the blue zone

the host of official un negotiations, the blue zone was packed with high-level panels, press conferences, and delegation meetings. while i could not access the highest-level negotiations, i was constantly in awe of all of the government officials, reporters, and activists from around the world that surrounded me. everyone there seemed to be on a mission, representing the interests of their respective organizations and constituents. one of my most memorable encounters was attending the u.s. congressional delegation’s press conference, where both senate and house members spoke about their takeaways and action steps from the conference. since the press conference was quite small, i found myself only standing a few feet away from some of the most influential politicians in congress. after the press conference, i even sucked up the courage to talk to georgia sen. jon ossoff, who gave a powerful message on taking drastic climate action on behalf of young people. he was incredibly attentive to what i had to say, and even delivered a message to young people on my phone (that i posted on my planet forward instagram takeover).

another highlight in the blue zone was getting the chance to hear from indigenous leaders, whose voices are crucial in climate conversations. there was one speaker in particular i was overjoyed to see on the mainstage: levi sucre romero, a leader of the bribri peoples and coordinator of the mesoamerican alliance of peoples and forests. i had the chance to interview and write about levi’s work for an planet forward-hosted internship at mongabay last year, and so it was the best surprise to see levi speaking to thousands about the importance of indigenous knowledge and leadership in climate solutions.

the green zone

while the blue zone hosts high-level negotiations and world leaders, the green zone is open to the public and attracts families, students, and nonprofits alike. despite the blue zone getting the majority of media attention, the green zone was still packed with fascinating events and exhibitions. in the green zone, i attended panels on indigenous environmental art and storytelling, watched an imax film that took viewers into space, and even experienced climate films through a virtual reality simulation. to me, the green zone was equally as enriching as the blue zone. while no official climate negotiations took place there, the green zone’s programming still plays a key role in enriching the public and nonprofessionals on important environmental conservations and making climate action more widely accessible.
 

the streets

outside of the official blue and green zones, there was also so much energy and chaos taking place just on the streets. protesters lined glasgow’s city square and streets all weekend, with famous climate activists such as greta thunberg and vanessa nakate delivering speeches at rallies. the train and bus lines in glasgow were even packed with protesters from around the world eagerly holding up posters and signs. there is an unmatchable energy at protests that make the climate movement feel so powerful and unifying, and to participate in these protests right outside the cop26 doors was truly unforgettable. 

the need for more collaboration

experiencing cop26’s blue zone, green zone, and outside protests provided me a holistic perspective on cop26 and the different stakeholders involved. with so many interests at play, it becomes so difficult to reconcile the needs of all stakeholders at large-scale climate discussions. while switching between different zones, i noticed that diplomatic, high-level climate negotiations in the blue zone could not have felt more different than the passionate, fiery protests on the streets. in a similar sense, representatives from global south and indigenous communities feel a far greater urgency for climate action than those from western nations, especially seeing more drastic effects of climate change firsthand that threaten their livelihoods. there is also a disconnect between younger and older generations, as young people oftentimes are most concerned about climate change since they inherently will have to deal with its impacts most in their lifetime. 

as a result, various stakeholders tend to work on climate issues in isolated spaces, perpetuating environmental echo chambers. however, what the climate crisis needs most is more cross-cultural and cross-sectoral collaboration, since climate change impacts us all. attending cop26 amplified this disconnect to me, and thus i want to be a builder of bridges and help foster more collaborations among the various stakeholders working on the climate crisis. and i am certain that truthful, innovative storytelling plays a key role in this.

what makes climate change so complex is that every country, every industry, and every individual is a stakeholder. governments, businesses, and nonprofits across the spectrum have differing priorities on how to tackle the climate crisis. climate change disproportionately affects global south countries who have contributed the least to the problem, also making climate change an equity issue. throw a catastrophic pandemic into the mix, and climate change becomes an even more complex issue that only worsens human health and survival. 

the clock is ticking, and every day vulnerable communities around the world face climate consequences that threaten their livelihoods––from droughts to hurricanes to rising sea levels. these consequences will only continue to spread and worsen, which is why cop26 takes place at such a crucial time. 

i hope that countries, especially the biggest players in climate politics, prioritize the planet over profit and develop drastically stronger national climate plans that highlight climate actions towards achieving the paris agreement. i hope that climate finance leverages the vast resources of the private sector to support a robust global transition towards greener technologies and processes. i hope decision makers will finally hear and amplify the voices of those most affected by the climate crisis––from coastal communities to youth activists to indigenous environmental defenders.

can these hopes become a reality in time, before it’s too late? i’m looking forward to finding out in a few weeks. as a young person deeply concerned about the state of our planet and its inhabitants, it’s an honor to be part of the conversation.

