Sustainability Awareness Week 2023

FIT's Sustainability Awareness Week: OCtober 16-20, 2023

October 16-20, 2023 

This week of programming highlighted sustainability initiatives by industry leaders, FIT students, faculty, staff, and alumni.  This year's Sustainability Week featured special lectures (both virtual and in person), discussions, tours, demonstrations, and the sustainability fair. We are proud of FIT's community participation and support as we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Sustainability Awareness Week at FIT.

Check Out Our Presenters and Panelists

Monday, October 16

Welcome and opening remarks, followed by Faces and Places in Fashion: Launching a Clean Company, from Beauty to Apparel and Faces and following the panel, all guests were invited to the Networking Mixer.

Katie Murphy Amphitheatre 

Play Event

Welcome and Opening Remarks 

Dr. Joyce F. Brown, President, FIT 

Dr. Karen R. Pearson, Chair, Sustainability Council, Chair, Science and Math 


Faces and Places in Fashion: Launching a Clean Company, from Beauty to Apparel

Caroline Gordon, Adjunct Professor, Fashion Business Management

Kristy Caylor, Cofounder, For Days  

Shannon Goldberg, Founder and Executive Board Member, Izzy Beauty, and FIT Alumna


Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, Lower Level 

Networking Mixer 

Guests joined us for cocktails and light refreshments as we celebrated the kickoff to the 2023 Sustainability Awareness Week with a networking mixer. Participants included alumni, faculty, staff, and students from across the campus who are working in sustainability, and provided information on more ways the FIT community can get involved. Representatives from FIT’s Sustainability Council, our campus bookstore Follett, and the FIT Foundation and Alumni Relations answered questions and provided information on upcoming events and other initiatives. 

Tuesday, October 17

This outdoor event featured interactive activities led by faculty, staff, students, and alumni to learn about sustainability projects and events at FIT.

Hometown Flower Co.

Interactive flower demonstration using local, seasonal, and sustainable flowers

Jaclyn Rutigliano, Cofounder, Hometown Flower Co., and FIT Alumna


GrowNYC

Attendees learned about composting and received information on local GrowNYC drop-off points to increase participation in the city’s zero-waste programs and help conserve natural resources.


FABSCRAP Fabric Sale

FABSCRAP is a pre-consumer textile waste recycling service, an affordable art and fashion supply store, a sustainability education center, and a community hub. Partnering with over 800 fashion, interior design, and entertainment brands, FABSCRAP saves hundreds of thousands of pounds of fabric from landfills annually. The FABSCRAP booth offered participants an opportunity to shop saved-from-landfill fabrics, leathers, yarn, and sample garments, all at thrift store prices.

Erin Wiens, Community Lead, FABSCRAP INC


FIT Style Shop Vintage Sale

Izzy Herber, Vintage Head Buyer, FIT Style Shop


Community Dye Bath

Attendees learned about indigo, how to refresh an old item or garment, and took part in creating a community banner. The indigo used has been grown, harvested, and dried from a local New York farm with the help of Textile Development and Marketing students. The muslin has been collected from draping classes on campus. 

Whitney Crutchfield, Assistant Professor, Textile Development and Marketing

Dr. Evelyn Rynkiewicz, Assistant Professor, Science and Math

Dr. Julian Silverman, Assistant Professor, Science and Math


Digital Protest Tee Photobooth

The photobooth offered opportunities for participants to dress up with Snapchat filters developed by FD400-602, Professor Andrea Diodati's Clo3D class. From veganism to fast fashion, each student created a T-shirt filter to raise awareness about their favorite sustainable issue. Digital fashion can be considered the most sustainable way to dress with zero physical product being produced. We encourage participants to post their digitally dressed pic on social media and raise awareness within your community! #sawweek

Andrea Diodati, Assistant Professor, Fashion Design


Movie Screening: The True Cost 

Student Dining Hall 

The True Cost is a documentary film exploring the impact of fashion on people and the planet.


