Skip to Navigation | Skip to Content

Publicly-Posted Expressions of Interest (EOIs)

NYU's Sustainability Task Force is now accepting proposals for the 3rd annual round of Green Grants - competitive funding awards for faculty-, student- and staff-led projects that spark the imagination of the university community and advance our leadership in local and global environmental scholarship and practice.

Potential applicants may opt in their application to post their EOI submissions to this page, for viewing and/or contact with peers and the public. This is an effective way to draw on community feedback, request help or expertise from throughout the university, and seek a partner – or, just browse the public listings to find a project to join.

We encourage readers to reach out and share feedback and ideas with applicants below, and to consider partnering or contributing to a project if appropriate. Have a special skill or area of expertise, or want to get involved? Let us know!


In order of submission:


  1. No more phonebooks!
  2. Broadway Bins
  3. Tisch Environmental Media Association
  4. NYU's Plug In Plug Out
  5. Greeks Go Green
  6. Sustainable Projects, Lectures, and Events Web News Video
  7. Beans for Greens
  8. Rhythm Runway
  9. Solar Powered Trash and Recycling Compacting
  10. That's Not Trash!
  11. SCGI Reusable Coffee Mugs
  12. PREVENTION=PRESERVATION: Prevent Water Bottle Waste & Preserve the Planet
  13. The Green Think Inititiave - Monetary Incentive Carbon Reduction Systems
  14. Huge Water Savings with Waterless Urinals
  15. What Does Oil Mean To You? Critical Questions About Resource Use & Conservation
  16. transparent power supplies
  17. Finance Working Group
  18. Green Paging
  19. Kimmel Herbalmania - Edibles for All
  20. Bicycle Access Survey
  21. Field Studies in Regional Land Conservation
  22. Change for Change (Part 1
  23. Waterless Composting Toilets
  24. Two Birds, One Stone
  25. Offsetting NYU

Name: Kristen Brooks
Email: kbrooks@nyu.edu

Project Title: No more phonebooks!

Project Abstract: Hi everyone, I am looking for someone to carry out this proposal into action, or I will continue with it next fall.

Everyday I walk by a mountain of phonebooks in the Lafayette Dorm entrance. Im thinking that this waste of paper, ink, and transportation, and is probably taking place at all other NYU residence halls as well, not to mention all the other universities nationally.

Because students in our generation are so technologically inclined, phonebooks are of NO use to us, as we look up all numbers, addresses, and businesses online. The phonebooks are a waste of paper, a waste of (most likely not vegetable or soy based)ink, and a waste of transportation (oil, money, time, labor, etc). They are also a waste of space in our hallway and make the dorm less aesthetically pleasing.

This grant would put into action the cancellation of all phonebooks to NYU buildings, or at the very least, dorms.

I am also interested in the cancellation of former residents' junk mail that no longer live in the dorm room. My roomates and I have recieved a number of mailings this year that come to us with the name of a former resident. Assuming that this happens to all rooms, in all dorms, this is a big waste of paper and ink, and is also something that can be avoided with the growing use of the internet. This grant could work to start a program where the current residents drop all former residents' junk mail into a bin and from there employ people to call the appropriate businesses and cancel the mail.

This grant could also be researched based. One could look at the percent of junk mail coming to all dorms, how much paper/ink is wasted by printing phonebooks for NYU every year, etc.

Let me know if anyone is interested at taking over this project or collaborating. Thanks, Kristen

Questions:

Name: Emily Keslar
Email: ek1022@nyu.edu

Project Title: Broadway Bins

Project Abstract: -On October 24, 2009, with permission from the city, in conjunction with Bill McKibben's 350 day, our team will attach 350 recycling bins to trash cans on every block of Broadway, from Inwood to the Financial District. Teams of 3 people will sign up for whatever block they want to go to on 350 day. They will be able to paint or decorate their bin how they wish.
-The way the recycling system will work is that the bins are intended to be a way to "spare some change" for NYC homeless people who collect bottles and cardboard to turn in for change. Thus, New York City will not need to do recycling pick ups for these bins, it will be a way for the people of New York City to help their homeless make change.

Questions: Do you know of any way to get sponsored by a company, or a way to get a company to donate any of these items that we need?

Name: Hannah Weddle
Email: hww210@nyu.edu

Project Title: Tisch Environmental Media Association

Project Abstract: The goal of this project would be to educate student filmmakers, the future of the media industry, about the sustainable choices they can make while making productions. The first step would be to create a checklist of sustainable alternatives for filmmaking. An initiative will be taken to arm students with re-useable water bottles to see how much less bottled water, plastic/styrofoam/paper cups can be used on sets of student films. Later in the year students would be able to submit their films to a competition within Tisch to determine which was the best "greenest" film made at Tisch that school year--regardless of genre. We will invite industry professionals to come and see our films and our sustainable practices.

At the same time, we would need to create a guide book of "green" filmmaking resources that would be available online for Tisch students to reference. We would need server space, hopefully on the NYU website, to make this resource available world-wide. A blog will be set up showcasing the latest sustainable techniques used by students and by Hollywood. The second part would be a reach-out intiative that would encourage other film schools to start similar organizations.

Questions:

Name: Angela Choo
Email: soyeonee@nyu.edu

Project Title: NYU's Plug In Plug Out

Project Abstract: As a NYU student living in the residence halls for the past three years, I have come to realize how much electricity the students use everyday. This led me to wonder how much electricity we would be able to save if we were able to somehow bear the cost of the energy we use. Even with the various environmental-friendly competitions and the amazing projects and activities performed by environmental-friendly and sustainability clubs in NYU, rarely any of them effectively instill a cost-incentive for students to use less energy consistently throughout the school year.

I have seen and visited many of my friends' suites and none of them seem to care much about saving energy. I believe that we could make a drastic difference by merely turning off the kitchen fans, turning off the common room lights, or unplugging our laptop battery wires when we go to class or leave our dorms during the day.

