Earth Day was founded in 1970. U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin called for a nationwide demonstration in the spring of 1970 aimed to raise awareness of environmental issues. It worked. The first national Earth Day was April 22, 1970.
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- Sign up as a Lab Lead here
- You’ll receive an email to verify your email address. Click on the link, then select Weill Cornell Medicine as your organization and type your lab name.
- Fill out the Lab Information page, selecting the type of Industry and typing the name of your Department in the Site/Department field, the subject area of your lab, and the number of members.
- Answer the questions applicable to your lab in the rest of the category sections. On July 1, all answers will be automatically saved and submitted.
Your lab can earn points for actions taken between July 2024 and July 1, 2025.

Join us on April 30 at noon for a short walk around the neighborhood and learn how to keep NYC street trees healthy and strong for generations to come. We'll meet in the Belfer/Lasdon courtyard. Enter from 413 East 69th Street and walk up the stairs.
During this event, Olivia Keenan, Senior Research Assistant in the Ghosh Group and NYC Parks Tree Steward, will teach simple ways to take care of NYC street trees and how to become a tree steward. No prior experience or tools required — just bring yourself!
This event is facilitated by the “Cool Trees” team in the Division of General Internal Medicine, who are researching how NYC can use trees to reduce heat-related health issues.

Visit the Sustainable Products Expo, sponsored by Avantor and the Office of Energy & Sustainability on Wednesday, April 23 from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Come to the Belfer Research Building Café for some treats and explore some of the greener alternatives for lab products from the Avantor catalog.
Vendors present at the event included Azure Biosystems, Corning, Cytiva, Eppendorf, Stirling Ultracold, Thermo Fisher (equipment), and VWR.

Stop & Swap
Tuesday, April 22 - Olin Hall Gym (445 East 69th St, basement):
- 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Drop off clothes, books, and household items
- 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM: Browse and pick up any items that you need
This third annual freecycle event aims to reduce waste by providing household items a second life. Drop off clothes you no longer wear, books you would like to share, and small household items. Browse for free, gently used clothes and books donated by WCM students and staff. You are not required to contribute in order to participate.
Items to Donate:
- Clothes: Must be clean and in good condition with no rips or stains.
- Books: Pages must be free from writing and in good condition, and hardcover books must include jackets.
- Small items: Items that are easy to carry and in good condition, including small appliances, stationery, organizers, kitchenware, coffeemakers, table lamps, board games, etc. No heaters or hot plates are allowed to be donated.
Questions? WCM-Sustainability@med.cornell.edu

Explore the waste management systems in the Belfer Research Building. Most of the waste from campus ends up in the Belfer Building, and we’ll walk through the spaces where the different waste types are stored, from trash and recycling to bulk waste. Learn about waste-related challenges and what happens to waste once it leaves the Belfer Research Building.
Please meet in the Belfer Research Building Lobby at 1:00 PM on April 16 and allow one hour for the tour.
Please, sign up for the event here.

Join team Weill Cornell Medicine for the Third Annual One Healthcare EcoChallenge, a free, friendly, month-long competition between healthcare organizations to promote healthy, sustainable habits and community health. Use the EcoChallenge platform to select impactful actions at work and home, and log your progress to see how your actions add up. You can join the challenge before or at any time during April.
How to participate:
- Log on: onehealthcare.ecochallenge.org
- Join team Weill Cornell Medicine
- Select daily and one-time actions to accumulate points
The top two scorers from Weill Cornell Medicine will receive a $50 gift card from Earth Hero.
About the EcoChallenge
During the challenge, participants will use the EcoChallenge platform to select actions that positively impact the community. By logging progress throughout the challenge, participants will see their individual and team results on the EcoChallenge site. Additional features include unique resource links and reflection questions associated with each daily and one-time action, interactive team feeds, and more.
Questions?
Contact us at: WCM-Sustainability@med.cornell.edu

Join us for WCM UnPower Hour 2025 on Thursday, March 20, from 2 PM to 3 PM. During this hour, you will work with your colleagues to reduce energy consumption by switching off lights, computers/printers, appliances, and/or other equipment. Learn more here.

Meet us in Olin Hall, Room 420, to view and discuss the short documentary, The Story of Stuff, with environmentally-conscious colleagues.
Feel free to bring your lunch. We will provide the popcorn and drinks.
Meet us in the Belfer Research Building (BRB) lobby for a guided tour, led by the Sustainability and EHS teams, showing what happens to all the waste—regular trash, recycling, electronics, and regulated medical waste.
WCM is participating in the International Freezer Cahllenge, a free competition to promote cold storage best practices while improving your lab’s energy efficiency, increasing equipment life, and better protecting your temperature-sensitive samples. The International Freezer Cahllenge is a program in partnership between My Green Lab and the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), two nonprofits working within the laboratory sustainability space. Labs can get point for their cold storage behaviors and actions taken between August 2023 and June 2024. The higher WCM scorer will win a pizza party! For more information contact WCM-Sustainability@med.cornell.edu. To register for the challenge use this link.
