Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling
Portland State University Senior Capstone
UNST 421, Section 522, CRN 65233
Spring 2009, 6 credits
Instructors
Shanna Eller Tom Egleston
Urban Studies and Planning Urban Studies and Planning
Community Environmental Services Community Environmental Services
Urban and Public Affairs Bldg, 3rd Floor, Office 320D Urban and Public Affairs Bldg, 3rd Floor, Office 320A
503-725-8207 503-725-5147
Class Meeting Time & Place
Tuesday and Thursday, 5:30 pm – 7:20 pm, Fourth Avenue Building, Room 40-09
Office Hours
By appointment.
Course Description
In the Spring 2009 section of this Capstone we will be working with the newly formed Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability as our community partner.
The specific focus in working with the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) in Spring 2009 will be on outreach to Portland neighborhood business districts that are members of the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations (APNBA) regarding new Portland business recycling requirements adopted in Winter 2009.
Capstone students will work with BPS and APNBA specifically to:
1) develop a series of newsletter articles about business recycling requirements for the neighborhood business association newsletters; and
2) pilot new outreach materials informing businesses of the new recycling requirements through direct outreach to businesses in three neighborhood commercial districts – Nob Hill, Central Eastside Industrial Corridor, and Portland International District.
Learning Goals
University Studies learning goals:
1) inquiry and critical thinking;
2) communication;
3) the diversity of human experience; and
4) ethics and social responsibility.
This course aligns with the four learning goals of Portland State’s University Studies Program with a particular focus on the social responsibility of individuals and businesses in engaging in sustainable business practices while acknowledging the diversity of beliefs and experiences that people and organizations hold toward sustainability.
Overview of Coursework and Coursework Specifics
Coursework for the capstone will be a combination of:
§ introductory reading and viewing assignments;
§ one book presentation;
§ two applied assignments – Week of Waste and Newsletter Review;
§ applied work with the community partner;
§ in-class and final reflection assignments; and
§ class participation.
This is your final 6 credit Capstone class. Expect this class to demand a little more of your time and energy than other classes you have taken at PSU. Students are expected to be critically engaged in the class and in the field. Attendance and participation count!. Please notify an instructor in advance if you know you will be missing a class so you do not fall behind and so your absence does not adversely affect your grade.
Students should expect to spend an average of 12 hours per week outside of class working on this Capstone, including time spent on readings, applied assignments, fieldwork, a final field work report for the community partner, and your final reflection assignment.
Note: while this class is demanding of your time and energy, students report that capstones are also one of the most rewarding experiences of their academic career!
Introductory Reading/Viewing Assignments and Worksheets Specifics
Introductory reading and viewing assignments for the course will be a combination of:
§ academic journal articles;
§ government publications and websites; and
§ short videos available online.
Readings and or video viewings assigned for each week are listed in the class schedule. For each of the written articles, websites, and short videos students will complete a reading/viewing worksheet that asks questions about the information reviewed. These worksheets are intended to support students in getting through the large amount of material assigned in the first few weeks of the course, identifying key facts from that material, and gaining credit for having done that work.
Reading/viewing worksheets will each be provided to students in class. They will also be posted electronically on the course Blackboard site. Student worksheet submissions may be typed or handwritten legibly and must be complete at the beginning of the class meeting time.
There will be 20 worksheets total, with each worksheet worth 10 points toward the course grade regardless of the number of questions each has. 200 points possible.
Book Presentations Specifics
Students will each choose one book from the following list and prepare a powerpoint presentation in partnership with other class members (three people maximum per book) who have also chosen that book.
§ Grossman, E. (2007). High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health. Washington, DC. Island Press.
§ Imhoff, D. (2004). Paper or Plastic. Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged Wordl. Sierra Club Books.
§ Rathje, W. (2001). Rubbish!: The Archeology of Garbage. Tucson, AZ. University of Arizona Press.
§ Rogers, H. (2006). Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage. New York, NY. New Press.