Having said all that, we need some type of mechanism that leads us to bear the cost of our electricity usage. It is true that our habits of excessive energy use is partly reflected in our rising yearly housing costs. Yet, it fails to effectively alter our behavior changes. I, therefore, am proposing other methods to do just that-- for example, having access to the electricity bill in an online payment system (since paper-format would be too messy and unreliable) every month for each dormitory floors. We could promote a program in which each floor, with the help of the dormitory's ACDE, Peer Educators, and RAs, have a maximum budget for the electricity bill and if the floor exceeds the budget limit, they will be warned and then eventually be fined thereafter.

I am aware that this specific idea may seem very unfeasible for, but with the help of other peers and collaborators, I believe we could come up with other alternatives that meets the goals of my project proposal.

So if anybody is interested in stepping on board, that would be awesome!



Questions:

Name: Elizabeth Bohinc
Email: emb369@nyu.edu

Project Title: Greeks Go Green

Project Abstract: The goal of our Greeks Go Green initiative is to educate and mobilize the Greek community, specifically Panhellenic women, around Sustainability initiatives. We are several series of service and philanthropy projects, including but not limited to:

-A series of service luncheons to educate Panhellenic members about sustainability, and use recycable materials to create decorations for a children's medical center. Our first luncheon will feature a guest speaker either from the NYU Sustainability project or NYU's Department of Environmental Science.

-A trip to a local organic farm. We hope to work with the NYU Community Agriculture Club and or Radishes and Rubbish since they would be more educated leaders for this trip.

-Planting trees in Staten Island, using relationships our community built this past semester during Hands On NY day.

-Plant bulbs in a community garden. Longer term, we hope to obtain our own plot in the garden for the NYU community.

-Lastly, we hope to use our enthusiasm to host a Green Gala on October 24, 2009.

This fundraiser will feature an organic dinner, as well as several green activities, and dancing. We want this evening to be fun and educational, so we also hope to invite a closing speaker from the Department of Environmental Studies to the event. We hope to partner with several other clubs and departments to put on this gala and all proceeds will go to protecting the Costa Rican Rainforest.


As you look down out list of programming, each program builds on the others. Our first service luncheon speaker will serve as an educational access point for those of who are curious about becoming active environmental leaders. As the semester continues, students have a variety of service projects they can engage in. We think it's important to introduce Sustainability programming with a wide range of opportunities to get involved and more importantly social opportunities. Trying something new is much more fun with a group of people you know. So our programming is designed to introduce a large group of activists to a new cause. I'm proud that our educational and active service programming will connect the Greek community with other green activists and the programming is not intimidating to intellectually curious individuals.


Ultimately, we think that our involvement in the NYU Sustainability initiative will not only affect our community but the student body as a whole.
Nationally, the Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the US, with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year.
Additionally, Greeks raise over $7 million dollars for philanthropy organizations every year.

Our Greeks Go Green program is new, but our community's commitment to service and education is not. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has four pillars: Friendship, Leadership, Scholarship and Service. Thinking about our community's size and commitment to making the world a better place, this program is a set of accessible building blocks for a long partnership between Sustainability and NYU Greeks.

On a final note: We recommend you check out this website: http://greeksgoinggreen.com/Eco_Communique.html.

Questions:

Name: sustainable news video
Email: christopher.james@nyu.edu

Project Title: Sustainable Projects, Lectures, and Events Web News Video

Project Abstract: The sustainability effort at NYU is growing by leaps and bounds each year. The lectures and events have also been growing in number and are wonderful additions to the overall sustainable effort here at NYU.

However, these events have not been adequately preserved for future educational use, or for repurposing of their content. I propose to change this going forward, ensuring the major (and many minor) events are adequately archived for current and future use.

The purpose of this project would ensure the major events, lecture series, and green grant projects get recorded for viewing on the web. The content would belong to the University, and would be applicable produced for inclusion on the upcoming launch of the NYU-branded iTunesU and yourtubeEDU video web portals.
The cost is flexible, and could be renewed on a semester-by-semester basis, based upon the number of lectures. The main cost is the editing time for a professional editor, about $400-$600 per major event or lecture. Minor events would be about one-third of those costs.

I own my own HD video camera lights and sound. I would be using my equipment and a volunteer crew to produce these videos.

Working with NYU TV and others, I would be the point person for ensuring the events are captured and then posted to the NYU web and beyond.



Questions:

Name: Christina Chen
Email: cc2441@nyu.edu

Project Title: Beans for Greens

Project Abstract: Having worked as a part-time Starbucks barista, I learned that every thirty minutes, new batches of coffee have to be brewed; consequently, tons and tons of fresh coffee grounds go to waste every half hour. Coffee grinds as well as tea bags slowly release nitrogen if applied to flower beds or vegetable gardens before watering. They are also efficient pest repellents. There are numerous Starbucks shops and other cafes all over Manhattan but there are especially a lot on our NYU campus; Java City Eco Grounds and Dunkin Donuts are additional coffee shops which can contribute. To reduce waste, it is wise to use the coffee grounds and tea bags to fertilize and protect the flower beds and gardens on our campus and Washington Square Park. Starbucks alone produces enough coffee waste to equal 4 747's per year in weight. That material should all be going back into the earth where it belongs, rather than into landfills.
The main purpose of this project is to get the small restaurants, beverage and coffee shops, and cafes around/ on the NYU campus to become involved and integrated with the community and school to dramatically reduce trash and waste by re-using organic materials such as leftover vegetable or fruit peels, teabags, or coffee grounds to contribute back to the earth. It’s a win-win situation.

Ultimately, this project will serve as a precedent for other food and beverage shops and industries to develop ways to convert their waste into reusable
materials for the environment.

I am inspired to learn what other recovered organic materials can become fertilizers for gardenbeds and produce gardens. This project provides students and NYU staff the opportunity to discover and learn about the composition of good compost and organic fertilizer. An extensive research project can be conducted to examine what resources various food and beverage shops on our campus can utilize efficiently instead of trashing or disposing them, as well as what foods can serve as good fertilizers. For example, Crushed egg shells are good fertilizers for soil that is growing vegetables and tomatoes. Fruit and vegetable peels, usually thrown out, can be also be used as valuable compost.