—

about the author:

francesca edralin is a 2021 planet forward comcast sustainable storytelling fellow, 2020-21 planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 , and 2021 planet forward storyfest winner. she is in her final semester at the george washington university pursuing a b.a in international affairs with minors in journalism and mass communication and sustainability. although she grew up in new jersey, her family comes from the philippines, one of the countries currently most severely impacted by climate change and environmental conflict. her background led her to be passionate about environmental issues––especially looking at the climate crisis through a global lens and understanding how climate change disproportionately impacts the world’s poorest countries and communities.

edralin interviews leaders of the green bronx machine, an impact-driven organization based in the bronx that builds local food systems and empowers students to grow and consume their own healthy foods. crossing paths with the green bronx machine founder at a food sustainability summit in 2017, edralin reconnects with the green bronx machine team four years later to learn how the organization has addressed rising hunger rates and navigated a challenging learning environment, due to the pandemic.

want to learn more? watch her video above, and check out edralin’s story about the green bronx machine.

—

special thanks to the planet forward team and heidi estrada for assisting with the filming and production of this video.

that powerful idea is none other than the green bronx machine, but rest assured it is not your typical machine. the green bronx machine is powered by none other than students with a passion for gardening healthy greens, as well as educators who spark that passion in their students.

planted in the bronx

the green bronx machine’s most notable educator is also its founder: stephen ritz. ritz is a bronx native and can easily be identified by his exuberant energy both in and out of the classroom. teaching at schools with some of the worst dropout rates in the country, ritz has always been deeply committed to his students and has worked tirelessly to keep them engaged in school. 

nearly a decade ago, ritz had a lightbulb moment that would change the trajectory of his career and students’ lives forever. when his middle schoolers accidentally stumbled upon a box of flower bulbs in his classroom, they were fascinated by their discovery and were eager to learn how to plant.

pleasantly surprised by his students’ reaction, stephen realized that he could better engage his students by making gardening the center of the classroom experience. 

“i could teach children to read and write and do math if i put this magical garden in the middle of the classroom and built school around it,” ritz said.

in 2013, ritz became the first teacher in the u.s. to implement tower gardens in the classroom. 

sprouting local solutions

since the introduction of tower gardens, the green bronx machine has flourished into an educational and community-based organization that teaches students how to garden and consume healthier foods. under its model, students still learn core subjects like science and math, but gardening is put at the center of teaching so that students have a more engaging and hands-on learning experience. while unconventional, the green bronx machine education model has proven to be effective in training and empowering students.

“we’ve taken a formerly failing, slated-to-be-closed school that now outperforms city and statewide benchmarks in all areas,” ritz said.

notably, the green bronx machine has not only closed education gaps in the bronx but has also expanded to address local food insecurity as well. today, the organization runs classroom and community gardens all throughout the bronx, serving as a production hub for healthy greens around the bronx community. cory gamble, a former student of ritz’s and the green bronx machine’s farm technician, has witnessed how the green bronx machine fills an incredibly important food access gap in his community.

“that’s the main thing in the bronx: lack of food,” gamble said. “the bronx doesn’t really have food like that. it’s mostly junk food around here than anything else.”

ritz’s vision for the green bronx machine is rooted in community empowerment and self-sufficiency. instead of waiting for outsiders to fix the bronx’s food deserts, ritz is eager to make change from within, empowering the bronx’s youth to be farmers who change the trajectory of local food insecurity.

“we at green bronx machine are determined to be the light inside of our tunnel, instead of seeking light at the end of the tunnel,” ritz said.

rooted in resilience

when the covid-19 pandemic took the world by surprise, the green bronx machine was already prepared to address the exacerbated food crisis in the bronx.