§ Royte, E. (2005). Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash. New York, NY. Little, Brown and Company.
§ Slade, G. (2007). Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.
§ Strasser, S. (1999). Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash. New York, NY. Henry Holt and Company.
The length of each book presentation will be determined by the number of students in each presentation group. Five minutes will be allocated per student and each student in the group is required to deliver five minutes of the oral presentation. Each powerpoint presentation must be posted to the course Blackboard site on the day of the class presentation.
The overall goal of the book presentation is to communicate to the participants in the class who did not read the book the essential content that the book delivered.
Book presentation groups will also serve as workgroups for writing business association newsletter articles.
Book presentations will be worth 100 points toward the course grade.
Week of Waste Applied Assignment Specifics: March 31 – April 7, 2009
For one week beginning with the first class meeting on March 31st, students will be asked to collect and retain every piece of their personal waste, excluding bathroom and medical waste, that they would have otherwise disposed of. Each student will be asked to bring those materials to class with them on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 and to be prepared to use those materials as a visual example of the contemporary American person’s waste stream.
Included in the waste to be collected are materials of all sizes and types, recyclable or non. Not to be included are the limited category of materials we shall refer to as bathroom and medical waste and materials generated at your work place beyond your personal waste. Bathroom and medical waste include: used tissues, syringes, razor blades, and contraceptive waste.
The Week of Waste Assignment will be worth 50 points toward the course grade.
Newsletter Review Applied Assignment Specifics
Students will be asked to each collect and review ten examples of newsletters from different organizations. The examples must each be brought to class on the assignment due date (see class schedule) and each student should submit one document that includes a short one paragraph critique of each newsletter. Newsletters should be critiqued primarily on content, but layout and graphics may be a secondary consideration. In the ten examples, each student must include at least two examples that they reviewed positively from a written communication standpoint.
The Newsletter Review Assignment will be worth 50 points toward the course grade.
Applied Work with Community Partner Specifics
Capstone students will be working with BPS and APNBA specifically to:
1) develop a series of newsletter articles about business recycling requirements for the neighborhood business association newsletters; and
2) pilot new outreach materials informing businesses of the new recycling requirements through direct outreach to businesses in three neighborhood commercial districts.
Details of how this work will be conducted and what the work will entail will be provided by the community partner beginning in week three of the course. It is expected that as a result of this applied work students will contribute to two work products:
a) the set of newsletter articles; and
b) a group field work report.
Applied work with the community partner will be worth 500 points toward the course grade.
In Class Reflection Specifics
Students will write a short, in-class reflection on eight of ten Thursdays that the class meets. Reflections will be in response to a prompting question provided by the course instructors. Submissions are expected to exhibit thoughtfulness, engagement, critical thinking, and clarity. Completion of in-class reflections is considered part of class participation.
Final Reflection Essay Specifics
Each student shall submit a short, final essay reflecting on their experience in the capstone in response to three reflection questions. The specific reflection questions for the final essay will be provided to students on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 – the beginning of week nine. Essays should be between 10 and 12 point font, between three and four pages in length, single-spaced, and ideally double-sided in terms of printing. Final essays will be due at the start of the final class on Tuesday, June 9, 2009.
The Final Reflection Essay will be worth 100 points toward the course grade.
Class Participation
Students are students are expected to be active participants in class discussion and activities as well as demonstrate engaged interest in the views of others and leadership in ensuring all members of the class are both listened to and drawn into discussions in positive, respectful ways. It is expected that people will come with diverse experiences and have diverse opinions and perspectives. That diversity is something that all class members are expected to respect even in the course of good, critical, discussion revolving around differences of opinion.
Course participation will be worth 200 points toward the course grade.
Assignment of Course Grades
Course grades will be assigned from a combination of the following.
