Westchester County Business Journal Green enters student lesson plans
Green enters student lesson plans
Expo also offers business angles
This month, more than 1,500 middle and high school students and teachers, primarily from Westchester County, will learn about sustainable development via tools spanning organic farming and fair trade displays to a new online game about energy conservation.
The fourth annual “Students for a Sustainable Future Expo,” organized by Chappaqua-based Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF), will be held April 23 at Pace University in Pleasantville.
Exhibitors new to the Expo this year include IBM, KG&D Architects, Green Worker Cooperatives, Groundworks Hudson Valley and Warner Music Group. They will join returning participants, including co-sponsor Whole Foods, to demonstrate the newest environmentally friendly technologies and products and highlight emerging career opportunities in green and sustainable technology, design, manufacturing and business.
Omar Freilla, founder and executive director of Bronx-based Green Worker Cooperatives network, defines a green collar job as “any job that can improve environmental conditions.”
The organization works with budding entrepreneurs who want to start an environmentally-friendly business.
“As environmental, economic and equity issues are always interconnected, a business that neglects the well-being of its workers, customers and community cannot be truly green,” Freilla said. “We feel that creating green businesses is an excellent way for our own community to be proactive in creating the kind of world that we want to live in.”
Westchester County will showcase its latest sustainability practices, and there will be an update from the county’s Global Warming Task Force.
“The chance to show students so many exciting and viable career paths in science and technology, business and consumer goods, education and services is empowering given the economic and environmental challenges we currently face,” said Katie Ginsberg, CELF’s founder. “Exciting opportunities for today’s students exist not just in cutting edge technologies or environmental advocacy, but across all sectors. The growing recognition of the interconnectedness of the economy, the environment and society requires a new way of designing, conducting and evaluating all business. With a solid foundation in sustainability education, today’s students will be better equipped than previous generations to thrive in the new green economy.”
Also new this year, CELF will host “Corporate Connections,” an opportunity for the public to attend the expo, a response to growing interest in sustainability issues among business owners and organizations. The program includes a green building presentation by Erik A. Kaeyer, vice president of Kaeyer, Garment & Davidson Architects & Engineers P.C. in Mount Kisco, followed by a “green building tour” of the exhibit floor. Among Kaeyer’s award-winning projects are The Media Lab at Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua, additions and renovations to Somers High School and the New York State Judicial Institute at Pace University Law School.
Online advance registration for Corporate Connections (www.celfoundation.org/expo) is $15; $25 at the door ($5 students).
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