“once the covid-19 crisis started, it was amazing that nothing fell off, and green bronx machine didn’t have to readjust,” said michaela, ritz’s daughter who had been helping the organization deliver meals to families during the pandemic.

according to michaela, the green bronx machine worked hard to “fill in the cracks that became even more glaringly apparent in society.” with schools shutting down and healthy meals becoming more difficult to access, the green bronx machine went above and beyond to ensure that their students were still learning and families were still eating. ritz and his team hosted frequent cooking classes, even delivering ingredients to students to make sure they could participate. they also transformed their national health and wellness center into a food pick-up station, in addition to hand-delivering more than 100,000 pounds of food to locals in their community.

“without green bronx machine, i don’t know if half of these kids would be eating due to covid,”  gamble said.

when schools started opening back up again in the bronx, the green bronx machine also resumed their classroom gardening projects in a socially distant manner. in this way, the green bronx machine improved students’ lives during the pandemic through three main avenues: an academic need for learning, a material need for nutritious food, and a social need for human connection.

harvesting a movement

the systemic issues of food insecurity and school dropout rates are not unique to the bronx, and so the green bronx machine strives to replicate these positive impacts in other communities that struggle with their same issues. with expansive success in the bronx education system, the green bronx machine has developed a curriculum model now implemented in over 500 classrooms around the u.s. and world. 

what makes the green bronx machine model so powerful, though, is that it isn’t just an education success story. it’s a societal success story. the green bronx machine’s journey to make the bronx a greener and healthier community shows that societal transformation is most effective and sustainable when it starts from within. instead of employing outside food delivery to feed the bronx, the green bronx machine placed the seeds in the hands of those with the most power to change the bronx for the better: the local youth. 

ultimately, food is the key ingredient that powers the green bronx machine model, bringing together students, educators, and community members alike because nutritious food is a universal necessity of life. food is what we all have in common, and so what the green bronx machine brings to the bronx can be brought to any community in need of healthy food.

according to ritz, “food is the language in which society reveals itself.” and in the bronx, the success of the green bronx machine reveals that youth and education are two of the most powerful channels to bring healthy food access to some of the country’s poorest communities.

a seed of an idea planted in the bronx, the green bronx machine model now has the potential to be harvested around the world. 

“i was young,” perise remembered. “the noises, the movements, the fastness of the waves — all scared me.”

at the time, perise never would have imagined that he’d dedicate his life to protecting the ocean. a decade later, perise is now inspiring a movement in his hometown of buea, cameroon, to combat plastic pollution and protect the ocean.

growing up, perise noticed that his hometown had a lot of problems with plastic waste.

“i saw plastic pollution everywhere,” perise said.

plastic pollution is an issue prevalent all throughout cameroon, since cameroon as a whole has a poor waste management system, perise says. because his area lacks strong waste management, perise observes massive piles of plastic in his neighbors’ yards, on the side of the road, and even clogging waterways. 

wanting to make a change, perise’s first move was one that seemed daunting for a single person, but perhaps also the most practical: picking up the plastic waste in his community. perise hopped door to door in his community, collecting thousands of plastic bottles from the streets.

perise sends most of this plastic to his local plastic collection agency. in more recent years, though, he’s found more creative ways to repurpose the thousands of bottles he collects. through the parallel projects, last year perise brought 3,000 plastic bottles to douala, cameroon, to help construct an ecoboat with the nonprofit madiba and nature. mabida specializes in repurposing plastic bottles to create usable boats, donating them to local fishermen.

perise’s plastic collection efforts have not gone unnoticed in his community, and locals even call him the “plastic man.” perise’s goal is not just to collect plastic in his community, but also to educate his community on plastic pollution and build a mass movement to improve cameroon’s waste practices. for the past few years, perise has visited local schools to deliver presentations on plastic pollution and ocean conservation.

perise finds that education is a key link to making change in his community. 

“raise awareness in the communities, then they will want to put pressure on the governments,” perise said.

through education, perise has developed a mass movement of locals who want to see better waste management practices in their community. they understand that recycling and consuming less plastic are only small portions of the solution, as there needs to be structural changes made by governments as well.

