”

4B
ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
The intersection of economics, environment and equity
JOSEPH HOFFMAN & CARSON LOTT
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
The basic economics of the
environment, such as resource
management and conservation
policy, have far-reaching impacts.
Polluting a waterway with
carcinogenic chemicals will lead
to increased health care costs
for nearby residents. Declining
property values can lead to a lack
of external investment in a city.
Destroying ecosystems in Indigenous
communities can further harm
already disenfranchised populations.
U.S. gross domestic product
increased from $1.051 trillion in the
first fiscal quarter of 1970 to $24
trillion in the fourth fiscal quarter of
2021 — the highest GDP in history.
While the wealth of nations is
generally increasing, the wealth gap
between the economic elite and the
working class is widening. According
to a Pew Research study, as of 2016,
upper-income families had 7.4 times
as much wealth as middle-income
families and 75 times as much wealth
as lower-income families.
According to the Swiss Re Institute,
this gap is only going to become more
pronounced with climate change,
which threatens to “wipe up to 18%
of GDP off the worldwide economy
by 2050 if global temperatures rise
by 3.2°C.”
The United Nations’ High
Commissioner for Refugees found
that since 2010, weather emergencies
and environment-related disasters
have “forced more than 21.5 million
people per year to move, on average”
and concluded that weather-related
crises have “triggered more than
twice as much displacement as
conflict and violence in the last
decade.”
Ellen Griffith Spears is a professor
in the New College and the
Department of American Studies
who specializes in environmental
history and ethics. Her research has
focused heavily on environmental
justice, including the book “Baptized
in PCBs,” which examines a fight for
climate justice in Anniston, Alabama,
a town about two hours away
from Tuscaloosa.
Students have been
involved in terrific
ways in community
gardens and supporting
community-based
agriculture.
ELLEN GRIFFITH
SPEARS
“[Anniston] is one of two places
where the Monsanto chemical
company manufactured PCBs,”
Spears said. “They knew from the
1930s, and the world knew beginning
in 1966, that they were quite
hazardous to human health, but the
people who lived there did not find
out about that until the 1990s.”
Aside from the numerous health
impacts of PCBs, or polychlorinated
biphenyls, which include impacts
on the immune and reproductive
systems, the long-term economic
impact of contamination can be just
as severe.
Spears said the Environmental
Protection Agency estimates more
than 45 miles of waterways south of
Anniston have been contaminated
by PCBs, impacting thousands of
residents and habitats surrounding
the area.
In Anniston, the waterways
contaminated hogs, chickens and
other animals since it was used as
livestock drinking water. PCBs'
main form of contamination is
through consumption.
“Owning their own homes is,
for most people, the main way of
accumulating value and passing it on.
So [contamination] greatly reduces
home value and in some cases makes
it impossible to sell,” Spears said. “But
there are much larger questions, such
as the tax burden of maintaining the
water system. Environmental justice
is deeply connected, and is not only
placed in communities of color
but then damages their long-term
economic prospects.”
The Environmental Protection
Agency defines environmental
justice as “the fair treatment and
meaningful involvement of all
people regardless of race, color,
national origin, or income, with
respect to the development,
implementation, and
enforcement of environmental
laws, regulations, and
policies.”
Though her research hasn’t
focused specifically on the
University, Spears said she would
like to see the University address
its relationship to environmental
justice. Spears recommended
a sustainability survey to take
stock of what is being done across
different departments.
“One is what buildings and
maintenance is doing on the recycling
front. Two is what kinds of student
activities exist so that people could
know where to plug in. The other is
the breadth of research, an overview,”
Spears said.
A common argument levied
against climate policies is their
immediate economic impact. Critics
argue that the multitrillion-dollar
price tag of plans like the Green New
Deal would destroy the economy
and cost millions of people jobs. The
Green New Deal aims to shift the
United States’ economic resources
into building mass sustainable
infrastructure to combat climate
change, including social safety nets
like guaranteed housing, universal
healthcare and tuition-free public
education. However, research from
Scientific American shows that the
negative effect of inaction would be
far greater in the long run.
“The kind of investment we can
make now is extraordinarily costsaving
in the future,” Spears said.
“Interestingly enough, it’s not just
the environmental movement now
that’s talking about it, but certain
corporate entities have realized that
switch in a very short time frame.”
The focus then becomes policy.
Spears said that sometimes, it needs
to start from the basics.
“I think it's really good that The
University of Alabama is focusing a
lot of attention on water,” Spears said.
“Food is another big area. Students
have been involved in terrific ways in
community gardens and supporting
community-based agriculture.”
Michael Price is the Dwight
Harrigan Endowed Faculty Fellow
in Natural Resource Economics in
the Culverhouse College of Business.
As a trained behavioral economist,
Price specializes in researching ways
that conservation efforts can be
effectively marketed and promoted
to consumers.
Price said treating sustainability
efforts as a competition
would have economic and
environmental benefits.
“I think competitions are nice on
a lot of dimensions because they give
potential benefits and you’re not
necessarily relying just upon people’s
intrinsic motivations ... so you can
engage a broader set of people,”
Price said.
