NY Climate Tech: April 3 - April 9

Rally to protect NY's landmark climate law, dive into the circular economy, and more this week!

Sonam Velani

Alec Turnbull

, and

Kathy

Apr 03, 2023

Hi friends,

Start the week off with joining a phone rally to call to Governor Hochul to protect NY State’s groundbreaking climate law and dial in tonight to an online Climate Action Party: Save New York's CLCPA to learn more about what you can do.

Tomorrow, head to Chelsea Market for dinner and a collaborative game to learn about the climate crisis, or talk climate and architecture at the AIA Brooklyn’s Committee on the Environment meeting.

On Thursday, swing by to NYU’s Ireland House to hear professor Malcom Sen on Climate, Environment, and Irish Literature.

Friday, head to Columbia for a day-long workshop on the water crisis in southern Pakistan, southwest India, and Bangladesh, then wrap up the day at NY Climate Tech’s First Friday Climate Meetup in the East Village (First Fridays were started by Edoardo Italia and James McWalter as a more casual chance to meet new friends in the climate space).

Branch out over the weekend at the Queen’s King Manor Museum’s Change At Home Exhibit and the Sea Dance Collective in Williamsburg.

As always, scroll down for the full list of upcoming events.

Cheers,
Alec, Sonam, and Kathy

This month, NY Climate Tech is spotlighting the “circular economy,” starting with an overview of what it is, and why it matters.

Hot Take: Going in Circles

By Kathy Zhang

The circular economy is an economic model which formalized in the 1990s, drawing upon the principle that ‘’everything is an input to everything else,” in clear contrast to the linear take-make-dispose model. This framework for production and consumption has three main principles: 1) eliminate waste and pollution, 2) keep products and materials in use, and 3) regenerate natural systems.

Sustainable design is central to the application of a circular economy. Products are thoughtfully designed to last and also for repair. By doing so, businesses can reduce their reliance on virgin materials, conserve natural resources, and minimize waste.

Conceptual framework of linear vs recycling vs circular economy (Source: Circular Flanders)

Unfortunately, we’re using and throwing away more material than ever. Our global economy is now only 7% circular, meaning of the 100 billion tonnes of virgin natural materials extracted from earth annually, only 7% make it back into the economy. Global circularity is actually shrinking, from 9.1% in 2018, to 8.6% 2020, and now 7.2% in 2023 (more about the Global Circularity Metric methodology here).

Transitioning from a linear to a circular economy can help businesses develop new revenue streams, meet consumer demand for sustainable offerings, reduce the cost of natural resource extraction and landfill disposal, and build more resilient supply chains – not to mention the myriad climate benefits. So what’s holding up implementation? Key challenges include:

Redesigning value chains: From our food to our phones, our clothes to our cookware, the products we use and consume in our daily lives are part of a long chain of production and distribution participants, often spanning continents and jurisdictions. These participants make decisions that influence the circularity of each product across many stages of the value chain. They often view any disruption in the chain as a risk. Appropriate policies are needed to regulate trade and trade flows such that value chains can be redesigned or optimized in alignment with circular principles, with all partners reaping the benefits.
Footing the bill for transition costs: While transitioning to a circular economy-aligned business model will pay off in the long run, the upfront costs of R&D, asset investments, and digital infrastructure may deter would-be circular businesses. Moreover, competition with often cheaper virgin materials makes the business case for recovering materials relatively uneconomic.
Changing consumer behavior: Our linear system designs products to fail after a certain time, to become outdated and off trend. Consumers may also lack awareness of circular designs, creating limited demand and little incentive for corporations to undertake the shift to circular supply chains and durable products. Meeting this challenge will require educating consumers on the benefits of transitioning to circular practices and the consequences of our current take-make-waste system. Identifying and elevating cultural leaders who can champion circularity in the popular zeitgeist will also be key.
Designing effective policy solutions: Legislation to promote the circular economy has too often fallen short due to lack of global consensus, unclear definitions, and import bans on circular products for protectionist reasons. Implementing financial incentives for the promotion of circularity and pricing products and services in a way that incorporates the costs of ecological damages is critical to facilitating the circular transition. Existing success stories give hope, like the EU’s efforts to ban single use plastics and the EU Green Deal Circular Economy Action Plan.

New York City generates an enormous amount of waste, with over 12,000 tons of waste generated each day. According to the EPA, New York City's diversion rate is around 20% (percent of waste diverted from landfills) – better than the national average of 34% but falls behind other cities, such as San Francisco, which has a diversion rate of over 80% (check out NY Climate Tech’s SF newsletter for more on the city’s impressive progress towards zero waste).

NYC recycling bins (Source: Ianqui Doodle/Flickr)

As part of NYC’s OneNYC plan for a sustainable city, NYC has put forth the goal of a zero-waste city by 2030. This ambitious goal is bolstered by a growing number of local programs and policies, including:

Plastic Bag Ban: NY state banned single-use plastic bags in 2020, though they’re still common around the city shops
Fresh Pantry Project collects excess food from farmers' markets and distributes it to local food pantries (1,000,000 pounds of food annually!)
refashionNYC is NYC's official clothing donation and reuse program with drop off locations all over the city
Curbside Composting is expanding to all NYC residents by 2024
New York Circular City Initiative, a public-private partnership which has put forth recommendations to accelerate NYC’s transition to a circular economy

Shoutouts

CLCPA Phone Rally

We mentioned this above, but many climate groups are rallying to protect New York’s landmark climate law from being undermined with longer time-horizons for fossil fuel use. Join a call relay here or just give the Governor’s office a call.