It is fairly easy to collect and distribute organic materials such as the peels or grounds, but the methods on how to correctly use them as fertilizer must be learned and researched. This project provides another opportunity for NYU students, shop owners on and surrounding our campus, and NYU staff to learn the techniques to transform their own food wastes and leftovers into fertilizers or compost right at home. For example, coffee grounds (about half a pound) should be first soaked in a five-gallon bucket of water for some time before they can be placed directly to soil. For house plants, they're prepared differently. The techniques are specific and this is a great opportunity for awareness on our campus and community.


Questions:

Name: Ganesh Ram
Email: ganeshram@nyu.edu

Project Title: Rhythm Runway

Project Abstract: “Back away from the Gucci bag and pick up this one. The bottle caps and hemp detailing are all the rage on the runways in Milan!” These devastating words have the power to send any fahsionista into a self-induced coma. The fact is, our society, specifically our peers, have an obsession with fashion. We live in a world where Chanel is no longer just the girl living down the street and Coach is not just the name of a train car. We also live in a world where designer garments can cost upward of $10,000, which bodes the question: where the heck does the high price tag come from? The answer: from the high end furs, leather appliqué, snakeskin detail and of course, the brand name on the product. Couple that with the fact that dry cleaning those garments can dent the consumer’s wallet even more because after all, cleaning rabbit fur is not cheap. The animal and environmental cruelty does not stop there: when these garments are showcased at a runway show, the models have enough hair products (hair spray and horse hair weaves) to expand the hole in the ozone layer and there is enough paper wasted on printing invitations and gift bags not to mention the amount of trash generated from such an event that can be reused but often, is not.
Our solution to the problem is to engage in the awareness of not just making fashion beautiful, but also environmentally friendly. Our strive toward eco-friendly couture is not completely psycho: we do not intend on throwing paint on every fur we see. Rather, we believe that there is a way to marry the idea of high end design with that of eco-awareness not only making the garment more “green” but also cheaper for the consumer. “Rhythm Runway” intends to collaborate with some of the most talented design students at FIT and NYU in order to create fabulous green fashions that will be showcased in the fall and spring here at NYU. Our goal is to stage a completely eco-friendly, outdoor, tented runway show in December and a cocktail party in July, where we showcase the latest clothing, hair and makeup trends—all with a green twist. This includes using materials such as recycled metals, environmentally friendly fabrics, “green” hair products, etc… The events will also showcase new trends in sustainability in terms of the food provided and the energy used to heat the tent and the materials used to build runway, for example. In addition, all of our dry cleaning from the show will be done at a company that uses less water and all proceeds from the garments that we sell will be forwareded to one of the many "green" charities at NYU. One of our expected outcomes is to reach the NYU student body on another level and bring them to the understanding that as college students, fashion does not have to be ridiculously expensive and at the same time, enable our peers to see that strutting down the street in a fierce metallic dress can actually be positive for the environment. We hope to slowly change the way our peers view fashion and soon, have a larger impact on the industry itself.


Questions: We have some pictures from a photo shoot we did to promote our organization and our event in the fall. Is there an email address where we can send those?

Name: Erica Suarino
Email: ens237@nyu.edu

Project Title: Solar Powered Trash and Recycling Compacting

Project Abstract: My goal is to get at least one, if not many, Solar Powered Trash and/or Recycling Compactors. The company that manufactures these compactors, BigBelly Solar, would work with us to obtain and pay for the units. I would also research the best spots on campus to place these units- areas with ample sun and high traffic where a lot of trash is generated. The resources needed for this project are funds to pay for the units, maintenance crews to empty the units when full, and spaces to place the units. These solar powered trash compactors provide many benefits. First, they provide increased storage of trash and recycling- 5x greater capacity than a trash bin of equal size- so littering is reduced and ease of recycling is increased. Trash and recycling will have to be collected less often, so maintenance crews can attend to other tasks. This will save money and time. Furthermore, the presence of a solar panel on the unit will promote student awareness of the viability of solar energy as a mainstream energy source and is in line with NYU's continuing dedication to achieve a green campus.

Questions: What areas on campus generate large amounts of waste? What places on campus receive enough light to power these compactors? How efficient are our current collection methods?

Name: Edward Bear
Email: edbear@ieee.org

Project Title: That's Not Trash!

Project Abstract: Working with facility management, multiple schools and departments, student organizations, and established non-profit partners we will implement, evaluate, and promote a novel system of E-waste recycling across NYU campuses. The proposed program could find corporate support due to INT 728/729, and would anticipate, and possibly inform, any future legislation regulating institutional e-waste disposal. In rough outline, the approach is to establish a system coherent with existing waste handling that, while remitting hazardous or truly useless waste to partner programs, allows and encourages the re-use and re-purposing of both systems and components which otherwise have no "end-of-life" program in place.

This project, as both a pilot program and research initiative, will produce operational data and cross-disciplinary scientific analysis addressing the (get ready) social, cultural, psychological, economic, ecological, managerial, pedagogical and engineering factors impeding and benefiting from institutional and community re-use programs. A particular interest is the incorporation of computing, electro-mechanical, and laboratory equipment in engineering, science, and art course work. As a physics tutor, I offer an example: I keep one of the several working photo-multipliers found in the school dumpster (a light detecting electron-tube) and several motors and magnets (from printers and hard-drives) around to discuss with students at the Polytechnic Tutoring Center. Why do I have to work the dumpsters to have access to teaching material?

The proposed program can be divided into three coordinated operations. The first will, as comprehensively as possible, audit the material waste streams of all buildings belonging to NYU. This audit will include financial, ecological, and human factors, feedback from sanitation employees, long and short term trends in quality and quantity, and facilitate the collection and cataloging of the salvaged items. This objective data and resulting analysis, particularly the economic data, will greatly inform the course program.