Sustainability Grant Recipients

Urban Woodworking Initiative: Reclaim and Reuse 

Steven Ceraso, CDP Technologist and Instructor, Spatial Experience Design

Anabelle Dimond, President, FIT Furniture Making Club


The Fabric Recycling Program: Muslin Recycling

Brooke Singer, Student 


Sustainability Opportunities at FIT 

Sustainability Grants 

Applicants can receive a $5,000 Sustainability Grant, administered by FIT’s Sustainability Council in support of projects related to social, environmental, and/or economic areas of sustainability. Application details can found on our website.

Dr. Evelyn Rynkiewicz, Assistant Professor, Science and Math


Ethics and Sustainability Minor 

The minor in Ethics and Sustainability draws on the expertise and critical thinking of faculty across the campus in all three undergraduate schools. Minoring in Ethics and Sustainability provides students with knowledge and tools to understand and critically assess environments, materials, economics, aesthetics, philosophical concepts, social responsibility, and the impact of actions. The minor is designed to facilitate understanding of the interrelatedness of topics, information, and applications related to ethics and sustainability. Application details can found on our website.

Dr. Evelyn Rynkiewicz, Assistant Professor, Science and Math

Ann Cantrell, Associate Professor, Fashion Business Management


Sustainable Materials and Technology Minor 

The Sustainable Materials and Technology minor provides an understanding of the different kinds of challenges faced by our society and teaches students how to apply fundamental scientific knowledge and practice to help solve real-world problems. This minor will complement students’ major-course knowledge and prepare them to lead their industries to a more sustainable future.

Dr. Karen R. Pearson, Chair, Sustainability Council, Chair, Science and Math 


Genspace Scholars 

The FIT Genspace Scholars Program provides FIT undergraduate students the opportunity to develop and complete research at the state-of-the-art Genspace Laboratory in Brooklyn during the spring semester. Learn more about the scholars program and how to apply. Application details can found on our website.

FIT GenSpace Scholars 

Casey Lardner, PhD, Lab and Operations Manager, Genspace

Dr. Karen R. Pearson, Chair, Sustainability Council, Chair, Science and Math 

Play Event


Student Campus Sustainability Initiatives 

Sustainability Council students showcased FIT student activism actions to combat climate change and promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. They also launched the new “Don’t be Trashy” campaign, which asks students to bring their own reusable cutlery to the Dining Hall to reduce plastic waste and to support other sustainability efforts on campus.

FIT Sustainability Council Student Members

Dye Garden Rooftop, Feldman Center, Ninth Floor 

FIT's Natural Dye Garden tour gave visitors a chance to learn more about our dye plants, including native and pollinator species. The tour provided information on how we've been harvesting, and attendees helped collect our dye yield for storage, and participated in a natural dye workshop. Students are encouraged to fill out this interest form and get on the Dye Garden Student Mailing List.

Whitney Crutchfield, Assistant Professor, Textile Development and Marketing

The Museum at FIT

Food & Fashion, on view at The Museum at FIT, examines the multifaceted relationship between these two integral parts of our daily lives. This tour by cocurators Melissa Marra-Alvarez and Elizabeth Way focused on themes of sustainability and activism in the exhibition, including back-to-the-land movements, Slow Food / Slow Fashion, and food-based biomaterials.

Elizabeth Way, Associate Curator, The Museum at FIT

Melissa Marra-Alvarez,  Curator of Education and Research, The Museum at FIT  

Feldman Center, DTech Lab, C110

Holes in your favorite jeans? Moths ate your sweater? Can't sew a button on? The SAW mending workshop provided information on the sustainable art of clothing repair. Basic hand sewing as well as more advanced techniques like jean patching and sweater darning were taught. Participants were encouraged to bring a garment to fix and supplies were provided.

Nancy Brooke Smith, Mending Expert

Business and Liberal Arts Center, Room B307

Laura Novich, Sustainability Strategist at Hyloh and FIT alumna, and FBM Associate Professor Ann Cantrell discussed setting, measuring, and managing sustainability targets in the business world today. Real-world case studies were reviewed as well as Laura’s journey to Hyloh.

