Events

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Stop 'N' Swap posterGrowNYC program has recycling events called Stop 'N' Swap® where people bring their unwanted clean, reusable, portable items such as clothing, housewares, games, books, & toys and take home something new, for free. CSI Sustainability began hosting one of these events twice the year right here on campus!

2019:On May 4th CSI Sustainbility in partnership with Sustainable Student Organization hosted the very first Stop and Swap at CSI.The event took place at 1C.

On December 14th, CSI Sustainability hosted a Stop 'N' Swap event for the CSI & Staten Island community. Stop 'N' Swap’s mission is to reduce, reuse, and recycle common household items such as, games, books, clothes, & toys for others in need. At the Swap 142 people attended donating 2872 pounds of stuff and 80% of this stuff was taken back by the community on the same day.

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2 kids standing next to  tables  with books

2022:  On May 7th, CSI welcomed 60 people to our Stop 'N' Swap event. The total intake for

the day was 1,171.5 pounds. There were 587 pounds remaining, which included textile recycling and contraband. The leftover items were donated to a local Salvation Army, meaning we diverted over 1,000 lbs. of items from reaching landfills.

On December 3rd we took in 1,376.5 lbs worth of items and were only left with 477 lbs of usable items! All of which were donated to the Salvation Army. The rest was recycled. We had 97 people in attendance. All numbers were up from last year!

2023: On December 12th, CSI hosted Stop 'N' Swap in a new location in building 1P. The total intake was 2938.5 pounds, the highest ever. After the event we left with only 731.5 pounds of textiles which were placed in our textile recycling bins on campus while other items were donated to the a local Salvation Army. This means that we dirverted over 2207 lbs of items from going into the landfill. That is more than 75% diversion! Our attandence reached 140 people, one of the highest in our history of Stop 'N' Swap at CSI. 

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Clothes on hanging rack
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2 people standing next to tables with children clothing and toys
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Charging cables
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Table with electronics and video games systems

 

 

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Students are planting trees
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Orientation Gathering. Students are getting information about how to plant the trees properly.
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April 29th, 2022 9 AM to 12 PM by the baseball field.​  The flyer shows a hand across horizontally on the bottom of the flyer with the tree in its palm. ​
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Two students  are digging a hole for the tree to be planted
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Students are learning the tree planting process
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Students are planting trees on the parking median

2019: On May 3rd, CSI's Conservation and Humanity class partnered with at CSI Sustainability to plant trees along the baseball field between the dorms and 3N Building. 

2020: On April 24th, we celebrated Arbor Day virtually. We encouraged students and staff to post a photo of a tree while they are planting it or a tree that has caught their eyes.

2021: April 30th, CSI Sustainability in partnership with CSI Athletics planted 150 trees around the baseball field. In addition, we asked people to participate virtually by taking photos of their favorite tree or the one they just planted.

2022: On April 29th, tree planting: We are proud to continue our Arbor Day tradition of planting trees. This year marked the 150th year since Arbor Day began. Students planted trees and bushes in front of the baseball field.

2023: April 28th, more than 20 students from CSI and Lifestyles for the Disabled came together as a community and make Arbor Day tree planting possible by planting 19 trees around CSI's athletic fields.

2024: This year's Arbor Day was celebrated early on April 19th due to CSI's Spring Break. Over 40 volunteers came to plant 23 trees, many of them from Nicotra Early Prep Charter School, on the parking median in parking lot 1. The median was chosen to help CSI reduce the number of Urban Heat Island Spots on campus. 

These Arbor Day events were possible by a partnership with NYC Arbor Day Committee, John Bowne HS, Grow-Out Nursery, CSI Athletics, Facilities and Operations.