The second operation will investigate technical issues, in the broadest sense, and administer an online system of communication between partners. Much of the novel elements of the program are to be generated as applications for the collected material and a professional design and development process, tightly coupled to the budget, is to maintained.

The reach and gravity of the program greatly depends on the level of public involvement. A well-planned public and student outreach program must make campuses aware of the program, and the issues around e-waste, and counter disinterest. The budget includes awards offered to spur interest, attract attention, and cull good ideas.


Questions: As there is a possibility for this project to begin save the school money, and thus spread, I am very open to feedback and input! What Departments would deal with the tax right-off issues with the non-profits? If this program were limited to select facilities, which buildings on Manhattan would be good candidates, aside from the dorms? As an ex-demolition crew member, I believe, along with Build It Green, that this approach can work with construction practices. How would the school integrate this into it\'s contracting management?

Name: Christopher Cramer
Email: christopher.cramer@stern.nyu.edu

Project Title: SCGI Reusable Coffee Mugs

Project Abstract: The goal of the reusable coffee mugs is to engage with new MBA students and ask them to question their daily coffee drinking practices and the waste that paper cups create. By giving students mugs, they could begin to reduce the trash they create as well as show their NYU Stern pride with the Stern Logo on their steel-lined travel mugs. This program would be combined and advertised in conjunction with SCGI’s existing Vendor Discount program, that has negotiated price discounts with 4 local vendors in close proximity to Stern for students who purchase coffee with reusable mugs. With the green grant funds we would not only be able to provide students a price incentive to use a reusable mug and engage students to think about the trash they create with their morning coffee, but we would also facilitate the students taking action to change their behavior by providing them a reusable mug.

We see two ways to leverage this grant to build longer-term success with the Vendor Discount program. First, we want to demonstrate the impact of students using these mugs, and thus generating less waste in KMC, to the Stern Administration, who could be persuaded to add these mugs to their pre-term budget for subsequent MBA classes. Second, we are aiming to partner with the campus cash program to facilitate negotiations with additional vendors, and expand the program to the larger university community to encourage the use of reusable coffee mugs.


Questions: Are there bulk discounts on NYU Stern logo reusable coffee mugs available to SCGI through a larger contract NYU has with a supplier?

Name: Raquel Lizardi
Email: ral240@nyu.edu

Project Title: PREVENTION=PRESERVATION: Prevent Water Bottle Waste & Preserve the Planet

Project Abstract: A Second Life Class project in Spring 2009 summarized how we at NYU contribute to the environmental damage caused by plastic water bottles. Through the collaboration we have initiated with the NYU Dining Services we aim to impact the way NYU’s cafeterias handle bottle consumption. This grant will fund the expansion of our campaign message and the purchase of supplies for our water bottle waste “alternatives”. Through our welcomed correspondence with the NYU Dining Services administration we have drafted two substitutions for bottled water sales in the dining facilities: water dispensers and stainless steel reusable containers. An NYU Green Grant will also help us expand the promotion of our campaign and increase student involvement through exhibits in the cafeterias and our “Prevention=Preservation” messages printed on promotional items, such as reusable bottles, to raise awareness of the “facts”. In example, “tap water is regulated more than the bottling industry, making it cleaner and safer.”

In order for the significance of this issue to be recognized we have to raise awareness of the impact this is having on our environment and the advantages we can share in addressing it. In 2006; 4.47 million tons of plastic bottles were sold. Of this massive quantity, only 1.11 million were recycled, this is at a recycling rate of 24.7%, not even ¼ of the sale amount. This slipshod rate of recycling left 3.36 million tons of bottles to be wasted.

In addition to increased green house gas emissions, there are a host of other environmental impacts too numerous to catalog in this brief prospectus, but they include damage to wildlife and marine life, and air and water pollution associated with raw materials extraction, processing, and industrial container production; as well as landfilling and incineration.

While the environmental benefits of recycling beverage containers are well known, the economic benefits are less so. Few policymakers are aware of the fact that many businesses benefit from using post-consumer glass bottles, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Recovering more beverage containers from the waste stream makes environmental sense, and it makes economic sense.

This is a short example of the kind of awareness our campaign is designed to promote on not only a local level, but also a much broader global circuit as well through our virtual bottle tower. This edifice grows proportionally with the number of bottles sold through NYU’s dining services, creating a mountain of bottles, a virtual landmark on the NYU Second Life campus.

The decentralization of our campus community creates a need for this online platform, providing a common ground where students can connect. Our tower and the promotion of our campaign is not only a symbolic meter of the quantity we are addressing at NYU, but symbolically serves to represent many communities who share our interest in conservation. I am hopeful this campaign will jumpstart further campaigns to prevent the waste of all disposable beverage containers because this is an increasing threat to the welfare of our environment.

Questions: If you have any interest in collaborating or have information regarding the cost of water fountain installation or know of good deals for printing resources (for our promo items), please feel free to contact me.

Name: Elon Rubin
Email: elon.rubin@thegreenthink.org

Project Title: The Green Think Inititiave - Monetary Incentive Carbon Reduction Systems

Project Abstract: Climate change represents a substantial threat to humanity. We must reduce our carbon emissions drastically within the next ten years in order to combat this threat. This dire problem requires creative, and audacious solutions. Enter Green Think Initiative.
The Green Think Initiative hopes to implement a monetary incentive carbon reduction system in the NYU dorms. Put simply, students will receive rebates, in the form of campus cash, for reducing energy usage. Money will be generated through efficiency, and supplemented through grants and fundraising . More specifically, we plan to implement a pilot program in three dorms – 13th st, Alumni, and 26th st – that will give students rebates according to different calculations - by room, by floor, and by hall. (In order to see if the way energy reduction is calculated affects rate of reduction). Calculations will be based on net energy saved from the previous years baseline. Furthermore, we propose that the program run in conjunction with the NYUnplugged program already implemented at the university. However, before this program is implemented, the university must make investments in various areas.
We plan to use the green grant in three areas: feedback, infrastructure, and grants. According to a plethora of scholarship generated within academia, having a feedback system is an important component of inducing energy reduction. In fact, Oberlin College pioneered a feedback system that gives students real time data of their energy usage. We plan to use the grant to fund feedback systems (A feedback system consists of a graphic interface, streamed via the web, that gives real time updates of energy usage ) Consult http://www.oberlin.edu/dormenergy/) . Secondly, we plan to use the grant to supplement grants given back to students. Finally, we hope to update outdated infrastructure in dorms.
While many higher learning institutions, ranging from Oberlin College to Indiana University to New York University, have implemented collegiate dorm competitions aimed at reducing carbon emissions, no one has added a money component. As a result, programs fail to live up to their full potential. The Green Think Initiative represents a low risk, high reward program that can increase the stature of the university, streamline costs, as well as produce tangible emission reductions. On a higher level, we hope to roll out this program across the collegiate community. The aforementioned goals cannot be achieved without a green grant. Therefore, we ask for your help on this endeavor.


