Are you green enough? That was the question raised at “Greening Day,” an event sponsored by the Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing on September 18 to motivate the NYUCD/NYUCN community to think about their impact on the environment and begin to change behavior and mindset set toward more socially responsible, environmentally sustainable actions.
Nearly 400 students, faculty, and staff came together on the Alfano Commons at the College of Dentistry to learn how to recycle and conserve energy both in the workplace and at home. The event featured “green” office products, such as non-toxic cleaning materials; a raffle drawing for free “Are You Green Enough?” T-shirts emblazoned with an enormous green frog; subscriptions to National Geographic’s Green Guide magazine; and meal vouchers donated by CulinArt, NYUCD’s food service vendor, which served organic cuisine at the event.
Standing next to a table laden with organic green apples grown by local farmers, NYUCD Executive Associate Dean for Finance and Administration Dr. Michael P. O’Connor, a co-chair of the joint NYUCD/NYUCN Greening Committee, said, “All the members of the Greening Committee are volunteers, who are motivated exclusively by a commitment to and a passion for the environment. As the number of people involved in sustainability programming grows through recruitment of additional students, faculty, and staff volunteers to oversee energy conservation and recycling in individual academic, administrative, and clinical departments, I predict that the Greening Committee will become a major force on campus.”
About New York University College of Dentistry Founded in 1865, New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) is the third oldest and the largest dental school in the US, educating more than 8 percent of all dentists. NYUCD has a significant global reach and provides a level of national and international diversity among its students that is unmatched by any other dental school.