Columbia University Students Drive Sustainable Living From Campus and Beyond
Transcript
00:05 I found it to be a great community on
00:08 campus that was really I'm working on
00:10 lots of cool projects to empower all the
00:11 students here to live sustainably and
00:13 make a difference in the world each
00:15 person making a small change can first
00:17 of all inspire others to make a similar
00:19 small change which would be kind of a
00:21 domino effect the student perspective is
00:23 irreplaceable we want everybody to live
00:25 as sustainably as possible the students
00:29 are studying a lot of these topics in
00:31 class and they need no convincing that
00:34 this is an issue that needs urgent
00:36 action there are green sale on campus
00:38 has not only changed behaviors that's
00:40 changed mindsets new is not necessarily
00:43 necessary students tend to leave items
00:45 behind that are like usable we sell it
00:47 for like very very low prices
00:49 so we diverted a hundred thousand pounds
00:51 of usable items from landfill I think
00:53 that sustainability is something that if
00:55 people don't really learn by the time
00:57 they're out of the school system it's
00:58 something that they're not gonna learn
01:00 to implement in their own lives it's
01:02 really important that the youth
01:03 understand how that this is kind of it
01:06 and now is the time that we make a
01:07 difference and I think with like Greta
01:09 Thornburg and a lot of other youth
01:11 activists becoming so prevalent now it's
01:14 the best time to get youth involved
01:16 encouraging those sustainable habits
01:18 it's very important early on just in my
01:21 time that can't be over the four years
01:22 I've seen a huge attitude shift towards
01:25 sustainability little changes everyone
01:27 makes impacts a campus culture and
01:29 beyond and I think that's something you
01:30 can apply to not just a college campus
01:32 but your daily life and even looking at
01:34 New York City all the newest
01:36 sustainability initiatives that the city
01:38 is pushing for
01:39 [Music]
01:43 New York City has incredible challenges
01:46 and opportunity when it comes to climate
01:49 change of the environment you have a
01:51 city that is totally tuned in and
01:53 supportive of these issues it's a matter
01:55 of us having the drive personally think
02:00 about individual impacts and how they
02:02 add up working on like a zero-waste
02:03 things not using plastic using reusable
02:05 items as much as possible obviously
02:09 being in New York it's easy not to drive
02:10 and use public transport or bike around
02:11 a lot we have a city bike system where
02:14 for a pretty low fee and get free access
02:16 to thousands of bikes all over New York
02:18 City I think a lot of students actually
02:20 use City bike to sort of extend their
02:22 reach beyond just the campus bubble I
02:24 know a lot of people use it to go
02:26 downtown or right in Central Park it
02:28 takes a little bit of a mental
02:29 commitment but once you get there the
02:31 payoffs are huge once you are serving as
02:34 a great example it's easy for other
02:35 people to catch on that as well New York
02:37 City is taking a real leadership stand
02:39 in the global conversation around
02:41 climate change and we have a
02:43 responsibility to manage the resources
02:46 that are available to us to leave this
02:48 planet in a place that's better than we
02:50 found it there's only so much you can do
02:53 as an individual but if every individual
02:56 is doing that it makes a robot
03:00 you
00:08 campus that was really I'm working on
00:10 lots of cool projects to empower all the
00:11 students here to live sustainably and
00:13 make a difference in the world each
00:15 person making a small change can first
00:17 of all inspire others to make a similar
00:19 small change which would be kind of a
00:21 domino effect the student perspective is
00:23 irreplaceable we want everybody to live
00:25 as sustainably as possible the students
00:29 are studying a lot of these topics in
00:31 class and they need no convincing that
00:34 this is an issue that needs urgent
00:36 action there are green sale on campus
00:38 has not only changed behaviors that's
00:40 changed mindsets new is not necessarily
00:43 necessary students tend to leave items
00:45 behind that are like usable we sell it
00:47 for like very very low prices
00:49 so we diverted a hundred thousand pounds
00:51 of usable items from landfill I think
00:53 that sustainability is something that if
00:55 people don't really learn by the time
00:57 they're out of the school system it's
00:58 something that they're not gonna learn
01:00 to implement in their own lives it's
01:02 really important that the youth
01:03 understand how that this is kind of it
01:06 and now is the time that we make a
01:07 difference and I think with like Greta
01:09 Thornburg and a lot of other youth
01:11 activists becoming so prevalent now it's
01:14 the best time to get youth involved
01:16 encouraging those sustainable habits
01:18 it's very important early on just in my
01:21 time that can't be over the four years
01:22 I've seen a huge attitude shift towards
01:25 sustainability little changes everyone
01:27 makes impacts a campus culture and
01:29 beyond and I think that's something you
01:30 can apply to not just a college campus
01:32 but your daily life and even looking at
01:34 New York City all the newest
01:36 sustainability initiatives that the city
01:38 is pushing for
01:39 [Music]
01:43 New York City has incredible challenges
01:46 and opportunity when it comes to climate
01:49 change of the environment you have a
01:51 city that is totally tuned in and
01:53 supportive of these issues it's a matter
01:55 of us having the drive personally think
02:00 about individual impacts and how they
02:02 add up working on like a zero-waste
02:03 things not using plastic using reusable
02:05 items as much as possible obviously
02:09 being in New York it's easy not to drive
02:10 and use public transport or bike around
02:11 a lot we have a city bike system where
02:14 for a pretty low fee and get free access
02:16 to thousands of bikes all over New York
02:18 City I think a lot of students actually
02:20 use City bike to sort of extend their
02:22 reach beyond just the campus bubble I
02:24 know a lot of people use it to go
02:26 downtown or right in Central Park it
02:28 takes a little bit of a mental
02:29 commitment but once you get there the
02:31 payoffs are huge once you are serving as
02:34 a great example it's easy for other
02:35 people to catch on that as well New York
02:37 City is taking a real leadership stand
02:39 in the global conversation around
02:41 climate change and we have a
02:43 responsibility to manage the resources
02:46 that are available to us to leave this
02:48 planet in a place that's better than we
02:50 found it there's only so much you can do
02:53 as an individual but if every individual
02:56 is doing that it makes a robot
03:00 you