by Cecil Scheib, Assistant Vice President for Sustainability
NYU is aspiring to be among the greenest urban campuses in the nation. And we need your help.
How could you better incorporate sustainability into your learning, teaching, and research? What internships or employee training programs would help you grow? How might we lower our environmental impact from food to energy use? What would you like to see throughout the Global Network? Read more
2017 was a great year for films. We got a million different Marvel movies, another Star Wars and finally a Wonder Woman. Besides blockbusters, some of the best documentaries about sustainability were made by passionate environmentalists like Al Gore. So when it’s family movie time, instead of watching Love Actually for the 10th year in a row, why don’t you try one of these fabulous new docs?
What the Health
The controversial film was released earlier in the year made people consider adopting a vegan lifestyle. The documentarian explored links between a meat- and dairy-heavy diet and serious diseases like obesity and diabetes. Some have argued that they may have stretched the truth. You’ll have to watch for yourself and decide what’s the truth.
Contributed by Brianda Hickey
Happy Thanksgiving Week!! Here is a lovely picture of a Pumpkin Spice later in my thermos to help you get into the fall spirit:
Living zero waste has become more natural, but I wouldn’t brush it off as “easy” nor would I say it is an accessible lifestyle for all. My morning routines have turned into a just-in-case checklist:
Bamboo utensils? Check.
Mason jar? Check.
Reusable bag? Check.
Coffee mug? Check.
Cloth napkin? Check.
Halloween is a holiday dedicated to ca pumpkins and candy comas, but what happens to all the squash and sugar on November 1st? Over 1 billion pounds of pumpkin are produced during the Halloween season, the vast majority end up rotting in the landfill. And the sweet stuff? Americans buy 600 million pounds of candy a year with that hard-to-recycle wrapper.
I know I want to reduce my waste for Zero Waste Month, and if you do too you might want to take a tip or two from what I scoured on the waste-free web.
Graphic by Katherine Facchini
A landfill turned urban parkland seems an unlikely way to deal with waste but that is exactly what’s happening at Freshkills Park in Staten Island. Fresh Kills Landfill, once the largest in the world was officially capped and closed in 2001. Since then the site has transformed into a 2,200 acre urban park. The soil infrastructure layered over the landfill has allowed the site to become a distinct space for wildlife, recreation, and education. The park is still in the works and will not be officially open to the public until 2036. However, the Freshkills Park Alliance provides regular opportunities for people to visit and engage with the site through hiking, biking, photography, and more. Read more