Ann Cantrell, Associate Professor, Fashion Business Management

Laura Novich, Sustainability Strategist, Hyloh, and FIT Alumna

Forward New York Soho • 468 Broome Street

Golden Goose welcomed the FIT community to celebrate Sustainability Awareness Week with CEO of the Americas Silvia Merat at their Soho Forward store, a place that celebrates craftsmanship, artistry, and sustainability.

Ann Cantrell, Associate Professor, Fashion Business Management

Silvia Merati, Chief Executive Officer, Americas, Golden Goose

Wednesday, October 18

Online Event

Sarah Mullins, Assistant Chair, Footwear and Accessories Design
Dr. Elisa Palomino. fashion designer John Gallo and Christian Dior

Play Event

Pre-recorded Online Event

 

Oded Oslander, Raw Materials Manager, Patagonia, and FIT Alum

Dr. Karen R. Pearson, Chair, Sustainability Council, Chair, Science and Math 

Play Event

Feldman Center, C802

Kristen Fanarakis, designer and founder of Senza Tempo, in conversation with Andrea Diodati's Draping II class. The event showcased Fanarakis’s commitment to sustainability impacts both the small and big decisions of running a U.S. fashion brand, from seam allowance to small business advocacy. Fanarakis also educates her customers on how to buy quality fashion and avoid green washing on her blog.

Kristen Fanarakis, Founder, Senza Tempo

Andrea Diodati, Assistant Professor, Fashion Design

Thursday, October 19

Katie Murphy Amphitheatre 

What is being done to regulate and reduce waste and overconsumption in the fashion industry? What can be done to make sure companies follow the laws regarding false claims of sustainability? In her presentation, Elizabeth Sanger discussed the FTC’s Green Guides, actions the FTC has taken to stop greenwashing and false advertising in the fashion industry, and what pressing challenges there are in regulating the fashion and consumer goods industries. 

Elizabeth Sanger, Attorney, Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Advertising Practices

Dr. Evelyn Rynkiewicz, Assistant Professor, Science and Math

Play Event

Dubinsky Student Center, Eighth Floor 

From the street level, FIT’s imposing brutalist buildings are a signature of New York City’s urban landscape. Look at FIT from above, and a greener picture emerges. Nearly an acre of green roofs, made up of hardy succulents in the genus Sedum, offer numerous environmental benefits. They insulate the buildings, improve air quality, help cool the neighborhood, and absorb rainfall, mitigating flooding in the city’s sewers during storms. Also, atop the Shirley Goodman Resource Center, solar panels provide electricity for the grid.

Al Palmaccio, Assistant Director of Engineering and Sustainability

Learn about FIT's green roofs:

Feldman Center, Room C903

Play Event

Mallorie Dunn, FIT Fashion Design and CCPS professor and founder of inclusive clothing brand SmartGlamour, discussed how societal fatphobia has added to sustainability issues within the fashion industry. This talk covered fashion overproduction by the numbers, the reality of US customers, ethical fashion access issues, and actions we can all take to correct these problems.

Mallorie Dunn, Adjunct Professor, Fashion, CCPS, and Precollege

Friday, October 20

Feldman Center, Room C804 

Participants learned how to make and mold vegan dish soaps from waste cooking oils. While the oils saponified, attendees explored the history and science behind soap, the nature of fragrances and additives, and, of course, played with some bubbles.

Dr. Julian Silverman, Assistant Professor, Science and Math

Online Event

The FIT Genspace Scholars Program provides FIT undergraduates the opportunity to develop and complete research at the state-of-the-art Genspace Laboratory in Brooklyn during the spring semester. Learn more about the program and how to apply in this prerecorded event. 

Dr. Karen R. Pearson, Chair, Sustainability Council 

Casey Lardner, PhD, Lab and Operations Manager, Genspace

Play Event

Pre-Recorded Online Event

Dr. Karen R. Pearson, Chair, Sustainability Council 

Play Event

Questions?

Contact the FIT Sustainability Council at [email protected].