Tag: Environmental Justice

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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Reflections from the NYC Climate Strike 2019

by B. Eni Owoeye

In more than 1,000 cities across all seven continents, millions of people flooded the streets to show up and demand climate action. Assiduous youth activists like Greta Thunberg actively encouraged younger generations to take their place center stage to march for equitable and swift climate action. 

The global strike on September 20th marked the third of its kind, resulting in an even greater age and geographic diversity among demonstrators. The New York City march occurred on an unassailably important week for many reasons. Preceded by the 2020 Climate Forum, in which Democratic presidential candidates set out their climate action strategies, protesters made it known that they were watching to see which elected officials stood for or against their cause. With the annual Climate Week NYC beginning the following Monday, business and leaders within all fields –whether at the UN Climate Summit, or at a conference hosted by NYC– heard these warnings reverberated as youth emphasized the urgency of the issue. 

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Resolution for Decarbonization Passes University Senate

On April 25, 2019, the University Senate passed a Resolution for Decarbonization.

This aspirational resolution calls on the University to consider a number of long-term climate impacts and chart a course for action on carbon reduction, community participation, and reporting. These areas include committing to 100% renewable power, heating, cooling, and transportation by 2040; better engaging internal stakeholders and partnering with environmental justice organizations; extending planning and goal setting to include global sites; updating NYU’s Climate Action Plan; and more. Read more

EarthMatters Attends PLAN’s Students for Zero Waste Conference

For the second year in a row, me and some of my fellow EarthMatters executive board members attended the fifth annual Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN)’s Students for Zero Waste Conference at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. PLAN’s mission is to supply college students with resources to help their campuses go zero waste. Environmental and climate justice were major themes at this years conference with a specific emphasis on points of intervention.  Read more