Master head logo: Environmental Stewardship

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Earlier this year a story on this website announced the imminent arrival of The Rocket, a composter manufactured in the United Kingdom that uses simple “brown and green” technology. That means an inlet receives equal amounts of wood chips, the brown component, and food waste, the green component, both providing the necessary amounts of carbon and nitrogen. When the inlet is closed, composting happens automatically.

The reality for composting on campus has generated significant interest and raised numerous questions. In a recent interview, Adam Formica, CC ’13, a leader in the Composting Committee, responded to these questions.

(Names from left to right:Adam Formica, Eric Lee, Todd Nelson, Justin Birmingham (top), Mikayla Hoskins (bottom), Anne Steele, Marcela Johnson, Melissa von Mayrhauser, Aida Conroy, Raphaelle Debenedetti)


The Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy is having their 2012 Energy Storage Symposium May 2nd: 9am – 5pm and May 3rd: 9am – 12pm. Registration is open and available here!. A fossil-fuel free future requires an energy network with vastly improved capacity to store energy. Columbia University's Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy is hosting a 2-day expert and innovator symposium highlighting the importance and dynamism of energy storage technologies. For more information about the Energy Storage Symposium you can visit the event page at http://energy.columbia.edu/?id=riso-cu_sustainable_fuels_conference.


Green Umbrella has compiled a great looking Earth Week with events from several of Columbia's Environmental Student Groups and Departments! The events start Tuesday April 17th with a Green Roof Science Symposium from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm in Diana Center Event Oval @ Barnard College as well as a brownbag discussion titled What Happened with the Gulf Oil Spill? at 1-2pm in International Affairs Building Room 902. On Thursday catch Defining Sustainability: A Few Questions for an Expanding Discipline at 6:30 PM in Lerner 668, along with Climate Finance: Climate Change Policy Loands, A Comparative Perspective at 6 PM – 7:30 PM, Jerome Greene Hall room 103. Events will continue until Wednesday, April 15th! To get more information and to see the entire schedule, visit http://cugreenumbrella.wordpress.com/earth-week-2012/.


Friday, April 20th 2012- “Bike to Campus Day”- Morningside Campus 10am-3pm, Sundial – Butler Plaza Area. Rain or Shine.

Want to escape from the crowds and heat in the subway or the hassles of finding a parking spot? Bike to campus! Bicycling is one of the most healthy, economical, fun and environmentally friendly ways to commute.


  • Columbia Surplus Re-Use Program
  • Recycling
  • Energy Efficiency
  • The guide to green computing
  • Food