“the plastic pollution crisis in cameroon is far from just a lot of people consuming plastic,” perise emphasized.

unexpectedly, perise’s audience has reached far beyond his local town of buea. several of perise’s photos of plastic pollution in cameroon have blown up on social media. perise believes that only minimal attention has been given to cameroon’s plastic pollution because photos of the crisis have not reached the internet. perise is vocal on social media about the environmental issues that his country faces, in hopes to draw more attention to cameroon and to inspire other young people to start similar movements in their communities.

perise is an active member of the environmental nonprofits greening forward and thinkocean, two organizations that seek to foster a movement of youth from around the world who are passionate about the environment. (in full disclosure, perise is also a friend and colleague of the author in the organization thinkocean.) perise’s story has become so inspiring that for the un world oceans day event this year, perise presented as a keynote speaker alongside some of the world’s most famous environmentalists like bill mckibben and jean-michel cousteau.

despite the global recognition and opportunities he recently has received, perise knows he wants to stick to environmental advocacy in cameroon in the long run. his goal in the future is to work more directly with the cameroonian government to ensure the structural changes in environmental and waste management that his country needs, such as creating more plastic recycling facilities and banning plastic packaging.

until then, perise plans to further expand his local grassroots movement against plastic pollution, in addition to inspiring young leaders around the world to the same.

perise’s rule-of-thumb is this: “if you’re passionate about something, connect with like-minded people around you.”

after the summit, planet forward hooked me in with its mission, and i wanted to learn as much as possible about the art of environmental communication. i produced content for planet forward and my university’s sustainability department, and to my surprise, two of my stories were finalists for the 2020 storyfest competition. to gain more academic training, i enrolled in science reporting with gw’s national geographic visiting professor lisa palmer. this was the first reporting class i took at gw, and i gained valuable skills in environmental science communication and writing.

professor palmer gave the class valuable insight as an accomplished environmental writer, and she brought in a variety of speakers in the field of science communication. one speaker in particular was a representative of mongabay, an international news site known for its environmental and conservation reporting. as someone particularly interested in communicating international issues that don’t typically receive mainstream media coverage, i always admired mongabay’s niche reporting and wanted to gain experience with them one day.

that day came sooner than i had expected. professor palmer encouraged me to apply for an internship with mongabay, and a month later i was offered a role. at first, i was slightly intimidated because i was their only summer intern and had only taken one reporting class prior. studying international affairs, i didn’t have the traditional training that most journalism students receive during their undergraduate years. i knew i would have to really dive into the role at mongabay and learn the art of desk reporting as i went.

the skills that professor palmer taught me in science reporting helped me tremendously with my stories. for my first three stories, my editor, jeremy hance, assigned me to write articles based on recent environmental and conservation research. i covered the discovery of a new crocodile species in new guinea, the dramatic decline of a keystone peccary species in mesoamerican forests, and the dangerous impacts of climate change on canada’s unique glass sponge reefs. one of my most enjoyable tasks was interviewing the scientists themselves, as they were so passionate about their research and gave me useful insight that their research reports did not provide.

my story about the keystone peccary decline, in particular, gained much international traction, as one of the first articles that sounded the alarm on this groundbreaking discovery. in fact, the story made mongabay’s list of most popular articles published in july, amassing more than 40,000 views online. to this day, it blows my mind that someone like me, with such little reporting background, could write stories that reach such a wide and international audience.

after three research-based articles, my editor decided to shift gears and assign me a more “human-centric” piece. my next story — also my favorite story of the internship — was an interview with an indigenous environmental leader named levi sucre romero from costa rica. for the interview, i interviewed romero about how environmental destruction and covid-19 have impacted his community, as well as how they are coping with the pandemic and sustainably managing their forests. levi provided me with so much wisdom and insight from the interview, his most important message being that governments must include indigenous knowledge to better conserve the planet—as well as prevent future pandemics.

as a filipino-american, i expressed to my editor how i also was interested in philippine environmental issues and would love to cover a story on the country. because mongabay covers the philippines extensively, he connected me with mongabay’s philippines editor to find a story. the editor assigned me an investigative piece about the potential lifting of governmental protections on the pristine bantayan island group, focusing on its harmful effects on the islands’ water supply. writing this story was particularly fulfilling, as i got the chance to interview bantayan locals and connect with environmentalists from my home country.

