Welcome to the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives, Williams' sustainability office.
The Zilkha Center advances sustainability at Williams College in collaboration with operational departments, faculty, students and partners outside the college. Our key focus areas include:
How does the Zilkha Center fit into the campus ecosystem? Campus sustainability is everyone’s job, but the Zilkha Center exists to support and keep the work moving forward. The Center focuses primarily on improving campus operations while engaging students in the work.
Academic courses around sustainability and the environment fall under the Center for Environmental Studies (CES). Students interested in majoring in environmental studies or the research and internship opportunities CES provides should reach out directly to CES.
🗑 Sending a huge THANK YOU to our wonderful Compost Friends! Thanks for educating your peers on how to correctly compost this fall. 🗑
Did you know that the plastic utensils and cups provided by Dining are all compostable? They are! They`re corn-based and compostable in industrial compost.
Check out the link in our bio to learn more about what can and cannot be composted. When in doubt, throw it out - it`s better to trash something compostable than to contaminate a compost bin.
🌊 Water Initiatives at Williams 🌊
While water might appear plentiful in the northeast, we still go through cycles of droughts and flooding so it`s important to conserve our water resources.
Check out the photos to learn more!
🚨 We are thrilled to announce the launch of the new Zilkha Center website! 🚨
Our new website has up-to-date information about Williams` sustainability initiatives and ways you can get involved.
Visit our new website and explore the world of sustainability at Williams!
🌱 Don’t know what you can recycle or compost? Check out "Quick guides"
🌱 Want to know how you can make our campus more sustainable? Visit "Getting Involved"
🌱 Want to learn about our goals for Williams? Read our “Sustainability Vision” page
Huge shout-out to @the_real_bluej & Michael Storm for their immense help!
🍎 First-Days Cider pressing! Huge shout-out to @hopkinsmemorialforest for lending us the cider press and @wildoatsmarket for selling local apples! 🍎
🐓 Welcome Rooties! 🐓
Today marks the start of Root, an EphVenture focused on social identity, sustainability, and environmental justice co-hosted by the @williamsdaviscenter and the @zilkhacenter. Our goal is to empower new Williams students to be change-makers for social and environmental justice.
We’re so excited to meet the next cohort of students! Check out @findyourrootz to follow along with our adventures!
🦌 We`ve noticed evidence in the Envi Center gardens of some recent "visitors," and yesterday Chief Communications Officer Jim Reische caught it on camera! 🦌
While it can be frustrating to lose produce to our furry friends, we also recognize that it can be a part of our reciprocal relationship with the earth.
We ask people visiting the gardens to wait for "pick me" signs and to observe the principles of the Honorable Harvest, as outlined by Robin Wall Kimmerer (see link in bio). These principles guide us to take with gratitude, taking only what we need and leaving food for others, including our non-human friends. In the end, it`s all part of the plan!
🌼 The Zilkha Center is accepting applications for our academic year internships! 🌼
This year, we have the following roles available:
-Sustainability Communications Intern
-Environmental Center Landscaping & Garden Intern
-Zero Waste Intern
-CoolFood Education & Outreach Intern
-EcoReps
-Community engagement
-Project Intern: Campus Tree Planting and Carbon Sequestration
-Project Intern: Libraries and Climate Change
Use the link in our bio to learn more about the roles and apply today!
🛑 Wait! Don’t buy anything at the store until you check out the Tag Sale! 🛑
The annual Tag Sale sells donated dorm supplies to students, preventing landfill waste and making dorm supplies affordable! Whether you need a new rug, pens, or yoga mat, the tag sale probably has it.
Come visit the tag sale at the Congregational church (the big white one across from Paresky)!
