Landfillin' Like a Villain

Monday:
Contrary to what many might believe based on my blog posts thus far, school has been happening during this trip. On Monday, the class gave presentations on their first project, where they examined and compared solid waste policies for the United States and Europe and gave recommendations for policy changes that could be made to improve management practices. I apologize in advance to all the groups for the terrible sneaky iPhone photos I took of all of you as you were presenting.

First up was Erika, Kestral, Lindsey and Cat who talked about the organic fraction of our waste.

They taught us all about the differences in how the US and Europe handle organic waste including the fact that apparently, according to the EPA, yard waste is the same as a refrigerator when you're trying to dispose of it.

Next up was Neil, Lauren and Divya.

From them we learned all about how different packaging, including glass and plastic, is handled in the US and Europe. We learned that Belgians are really good at recycling glass, probably due to all the beer that they drink.

Next up were Sean, Dylan, Eli and Falconi who taught us about construction and demolition waste. They taught us that we might be able to learn a thing or two about sustainability from the ancient Romans as long as we're not too worried about the blood and sweat of serfs. 

Next up were Matt, Emily, Ted and Maggie, who taught us about end of life vehicles and end of life tire disposal. From them we learned that cars are technical, therefore so was their presentation. 

Finally came Dima, Danielle and Audriana.

They taught us about e-waste and reminded us of everyone's favorite quote about the environment, from the great Dr. Seuss. 

Tuesday:

On Tuesday we had another technical field trip, this time to the EcoSerdiana landfill and cogeneration facility. Most of us had never been to a landfill before, so I think we were all surprised by the giant land area, relatively beautiful landscape and general lack of smelliness.

It was a really interesting site visit, led by two female engineers and changed a lot of our preconcieved notions about landfills.

This Place is Terrible

This weekend was amazing and jam packed with an obscene amount of food, incredible views and an absurd amount of cuteness for one farm. We started off the weekend getting on the bus at 9:00ish and meeting our magnificent tour guide Paola a.k.a. the Viper. We headed up the west coast to our first stop, the Geomining Park of Sardinia in the Sulcis region.

We arrived to find an amazing view of the water before venturing underground armed with nothing but our hard hats and a few flashlights, hoping not to find any ghosts of old miners or fire breathing dragons.

We emerged on the other side safe and sound and to a pretty spectacular view.

We headed back through the tunnel and spent a little time playing on the beach before heading to our next stop, an enormous lunch at a restaurant near the water.

Our next stop was the Temple of Antas, an ancient ruin nearby where we all got in touch with our historical sides, discovered a boy band in our midst, and of course got distracted by the local animal and tree species. 

From there, we took yet another amazingly scenic drive to Agriturismo Sa Perda Marcada in Arbus where we spent the night. We explored the farm for a little while, where we met some chickens, horses, cats and the ugliest turkey any of us had ever seen, until it was time for dinner.

That night for dinner, we were served yet another amazing meal and spent the rest of the evening looking up at the stars, contemplating aliens and getting attacked by a hunting cat in the dark.

The next morning we got up and had a delicious breakfast, featuring the first eggs we've eaten since arriving in Italy. We then had a cooking lesson, led by the wonderful Elena, and made the pasta (gnochetti) and dessert (seadas) that we would later eat at lunch. 

In between cooking periods we worked really hard around the farm (aka napped with puppies and played soccer with children). 

Then for lunch we got to taste the fruits (aka pasta and cheese) of our labor. And they were pretty delicious.

After lunch we said goodbye to our amazing hosts and headed to the beach where we battled the cold and crazy waves for a couple of hours before heading back to Cagliari, sandy and sleepy.

Garbage's Anatomy

Today we had class at the University of Cagliari. Annalisa taught a lecture about waste composition in the morning and then we all headed to the lab to see waste composition classification in action. We all channeled our inner McDreamys and McSteamys as we suited up in white coats and rubber gloves and learned the process of finding waste composition led by Dr. Georgia de Gioannis and Dr. Giovanna Cappai.

We broke for lunch and then came back for a lecture about waste collection and to hear from Claudia Pitzalis who works in logistics for a waste collection company and also went to college with Annalisa!

Tomorrow we'll be heading up the coast for some cooking lessons, sand dunes and beach time!

Sea Creatures and Street Art

Today was a day off but a lot of the group decided to head to the San Benedetto fish market in Cagliari, the largest covered fish market in Europe located in the Old Town section of the city. There we found a huge variety of fish as well as meat, fruit, vegetables, bread, and cheese. We were given free fruit by the wonderful ladies at the produce stands and had an eel shaken at us by a fish seller.

After that we explored some more of the city finding some beautiful Italian streets and crazy street art before spending the rest of the day working on projects.