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Students are counting the number of bags dropped off at our bag drive
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Bag drive table with paper leaf bags and donated plastic bags on top of the table.
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CSI's mascot Danny the dolphin is standing with visitor holding an orange reusable bag​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Students, faculty and staff waiting in line to pick up their reusable bag. ​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2017: College of Staten Island Sustainability hosted an Earth Day celebration. This event taught students about the history of Earth Day, its importance, how students can contribute to sustainability projects on campus, and learn about the winners of the CUNY Sustainability Competition. Students also got the opportunity to experience the proposed Staten Island Aerial Gondola.

2019: CSI's first recycle week was filled with various events to help promote recycling. It started with the Plastic bag drive and leaf bag giveaway. Then continued with a bottle and clothing drive. The Sustainable Student Organization (SSO) collected 1321 plastic bags and handed out 500 leaf bags to reduce the amount of plastic found in landfills and add an alternative to disposing of leaf waste.

2020: We partnered with DSNY and gave away 200 reusable shopping bags within 45 minutes into the event. This event was held on February 25th prior to the NYS single use plastic bag ban on March 1st. 

2021: Upon returning to campus, we hosted "We got your bags!" event outside 1C. We distributed 75 leaf bags in order to encourage residents of Staten Island to collect their leaves for residential pick up in these bags rather than putting them in plastic bags. In addition, we gave away 300 reusable plastic bags.

2022: The annual Bag drive took place on April 25th. Students and staff members were encouraged to bring their plastic bags so it can be recycled. In exchange, they could get a reusable bag sponsored by the DSNY. We succeeded by collecting 1,234 plastic bags and we gave away 37 reusable bags.

 

 

 

 

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Flyer of Don't Trash My Future Bottle Drive in Partership with Dolphin Cove Student Housing. Melissa Riggio Higher Education students were essential partners in sorting the bottles that were collected from each dorm building.
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students are sorting bottles
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Sorted bottles in clear bags are  ready for pick up.

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4 new bottle shaped recycling bins arrived for building 1 R

CSI Sustainability with the Sustainable Student Organization (SSO) has launched a Bottle Drive Pilot in 1R with the Athletic Department. The collaboration has collected and sorted over 10,000 bottles. The Melissa Riggio Higher Education Program has been a significant contributor to sorting the bottles and holding weekly tabling events to educate the student population about the importance of recycling. The goal is to replace existing water fountains with water bottle filling stations to help reduce the number of bottles on campus.

From November 2018 to November 2019, CSI Sustainability collected, sorted, and redeemed 23,000 cans & bottles from 1R & the dorms. Bottles were sorted and collected with the help of the Melissa Reggio Higher Education Program students every Friday at building 2M. This would not have been possible without the support of Buildings & Grounds staff who assisted with transporting the bottles.

As of October 2022, we have collected 32,442 bottles on campus. We redeemed 23,247 bottles which raised $1,162.35.

2023: Bottle Drive resumed in December 11th. We decided to focus on one building, 1 R. This is CSI's Athletic building, one of the highest bottle generator building due to the number of events and athletics teams hosted here. Just one month 3.542 bottles were collected here thanks to our vigorous sorting by our costudial staff and our dedicated Melissa Reggio students.

2024: In the Spring semester we added building 1C to the Bottle Drive. In just 5 months we sorted 10,364 bottles and cans, redeemed 5,505 bottles and cans. We raised $272.25 from just 2 buildings on campus. 

Funds from pre-COVID and post COVID sorting allowed us to purchase 4 new bottle shaped recycling bins for building 1 R. Since this building was identified as the highest bottle generator building in our campus this is where we can imporve our diversion rate the most. This building now served by 7 bins. These bins will help our students to make a difference in the college's stand for a more sustainable future.  

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Natalia gives a thumbs up to the campus cleanup.

 

 

 

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8 student athletes wearing their CSI uniform are standing in front 1 R Recreation building.​  They are holding black garbage bags filled with trash they picked up on campus.

 

 

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Students and staff with Danny the mascot in front of 1 P The Center of the Arts building.  ​
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Students standing in front of 1P after finishing the Campus Clean Up. There are 20+ black garbage bags in front of them on the floor. ​

CSI Sustainability and Sustainable Student Organization (SSO) in partnership with Facilities Management and Operational Services organized campus clean-up twice a year.

