NY Climate Tech: April 10 - April 16
Diversity, sustainability, dental health, waste management, and more this week in the Big Apple!
Hi friends,
We’ve got quite the docket for you this week as we ramp up celebrations for Earth Day on April 22! You may join your friends up north in Boston for the MIT Energy Conference on Tuesday, and take the Acela back down to New York in time for talks on the climate capital stack or happy hours with the DER Task Force and Latinx in Sustainability on Wednesday. Ever wondered about the intersection of climate change and dental health? Columbia University has you covered on Thursday! Watch the ‘Fire of Love’ at the Simons Foundation on Friday and make your way around Union Square for the 2023 Earth Day Festival this weekend!
Two early bird shout outs for next week: Join us for the April NY Climate Tech Happy Hour on Thursday, April 20th and the OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge on Friday, April 21st! Over 100 students are presenting their work, from Mumbai to Lagos to right here in our backyard borough of Brooklyn. We can’t wait to see what the next generation of climate enthusiasts come up with to change the world!
Cheers,
Alec and Sonam
Hot Take: The symbol of timeless waste
Like how a diamond has come to symbolize eternal love, plastic has become the symbol of timeless waste.
The history of plastic started in the 1800s, though it first exploded in popularity as a consumer product in the 1940s, when new manufacturing techniques enabled plastics to replace materials such as metal, glass, and wood in lots of products due to its low cost, light weight, and versatility.
Plastic is everywhere, from single use packaging to your clothes (polyester, rayon & many other fibers are plastic!). Its properties, notably low cost and ease of production, have helped to bring us more affordable and convenient products – at an increasingly steep cost.
Plastic currently accounts for 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the amount of plastic waste produced annually has more than doubled since 2010, to 353 million tons. Globally, only 9% of plastic waste is successfully recycled, and the US manages around 4%.
In NYC, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) collects 18,000 tons of single-use plastics from residential waste each year, with commercial waste adding tens of thousands more.
In 2020, NY State’s law prohibiting the distribution of single-use plastic bags at most retail stores went into effect. In the same year, NYC expanded this state ban to more retailers and items (straws and styrofoam containers), though enforcement remains a challenge. Earlier in 2023, Mayor Adam’s signed the “Skip the Stuff’ bill, which prohibits restaurants from providing plastic utensils in take out orders unless requested by the customer.
NYC’s waste prevention policies are particularly important because both residential and commercial recycling in the city remains challenging, due to a range of logistical and economic factors. In the design and production parts of the circular economy loop, industry (e.g. Adidas’ roadmap towards being plastic free by 2024) and startups (e.g. investment trends in sustainable packaging) have a major role in realizing a low carbon future with a lot less plastic!
Community Shoutouts
Open Air Collective Carbon Removal Challenge
The 2023 OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge is a worldwide challenge for students to create new processes, approaches and prototypes to remove carbon from the land, waters, or air. There are over 100 students presenting their work, from Mumbai to Lagos to right here in our backyard borough of Brooklyn! Join us on April 21 at NYU! We can’t wait to see what the next generation of climate enthusiasts come up with to change the world!