Monday, August, 28th, 11:00am - 3:00pm (first gen. & international students)
Thursday, August 31st, 9:30am - 1:30pm (first years)
Monday, Sept. 4th, 1:00pm - 4:00pm (All students & Williams Community)
Wednesday, Sept. 6th, 1:00pm - 4:00pm (All students & Williams Community)
Saturday, Sept. 9th, 10:00am - 3:00pm (General community)
🦋 Meet the Zilkha Center`s Sustainability Coordinator! In this mini-interview, Christine Seibert shares about her work and encourages students of all majors to get involved with sustainability on campus. Watch the video to learn more! 🦋
🌱 Meet the Associate Director of the Zilkha Center! In this mini-interview, Mike Evans shares about his work, including implementing DEI at the ZC. Watch the video to learn more! 🌱
☀️ Meet the Director of the Zilkha Center! In this mini-interview, Tanja Srebotnjak shares her favorite things about the ZC and gives important advice. Watch the video to learn more! ☀️
The Zilkha Center is excited to welcome everyone back to campus! Take a moment today to think about how you can make your trip back as sustainable as possible -
🍀 Book lower-carbon transportation such as a bus/train when possible. If you have to fly, avoid layovers (takeoff & touchdown use the most fuel)
🍀 Pack light. Less baggage will reduce fuel consumption and associated CO2 emissions and may even save you money! Plus, there`s always the tag sale...
🍀 If you stop on the way, choose eco-friendly accommodations. Look for accommodations that prioritize sustainability! (check their websites)
Happy eco-friendly travels!
Our gardening intern, Sabrina, put together this helpful guide to the Envi Center gardens! 🌱
QR codes are present around the outside of the building, or you can scan here or click the link in our bio to access the document.
🔗📹 Watch our garden tour video posted earlier for more information! 🪴✨
🪴 garden tour! 🌱
SEE ALSO: link in our bio for the full comprehensive guide, ‘What’s Growing in the Envi Center Gardens?’, created by Sabrina!
The herbs are available to pick anytime, but for other beds, wait until PICK ME signs appear to help yourself.
Special thanks to our gardening intern Sabrina and our zero waste intern Isabelle for being resident garden experts! 👩🏻🌾
Watch this video to follow a squeezy Ephelia toy on its journey through life—and its inevitable ending. What could YOU do differently?
Swag (stuff we all get) is found abundantly around campus. Usually, it takes the form of plastic, cheap, and disposable items that contribute to the waste we produce as a community.
The college`s Zero Waste Action Plan recommends that we work to reduce the amount of swag that we are producing and taking!
♻️ Done any repurposing lately? ♻️
We want to showcase how items on campus get reused, repurposed, and recycled.
🔗 If you have any examples, whether big or small, submit them through the form (in our bio @ linktr.ee/zilkhacenter or below) to share YOUR sustainable ideas with the campus community.
Link here: https://forms.gle/JA2JWE4syci4V2M47
🏙️🐔 The Zilkha interns recently took a trip to the Radix Center, an organisation set to promote ecological literacy and environmental stewardship within urban environments! 🏙️🐔
The @radixcenter is located in the South End of Albany, which has historically lacked access to healthy, green food. Radix seeks to remedy this gap through community-based sustainable solutions, working on a number of projects such as growing food for the community, stewarding composting systems in the area, bioremediation of toxic soil, and planting trees to help reduce heat levels in urban areas.
Their project is a great example of how much environmental justice can be incorporated into all natural environments, and the necessity of doing so.
Visit their page @radixcenter or their website, https://www.radixcenter.org for more details about the work they do and ways to get involved! ♻️
♻️ Recycling contamination occurs when non-recyclable items such as food, liquids, or garbage are thrown in recycling bins. ♻️
Oftentimes, a whole bag of good recycling spoiled by a few non-recyclable items is thrown away to prevent difficulties such as jammed recycling machines which can overall drive up the cost of recycling. It’s important to stay aware of this zero-waste obstacle by ensuring your waste is disposed of correctly!
🏙️🌱 Get a sneak peek into the new Davis Center construction site, set to open Spring 2024! 🌱🏙️
The interns took a trip to @cricketcreekfarm to volunteer and learn about the cheesemaking process!
.
.
#cheesemaking #berkshires #farm
Megamenu Social