Sustainability competitions could
include comparing residence halls’
energy use against one another,
with the most energy-efficient
residence hall winning a prize. The
University used to operate an energy
dashboard called the Crimson
Energy Connection that “uses smart
meters to track electric, natural gas,
chilled water and hot water data in
real time.”
From Sept. 30 to Oct. 13, 2019,
Crimson Energy Connection hosted
the “Battle of the Halls,” in which
residence halls were pitted against
one another to see who could save the
most energy within the allotted time
frame. The winning residence hall
received a “special prize provided by
the Residence Hall Association.”
In total, 890 million British
thermal units and $12,142.06 were
saved from the competition. Crimson
Energy Connection’s website reports
that the University spends over $20
million annually on energy resources.
Price said the pandemic also
played a role in energy efficiency and
environmental change.
“In Germany, people adopted
more strategies and behaviors in the
home that would save energy during
the pandemic and reported that
they engage in these behaviors more
frequently during the pandemic
than they had beforehand,” Price
said. “There have been articles
that have come out in Science and
Nature showing that the skies over
Beijing are clear and that there are
reductions in air pollution. Now,
part of that was an artifact of less
industrial production, but if some of
it is coming through the consumers,
or even the businesses ... people
became more cognizant.”
If you can engage
a large number of
students in small
changes, they add up,
and over time, you [...]
you develop habits…
and you learn that
change isn’t as painful
as you think.
MICHAEL
PRICE
Sustainability is about individual
incentives, but it’s also about
the sustainability practices of
corporations, businesses and public
entities like universities. From an
economic perspective, it’s imperative
to consider the interests of a
conglomerate: money.
“What are they trying to optimize?”
Price asked. “For a university, it’s
attracting better students, it’s longrun
engagement, it’s faculty. ... Is
it something that will change the
demand for seats at the university?
Is it something that alums or outside
groups would come in, and will it be
a new source of financing for them?”
Price suggested integrating
environmentalism and sustainability
into the undergraduate
research experience.
Environmentalism encapsulates
all fields of study, from economics
and business to technology,
engineering and design. Not only
could research-driven sustainability
practices improve the local and
statewide environment; they
could also raise the demand for a
spot at the University. With more
demand comes more opportunity to
raise funds.
CW / Autumn Williams
“If you can engage a large number
of students in small changes, they
add up, and over time, you hope that
you develop habits … and you learn
that change isn’t as painful as you
think,” Price said.
Price said history has proven
humans to be creatures of habit.
Creating new and meaningful habits
must begin on an individual level,
because change comes in aggregate.
Sophomores Rilyn Todd, a
sustainability and environmental
engineering major, and Jacob
Hegelson, a marine sciences and
biology major, are vice presidentelect
and secretary-elect, respectively,
of the UA Environmental Council, a
campus environmental advocacy and
awareness organization.
Todd and Hegelson have bold
visions for what a sustainable campus
could look like.
“There’s a long way to go, but [a
sustainable campus] would look like
net zero emissions — not meaning
net zero as in the promise of net zero,
where we rely on future technologies,
but net zero as in we don’t produce
carbon,” Todd said.
To accomplish this, Todd listed
several steps the University could
take, ranging from cleaner public
transport, localized food systems,
permaculture gardens, all the way to
divesting University assets from fossil
fuels and reinvesting in renewable
energy initiatives.
Todd and Hegelson believe that
current economic practices will
ultimately fail in the face of the
climate crisis but could be revitalized
through innovative approaches to
sustainability and equity.
“I honestly think switching
to sustainable conditions would
ultimately, in the much longer term,
increase the stability of economics,”
Hegelson said.
Todd and Hegelson have said that,
for the longest time, sustainability
has been interpreted as a compromise
between wealth and Earth, but it
doesn’t have to be this way.
“It goes back to the idea, or the
fact, that our economic system
doesn’t make sense for the real world,
and it doesn’t apply to the planet that
we live on, because it assumes that
natural resources are infinite, and
that’s not true,” Hegelson said. “It
also makes a lot of assumptions about
human nature that are also not true,
so we just can’t continue with this
extractive capitalist system in which
we just take whatever we want.”

ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022
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OPINION:
Everyone deserves
environmental justice
HANNAH SHEDD
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST
injustice refers to
environmental practices disproportionately
affecting minorities, people of color and
low-income communities. This often looks
like pollutants being diverted to minority
communities and inequity in access to
sustainable options.
This can have devastating impacts. As
with most social justice issues, minority
and low-income communities are most
impacted. From air and water pollution
to unequal access to quality outdoor
recreational spaces, environmental injustice
is pervasive, and it cannot be ignored.
The environmental justice
movement
The environmental justice movement
had a tragic beginning. This movement
took off in 1982, in the impoverished
areas of Warren County, North Carolina.
The state government brazenly dumped
6,000 truckloads of soil containing toxic
chemicals for the purpose of creating a
waste landfill.
Residents of Warren County detested
the introduction of chemicals into their
community and united against the landfill.
The protests included acts of defiance such
as marches and lying in the pathways of
trucks to impede their movement. These
actions resulted in over 500 arrests, the first
time in United States history that arrests
were made over the sitting of a landfill.