Events This Week
⚡️ 2023 MIT Energy Conference: Tue, Apr 11
🌳 Climate, Tech & Society: A Fireside with Chante Harris and Stephan Nicoleau: Wed, Apr 12
🌱 Latinx in Sustainability Spring Meetup Spring Meet Up: Wed, Apr 12
⚡️ DER Taskforce NYC Happy Hour: Wed, Apr 12
🦷 Dental Climate Toolkit Workshop: Thu, Apr 13
📊 Corrective Machine Learning for Interpretable Improvement of Climate Models: Thu, Apr 13
🤖 90th NY Hardware Meetup @ Newlab: Thu, Apr 13
🗣️ Systems Change, Not Climate Change: Day of Action: Thu, Apr 13
🎬 ‘Fire of Love’ — Meet the Director: Fri, Apr 14
🌎 Earth Day 2023 Festival: Sun, Apr 16
🌳 Saving the Planet: An Ethical Imperative. Panel discussion w/ Bill McKibben: Sun, Apr 16
👩💻 Build your climate career pathway with Kristy Drutman and Green Jobs Board: Sun, Apr 16
Read on for more details about this week’s happenings and upcoming events this month
Events This Month
🏙 Turning Data into Action: Decarb Pathways for Office Buildings: Tue, Apr 18
🌳 The Vanishing, Invisible Forest: Telling Climate Stories: Tue, Apr 18
☔️ Extreme Weather and Urban Mobility: Tue, Apr 18
✏️ Energy Efficiency: Unlocking Climate Action in Schools: Wed, Apr 19
🌊 Toward a Rainproof NYC with Johanna Lawton: Wed, Apr 19
🥗 Earth Week: Free Dinner & Discussion with Activist Seb Alex: Wed, Apr 19
🌎 Boozy Climate Change: A Celebration of Earth Month: Wed, Apr 19
🌱 Achieving Effective Internal Control in Sustainability Reporting: Wed, Apr 19
🏆 Creative Climate Awards - Opening Night 2023: Wed, Apr 19
🗽 April NY Climate Tech Happy Hour: Thu, Apr 20
🍽 Just Food Futures: the Nexus of Climate and Racial Justice: Thu, Apr 20
🧬 The Bio-Inspired Green (BIG) Science & Technology Symposium: Thu, Apr 20
🎨 Artist Spotlight: Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman: Thu, Apr 20
🌍 Carbon Removal Challenge Finalist Showcase: Fri, Apr 21
🌿 Horticulture Walk: Climate Resilience in Brooklyn Bridge Park: Fri, Apr 21
🌱 Earth Month Convergence: Sat, Apr 22
🦜 Introduction to Biomimicry: Learning From Nature’s Genius: Sat, Apr 22
🎨 Climate Arts Festival 2023: Sat, Apr 22
🎉 EARTH LOVE FEST: Block Party **Free All Day!**: Sun, Apr 23
📈 Earning Green by Investing Green: Thu, Apr 27
🌰 Amitav Ghosh: The Nutmeg's Curse: Thu, Apr 27
🪨 Exhibition and Panel Discussion: Making With Earth: Fri, Apr 28
🌎 Earth Celebrations and the Ecological City: Sat, Apr 29
Events This Week
⚡️ 2023 MIT Energy Conference
When: Tue, Apr 11th at 9:00 AM to Wed, Apr 12th at 5:00 PM
Where: Westin Copley Place, 10 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02116
The MIT Energy Conference unites innovative industry professionals to create and deploy exciting solutions to the world’s energy crisis. Join us April 11 - 12 in Boston for our 2023 event Transition Under Crisis: Technology, Investment, and Geopolitics.
🌳 Climate, Tech & Society: A Fireside with Chante Harris and Stephan Nicoleau
When: Wed, Apr 12th from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Where: Verizon Executive Education Center, 2 West Loop Road, New York, NY 10044
Join us for a fireside talk with Chante Harris, a leader in social and financial innovation around climate technology at and SecondMUSE, and Stephan Nicoleau, PiTech Visiting Practitioner at Cornell Tech and general partner at FullCycle. The talk will be moderated by Michael Samuelian, Director of the Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech.
🌱 Latinx in Sustainability Spring Meetup Spring Meet Up
When: Wed, Apr 12th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Where: Mustang Harrys, 352 7th Ave, New York, NY 10001
We are thrilled to announce our first in-person event this year! Join Latinxs in Sustainability on April 12 at 6pm for a Spring Meet Up! You're invited to this after work happy hour at Mustang Harrys where we will meet for drinks and connect with other professionals in or interested in the sustainability industry!
