Sustainability112
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Report #4: Lessons Learned, Locally
By Justin Nobel, Columbia University Earth and Environmental Sciences Journalism Student My time here is coming to an end and I still can’t determine if development will prove sustainable for Sauri’s bird population. The goal of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) is to help Sauri, and several other villages in sub-Saharan Africa, develop economically. The…
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Earth Institute, Recycling Company Partnership Offers Win-Win Solutions
The Earth Engineering Center (EEC) at the Earth Institute at Columbia University has helped to launch a company that uses an innovative rewards system to increase household recycling. The company, RecycleBank, operates under the belief that recycling rates go up when people are paid to recycle. With this new program, residents use a recycling bin…
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Emerging Scientists Set Sights on Fixing World’s Problems
In 2002, Christian Webersik spent months on and off in war-torn Somalia, conducting interviews with both the elite and the layperson for his research on the link between armed conflict and natural resources. “You can see how different political sides tried to monopolize natural resources to finance their militia,” says Webersik. His work suggests it…
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How an Ecologist Moved to the Center of Sustainable Development
Economists, physicians and a range of social scientists have long found an easy place at the table when it comes to promoting sustainable development in the poorest areas of the world. But an agroecologist? “Agroecologists always feel a little outcast when working on development issues,” says Fabrice De Clerck, an Earth Institute Fellow with the…
By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings“