Earth Month 2023: Event Recap

Thank you to all who participated in Earth Month 2023 events!

The inaugural Earth Month Stop & Swap was held on April 30, 2023, in the basement of Olin Hall, and we collected 60 bags of clothing (283.5 pounds) and over 90 books! After the event, the remaining items—62.9 pounds of clothing and 86 books—were donated to asylum seekers and migrants via Team TLC NYC and The Book Cellar, respectively. The Book Cellar is a used bookstore run by volunteers of the Webster Branch of the New York Public Library, located on 78th Street and York Avenue. All proceeds from The Book Cellar support the New York Public Library (NYPL). Thank you to all who donated or stopped by Olin Hall to browse for pre-loved items.

A special thank you goes out to our colleagues—the WCM Environmental Health Collective and Matthew Domser—who volunteered their time and expertise to make the event a success. We are grateful for your commitment to sustainability.

• The WCM Environmental Health Collective helped run the event. They are students who work to support environmental health education, activism, and conversation at WCM.
• Matthew Domser, Senior Hazardous Materials Manager, Environmental Health & Safety, assisted with collecting batteries for recycling. 

We appreciate all who participated in the One Healthcare Ecochallenge! Team Weill Cornell Medicine collected 10834 points and finished 20th out of 83 teams based on average points per member (131) and 5th based on total points. We finished ahead of our neighbors at Memorial Sloan Kettering and Mount Sinai and slightly behind Cleveland Clinic, PeaceHealth, Mayo Clinic, and Allina Health, who are the sponsors and organizers of the challenge. Well done, WCM! 

Congratulations to the One Healthcare Ecochallenge top scorers for WCM: Annie Liu and Megan Lesnicki, who won gift cards from EarthHero.

Team WCM achievements are listed below:

• Consumed 240 meatless or vegan meals
• Traveled 914 miles by bus and avoided 1020 miles driven by car
• Saved 1,555 pounds of CO2
• Spent 990 minutes being mindful or meditating and 887 minutes exercising, including 65,550 extra steps taken
• Avoided 1820 minutes of screen time
• Saved 123 cups, 311 plastic bottles, and 126 pieces of plastic utensils from landfills
• Saved 340 gallons of water
• Completed 282 acts of kindness
• Spent 662 minutes learning about sustainability