Questions:

Name: Aaron Jacobs-Smith
Email: ajs639@nyu.edu

Project Title: Huge Water Savings with Waterless Urinals

Project Abstract: As the student liaison to the NYU Law Sustainability Committee, I hope to get the support of law school administrators for the installation of 5 waterless urinals in NYU Law buildings.

The university at large is already contemplating installing such urinals when it renovates 715 Broadway and constructs the 12th Street Broadway Residence Hall (mentioned in the report "Greening Urban Campus: A Sustainability Assessment from New York University). There is little reason to not pursue a policy of implementing this water saving technology in existing buildings today. Capital costs are low and the labor for installation is at most an estimated 2 hours per unit.

Long term, the project should pay for itself in the form of savings resulting from the increased efficiency, which should ultimately exceed the costs. In a study of Kaiser Permanente hospital facility, installing 14 waterless urinals could save as much as 40 thousand dollars over twenty years. Moreover, waterless urinals require less maintenance resulting in savings to labor costs.

This of course does not account for the environmental benefits of minimizing water use, particularly treated potable water. According to federal law a urinal sold today cannot use more than 1 gallon per flush. Of course, if the urinals within NYU Law facilities all met this standard, use of such urinals amounts to an enormous use of water.

I hope to be able to get numbers on current bathroom water use. If good data is not available, I will amend the project to add monitoring systems so we can more accurately track the impact of the project. Such hard numbers would be invaluable in gaining support for broader initiative expanding this program.

Implementation of the project will hopefully be facilitated by Lilian Zalta, Assistant Dean for Operations and Administrative Services at the Law School. I will take responsibility for ordering the necessary parts and will work with building administrators to ensure that I procure models that fulfill a given location’s needs. With Ms. Zalta support, installation can be performed by NYU employees.

Questions:

Name: Professor Fred Ritchin
Email: fr2@nyu.edu

Project Title: What Does Oil Mean To You? Critical Questions About Resource Use & Conservation

Project Abstract: Photojournalist Ed Kashi, in conjunction with UC Berkeley Professor Michael Watts, has conducted extensive work in the Niger Delta. Kashi’s photographic evidence of oil exploitation, environmental degradation, community conflicts, and human distress plaguing Nigeria resulted in a feature story in National Geographic and the release of a 2008 book, exhibition, video, and website titled Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta.

An NYU Green Grant would facilitate plans to utilize these informative materials towards the project’s goal to raise awareness about energy and other vital resources consumed indiscriminately on a daily basis. Protecting the Earth’s limited supply of oil, water, and land is crucial for upcoming generations. By motivating the NYU campus toward sustainability, our hope is to generate engagement and conversation around topics of eco-responsibilty and conservation that would lead the NYU community towards a more global understanding of resource management.

With Ed Kashi as a guest lecturer addressing worldwide issues of oil, a research course under Professor Ritchin’s “Media and Advocacy” curriculum would be developed. This collaborative teaching effort would initiate activist projects based on video interviews conducted by students with faculty, students, and employees of NYU.
Questions such as:
-What does oil mean to you?
-What other sources of energy do you use daily?
-How do you conserve energy, water, and other resources?
-Is energy consumption something you think about on a daily basis?
-Do you think you can make a difference? How?

Participants’ answers would be reviewed immediately by providing correct answers to the questions through handouts (i.e. Curse materials and NYU’s own “Energy Reduction Strategy”). In addition to existing materials, video cameras, information packets, and interview staff are required to carry out the project. Along with NYU elements, the current Curse website could be adapted to function as an interactive component allowing viewers to take their own quiz for eventual online posting with the NYU interview responses. YouTube could also be utilized; maybe creating a channel to include Ed's work on the Delta with student feedback.

By capturing reactions – “I was wrong?!” or “I didn’t know!” or “What can I do?”– and displaying these results on interactive screens at NYU, the hope is to generate new program ideas, to promote conservation efforts, to initiate dialogue, to spark imagination, and to involve the NYU campus in creatively approaching both local and global interests in the survival of our planet.



Questions:

Name: Xiaoyang Feng
Email: alexfengchina@gmail.com

Project Title: transparent power supplies

Project Abstract: The human powered hand crank charge module is a DIY "do-it-yourself" energy solution to charge portable electronics.

We will research, design and implement a simple and transparent technology that will allow members of the NYU community to generate their own electricity at a scale that is relevant to their everyday energy needs.

Our objective is to create a technology that fulfills the following criteria:

- It must be easy to teach people to build themselves and reproduce.

- It must educate people through its use.

We believe that sustainability begins with technologies that are simple and legible. They must be easy to teach, use and reproduce. Sustainable technologies must also be flexible enough to accommodate and scale to individual needs.

The DIY human powered hand crank is a simple and legible technology. Made from a small number of parts, it is easy and safe to assemble on your own. It is also easy to disassemble, customize and reassemble.

This technology can be used to charge small portable electronic devices such as iPhones, mp3 players and cellphones. Instead of going straight for a charger that transforms 120 volts of AC from an outlet, people can begin by hand cranking to attain the low voltage demands of these small devices.

