Category Archives: Julie Garber

Oberlin Participates in a Worldwide Campaign for Environmental Sustainability

By Julie Garber

Photos by David Roswell

On October 10, 2010, Oberlin college students and the surrounding community collaborated in a way never quite done before.  Similar to the traditional Day of Service event for freshmen, students came together in a joint volunteering effort. However, unlike the Day of Service, the “10/10/10” sites were all geared toward environmental sustainability.

The purpose of this event, which occurred worldwide, was to reduce carbon emissions in an innovative and more efficient manner.  Instead of having rallies or protests demanding emission cuts, this event aimed to involve people in their communities in a “Global Work Party”.   As explained by www.350.org, the brainchild of the event, such community involvement was meant to send the political message: “If we can get to work, so can you!”

Corey Harkins took the initiative to organize Oberlin’s 10/10/10 event. When asked what inspired him to bring this event to Oberlin, he enthusiastically explained, “I think service is so important in gauging our humanity.  Service is what makes us human.”

The Bonner Center and the Resource Conservation Team, both of which provided equipment, advice, tools, and money necessary for the event, cosponsored 10/10/10.  These service organizations show the countless ways that we can get involved in our community.  The Resource Conservation Team, for example, gets students to volunteer in protecting the environment while taking their interests into consideration.

The event began at 1:00 p.m.  About forty volunteers signed up through a pre-registration form, but many people just showed up to desk in Wilder Bowl and were sent to various sites.  Although some site leaders came a little late, by 2:00 p.m., every site had people working.

Sites included Full Circle Fuels, George Jones Farm, and the Johnson House garden.  Several students removed invasive species behind Kahn, while others audited energy at various locations throughout campus.   One group, in particular, changed light bulbs in Wilder.  Corey explained that changing 25 light bulbs would save about $4,000, even taking the price of the light bulbs into consideration.

A total of 7,347 people in 188 different countries participated in 10/10/10, making a huge splash and hopefully encouraging political leaders to work on environmental legislation.

The Living Machine

By Julie Garber

Within the A.J. Lewis Center for Environmental Studies is perhaps one of the most revolutionary developments in environmental technology today. An attempt to merge human custom with natural processes, the Living Machine is a recently developed system designed to imitate the natural purification of water by wetlands. That is, the Living Machine combines natural means of purification with mechanical and computer systems to take sewage and return it to an unpolluted state.

About ten years ago, Oberlin acquired its very own living machine for the A.J. Lewis Center.  It includes both indoor and outdoor components that work together to cleanse the building’s wastewater and allow for reuse. While the college’s Living Machine currently only works with water within the environmental building, staff hope to soon incorporate South Campus and the town of Oberlin in the Machine’s purification efforts.

Students and lab assistants maintain and monitor the machine, although it is mostly a self-sustaining system. Freshmen have opportunity to spend winter term on campus doing labs, testing, and monitoring.  Environmental Studies majors often create projects involving the Machine.

The Living Machine’s work begins in underground anaerobic tanks known as AN1 and AN2.  These tanks receive water from the building’s toilets and sinks, thus initiating the breakdown of wastewater.  Solid waste sinks to the bottom of these tanks, facilitating the flow of liquid, and anaerobic bacteria (microbes that exist without the presence of oxygen), break down organic wastes into ammonia, methane, and organic acids.

Next, the water enters closed aerobic tanks, or CA1 and CA2.  Unlike the aforementioned anaerobic tanks, the aerobic tanks allow oxygen to enter the wastewater.  Aerobic bacteria (microbes that require the presence of oxygen) continue purification and convert ammonium in the water into nitrite and nitrate, forms that can be readily taken up by plants.

The water then enters building’s greenhouse, where the open aerobic tanks are located.  The three open aerobic tanks are the most visually engaging and impressive aspects of the Living Machine, with masses of gigantic tropical plants extending from each tank.  Bacteria continue to convert ammonium to nitrite and nitrate.  The large plants serve to create a habitat for organisms present in the tanks.

As the wastewater flows into the Clarifier basin, suspended solids settle, forming a layer of “sludge” on the basin floor.  The sludge is sent to the Closed Aerobic tanks to nourish populations of bacteria.  Clear water is sent to the floor of the greenhouse, which resembles a sort of gravel wetland.  In the final step, water is sent to the Effluent Holding Tank, which is located outside and holds water for reuse within the building.

The magic of the Living Machine lies in its interactions between various ecological systems. Due to this clever manipulation, Oberlin’s Living Machine has proved to be not only an extraordinary waste treatment system, but also a remarkable tool for education.