Can CUNY students make a prolific difference in the world by simultaneously helping save the environment and aspiring artists? The CUNY sustainability workshop, assisted by the non-for-profit organization Material for the Arts, wholly believes so.
The citywide initiative, whose workshop took place on Friday, April 27, broached the following questions: Why is sustainability important to CUNY? What kind of an impact can we make by working together? Amid the Material for the Arts warehouse, which has stored over 6 million reusable items, the feeling was that CUNY students can spur significant change.
Through word-of-mouth and careful political mitigation, the Queens warehouse serves as New York's premier reuse center. The philosophy is: "Don't change it. Redo it." Millions of items, such as ink cartridges, fabric, mannequins, paper, even a grand piano, have been accumulated for reuse; items that would have otherwise been sent to a landfill and forgotten. Instead of being disposed of, these items now serve a purpose, often in the art community.
Supplies in excellent shape such as chalk, paint, chairs and tables have been taken and used by teachers and libraries across the New York area. Educators from poor districts or working within a financially limited program have especially found these items generally free and helpful.
Supplies have also worked to help groups in the art community, such as the Nuyorican Poets Center, Artists on Wheels and the Apollo Theater Foundation.
To be eligible to receive donations, a person must prove that he or she serves the arts, either as a teacher, social worker or working in an agency that serves the arts.
After a tour of the workshop, where visitors are able to view multicolored illustrations, murals and designs from reused items, the CUNY coalition meeting began. A recap of prior, successful events began in the CUNY system, such as Hudson Valley Environmental Consortium and strides taken by schools such as Bronx Community College and City College, the latter housing a green roof. Hunter College is also planning a green roof initiative in their school.
Successful strategies to raise environmental awareness were also discussed, from seminars to workshops to other different, highly promoted events. As schools discussed the progress and strides made in their particular schools, there was one school whose strides were omitted from the discussion - our school, Baruch College. As a business school, full of future professionals, millionaires and possibly billionaires, our awareness to these issues must grow.
Many students and graduates are entering into fields that are generally dispersing the most amount of waste in this world. With problems such as global warming and resources becoming depleted, can we really afford to stay unaware?
Material for the Arts began with a motivated and eco-concerned intern in 1978. The program now stores the most reusable resources in the city. A single person became the catalyst for a successful program. An organized group of CUNY students can create a similar, if not bigger, change.
Be the first to comment on this article!