Governors Island Hybrid Electric Ferry Naming Contest

Boaty McBoatface? Now’s your chance to leave your mark on NY’s waterways with a new ferry naming contest. Submit your ideas here!

Events This Week

❗️ Climate Action Party: Save New York's CLCPA!: Mon, Apr 3
🎲 Climate Fresk and Dinner at Eat Offbeat: Tue, Apr 4
🌳 AIA Brooklyn Committee on the Environment Meeting: Tue, Apr 4
🇮🇪 Malcolm Sen: Climate, Environment, and Irish Literature: Thu, Apr 6
💧 Worlds at Waste: The Crisis of Water in the Subcontinent: Fri, Apr 7
🍻 NYCT First Friday Meetup: Fri, Apr 7
🏡 Climate Change At Home Exhibit Launch!: Sat, Apr 8
💃 Sea Dance Collective Performance: Sat, Apr 8

Read on for more details about this week’s happenings and upcoming events this month

Events This Month

⚡️ 2023 MIT Energy Conference: Tue, Apr 11
🌳 Climate, Tech & Society: A Fireside w/ Chante Harris & Stephan Nicoleau: Wed, Apr 12
Latinx in Sustainability Spring Meetup Spring Meet Up: Wed, Apr 12
🦷 Dental Climate Toolkit Workshop: Thu, Apr 13
🌎 Corrective Machine Learning forImprovement of Climate Models: Thu, Apr 13
🗣️ Systems Change, Not Climate Change: Day of Action: Thu, Apr 13
🎬 ‘Fire of Love’ — Meet the Director: Fri, Apr 14
🌍 Saving the Planet Panel discussion w/ Bill McKibben: Sun, Apr 16
👩‍💻 Build your climate career w/ Kristy Drutman & Green Jobs Board: Sun, Apr 16
🏙 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 Seb Alex: Wed, Apr 19
🏆 Creative Climate Awards - Opening Night 2023: Wed, Apr 19
🍽 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
🌿 Climate Resilience in the Design of 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

❗️ Climate Action Party: Save New York's CLCPA!

When: Mon, Apr 3rd from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Where: Online

An Action Party is an online event that packs valuable information and concrete action into a 60-minute venue. Lawmakers are considering changes that could fundamentally harm the way our nation-leading climate law, the CLCPA, works. They are considering changing the accounting of global warming gases! This may sound innocuous, but it isn’t. The environmental community across New York is furious at this development, which is good for gas companies but terrible for the planet.

🎲 Climate Fresk and Dinner at Eat Offbeat (Chelsea Market) - April Edition

When: Tue, Apr 4th from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Where: Chelsea Market, 75 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10011

Want to help tackle climate change but don’t have the time to become a climate scientist? In just 3 hours, the collaborative Climate Fresk workshop will teach you the fundamental science behind climate change and empower you to take action. The workshop will take place at Eat Offbeat and will include a full dinner featuring the best home cooking from around the world made with love by refugee chefs in NYC.

🌳 AIA Brooklyn Committee on the Environment Meeting

When: Tue, Apr 4th from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

Where: Adams Street Library, 9 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11021

The Committee on the Environment (COTE) works to advance, disseminate, and advocate – to the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the public – design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment.

🇮🇪 Malcolm Sen: Climate, Environment, and Irish Literature

When: Thu, Apr 6th from 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM

Where: Glucksman Ireland House NYU, One Washinton Mews, New York, NY 10003

Malcolm Sen will provide an overview of Irish literature’s long history of ecological resonances. The talk will center on the recently published A History of Irish Literature and the Environment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022). From Gaelic annals and medieval poetry to contemporary Irish literature, A History of Irish Literature and the Environment examines the connections between the Irish environment and Irish literary culture.

💧 Worlds at Waste: The Crisis of Water in the Subcontinent

When: Fri, Apr 7th from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Where: Buell Hall, 515 West 116th Street, New York, NY 10027

The focus of this day-long workshop, "Worlds at Waste: Water," is to reflect on recent climate events that have caused massive displacement in southern Pakistan, southwest India, and Bangladesh. It aims to bring together scientists and social scientists to help look through the lens of historical pasts, politics, and embedded presents. Devastation and displacement from water caused by the climate crisis are and will remain a recurring, returning, and pervasive phenomenon in the global south.

🍻 NYCT First Friday Meetup

When: Fri, Apr 7th from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Where: Belvedere Lounge, 77 E 7th St, New York, NY 10003

Monthly happy hour for people who care about climate, tech, and building cool things! A more casual meetup and a chance to make new friends.

🏡 Climate Change At Home Exhibit Launch!

When: Sat, Apr 8th from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Where: King Manor Museum, 150-03 Jamaica Avenue, Queens, NY 11432

To celebrate Earth Month, King Manor has an exciting new exhibit dedicated to understanding how every day objects affect our environment. Using QR code technology with a smart phone, visitors can scan codes next to several objects in our museum collection and discover just how much of an impact these objects have on climate change. Ranging from a 19th century deer skin trunk to our 1850s kitchen stove, these objects tell a story that goes beyond the past.

💃 Sea Dance Collective Performance

When: Sat, Apr 8th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Where: GOOD MOVE, 43 South 4th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249

Dance performance with live music, fundraiser, local water conservancy organizations showcasing how you can get involved locally, and so so so much love! Percentage of donations will go to local water conservancy organizations. Members of local ocean, river, and waterway organizations will be present and tabling at this performance to give you ways to sign up and get involved with saving our coastal city!

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!