Working Towards a Green Campus: Documenting CCNY’s Student-Led Sustainability Initiatives
By Irene Tsesmetzis
The growing need for sustainable facilities has become a pressing issue in higher education institutions (HEIs). In recent years, City College has found its sustainability efforts dwindling. However, there has always been a push for sustainability, led by the college’s students and staff. The most recent efforts are those of the 16 students in the SCIE 32701 Sustainability Engagement Internship course, in the School of Education, who are working in partnership with campus facilities to improve recycling efforts.
The class, the first of its nature, is a 2-credit course open to all students interested in sustainability. Students spend the semester working on a capstone project decided by themselves and the professor, Stephanie Rose. At the beginning of this semester, the class chose to focus on two areas of need: improving CCNY’s responsible materials management and creating a culture change around sustainability in the student body.
The class has divided themselves into three groups, each with a specialized task. Team One is in the process of implementing new recycling centers in the NAC. Through close consultation with CCNY’s Principal Custodial Supervisor, Arthur Brown, the group was able to get new bins and signage to place throughout the buildings. Each recycling center contains three bins: a black bin for trash (non-recyclable), a blue bin for MGPC (metal, glass, plastic, and carton), and a green bin for paper. There are currently 11 new recycling centers throughout the NAC that the team has organized this semester. These centers are located in Hoffman Lounge, the Rotunda, the NAC Lobby, and in Career Services. “The new centers are great. They improve waste management efficiency by increasing the amount of recyclable waste that gets collected by the college,” comments team member Andres Almonte. This group is adding new centers every week, with plans to have a recycling center at every elevator bank by the end of the semester. The team couldn’t have done it with the help of CCNY facilities. Supervisor Arthur Brown offers his support to the group's efforts. “Keep pushing,” he implores them, “if you’re not getting what you want, keep pushing.”
Teams Two and Three are focusing on educating and involving the school’s student body in the importance of sustainability. Team Two is creating an interactive website, titled the “Green Campus Chronicles,” that will provide a platform for students to get and share information about sustainability at City College. The website will feature a map of the filtered water foundations in the NAC where students can refill their water bottles, as well as post updates on sustainability events hosted on campus, upload petitions for students to get involved in environmental activism, and include a space for students to comment and share their thoughts about sustainability at CCNY. The website can be accessed here. Team Three is spreading the word about the Sustainability Engagement Internship’s recycling efforts at in-person tabling events, usually hosted every week in the Rotunda. “We're raising awareness about campus-wide sustainability initiatives that most students don’t know about. We want to create an environment that fosters transparency and includes the people that are affected by the college’s decisions,” says Sabrina Schembri, one of the members in Team Three. The group invites you to stop by to learn more about what the internship course is doing, play fun and informative games, and have a chance to win prizes.
The Sustainability Engagement Internship class has chosen to focus on these particular areas of conservation because CCNY’s current waste management practices are in need of improvement. After collection, CCNY stores its refuse in six 30-cubic-yard compactors across campus. These are collected by the New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY). Although MGCP refuse is a separate section in recycling centers, there is currently no designated set-out location for its separate collection. The collected trash (non-recyclable) is then taken by truck to a marine transfer station in Manhattan, where it is transported to the Covanta Essex Plant in Newark, New Jersey. At this location, refuse is converted into energy via incineration. This disposal method is not environmentally friendly and releases harmful pollutants in the air to nearby communities. This incineration plant is frequently protested for its adverse effects to both the environment and the residents of Newark. Participating in the recycling efforts at CCNY can limit the amount of waste that gets sent to this plant.
City College has a long history of student activism; the Sustainability Engagement Internship course is just one example of student-led sustainability initiatives. Another team led by Dr. Rose last year conducted an in-depth study of CCNY facilities and their energy consumption and waste management. Their results were published in a paper titled “Decarbonizing CCNY,” of which some of the research has been referred to in this article. The paper presents the available data compiled by the capstone team and suggests numerous ways in which the campus can improve its carbon footprint. Read more of their research here. Two of the researchers, Alex Klein and Oscar Guatemala, also conducted a waste audit last year to evaluate the college’s waste usage and highlight areas of improvement. With help from Dr. Stephanie Rose’s Principles of Environmental Science class, they were able to sort through 98 kilograms of trash and recycled waste from around the NAC. For more information about the audit, check out this article. The researchers also enrolled City College in the Campus Race to Zero Waste competition, a program in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation that serves as a tool to help HEIs improve campus recycling and waste reduction efforts. Over an eight-week period, the program records data on recycling and trash collection and ranks the participating campus among the community of other colleges and universities. The competition boosts student engagement in recycling and gives colleges data on waste management.
The SCIE 32701 class is not the only sustainability course offered at CCNY. Science Learning and Public Engagement, a new education major and minor, respectively, which were created by Professor Yael Wyner, offer students multiple opportunities to engage with the vibrant sustainability community in New York City. The program prepares students for careers in informal science education and engagement positions in the new green economy that is blossoming in NYC’s non-profit organizations, museums, government policy, renewable energy, and much more. The major and minor offer a sustainability track, among several other tracks as well. CCNY also offers sustainability studies at the higher level with their Masters in Sustainability in the Urban Environment interdisciplinary program. This program offers students with a desire to dive deeper into environmental policy the opportunity to design and conduct their own research. Notable research has been done by Alex Klein and Oscar Guatemala, whose work was mentioned earlier in this article.
The departments and clubs at City College frequently host in-person and online events that touch on sustainability, environment, and educational outreach. Coming up is the PSA Share-out, an event created and led by Stephanie Rose, where students from multiple departments and divisions across City College will share the PSA’s they’ve created on sustainability topics as part of a campus-wide messaging campaign for the CCNY public display screens.
It’s clear that sustainability at CCNY is dependent on the efforts of its student body. Here are some ways you can contribute to the sustainability effort on campus:
Use the hydro-stations on campus. Minimize your plastic usage by using the water bottle refilling stations on campus. Not only do these stations reduce plastic waste, but they also have filtered water! You can find a map of the foundations on the website created by Team Two of the Sustainability Internship, mentioned earlier in this article.
Properly dispose of your waste. With the new recycling centers being implemented on campus, throw out your trash in its appropriate bin. Non-recyclable trash can’t be sorted out of recycling once it gets shipped to processing facilities. Separating your trash before it’s collected reduces the amount of non-recyclable trash that ends up in the waste stream.
Avoid using lone trash cans. On a similar note as separating your trash, the Sustainability Internship team is in partnership with CCNY facilities to remove lone trash cans from the halls entirely. Using only the recycling centers cuts down on waste streams and improves facilities management.
Become environmentally educated. It can be confusing to know where to throw out your trash; knowing where your trash goes and how it’s processed helps create a greater awareness of waste management and highlights the importance of recycling. To learn more, speak to some of the students from the Sustainability Internship at their table in the Rotunda.
Take action in campus efforts. Be vocal about the importance of sustainability! Signing petitions, starting conversations, and volunteering at sustainability organizations are all ways you can help create a cleaner environment.
Participating in the sustainability effort at CCNY can be as simple as sharing this article with a friend! The Sustainability Internship team featured in this article hopes that their efforts will inspire action in others. “We have the power to transform the institutions that we’re a part of,” says former City College student Alex Klein. “Use your voice and push for the change you want to see in the world. It takes persistence but if you keep at it, people will listen, and you can make an impact.”