2019: On April 4th, the SSO hosted their first campus clean-up in partnering with other clubs such as IBS, The Banner, NYPIRG, GSA, and the Melissa Riggio Higher Education Program students. Students picked up over 25 bags of trash across the grounds of CSI.

October 15th, SSO hosted their second campus clean-up in partnership with AHRCNYC Melissa Riggio Higher Education Program, The Banner, NYPIRG, Women's Soccer, Track and Field, Men's Soccer, and The Garden Club. Students picked up over 14 bags of trash from across the grounds at the CSI campus.​​​​​​

2022: On April 14th, the campus joined us for the return of our semi-annual Campus Clean-Up. The goal was to collect as much garbage as possible on campus. In just 2 hours 25 bags of garbage were collected on the Great Lawn and along Loop Road.

October 13th, 25 CSI students from Creative Exchange, Verrazzano Honors, joined the second Campus Cleanup. Once again, in just 2 hours, 20 bags of garbage were collected on the Great Lawn and along Loop Road.

2023: On April 20th, CSI Sustainability hosted their annual campus clean-up event. Staff and students from several clubs and programs from CSI gather together at 1P and picked up trash along Alumni Walk between 1P and 1L. During the 2 hours event, they were only able to fill out one bag with garbage. GOOD JOB DOLPHINS FOR KEEPING CSI CLEAN!

2023: On October 6th, CSI Sustainability in partnership with Staten Island Chamber of Commerce hosted the Sweep Up Staten Island event to helped beautify our community. Our campus staff, students, and Staten Island residents, gathered to clean up the Willowbrook neighborhood and part of the CSI campus. 

 

In 2022 the Campus has again joined the “Campus Race to Zero Waste” (formerly, Recycle mania), an 8-week national waste diversion and recycling competition against colleges and universities to promote waste reduction activities in campus communities. This year, the competition ran from January 31 - March 27. During the competition- students and staff at the College of Staten Island helped divert waste. Please see 8 weeks of weekly data below.

 

Campus Race 2 Zero Waste

Weeks Trash Paper Compost Recycling
Week 1 18,000

3,558.4

45 346.5
Week 2 18,000 2,258.75 36 346.5
Week 3 18,000 973 60 138.6
Week 4 18,000 4,309 55 180.18
Week 5 18,000 6,394 60 55.44
Week 6 18,000 1,946 75 48.51
Week 7 18,000 5,282 80 110.88
Week 8 18,000 4,448 80 83.16

 

 

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A round edge white plate showing compost on one side and vegetable on the other in a round shape.

2017: Starting in 2017, CSI Sustainability in partnership with Snug Harbor NYC Compost Project, began hosting annual compost workshops on campus to teach students how to compost, what to compost and how to maintain the compost bins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2  black composting bins

2018: CSI Sustainability hosted a second NYC Compost Workshop. Representatives from the Snug Harbor Botanical Garden (Carol Hooper and Olivia Golden) came to teach students about how to compost and had a hands-on demonstration with how it’s done. Snug Harbor donated 2 composters which the students built and filled with 300 lbs. of pre-consumer food scraps from our Dining Services.  Leaves from our campus grounds, and wood chips from DSNY were added to the compost bins.

 

 

2019: On November 19th the Sustainable Student Organization hosted a Compost Workshop to teach students an alternative for food waste than a landfill. Student bought their own food scraps from home and mixed them with leaves from our campus grounds and woodchips.

NY1 Composting for the Future: 

How the Sanitation Department is Making City Parks Green

2022: Dining Services began composting pre-consumer waste during COVID. CSI Sustainability took on composting once we returned to campus in the spring. Since March we have been composting all the pre-consumer waste on campus. 5 composters operating on campus to keep up with the demand. Our student volunteers process 80+ pounds of pre-consumer waste from Dining Services weekly.