We are hoping that people will uncover unintended uses for this technology.

In the research and design phase we will require funding for materials to prototype the human powered hand crank charge module. This will include access to the NYU laser cutting services, cutting material, various analog and digital electronic components.

During the latter phase of this grant cycle, we will implement our design within the NYU community. We will set up charge stations for members of the NYU community to hand crank charge their own electronic devices. These educational and elegant displays of technology will also provide an access point to distribute information about the production of electricity and invite people to attend the DIY workshops.

The implementation phase will require additional materials for 90 easy to assemble DIY kits. Members of the NYU community will be able to attend one of our workshops where they will build and take home their own hand crank charge module. We will also need access to printing services for supplemental educational and instructional materials.

Questions:

Name: Anna Smukowski
Email: als516@nyu.edu

Project Title: Finance Working Group

Project Abstract: The Finance Working Group would pursue ways in which to use finance as a way to promote environmental and social justice on campus. One thing our school has yet to address is how our institution’s financial pull can be used to create sustainable, scalable change. The overall objective of starting a Finance Working Group is to show that students are committed to pursuing environmental and social justice through the way our school spends money. The Finance Working Group has the power to influence the way students, faculty and administration view investment and will hopefully work with them to expand the current ways the University invests.

Topics to be explored by the group include:

Recommending creation of revolving loan fund for sustainability projects at NYU
-to be used for funding for entrepreneurial projects by members of the NYU community, surrounding community, efficiency investments, water conversion, exploration of renewable fuels, storage space for Asset Management, etc.

Developing a system of cost-benefit analysis
-to be used to work with the Sustainability Task Force and othe groups on campus on current projects that are missing financial information, such as the Environmental Assessment and other campus greening initiatives

Developing areas of research and recommendations on preferential investment for current university investments

Developing areas of research on other Universities’ investment practices

Developing and implementing a plan to impact proxy votes of NYU’s investments


Needed resources include space for meetings, printing materials for data collected to create guides to be distributed to members of the university, etc. The most integral resource for this project is the need for student, staff and administration participation.


The overall expected outcome of the Finance Working Group is to help change the way the university views investment and to educate university members of socially and environmentally friendly areas of investment and to provide an opportunity for students to learn about how to use finance as a way to pursue social and environmental justice.


Questions: We would like to the input of the committee and peers to see what ideas they see as most effective and implementable in our plan. We would also like to know if there are any further suggestions of what the committee could achieve. One of the main objectives of applying for a Green Grant is for us to reach out to all members of the NYU community to garner their support and to see if anyone else would like to be involved so feel free to contact us.

Name: Sydney Thompson
Email: sydney.thompson@nyu.edu

Project Title: Green Paging

Project Abstract: Background: New York University’s Bobst Library will soon offer exciting new delivery options for our patrons. Included are paging books to the circulation desk, paging books to be delivered to other sites within the Division of Libraries (Institute for Fine Arts, Courant, Real Estate Institute, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World), paging books and journals to be scanned and sent electronically to our patrons at Washington Square and abroad, and finally, paging books to be sent to our global sites. These services will be rolled out gradually over the coming two and half years, using a tiered approach (beginning with faculty, then adding graduate students, undergraduates, etc.). The purpose of this tiered approach is to gauge demand and clean up any kinks in our workflow as the services progress.

Role of the Green Grant: As is apparent from the project background, each of these services requires paging the physical materials from the library stacks. We currently page books for our Interlibrary Loan service to other institutions. The process includes printing individual “pick” slips, which are then placed in the book for shipping and workflow purposes on the receiving library’s end. With our new services, the book will not always be shipped. Instead, we will need to print a “hold slip” indicating either patron pick up or delivery. Therefore, the paging slip will be wasted. With this Green Grant, I hope to implement “Green Paging” which will send a list of books to be paged (for any reason) in call number order to a handheld device. Materials will then be retrieved by student library assistants from the library stacks and scanned using the handheld device. The hope is the device will have the functionality to send data to the printer and the appropriate slip will be printed for insertion in the book. Money from the Green Grant will be used to purchase the necessary device(s) and/or printer(s).

Who is involved?: These future services will greatly benefit the users of Bobst Library. The Green Paging workflow will affect Bobst Library Circulation, Stacks, and Interlibrary Loan departments, including administrators, full-time staff, and student assistants. In collaborating with my colleagues in the library world of Interlibrary Loan and Delivery Services, this Grant has the potential to affect the process of paging books in institutions worldwide.


Questions:

Name: Pamela Bolen/George Reis
Email: pamela.bolen@nyu.edu

Project Title: Kimmel Herbalmania - Edibles for All

Project Abstract: This project has already begun with some initial edible plantings in the available planters on the east and west terraces, 2nd floor Kimmel Center. But the project has the potential of really becoming a model for very locally grown herbs and vegetables and how to use them for healthy living.
Our objectives:
1. Identify growing spaces in the Kimmel Center that have light, air and access to water.
2. Purchase appropriate planters, soil and irrigation system.
3. Contact the Kimmel community for interest in taking on a specific garden.
4. Identify plantings which could be theme oriented, i.e. medicinal plantings; a fragrance garden; pizza garden; Mexican or South Asian garden, and aesthetically pleasing.
5. Plant and always identify each planting with its common and Latin names.
6. Develop a website that would identify the gardens and plantings and cultural history of herbs. Encourage the University community to visit and pick. And instruct people how they can do the same in their offices and homes.
7. Work with our chefs and developing recipes from what is grown and post on the web site.
8. Hold cooking demonstrations in Kimmel with what is grown there.
9. Have a section on the web site on the healthful qualities of herbs and strongly encourage people to use herbs instead of salt, etc.
10. Hold a workshop with LiveWell in HR on the gardens and healthful eating.

The resources are planters, soil, plants and water. The web site would contain most of the documentation.

The outcomes are to educate people what you can grow in small, city environments and how to use what you grow to engage in healthful living through really tasty foods. (I want to read a book that was just reviewed in the NYTimes last Friday - "Farm City" about farming in Oakland. It sounds wonderful but don't worry we won't bring in any cows!)


