Sharon Waskow—It’s Easy Being Green
Photo by Lynn Saville
I’m Sharon Waskow, the founder and leader of an Upper West Side environmental education and personal action group named It’s Easy Being Green (IEBG). Since 2019 we’ve published a monthly newsletter which we are proud to say has grown to nearly 600 subscribers and has on average a 50% open rate. The newsletter offers interviews with NYC officials and environmental leaders on the efforts they make to mitigate the effects of climate change. Some topics we have covered include solid waste reduction, food waste, fast fashion, Local Law 97, the effects of climate on bird health, and threats to human and animal health from microplastics.
In each issue a Let’s Be Plastic Free column offers reviews of items readers can substitute for single use plastic. A Legislation column updates readers on local, state and federal environmental legislation with specific ways to advocate for their passage. We are an affiliate of the national organization Beyond Plastics and were honored last year to receive specific praise from the director, Judith Enck. She lauded IEBG members for calling legislators, writing letters, attending rallies and filling buses on trips to lobby in Albany to push for passage of an important packaging reduction act.
In addition to the newsletter IEBG holds events for community groups on zoom and in person with a focus on accessible and actionable information. We’ve presented webinars on “Six Easy Ways to Help the Environment” and “The Plastic Pollution Problem and What We Can Do About It”. We offer an in person lobby information service to buildings who want to increase their residents' participation in the city’s curbside organics pickup program. We suspect that this will be more in demand now as participation in the pickup/compost program becomes universal and mandatory city wide. We have even presented plastic reduction ideas to a kindergarten class (their questions were great!) and would like to do more with schools.
Finally, closer to home, we have held two Climate Cafes with the participation of students in Columbia’s Climate and Society program. In 2019 at my apartment, students presented on the difference between weather and climate, and in 2023, at Purple Waves Cafe, the topic was Zero Waste. The audience, consisting of IEBG members, learned climate science and the students got to practice their communication skills. It was a win/win all around. We are working on planning more Climate Cafes and would welcome your involvement.
How can students get involved? Here are three ways (I’m sure there are more!)
Help us sign up more coffee/drink, smoothie establishments for our BYO container campaign. We ask shops to post a BYO sticker in their window to let customers know they can use their own containers for takeaway drinks. See a description of the campaign and a list of participating shops here.
Help up with social media posting- Instagram/ X
Identify new ways we can build on an Upper West Side community partnership with Columbia students on environmental issues affecting NYC and the campus.
If you are interested in working with us write an email to itseasybeinggreen.uws@gmail.com
Want to know more? Take a look at our webpage
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sharon