200 introductory reading and viewing assignments – approximately 20 worksheet worth 10 points each
100 book presentation
50 Week of Waste Assignment
50 Newsletter Review Assignment
500 applied work with the community partner – newsletter articles, field work, and field work report
100 final reflection essay
200 participation
1200 points possible
Course Grading Scale
1200 – 1100 A
1099 – 1000 A-
999 - 950 B+
949 - 900 B
899 - 850 B-
849 – 800 C
799 - 750 D
749 - 0 F
Note that the State Board of Higher Education and PSU prohibit all forms of academic cheating, fraud, and dishonesty, including but not limited to plagiarism, buying and stealing of course assignments and research papers, performing academic assignments by other person, unauthorized disclosure and receipt of academic information, and such other practices commonly understood to be academically dishonest. The instructors reserve the right to assign a grade of “F” to any student who is academically dishonest.
Learning Community Disclaimer / Proclaimer
We will follow seminar guidelines to keep our classroom a safe place, including no interrupting when someone is talking, asking clarifying questions as opposed to arguing, etc. Students will be mindful of our different personal experiences, understandings, backgrounds and positions as individuals that make us different as human beings.
In the interest of openness, and in accordance with the constitutional right to free speech, students are encouraged to write and speak freely. However, the value of judgments and analysis in this class is based on merit and not on any prejudicial practice. Ultimately, the safety of our learning environment is more important than any student’s perceived right to free speech—we will caution on the side of no student ever feeling insulted in their place of learning.
Students are expected to act professionally and cooperatively with their fellow students and with our community partner and its representatives. Students are expected to communicate any conflicts with other students or with community members to one of the instructors as soon as possible. All students are encouraged to speak with one of the instructors if assistance is needed in seeking ways to more effectively communicate their point of view or understand others’.
Accommodations
If you are a student with a documented disability and registered with the Disability Resources Center, please contact one of the course instructors immediately to facilitate arranging academic accommodations.
Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling
Portland State University Senior Capstone
UNST 421, Section 522, CRN 65233
Spring 2009, 6 credits
Class Schedule
WEEK 1
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - Course Introduction
Class Activities
§ student pre-course survey
§ course, student, and instructor introductions
§ review of syllabus and class schedule
§ context of sustainability
§ preview of books for book reports
§ introduction of Week of Waste Assignment
Thursday, April 2, 2009 - Municipal Solid Waste Management: History, Global Contexts, and Perception
Class Activities
§ review of information from readings
§ Exporting Harm video – 23 minutes
§ selection of books for book reports
§ in-class reflection
Readings and Reading Worksheets Due For
§ A Historical Context of Municipal Solid Waste Management in the United States
o Louis, Garrick E. (2004). A Historical Context of Municipal Solid Waste Management in the United States. Waste Management and Research, 22(4), 306-322.
§ Globalization, Urbanization, and Municipal Solid Waste Management in Africa
o Achankeng, Eric. (2003). Globalization, Urbanization and Municipal Solid Waste Management in Africa. African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific 2003 Conference Proceedings.
§ What is Waste? To Whom? – An Anthropological Perspective on Garbage.
o Drackner, Mikael. (2005). What is waste? To whom? – An anthropological perspective on garbage. Waste Management and Research. 23(3), 175-181.
§ The Changing Mindset in the Management of Waste (Need to Check this one!)
o Aspinwall R. and Cain J. (1997). The Changing Mindset in the Management of Waste. Philosophical Transactions: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 355(1728), 1425-1437.
WEEK 2
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 – The Evolution of Municipal Solid Waste Management
Class Activities
§ review of information from readings
§ Week of Waste Assignment Due and In-Class Exercise
Readings and Reading Worksheets Due For
§ Extension FactSheet: Integrated Solid Waste Management
o Heimlich, J. E., Hughes, K. L. and Christy, A. D. Extension FactSheet: Integrated Solid Waste Management. Ohio State University Extension.
§ What is Integrated Solid Waste Management?
o United Sates Environmental Protection Agency. (2002). What is Integrated Solid Waste Management? (EPA530-F-02-026a). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
§ Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2007 Facts and Figures
o United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2008). Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2007 Facts and Figures (Executive summary). (EPA530-R-08-010). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.