Questions:

Name: Emily Allen
Email: emilylouiseallen@gmail.com

Project Title: Bicycle Access Survey

Project Abstract: Lack of indoor parking is frequently cited by NYC cyclists as stopping them from commuting to work on bicycle. New York City suffers from the highest rates of bicycle-theft in the nation, so its no surprise that most people do not feel comfortable storing their bicycles outside for the duration of the workday. Employers who allow their employees to bring their bicycles inside see higher rates of people who choose to bicycle to work. Enabling people to bring their bicycles inside not only increase rates of bicycle commuters, but all helps to normalize cycling as a means for personal commuting and transportation.

Into 871 is out to change all that. Sponsored by NYC City Council’s David Yasskey, this new and exciting regulation will require all commercial buildings with freight elevators to give reasonable access for tenants, sub-tenants and their employees to store their bicycles inside. Numerous commercial buildings already allow bicycles inside, either in designated storage areas, or simply in the office of the tenant; this regulation will require all commercial building owners to do the same.

There is currently a very limited amount of indoor storage within the NYU Campus Network. One building allows public storage, while other academic, faculty and student life buildings have a mish-mash of rules and regulations about bringing bicycles inside. It has been previously recommended in the 2009 STF Transportation Survey that NYU adopt a university-wide bicycle access policy that meets these new city regulations, regardless if the new law does in fact require it.

We propose to conduct a university-wide survey of all NYU owned and leased buildings, regarding bicycle access. The goal will be to determine the existing policies and infrastructure that already exist, and ascertain what changes will be necessary to facilitate bicycle access to all buildings. A report will be issued which will clearly layout the current conditions, including existing parking infrastructure, current building regulations and peak occupancy figures. With this information, we will work with the client to make concise recommendations and plans to realize this goal of increasing bicycle access, including: locating spaces within NYU facilities that can accommodate indoor bike parking, writing new bicycle access regulations that will maximize accessibility and ease of adoption, and designing informational signage and materials for NYU community members identifying where bicycles can be stored on campus.

Questions:

Name: Evan Ray
Email: evan.ray@nyu.edu

Project Title: Field Studies in Regional Land Conservation

Project Abstract: “Field Studies in Regional Land Conservation” is intended to provide the means for NYU undergraduate students interested in environmental studies, urban/regional planning, and geography to gain unique experiences and knowledge from visiting and volunteering at just a few of the myriad private land trusts and preserves in the tri-state area. These natural preserves offer intimate and novel learning opportunities unavailable in the city and would be a valuable supplement to coursework in the fields mentioned above. Privately held, and managed for both ecosystem preservation and public use, these landscapes offer interesting opportunities for students to learn about the complicated interactions between individuals, community and regional governments, land-use policies, business interests, community organizations, non-profits, scientists, and the natural world.

Many NYU undergraduates lack the means—fiscal and logistical—but not the desire to learn more about the region they inhabit. “Field Studies” will give these students the opportunity to engage and network with environmental scientists, conservation biologists, foresters, and land conservation groups working outside of New York City. The hope is that these connections will be inspiring and revelatory in the short term and may provide the impetus for future collaboration between members of the NYU and conservation communities.

The program will draw on funds provided by a Green Grant to travel, as a group of no more than 15 people, to roughly 6-8 land trusts and preserves over the course of the 2009-2010 academic year—perhaps 4 trips in the fall and 4 trips in the spring, depending on when the areas could accommodate the group. Students will spend the day at the preserve doing various pre-arranged activities. NYU will provide a modest lunch and beverages.

While at the preserves, students will undertake two main activities: (1) they will meet with property stewards (i.e. owners/managers) to discuss both immediate and ongoing issues facing the preserve—political, financial, and environmental; (2) they will interact directly with the preserve by assisting the stewards with activities such as ongoing or upcoming environmental education campaigns, wildlife habitat construction and maintenance, recreational trail repair and construction, and scientific research.

It is often hard for NYU students to get out of the city to benefit and learn from resources beyond NYU’s institutional framework. “Field Studies” aims to open-up the tri-state region to undergraduates who seek a more engaged and meaningful interaction with landscapes and community groups working outside the five boroughs.


Questions:

Name: Nneka Etoniru
Email: nje208@nyu.edu

Project Title: Change for Change (Part 1

Project Abstract: How does one bring about change? Each person must take initiative to bring change to his or her daily life. I propose a plan to make changes to bring change that will help our planet. My proposal, titled Change for Change, will be a program for making freshmen dorms more eco-friendly. It will entail changing out the non-sustainable things in the dorms in exchange for more sustainable alternatives. Specifically, this program will save energy and water.
Energy. When the new freshmen class comes to move in, they will undoubtedly bring with them desk lamps and room lights. I suggest dorm wide "light changes" where students can bring the incandescent light bulbs which they brought from home, and change them out for Energy-Star light bulbs, which last 10 times as long as incandescent light bulbs. The students can do their "light change" during move-in weekend. Additionally, Changing room window treatments to insulated shades which will hold in room heat in the winter and keep them cool from sunlight in the summer in a more efficient manner. Putting occupancy motion sensors in the halls and bathrooms will help solve the common issue of leaving lights on when not in use, saving from that excessive waste of energy. It's such a practical solution, unfortunately unseen in the freshmen dorms.
Water. Two easy ways to save water costs in the bathrooms would be to put faucet aerators on sink faucets and low flow shower heads on the showers as well. I also propose insulating the water heaters and the pipes, since insulating water heaters saves 1,000 pounds of CO2 per year.
Practices to implement in the dorms would be: Switching to laptops instead of desktops cuts three quarters electrical use, so I propose this change in the dorm computer labs. Additionally, adding more dryer racks in the laundry room to promote hang-drying rather than using electrical dryers would save 700 ponds of CO2 per year for each dryer unused.
Lastly, a major practice that I would like to see implemented in Change for Change would be that of changing the heat and AC used in the dorms. Three percent of heating costs are saved with every degree the heat is turned down, and 3-4 percent of cooling costs are saved with every degree the AC is turned up. Changing the temperature 2 degrees all year would save about 2,000 pounds of CO2.

