2023 was a big year for NYU as it surpassed expectations and reached new sustainability heights!

From a week-long celebration to combat climate anxiety to moving up in sustainability rankings, students, faculty, staff, and administrators from across the university came together to advance NYU’s sustainability initiatives and programs. Let’s take a look at some of our accomplishments this year!

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We started the year with the opening of the new John A. Paulson Center. This LEED Gold-certified building with 58 classrooms, academic and athletic facilities, theaters, common rooms, and faculty and student housing, was engineered with sustainability in mind.

 

In February, President Andrew Hamilton, Provost Georgine Dopico, and Executive Vice President Martin Dorph endorsed NYU’s Commitment to Sustainability. The commitment was developed by the NYU Sustainability Advisory Group and details how NYU strives to conserve natural resources, encourage sustainability practices, and more.

2040 Now was a week of creating climate awareness and taking action! We held several big events and competitions throughout the week to inspire students to take climate action and advocate for change.

• We launched the first-ever 2040 Now Climate Short Film Competition and received submissionsfrom all over the globe.
• The Environmental Racial and Justice Network (ERJN) held its first in-person Spring Summit, with multiple ERJN events throughout the week.
• The NYU community was zipping around campus during our Micromobility Festival where they got to try out electric scooters and e-bikes and enjoyed helmet giveaways and discounted bikes. 
• Outfits inspired by climate activism, upcycling, biodiversity, and more walked down the runway during our Re-Fashion Show, hosted by none other than Plant Kween. 
• The 2040 Now Center, the hub of all activity, allowed students to connect with their elected officials through postcard writing and advocacy. It also featured revolving speakers, activities, and tabling events.

As the spring semester wrapped up, we celebrated reaching 10,000 students through class presentations, where they learned about NYU’s sustainability initiatives, programs, and opportunities to get involved. It was a great opportunity to connect with students and faculty members! 

In June, NYU was ranked by the Times Higher Education for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the U.S. we ranked #3 for Climate Action, #4 for Responsible Consumption and Production, and #5 for Affordable and Clean Energy! We also added a ‘sustainability’ tag in Albert to make it easier for students to find sustainability-related courses.

During the summer, we helped 12 students explore sustainability fields with our 3rd annual round of Sustainability Internship Grants. With our largest application pool yet, the accepted students worked at organizations like the United Nations Environmental Program, The Staten Island Zoo, Circle of Blue, and more. 

In September, NYU Abu Dhabi launched its Climate Action Plan. The plan enables the University to measure its greenhouse gas emissions and set clear, measurable targets for reduction. NYUAD’s carbon neutrality goal by 2050 is roughly equivalent to planting almost 20,000 acres of mangroves, three times the acreage of Saadiyat island in Abu Dhabi.

We celebrated Biketober with bike riding lessons outside of Tandon, where NYU community members were able to learn the ins and outs of riding a bike and bike safety. We also highlighted  Campus Safety’s Bike Response Unit, which is back on campus and demonstrates how bikes can revolutionize and aid public safety.

More recently, NYU climbed Princeton Review’s Greenest Colleges List to the #3 spot! Since appearing on the rankings in 2021, we’ve installed solar panels on the roof of Bobst Library, LEED-certified 5 more buildings (bringing the total to 17), and are currently conducting a passive house retrofit of Rubin Hall.

We ended the year with some great news. NYU is ranked #8 in the USA for the 2024 QS Sustainability Rankings, up from #17 in 2023! The QS Sustainability Rankings measures an institution’s ability to tackle the world’s greatest ESG challenges and features nearly 1,400 universities worldwide.

 

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We thank the many members of our community who have helped advance sustainability efforts at NYU. All our 2023 accomplishments and favorite memories are possible only through collaborative efforts! We look forward to creating an even greener NYU in 2024 and a greener world as well. 

NYU ranked #3 on the Princeton Review’s 2023 Top 50 Green Colleges!

This green rating provides a comprehensive measure of “superb sustainability practices, a strong foundation in sustainability education, and a healthy quality of life for students on campus,” and is selected based on “a combination of school-reported data and student opinion,” via both institutional and student surveys.

NYU continues to develop pathways to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. The university has undertaken several projects, including placing solar panels on the rooftop of Bobst Library, achieving LEED certification for 17 buildings, signing the Coolfood Pledge to reduce food-related greenhouse emissions, adding organics bins across multiple dining halls, offering bicycle programs, and offering sustainability-related degrees. 

The Passive House retrofit of the historical Rubin Hall is an example of a current, major sustainability project, which is on schedule to reopen for student living in the fall of 2024. 

Thank you to all our community members who work to support our sustainability goals and strive to make NYU one of the greenest urban campuses!

A curbside composting program is expanding across all five boroughs in New York City! This program, which is expected to be enforced for all New York residents in the Spring of 2025, began in Brooklyn this week with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to food waste. As the city prepares for our participation in curbside composting, it is important that we understand what to do.

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Why should I compost?
When food waste is dumped into landfills, it produces methane, which is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. Reducing methane emissions would have a significant impact on our environment as the IPCC suggests that this gas is responsible for 30-50% of the global temperature increase. Composting reduces landfill waste, which in turn reduces this potent greenhouse gas. And it’s an easy solution to implement in our daily lives as nearly ⅓ of NYC’s residential waste stream is made up of material that can be composted. 

What is curbside composting?
In June 2023, the New York City Council approved a bill that requires New Yorkers to separate their food waste from regular waste, similar to how we do with recyclable items. What this means is that all residential buildings on every block in every borough will have the ability to place their composting curbside in a separate bin on their recycling day for pickup. 

Brooklyn and Queens residents currently have this option, which will come to the Bronx and Staten Island in March 2024 and then to Manhattan in October 2024. Composting will then be enforced in Spring 2025.

How is that different from composting at NYU?
It’s not much different – the City just set a policy that mandates composting rather than having composting continue on a voluntary basis. Here at NYU, we already collect organics at most of NYU’s dining halls, the Kimmel Center, and at Washington Square Village and Silver Towers residential buildings. These bins are marked with a green organics label, and will accept all food and food soiled paper, compostable cups and cutlery, and coffee grounds, filters, and tea bags. These bins will not accept plastics or styrofoam.

As we gear up for the rollout in Manhattan in October 2024 and then enforcement in Spring 2025, NYU will follow this City requirement. 

What will curbside composting accept?
You can place all food scraps, plant waste, and food-soiled paper in any of the city’s curbside composting bins. No need to overthink this – if it’s something that you can eat or grow, you can compost it!

What should not go in the compost bin?
Do not compost anything that should be recycled, like metal, glass, plastic, cartons, and cardboard, or other trash items like wrappers, pet waste, medical waste, diapers, foam, or hygiene products.

Where can I compost before curbside composting is enforced?
In addition to the locations at NYU, the City has installed 400 smart compost bins across the five boroughs. These bright-orange bins are available 24/7, accept the same scraps as curbside composting, and require an app called NYC Compost, which can be downloaded here. This link will also bring you to a full list of drop-off sites across all five boroughs!

How can I store my compost at home?
Compost can be stored in a freezer at home between pickups and dropoffs. DIY compost storing bins can be made of brown paper bags – like the ones from Trader Joes. Compost can be also stored in empty jumbo mayonnaise or peanut butter containers as well as ziplock bags because they are easy to clean and reuse after being emptied in a communal bin.