Red may be SUNY Oneonta’s official color but, one week out of the year, students, faculty and staff “go green” to celebrate the Earth and showcase the campus’ commitment to sustainability.
Coordinated by the university’s Office of Sustainability, this year’s Green Dragon Week celebration was packed with Earth Day-themed events and activities, service opportunities and demonstrations to illustrate the importance of environmental causes such as recycling and reduced consumption. Prize incentives for participation ranged from coffee and coupons to an Empire Pass, which allows free entry to New York State Parks and Dept. of Environmental Conservation forests, beaches and trails.
“Sustainability is one of our core values, and we work hard to infuse it into all aspects of campus life, from classes we offer to the food we eat to the facilities we renovate and build,” said Sustainability Coordinator Rachel Kornhauser. “Green Dragon Week is a way to embody all that in a fun, accessible way, with events that are diverse enough to represent the student body and get all kinds of people involved.”
It was a busy week, complete with a campus tree walk, Sustainable Development Goal Fair and pop-up thrift store sale, “Plastic Wars” documentary screening and discussion, climate trivia night, Green Career Panel with recent graduates, and a trash cleanup at Neahwa Park in downtown Oneonta. Students and staff who pledged to reduce their environmental impact by carpooling, riding the bus, biking or walking to work or class during the week were treated to coffee and donuts.
For the first time on campus, the Office of Sustainability and volunteers conducted full-scale waste audits, one at Milne Library and one at Mills Dining Hall, sorting the trash and weighing it. At Milne, helpers found that, from of a week's worth of waste, a total of 23 pounds of recyclables ended up in the garbage. During the food waste audit, which coincided with National Stop Food Waste Day, students were encouraged to take smaller portions of food and return for seconds if still hungry. Those who didn’t waste any food were entered into a raffle for a free Starbucks drink.
Other highlights included a seed-planting party and a honey taste test with a local farmer, who taught participants about native pollinator plants and bees. Binghamton-based organization Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments, INC. (VINES) also visited campus to discuss their commitment to developing sustainable and just community food systems through community gardens.
Green Dragon Week culminated in a campus visit from American environmentalist, author and journalist Bill McKibben, who held discussions with campus community members, signed books and served as the distinguished speaker for the annual Cornell-Gladstone-Hanlon-Kaufmann Lecture in Environmental Education and Communication, which is free and open to the public.
On Saturday, the City of Oneonta hosted an Earth Day Festival featuring a farmers’ market, food, local vendors and thrift popups, environmental education, and family-friendly activities. The event was organized by senior Environmental Sustainability and Sociology major Morgan Whittington, who has a part-time job as the City of Oneonta’s Climate Smart Communities coordinator. Whittington is also an intern with the Office of Sustainability, president of the Environmental Science Club and a member of the University Advisory Council on Sustainability.
“Everybody can take action to make choices in their daily life to support sustainability,” Whittington said, “and the Earth Day Festival and Green Dragon week help reinforce this. Collect hard plastics, paper and cardboard and rinse out your coffee cups to recycle them, reduce your shower time, ride public transit or walk/bike, reduce your food waste…There are so many ways to reduce your environmental impact.”