Author: Carson Hyatt Bandy

#GreenGraduates – An Interview with Josi Riederer

The Green Graduate series is a collective of interviews and conversations with environmentally-minded and eco-conscious NYU graduates. As these students move on to the workforce, graduate programs, and other opportunities, we are struck with how different the world seems today than it did a few months ago. Our hope with this series is to inspire, motivate and most importantly, honor the class of 2020. 

Josi in grad capJosi Riederer, like many of us, is currently home with her family in Ashland, Virginia. When I spoke to Josi, she had just finished her thesis for Global Liberal Studies on the topic of rural-urban water inequality in Mumbai and Chennai. Through her research, Josi explores what she describes as “the rural-urban water inequality nexus.” Essentially, rural water is brought to upper- and upper-middle class urban residents and industries because those groups are made out as more economically valuable. Conversely, poor, rural communities are not seen to use water “beneficially,” which is used as justification for the diversion of water from rural to urban areas. For Josi, caring about water equality isn’t a choice, but a duty.

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NYU Rolls Out University-wide IT Sustainability Initiative

From the devices in our hands to the cloud where important project documents are stored, information technology (IT) is a critical part of teaching, research, and work. As NYU IT requires substantial energy and resources to serve our diverse community needs, it also serves a major source of potential carbon reductions and energy savings. That’s why in 2019 NYU’s IT Sustainability Initiative formed: to reduce NYU IT’s carbon footprint. The Initiative is comprised of seven workstreams: 

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#TheTea on Fast Fashion

by Carson Bandy

The clothes we put on our back are profoundly personal. Almost as personal as what we choose to put into our bodies. The clothes we wear have stories, good ones, of the times we had in them or the joy they’ve brought us. But there can also be a darker story attached to them that’s not often seen. As some of you may have read in my last blog post, this year I have commited to quit fast fashion. Not only is textile production one of the most polluting industries in the world, but it also comes with a slew of human rights violations. This isn’t exactly new information but what exactly is fast fashion? Fast fashion can be defined in a few different ways. The ethical rating website Good On You defines fast fashion as “cheap, trendy clothing, that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed.” Investopia describes fast fashion as “a term used by fashion retailers to describe inexpensive designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends.  Read more

Green Resolutions!

The rhetoric around New Year resolutions often leave me tired. The phrase “new year new me” often breeds discontentment for your current place in life or, at best, a sense of failure for when we inevitably fail to live up to the laundry list of character ideals we have built for ourselves. Changing your habits or adding some new ones doesn’t have to be a new year exclusive. If you’re having a slow start to your New Year’s resolutions (like me) or just looking to better yourself, here is a list of manageable, eco conscious resolutions to try this year or whenever. 

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Have Yourself a Greener Thanksgiving

 

As the Thanksgiving season quickly approaches, I can sometimes find it too easy to get caught up in being the ‘perfect’ advocate for the environment. The holiday season is first and foremost about gratitude and being with the people you love. Although this list is geared towards the Thanksgiving table in New York, these ideas can be utilized by anyone, anywhere, no matter your tradition or how to choose to honor this time off. That being said, here are a few tips on how to have a more sustainable Thanksgiving.

 

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