We held 2 composting workshop on zoom during the spring semester due to COVID regulations. 

 

 

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2 students are building a compost bin . They are each using a screwdriver to attach the two sections of the barrels together.

Composter Building day was on May 6th - Students assembled a new composter donated by the NYC Compost Project to help manage the increased amount of pre-consumer waste.

 

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student in a wheelchair is lifting up the pre-consumer waste to be placed in the composter.

Composting at 1C on June 30th with Melissa Reggio Higher Education Program students. Read more about it: CSI Sustainability and MRHEP Team Up for Campus Composting Initiative

 

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5 Creative Exchange and CSI Students are processing the pre-consumer waste outside 1 C Campus Center.

 

On November 3rd, a Composting workshop and DSNY Leaf Bag Giveaway was held at 1C. Snug Harbor Compost project donated compost for indoor use and 500 leaf bags in preparation for the NYC wide leaf pickup program. Around 19 students and staff attended and helped process pre-consumer waste from our Dining Services. We gave away small bags of compost and 105 leaf bags.

2023: During a year we decided to host monthly compost workshop in order to process our increased amount of food scraps generated by Dining Services. Since our student population continues to increase and we have more food to process, we are able to teach more people about the importance of composting. Our weekly compost drop of is a success as well, we have regulars who bring us food scraps on the weekly bases. 

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Regulars dropping of food scraps
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Students are filling up the new composter at 6S

Dayligth Hour is the annual social media camping promotes the use of natural daylight between the hours of 12 PM and 1 PM instead of electrical lighting in office space. Daylight in the workplace contributes to a myriad of benefits for occupants. People are encouraged to turn off their workplace lighting and celebrate the benefits of daylight.

2017: CSI participated in Daylight Hour on June 16th for the first time. Some of the few ways the CSI community reduced its energy consumption are by turning off ceiling lights with sufficient natural light, taking your lunch break from 12-1 pm & turning off everything, and meeting our team on the Great Lawn to raise awareness about our commitment to creating sustainable change.
 

2018:  CSI participated, in the Daylight Hour. As compared with last year's past, we aggressively promoted the event via social media, campus-wide emails, posted flyers, and other means of getting the word out. We had the full support and participation of the President's Cabinet along with several of the campus community. This media campaign yielded exceptional results as can be seen in the juxtaposing trends from 2017 and 2018. During the daylight hour, it is estimated that CSI saved approximately 144 kWh of energy.

CSI Sustainability Received the 2018 “Hype Master” Big Kahuna Award! The Hype Master Award goes to the College of Staten Island Sustainability Initiative for spreading the word! 

2019: On June 21st from 12-1 pm, CSI Sustainability hosted our 2nd annual daylight hour event, where we invited departments to reduce their electricity consumption. 

We built a gigantic origami for the paper engineering competition that was folded with the help of the Melissa Riggio students at our event.

CSI received the 2019 Social Butterfly Award for being the Paper Engineer Pros of Daylight Hour.

Here is a video from our event. Shining the light on Sustainability: The Daylight Hour at CSI

 

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Picture of the 2018 Daylight Hour social media campaign 2018 Big Kahuna Awards
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Picture of President's office cabinet sitting around oval table with the shades up letting daylight in.
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Office of Continuing Education staff supporting CSI's Daylight Hour social media campaign by shutting of the light in their office as they sit my their desk. ​
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Students are holding up above their head the giant origami before they folded it together. ​
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Students prepare to fold the giant origami at 1P
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rking From Home Award"​  Alt text "Picture of the blue solar umbrellas at CSI with the laptop charged with solar power
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Students are engaged in outdoor Daylight Hour activities such as games, yoga, class with Danny and art.​

2020: This year Daylight Hour was celebrated virtually. We encouraged participants to take a picture of their home office with pets or kids, scenic view from their home office window or to show their creative use of daylight in their home office. 

