by Carson Hyatt Bandy

Reflecting on the Coastal Resiliency Days of Service: Newtown Creek Alliance

by Carson Bandy

Carson and Tess looking out of binoculars

Last Saturday, October 26, a group of other NYU students and I had the opportunity to volunteer with the lovely folks at the Newtown Creek Alliance. We convened at their headquarters in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to first learn the 3-R mantra that they follow; Restore, Review, and Revitalize. The Creek is part of the Hudson Estuary, flowing west for almost 4 miles between Queens and Brooklyn, before emptying into the East River. With a highly central location, the Newtown Creek became a place of industry for the city in the early 19th and 20th centuries. Everything from oil refineries and distilleries to copper wire mills and sugar refineries found a home on the banks of Newtown Creek.

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by Sophia Gumbs

Reflecting on the Coastal Resiliency Days of Service: Billion Oyster Project

by Sophia Gumbs

2 people shaking crates of oyster shells into blue bins

Last Friday, October 25, a group from the NYU community joined the Office of Sustainability in a day of service with the Billion Oyster Project. Billion Oyster Project’s mission is to “restore oyster reefs to New York Harbor through public education initiatives.” The Project’s intention is to distribute one billion live oysters around 100 acres of reefs by 2035 in order to restore the New York Harbor’s previous role as the “most productive waterbody in the North Atlantic” and the “oyster capital of the world.” So far, the Project has planted 28 million live oysters, recycled 1 million pounds of shell, and worked with 75 restaurants, 70 schools, 1,215 high school students, over 6,500 middle school students, and over 9,000 volunteers!

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by Hinakealohaila Kaleilehua Wilkerson

GREEN GRANT UPDATE: The Carry Your Own! Challenge

Written by Sarah Dietz

The Carry Your Own! (CYO) Challenge officially came to a close on Thursday October 17th, culminating with a celebratory evening awarding the top three plastic waste mitigators for their efforts. (If you are unfamiliar with the CYO challenge, please visit the first blog post to learn more.) Winners were presented with reusable tote bags filled with generous prizes. In the totes were hundreds of dollars’ worth of low-waste lifestyle prizes, including gift cards to Precycle, NYC’s first package free grocery store. These awesome gifts were made possible largely due to donations from local, low-waste lifestyle companies, Precycle and Your Local. The winners were selected based on their level of participation in the three-week challenge, which asked them to eliminate as much personal plastic waste as possible, mainly through two items commonly used by students on campus; coffee mugs and utensils. The contest was judged by an NYU student who chose the winners based on quantity of posts about their challenge experience.

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by NYUGreen

Green Your Halloween

Autumn is packed with the feel good festivities. While Thanksgiving is around the corner, most people would agree spooky season gets its fair share of love. Whether you love Halloween for the horror and gore, the drama and extravagance in dressing up, or the decadent sweets from trick-or-treating, there is a lot of awesome ways to get in the Halloween spirit. 

This year, try making your Halloween spirit more sustainable.

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by NYUGreen

Student Leaders at the Forefront of Sustainable Change

5 ECommittee members posing in matching t-shirts

We’re only four weeks into the Fall semester and already our student sustainability leaders are in full force and ready to enact change. This month, student club and organization leaders gathered for the first ever Sustainability Dinner and Dialogue meeting, our EcoReps met for their Fall Orientation, and our ECommittee peer-mentors joined the Big Apple Leadership Retreat with the Office of Residential Life and Housing Services. Our administrators and staff in the Office of Sustainability are excited to continue sharing information and exchanging ideas with students. And this month was only the start of an ongoing conversation about NYU’s sustainability goals and communal achievements. 

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