September 14-20 marks FIT’s inaugural participation in No Impact Week, a program designed to boost motivation and interest in sustainability, build community, and create positive change. No Impact Week, which is being presented by the college’s Sustainability Council, includes a range of activities and events to help the FIT community discover how lowering their environmental impact can benefit both the planet and their quality of life. For the full calendar, including dates, times, and locations, visit fitnyc.edu/NoImpact.
Each day of No Impact Week is dedicated to a specific area of conservation and sustainability. Sunday’s focus is consumption; Monday is trash/waste; Tuesday is transportation; Wednesday is food; Thursday is energy; Friday is water/air/land; and Saturday is about giving back.
Highlights include:
- Weave-a-Thon, a daily crowdsourced art project using scrap yarn and textiles salvaged from the Textile/Surface Design program to create a wall hanging. The FIT community is invited to help make the wall hanging. The Weave-a-Thon takes place in Feldman lobby.
- Field trip to a state-of-the-art New York City recycling facility that uses magnets and lasers for sorting.
- Where Does FIT’s Trash Go?, a presentation highlighting the global pathways of materials discarded on FIT’s campus.
- FIT Greenmarket, locally grown fruits and vegetables for sale.
- Field Trip to Coney Island Beach, a walking tour with a focus on the environmental challenges facing marine wildlife and ecological systems.
- Green Roof tours, a rare opportunity to see FIT’s green roofs.
- The Think Big Challenge Information Session, where students will learn about creating ideas that can change the way their local communities or even the world think about education, energy, climate change, global health, human rights, and poverty alleviation.
- Transportation Alternatives 101, presenting cool bikes from Zen Bikes and safety tips from Transportation Alternatives.
The No Impact Project, directed by Colin Beavan, is an international, environmental, non-profit initiative founded in 2009. It is an outgrowth of No Impact Man, a book that Beavan wrote about a year long project in which he, his wife, two-year-old daughter, and four-year-old dog went off the grid and attempted to live in the middle of New York City with as little environmental impact as possible. Visit http://noimpactproject.org/. No Impact Week, which is part of the No Impact Project, has been adopted by communities, schools, and workplaces across the country. Visit http://noimpactproject.org/experiment/.