2021: Once again Daylight Hour was celebrated virtually. We asked participants to take a picture of their home office using only daylight. We welcomed Family and Pets on these photos.

2022: Daylight Hour Hybrid Edition. We asked CSI Students/Faculty and Staff to show us their creative use of daylight in their home or work office.

CSI Sustainability received an award for the 3rd time!  WFH: Working From Home award for the participation of the Daylight Hour social media campaign in 2022.

2023: On June 21stCSI participated in Daylight Hour at the West Fountain (turned yellow for the event) to enjoy the natural light. From 12-1 PM students from the Melissa Reggio Higher Education Program, faculty and staff participated in different activities such as Daylight Hour art, games, class with Danny the Dolphin, and Yoga (Sun Salutation Flow). Once again CSI won  the Daylight Hour Spirit award for going above and beyond celebrating energy efficiency

2024: On June 20th 2024, CSI celebrated Daylight Hour on the Great Lawn, in the heat wave. Over 40 participants left their office/ classroom and enjoyed activities like Daylight Hour Bingo, Origami and coloring pages. Yellow and orange snaks  were proided by CSI's Dining Sevices.Danny the Dophin was of course with us but couldn't stay long due to the extreem heat. DAYLIGHT HOUR 2024 RINGS IN THE SUMMER AT CSI

 

 

 

 

2018: The College of Staten Island Sustainability (CSI Sustainability) hosted its first ever plant sale after gaining access to the CSI Greenhouse and growing plants there. Sustainable Student Organization (SSO) club members planted over 700 organic seeds at the 6 S greenhouse last semester. SSO provided opportunities for students to participate in experiential learning, development of interpersonal and gardening skills, and gain access to fresh produce. SSO members gaining practical knowledge from Biology faculty about planting, producing food and managing natural resources. The money that was made from the plant sale went to help clean up the garden by 6S.

2019: Once again, in February SSO co-hosted a Plant and bake sale with the International Business Society Club. IBS sold baked goods and the SSO sold plants grown in the Greenhouse. Proceeds from plant sales went towards revitalizing the campus while bake sale proceeds went to UNICEF.

2020: A collection of plants and flowers grown in our on-campus greenhouse are sold at the base of 6S. The sales are usually themed with the season or holiday and help keep our restoration as well as botany programs alive. All of the funds raised at these sales go back into our biodiversity area as well as our collaborative greenhouse space.

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Flyer of an Organic Plant Sale that was held at 6S On May 24th 11 AM to 6S. The flyer is showing pictures of  cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflower and cilantro plants.   All proceeds from the plants will go to the revitalization of the garden by 6S.
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February Plant sale flyer was used for the event showing pictures of Jade, Tulip, Begonia, Aloe Vera, African Violets and Kalanchoe grown in our on-campus greenhouse by our students. All plants sold in the CSI’s Greenhouse in partnership with CSI‘s Biology Department.
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Flyer of Spring Plant and Bake sale. On April 9th, 2:30 to 4:30 students from CSI’s Sustainability Club and CSI’S International Business Society welcomed Spring with a joint sale. The proceeds from the bake sale was donated to UNICEF and the proceeds from the plant sale went towards revitalizing the campus.
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Holiday Plant sale flyer was used for the event showing pictures of Jade, Coleus, Coleus, Cactus, Peace Lilly, African Violets,  and Kalanchoe grown in our on-campus greenhouse by our students. All plants sold in the CSI’s Greenhouse in partnership with CSI‘s Biology Department.
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Willowbrook Mums Sale flyer. In order to support the opening of the Willowbrook Mile CSI Sustainability sold Mums on campus. All proceeds from the sale were donated to the Mile.​

2022: On April 11th, Plant Sale and Compost Givebackas was part of our Earth Month activities. The plant sale was combined with our annual Compost Giveback event. We partnered with Snug Harbor Compost Project and distributed 100 bags of compost to our gardeners. 

On September 20th, CSI Sustainability hosted the Willowbook Plant Sale. Proceeds  from the plant sale were donated to support the Willowbrook Legacy Project. 

