The Social Innovation Collaboratory Impact Initiative, United Student Government (USG) Sustainability Committee and Students for Environmental Awareness and Justice (SEAJ) have joined together to host a series of online events in honor of Earth Week. From Monday, April 20, until Friday, April 24, club leaders will host speakers, challenges and tutorials on Zoom and Instagram to promote environmental justice. 

Jessica Corbett, co-leader of Climate Impact, GSB ’20, said that they had planned many of the Earth Week events before classes moved online. 

“Even in light of everything going on we still wanted to celebrate the earth, and also just have some engagement with Fordham students right now,” she said. “A lot of people are interested in sustainability at Fordham so we thought it was a good idea to host these events online.” 

Co-leader of the Climate Impact Colleen Cochran, FCRH ’21 agreed. She said although they were able to move many of the events online, leaders had to make significant alterations. 

“There were many things that we wanted to do that we had to be on campus for,” she said. “But we are trying to find other ways for people to interact with these events, and make it accessible for everyone even though we are not on campus.” 

USG, Climate Impact and SEAJ will lead about fourteen different events throughout the week. On Monday at 1 p.m., the Social Innovation Collaboratory will speak with Betsy Drach, founder and CEO of Dot Cup for a Q&A on Zoom. 

According to its website, a Dot cup is a reusable alternative to tampons. For every cup purchased, the company works with international organizations to give one to someone around the world. The program seeks to provide individuals with the opportunity to prioritize their “education, work, and community involvement without shame or interruption.”  Click the link here to join the conversation. 

Also on Tuesday, USG and Climate Impact  will post a series of Instagram videos throughout the day about how to buy and sell second hand clothing.

According to Maggie Tattersfield, FCRH ‘22, chair of the USG sustainability committee, the posts will provide information about how to buy and sell clothing online through Fordham Flea and companies like Poshmark and DePop. She said Fordham Flea is still operating via Instagram, on the condition that each seller must agree to ship or transport the clothing to the buyer.

Tattersfield said USG will be posting submitted photos of thrifted clothes along with testimonials about why it is better to buy second-hand. 

For Social Innovation Day on Tuesday, April 21, leaders from the Gabelli School of Business and the International Humanistic Management Association are holding a virtual gathering from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. According to the registration website, the event will address social innovation in business research, practice, pedagogy and policy. 

The clubs will post information via Instagram about “How To Stay Green in Quarantine.” Tattersfield said the tips will include ways to reduce travel and use environmentally-friendly products. Members of the sustainability committee will also post their Ted Talk recommendations. 

For Earth Day on Wednesday, Roger Sorkin, executive director of the American Resilience Project (ARP) will host a webinar for the Fordham community at 8 p.m. on Zoom. 

ARP is a filmmaking and narrative development nonprofit that supports films about relationships between environment, energy and national security. Sorkin will speak about the use of narrative strategy to guide environmental policy. Click the link here to access the speaker event. 

The clubs will take to Instagram on Thursday to post waste reduction and composting tutorials, as well as ways to recycle at Fordham.  

On Friday, the Instagram content will focus on plant-based recipes, documentary recommendations and advice on how to start a garden. At 8 p.m., Climate Impact will host a Netflix Party in collaboration with the Fordham Club featuring “Night on Earth: Dark Seas.” To access the film, please fill out the form here and install the Party extension on Google Chrome. 

For more information and access to all Instagram events, please follow @fordhamsustainability, @usgsustainability and @fuclimatechange.