Questions: I would like this to be phase one of Change for Change. If this is successful, I would like to propose Change for Change 2, where the bigger ticket items are changed out of the freshmen dorms as well: two-in-one wahser/dryer machines, solar water heaters,and changing the toilet fixtures to dual-flush handles. However, I am wondering about the efficiency of the two-in-one washer/dryer machines. If we were to add those and remove dryers, would this be more inefficient since it cuts down the amount of students that can use the machines at the same time? I would appreciate thoughts on this.

Name: Christina Wang
Email: cw1044@stern.nyu.edu

Project Title: Waterless Composting Toilets

Project Abstract: I took a trip to a town in Mexico to build waterless toilets during college. Since the locals mostly used styrofoam chamber pots that were not good for the environment, the waterless toilets were a welcome addition, providing both sanitary conditions to use the restroom and environmental benefits due to cutting down on waste and growing compost over the course of every three to six months.

At first, I was a bit skeptical about the use of waterless toilets, but I was won over by the time we finished building one for a family, over the course of 1.5 weeks. I myself used waterless toilets that had already been built, and I really enjoyed the experience. Using a waterless toilet is interesting, and there are a bunch of different types. The type I used involved separating urine and excrement through the use of a divided toilet for women, and a separate urinal for men. The front part of the sitting toilet is used by women to urinate in, and the back part is used for excrement for both sexes. The different between this and a port-a-potty is that due to the separation of the excrement and urine, there is much less contamination. The urine goes down the drain as usual, and practically all the bacteria in the excrement dies out after a period of 90 days. Excrement actually takes up less space than you would think. After each time you poop, you scoop a mixture of sawdust and lime to cover the poop with and help it dry out. I found this was extremely effective as far as eliminating odors. The waterless toilet I used smelled much nicer than most normal restrooms I’ve been in. Also, the version I used had stairs and was a few feet off the ground, so that when it was filled, some boards could be removed to retrieve the fertilizer.

While it may be hard to change the NYU culture to use waterless toilets en masse, I think it would be interesting to test out a pilot with a few units, and possibly expand use of these in the future. I would need a few others to help me implement the project, to help build or help manage the initiative. The expected outcome would be a few units at least in use and actively contributing to other compost initiatives on campus.

Questions:

Name: Samantha Feld
Email: smf353@nyu.edu

Project Title: Two Birds, One Stone

Project Abstract: Two Birds, One Stone is a student run initiative designed to reduce food wastes in NYU dining halls while providing healthy, nutritious meals to the hungry and homeless population in New York City. Each evening, student volunteers report to two NYU dining halls to pick up leftover food from that day that has been packaged by dining hall staff and transport it to a local homeless shelter. Over the past two years, Two Birds, One Stone has managed to redistribute over 300 pounds of food each week.
This fall Two Birds, One Stone aims to expand the program into more dining halls and more shelters. We also intend to add an educational and advocacy component to the program in which student volunteers can learn about food and environmental issues and discuss ways to further address those issues.

Questions: * Currently we use aluminum trays to transport the food each evening to the shelter. We go through hundreds of pans each month and I am interested in finding a way to reduce the amount of trays that go to waste. * I am looking for new creative ways to publicize the program. We rely on a volunteer base of hundreds of students in order to carry out the program on a nightly basis. * Transportation suggestions? Currently we rely on the NYU bus route to transport the food downtown to the shelter each evening. While this has worked for the past few years, some students find using the bus system in the evening difficult and time consuming. We have thought about using bikes with wagons, however since we must transport the food in the evening this option is not very feasible or safe.

Name: John LeVine
Email: jcl408@nyu.edu

Project Title: Offsetting NYU

Project Abstract: The program is named “Offsetting NYU” and is estimated to begin October 01, 2009 at New York University. It is being run by the LeVine Foundation, a registered not-for-profit in New York State that was founded by NYU/Gallatin student John C. LeVine. The goal of the program is to raise money to purchase Kyoto Protocol- and Voluntary Carbon Standard-certified carbon offsets to offset New York University’s carbon footprint. Carbon offsets are financial instruments that help in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, with each offset representing one metric ton of greenhouse gases or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases. The offsets that will be purchased must be additional (would not occur without the offset), permanent (will not be taken down and benefits are not reversible), leakage-neutral (implementing the project does not cause higher emissions outside the project), and accurately base-lined and measured (metrics and emissions projections will be available and disclosed). The program will purchase carbon offsets funding projects that focus on renewable energy, methane collection and combustion, energy efficiency, destruction of industrial pollutants, and land-use and forestry initiatives.

The program is working with a third-party contractor, Carbon Advice Group. Carbon Advice Group will do independent analysis and research to determine the carbon footprint of New York University as well as a monetary analysis of how much it would cost to offset the university’s footprint. Once this data has been verified and documented, the program will begin its fundraising efforts. The program is applying for a Green Grant as a way to aid its activities and obtain a "NYU Match" for the purchasing of offsets.

Money will be raised through four major university conduits: 1) the university’s fraternity and sorority life; 2) student dormitory and residence halls; 3) events, ticket sales, and on-campus solicitations; and 4) engaging student organizations such as New York University’s student senate as well as environmentally-focused clubs.

The funds will be deposited into a LeVine Foundation-administered Chase bank account until January 08, 2010, with the option of extending the date to May 07, 2010 if certain benchmarks for Offsetting NYU are not met. Once the necessary funds for offsetting the carbon footprint of New York University have been raised, the organization will purchase carbon offsets primarily through registered wholesaler CarbonCatalog.org as well as other registered wholesalers. The organization will then make a catalog detailing which projects it has chosen to fund to provide to students, administrators, and interested parties.

The LeVine Foundation hopes to make Offsetting NYU a yearly event. We strongly believe this initiative is worthwhile for the University and the community.

Questions: