The End ReUser

In a moment of respite from our engineering courses, our group ventured to northern Sardinia for a weekend excursion. Our explorations furthered my appreciation for the island's natural beauty, rich history and diverse cuisine. After an hour and a half's drive north, we stopped in the town of Bosa for a wine festival and lunch.    The wine festival was situated atop a hill by a castle. Our climb to the top was breathtaking for more reasons than the slope! The cobblestone streets, pastel painted walls, hanging flowers potted in cans imbued the city with a distinct Sardinian charm. Accompanying our group for the weekend was our tour guide, Franco, from Trekking Excursion Tours - Sardinia.   At the festival, vendors sold typical artisan crafts from the region, such as hand woven baskets using recycled material and cork product, an important export from the region. The food was sublime: I tried a year-aged pecorino cheese and four types of local hone...

 (Trash receptor on hill that leads from the dorms to the university)  (Morning trash collection on Via Santa Margherita) (Trash bins on Via Santa Margherita) (Trash receptor in Piazza Jenne) (Trash bins outside Crai in Piazza Jenne) (Trash disposed on the side of the road on the route from Bosa to Alghero)  (Sprawling trash pile on Bastioni Cristoforo Colombo in Alghero) (More trash along Bastioni Cristoforo Colombo in Alghero) (Construction & Demolition waste in Bosa, Sardinia) (Trash collection in front of the dorms before we left to visit the waste management facility last week)

The guest lecturer on Tuesday spoke on the regional Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) plan for Cagliari. The plan is based on the EU Environmental Action Programme and observes the waste hierarchy mandatory for EU member states. The intention is to foster for Sardinia a circular economy as opposed to a linear economy: an economy that capitalizes on waste as a resource. The trend in developmental economics is for an increase in economic prosperity to correlate with more waste production. However, the policies Sardinia has implemented to promote separate collection together with lowered consumption from the 2008 economic crisis has led to an increasing trend in recycling and a reduction in waste disposal. The speaker compared Sardinia’s progress to the rest of Italy and Europe as a whole. Within Italy, Sardinia has performed seventh best, behind the more prosperous, industrialized Northern regions with more capacity for resource recovery. Comparatively, rich countries in Northern Europe...

Due to Sardinia’s geopolitically strategic position in the Mediterranean and its vast mineral resources, the island has undergone many conquests throughout its history, from the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, to the Romans and the Byzantines. From 1720 to 1865 (the reunification of Italy), Sardinia came under the rule of the House of Savoy. In 1840, the State of Savoy enacted a new legal provision that separated ownership of topsoil and subsoil. This transferred ownership of all subsoil to the state, the mining permit for which companies could now apply. This new legal landscape coincided with the industrial revolution. Consequently, the exploitation of mineral resources became more efficient. On Sunday, our group visited the Sardinian Sulcis coast, a region rich in coal, sulfur, barium, zinc, lead, silver and other metals. Extraction of these resources began in the 1600s, but did not become economically relevant until the early 20 th century. After World War I, rich nor...

On the first day, I had difficulties connecting to the university wifi and my SIM card was not working. I embraced this disconnect as a moment to explore the city center to get my bearings. Cagliari has all the enchantment of a Mediterranean city and more. I relished in the small squares where families and friends take time to have coffee and aperitifs; the beautifully preserved historic stone architecture and the omnipresent street art. My favorite street art had an element of social commentary. After a long day of travel, all I craved was seafood, pasta or both. I meandered from one restaurant to the next, gauging their popularity, whether the clientele seemed local or foreign, and whether the price range was reasonable. So filled with anticipation, I struggled to decide on a restaurant. As my hunger grew ever stronger, I had to buy a gelato to help tide me over. Gelateria Stefino, a hole-in-the-wall establishment in a small, central square,...