Unfortunately, the government of
Warren County prevailed. Toxic waste
overtook these innocent residents’
community. However, the battle was
not completely lost: It drew national
media attention, which jump-started the
environmental justice movement.
Low-income and
minority communities
It can be difficult for individuals to grasp
the damage that is inflicted by landfills,
incinerators and other environmental
health risks impacting low-income areas.
The average person does not calculate every
outcome of their carbon footprint when
they toss their waste in the garbage can, but
odds are it’s contributing to the health issues
of impoverished residents.
How does garbage contribute to diabetes,
lung cancer, strokes, heart diseases and
other detrimental diseases in minority and
low-income areas? To answer this question,
we must look at the journey of waste
in America.
Let’s say you just finished a nice, cold
bottle of soda. You toss the empty bottle
in the nearest trash can and continue with
your day. Now, a garbage truck will pick up
all of the waste in that garbage can and send
the bottle on its journey. After a network of
transfer trucks, the soda bottle eventually
arrives at one of three places: a recycling
center, a landfill or an incinerator.
Hopefully it would end up at a recycling
center since it’s a recyclable; however,
more often than not, it will end up in an
incinerator or a landfill. These landfills and
incinerators are most likely housed in lowincome,
minority communities.
Landfills and incinerators contribute
to a catastrophic amount of air and water
pollution. Through targeting minority, lowincome
communities with landfills, the
government is contaminating the drinking
water of these communities.
Not only are these communities' water
supplies threatened, but their air quality
is also negatively impacted through
the proximity of landfills. Landfills
exude dangerous toxins into the air of
communities close to landfills. These toxins
have been linked to a variety of health
conditions, including birth defects. Beyond
h e a l t h
concerns,
CW / Autumn Williams
these residents’ quality of life is drastically
impacted. Through living near a landfill,
residents face noxious odors that make it
difficult and unpleasant to breathe.
Through the burning of waste, pollutants
like mercury, lead, arsenic and carbon
monoxide are released into the surrounding
air. These communities are now at risk of
a variety of health conditions, including
cancers and respiratory diseases. The ash
created through burning waste is also toxic
to the environment and further exacerbates
health conditions in targeted communities.
Environmental injustice in the
Black Belt
Often, when considering social justice
issues, we think of these issues as distant
threats. However, the environmental justice
crisis is affecting areas in close proximity to
The University of Alabama.
It is not shocking to discover that
Alabama’s Black Belt is heavily targeted
regarding environmental injustices.
Originally named for the dark, fertile
soil of the region, the Black Belt has been
historically marginalized and still struggles
with high poverty rates.
To truly understand the environmental
struggles that Alabama’s Black Belt is
facing, one must examine an especially
environmentally targeted town:
Uniontown, Alabama. In late 2008, millions
of tons of coal ash were transported from a
predominantly white area in Tennessee
to a landfill in Uniontown. Uniontown’s
population is 84% Black, with 49% of
residents living below the poverty line.
Throughout a two-year period, this
coal ash was dumped as close as 100 feet
from some residents’ front porches. Some
chemicals that this coal ash released into
the air of the community include arsenic,
lead and other radioactive elements.
In turn, residents started experiencing
respiratory problems, severe headaches,
nausea and dizziness, among other health
issues. Additionally, residents were forced
to endure pungent odors and extreme
dust, which contaminated all aspects of
their lives.
Residents of Uniontown banded
together and filed a civil rights complaint to
Alabama’s Department of Environmental
Management. However, the Environmental
Protection Agency denied the complaint on
the basis of “insufficient evidence.”
The denial of this complaint has only
exacerbated the situation in Uniontown. As
of 2018, the landfill is owned by developers
based in New York and New Jersey. This
change of ownership has caused this landfill
to receive around a million tons of out-ofstate
waste. The recent effects of this landfill
have been detrimental to the community,
causing residents to either give up their
homes and relocate or face potential health
risks and extreme odors.
Outdoors for all
5B
Historically, environmental justice has
pertained mainly to waste management.
However, a new issue has arisen regarding
environmental injustice: the lack of quality
outdoor recreational spaces in minority and
impoverished areas.
A bill titled the “Outdoors for All Act”
has recently been introduced in the Senate.
This bill would create funding for the
Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership,
which supports projects involving outdoor
recreation opportunities in low-income
areas and works toward closing the gap in
environmental injustices.
Environmental injustice issues are
unacceptable and are getting exceedingly
worse everyday, but there are ways that we
can combat this issue.
First and foremost, recycling can
c u t down on the amount of
waste sent to landfills
and incinerators.
Through cutting down
on this waste, we can
lessen the chance
of impoverished
communities facing
extreme health risks.
Recycling not only
benefits the environment but
also benefits vulnerable communities.
Keep that in mind the next time you toss
a plastic bottle into a trash can instead of a
recycling bin.
We must raise awareness and amplify the
voices of these vulnerable communities.
However, there is only so much we
can do without the government’s help in
settling these issues. While we must wait on
the government to make positive changes
regarding these issues, we do not have to
wait silently.

6B
ENVIRONMENT
April 21, 2022