Greening our School
UNDERWAY
Green Event Guide: We’re currently working on a guide for SSSW groups and faculty that will be a handbook for green events, be they parties, conferences, or anything else! Stay tuned.
Reusable travel coffee mugs: We are working on designing a Sustainable Silver coffee mug to help replace the amount of paper coffee cups that are used/thrown away every day. We’re formulating a design and hopefully will have these for sale this year!
UPCOMING
PAST
Increasing the amount of recycling bins in our school: While there were always a fair number of recycling bins throughout the school of social work, they were often in inaccessible places, and were therfore underutilized. We partnered with our building manager to pluck this low hanging fruit and remedy the recycling situation in the School of Social Work, transitioning to a single-stream recycling system on April 15.
Greening our Minds
UNDERWAY
Sustainable Silver Meetings: Sustainable Silver will be having a welcome meeting from 1-2 in the Parlor of 1WSN. We plan on discussing the dates for our future meetings, and brainstorming fun events, ideas, and goals for the school year!
UPCOMING
Social Work and Environmental Justice Elective: We recently proposed an elective in Social Work and Environmental Justice to the Department Chairs Committee, and they want to make it a one-credit, 10-hour mini-course in order to gauge interest. We are still working on getting this elective put into action, but stay tuned for enrollment information as it comes up!
PAST
RISE: Social Work in an Era of Change: Sustainable Silver is proud to be a co-sponsor of RISE: Social Work in an Era of Change, an interdisciplinary social justice conference happening at NYU on September 18, 2009. Former Sustainable Silver Co-leader Jenny Applegate will be presenting her (award-winning!) research on the social benefits of community gardens, and her co-leader Shane Crary-Ross is the co-chair of the conference planning committee! There will also be a workshop on Social Work and Environmental Justice, perhaps a small preview of next spring’s elective. We hope you will join us at the conference.
5th Annual Student Summit of the Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges & Universities, Population, Environment, Health: Where do we go from here?: Co-leader Leanne Bazzetta represented NYU Sustainability at this Environmental Consortium at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences on Friday, April 9th, 2010. The consortium consisted of group work and panel discussions involving students from all over the NY State (and surrounding) area, and covered topics about over population issues, environmental issues, water systems, and health.
Food, Inc. Screening: In November of 2009, Sustainable Silver partnered with Oxfam America at NYU to hold a movie night and discussion of Food, Inc. about the food industry in America. There was also a clothing and book swap beforehand!
The Trouble with Tomatoes: On March 25, 2009, Sustainable Silver and Oxfam America at NYU held a movie night and discussion of workers’ rights and environmental justice as they pertain to the food system. Check out the blog for more info.
Green Spaces Awareness Campaign: In December of 2008, we held an awareness campaign about the positive psychological impacts of green spaces with our fellow Social Work students, for their interest and benefit, accompanied by a list of places to visit in the New York winter when you need to catch a glimpse of a leaf or two.
Greening our Students
UPCOMING
Group Bike Ride to Governor’s Island: on Friday, Sept. 10th 2010, we will be taking a group ride as a welcome event to Governor’s Island! Please see the “NEWS” section for dates, times, and more info.
Sustainable Silver Craft Nights: Learn the art of sustainability through hand-made crafting. We are planning to host a monthly craft night at the Silver School of Social work, featuring a different type of craft every month. Get social, eat some snacks, and create something environmentally friendly. Dates TBA.
Urban Agriculture Farm Visits: In the past, Sustainable Silver has made several visits to East New York Farms to help with their farming needs. This year we plan on making visits to East NY Farms again, but also to a few new locations to gain a wider perspective on NYC’s urban gardening landscape.
East New York Farms! by Jessica Marguiles
East NY Farms Flier by Leanne Bazzetta
PAST
Bike Safety Workshop: In October of 2009, Mark Simpson of BICI Planning and Times Up spoke about the rules of the road, general bike safety, and answered many questions about urban cycling. The event was a great success and we plan on having another similar event annually to keep our students educated on the great possibilities of urban cycling!
Urban Agriculture work at East New York Farms: Twice last year Sustainable Silver took trips to East NY Farms to help with the building of cold frame boxes, weeding, and general agricultural needs of a farm. We plan on revisiting this farm again in the 10-11 school year!
Books Through Bars: Sustainable Silver paired with other NYU student groups in a solidarity event to help raise money and donate books to incarcerated women in NYC.
Orientation Week 2009 Initiative: This Orientation week, we gave all incoming undergraduates sustainability kits, which included a reusable tote bag, a Guide to Sustainability at NYU, and a reusable water bottle. We also held all sorts of informational and recreational programming, and are excited for the coming year of Sustainable Silver activities.
Community Building Events: We held our first event, a Planting Party, on November 10 with much success, and we held a fun potluck on Saturday, December 13 too! This semester, we held a DIY Craft Night on February 18, pictures of which are in the News section.