2023: CSI Sustainability continued with its monthly plant sale. Member of the newly  formed Garden Club have been volunteering to help with plant sales and other events.

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3 students cleaning up the greenhouse
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Group of people in the greenhouse
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Greenhouse seed planting event. One of the students in the wheelchair participating in the seed planting. She is being helped by her mother and another student.
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Greenhouse seed planting event. 3 of the student placing seeds in seed trays. ​
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Greenhouse seed planting event. Overview image of the students lined up by the table facing the glass windows planting seeds.​

 

 

In Spring 2017, CSI Sustainability Office and the newly formed Sustainable Student Organization (SSO) club members planted over 700 organic seeds at the 6S greenhouse. SSO provided opportunities for students to participate in experiential learning, development of interpersonal and gardening skills, and gain access to fresh produce.

SSO members gaining practical knowledge from Biology faculty about planting, producing food and managing natural resources. Additionally, students promoted sustainability through plants sales to the College of Staten Island community and begin to build a strong social network with other academic departments.

The Sustainable Student Organization continued to grow more plants in the Greenhouse in the 2018 winter semester and hosted a Holiday Plant Sale where students and faculty were able to purchase indoor house plants for the first time.

Today, CSI Sustainability provides opportunities for students to participate in the greenhouse in experiential learning, development of interpersonal and gardening skills, and gain access to fresh produce. Additionally, students promoted sustainability through plant sales to the College of the Staten Island community and begin to build a strong social network with other academic departments.
 

On January 26, 2023, CSI SUSTAINABILITY KICKS OFF SEMESTER WITH SUCCESSFUL PLANTING EVENT. More than 30 students and staff gathered in the greenhouse to learn the process of how to plant seeds from scratch. This workshop focused on planting herbs.

On February 23, 2023, CSI Sustainability hosted the second workshop where student could learn how to grow plats from tulips bulbs. This event took place in the greenhouse where students received hands on training. Students as well as the community took part in this event to promote sustainability, education, and awareness. 

On March 23, 2023, CSI Sustainability hosted the Third workshop Lab in the greenhouse. During the workshop, students learn how to grow plants from cuttings. Some of the plants were Jade, Kalanchoe, and Citronella.

In the spring of 2017, CSI Sustainability in partnership with the Sustainable Student Organization (SSO) Club and CSI students came together to clean up the 6S garden. The process took months, students took out the roots of Japanese Knotweed by hand some of them over 6 feet long. 

Japanese Knotweed Eradication Project. This clean-up was made possible by College of Staten Island Sustainability, the Department of Biology, and the hard work of the Sustainable Student Organization (SSO). Japanese Knotweed is an invasive non-native plant that invaded the 6S pit area. During the spring and summer semester students cut down the Japanese Knotweed and dug out as many roots out as possible. They covered the ground completely with tarps in order to smother the weed underneath. The tarp prevents the sunlight to penetrate the area and new weed to grow back. They covered the tarps with mulch to make it more attractive.

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Natalia holding the root of Japanese Knotweed. An invasive species her club try to eradicate
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Japanese Knotweed eradication continues at the 6S garden
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Students are transplanting seedlings into raised beds

 

In addition, students also stared a garden. They constructed raised gardening beds and learned about vegetable and flower life cycles. With Snug Harbor’s compost, they rotated crops for mineral and natural resource optimization. SSO plans to expand the garden next semester and educate the community about local food systems and provide awareness and availability of healthy foods.

Also, students gained hands on knowledge on how to transplants seedlings and how to propagate and take care of different types of vegetables, herbs and flowers. They transplanted seedlings from the greenhouse into raised beds in the garden. CSI Sustainability hosts annually clean up events in the 6S garden to maintain this areas.  

Special thanks to Biology Chair Chang-HuiShen, Faiza Peetz, James Saccardo, Kinnea Keating,Grozdena Yilmaz & the Pre-Med students.