⚡️ DER Taskforce NYC Happy Hour
When: Wed, Apr 12th from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
Where: Urban Energy, 116 Ainslie Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Hey DER TF! Join us at Urban Energy's office for our monthly hang on the second Wednesday of each month. There isn't a reoccurring agenda, but we may have guests or topics to discuss for a particular events.
🦷 Dental Climate Toolkit Workshop
When: Thu, Apr 13th from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Where: The Forum at Columbia University, 601 West 125th Street, New York, NY 10027
The Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and the Columbia Climate School Office of Interdisciplinary Engagement invite you to help workshop the pilot of our “Climate Toolkit”. This in-person session is designed for participants from both schools, with the aim of exploring the intersections between dental medicine, public health, and climate change, and with a focus on surfacing proactive solutions in the educational and professional sectors.
🌎 Corrective Machine Learning for Interpretable Improvement of Climate Models
When: Thu, Apr 13th from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Where: Columbia Innovation Hub, 2276 12th Avenue, Room 202, New York, NY 10027
Chris Bretherton directs a climate modeling group at AI2 in Seattle which uses machine learning trained on global storm-resolving model output and observational data to improve climate model simulations. AI2, with GFDL, has developed a corrective hybrid machine learning (ML) methodology to improve weather forecast skill and reduce climate biases in a computationally efficient coarse-grid climate model.
🤖 90th NY Hardware Meetup @ Newlab
When: Thu, Apr 13th from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Where: Newlab, 19 Morris Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Join us for our next hardware meetup as we discuss product and supply chain scalability with founders and experts across 3D printing, commercialization of smart devices, and international supply chain.
🗣️ Systems Change, Not Climate Change: Day of Action
When: Thu, Apr 13th at 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Where: WeWork Times Square, 1460 Broadway, New York, NY 10036
Tired of Earth Month events that don’t get at the root of the issue (and the solutions)? Us too. Learn about nine of the most promising systemic solutions to the climate crisis (from grassroots organizations that represent these solutions), as covered in climate activist Zahra Biabani's new book "Climate Optimism", and network with mission driven people who are moving the needle in the space.
🎬 ‘Fire of Love’ — Meet the Director
When: Fri, Apr 14th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Where: Simons Foundation, Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium, 160 5th Avenue New York, NY 10010
Sandbox Films’ “Fire of Love” tells the story of renowned volcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft. The couple forever changed the field of volcanology through their dedicated research and up-close documentation of volcanic eruptions all over the world.
🌎 Earth Day 2023 Festival
When: Sun, Apr 16th from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Where: Union Square, New York
The Earth Day 2023 Festival + Virtual Stage provides a space for you to connect with the climate and environmental communities, meet and learn from one another, and bring new people into the movement.
🌳 Saving the Planet: An Ethical Imperative w/ Bill McKibben
When: Sun, Apr 16th from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM
Where: The First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York, 12 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011
Join us on April 16th for an environmental panel discussion with Bill McKibben titled "Saving the Planet: An Ethical Imperative." The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A session.
👩💻 Build your climate career pathway with Kristy Drutman and Green Jobs Board
When: Sun, Apr 16th from 1:15 PM to 1:45 PM
Where: Union Square North Plaza, E. 17th St. and Park Ave, New York, NY 10003
In this workshop, participants will get career-coaching support to build a career in the climate space. There will be a resume review, interview support, and self-branding discussion to support participants with taking the first step in getting a green job and building a longer-term climate career.
Join the Fun!
Submit Events
We know all of you are cooking up great events across that highlight the latest and greatest in our collective effort to save our city - and our planet! 🌍 We would love to spread the word. Please share any event details and we'll add them to the list!
Climate Tech Cities
We are expanding! We started as an 8-person dinner and now have over 4,000 members in our community. We’ve had people across the world reach out to us to start their own chapters - so we’re launching a new Climate Tech Cities organization this year! If you have friends who are interested in becoming chapter leads, please share the word. Here’s to a global network of local communities making a positive impact!