what’s next? i am ecstatic to be a planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 for the 2020-21 school year, and i also will be a media engagement intern for the international food policy research institute, writing blogs and designing communications strategy with a focus on sustainable solutions to end global poverty. my work at mongabay has also gotten me interested in the environmental conflicts that indigenous communities face, and so i will be conducting research with the state department this year, focusing on researching these conflicts in southeast asia.

i am so grateful to planet forward, professor palmer, and mongabay for providing me with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. my journey in environmental communications has only just begun.
 

over recent months, stay-at-home orders have led to a temporary plunge in greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, as much of the population stayed home more and traveled less. however, as governments gradually lift social distancing orders, more and more people are leaving their homes and transitioning back to old routines. 

yet, some aspects of the quarantine routine have the potential to translate into long-term lifestyle changes. in particular, teleworking offers a multitude of environmental benefits if continued after the quarantine period. recent research shows that increased teleworking in communities reduces air pollution and traffic congestion. 

in 2018, civil engineer and transportation systems analyst at the university of illinois-chicago ramin shabanpour published a study on the impacts of teleworking on local air pollution. in his study, shabanpour identified the current populations in chicago capable of telework. then, he calculated what percentage of those populations participated in telework at the time. he found that only 12% of individuals who are capable of telework worked from home to some extent. using 12% as the base, shabanpour and his team developed a simulation that modeled a hypothetical “twin city” of chicago. 

“we spent a few years here in chicago developing a transportation simulation platform which, in a nutshell, is a simulation-based twin city. using a software known as the polaris model, we were able to simulate what we have in the real world,” he said.

shabanpour and his team kept all data points constant in the simulation, except for the percentage of the population who worked from home which they increased from 12% to 50%. the simulation did not manipulate the frequency that chicago residents worked from home, only increasing the percentage of teleworkers at the current frequency. 

the results proved to shabanpour and his team how beneficial teleworking can be for the environment. 

“we found that we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 0.7% because of an increase in telecommuting. when you talk about impact, this is actually a huge number because if you multiply 0.7% with current greenhouse gas emissions in chicago, we find that an implementation like this can reduce 500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per day,” shabanpour said.

capable teleworkers do not need to solely work from home to produce these emission reductions. shabanpour acknowledges that most teleworkers only work from home a few days per week, and they likely still drive when they telework in order to run errands. the simulation’s results account for the driving needs of teleworkers, because shabanpour kept the frequency that teleworkers drive to work and run errands in real life constant.

shabanpour’s study was one of the first to analyze teleworking’s impacts on air pollution and the environment. while he only examines telework patterns in the chicago metropolitan area, his findings can apply to any area that suffers from air pollution and has a section of the population that is capable of telework. 

as a result, shabanpour has emerged as an advocate for telework. he believes that current efforts to reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions invest in the wrong solutions, instead of cost-efficient solutions like telework programs. 

“we just invest billions and billions of funding into building new bridges and infrastructure – let’s start looking at this soft side of transportation. focusing on these numbers, we can definitely reduce the transportation emissions and congestion that we have at a very low cost, compared to the big infrastructure projects that we have,” shabanpour said. 

as the quarantine period forced many companies to temporarily transition their workforce online, the potential for companies to commit to a long-term telework system makes shabanpour’s research more relevant now than ever. 

in the past, companies have hesitated to allow teleworking. timothy golden, a professor and telework researcher at rensselaer polytechnic institute, finds that companies assume teleworking would decrease employer satisfaction and productivity. 

“because you’re working away from the office, particularly if the rest of the office is still there, that has the potential to make you feel cut off or separated from people,” golden said.

golden asserts that hybrid teleworking programs, which allow employees to split their hours between working from home and in the office, alleviate employees’ concerns of feeling isolated from the workplace. he also recommends that managers assess which employees are capable of telework, meaning they can productively complete their tasks at home. 

“it’s not an all-or-nothing scenario. it’s not a one-size-fits-all,” golden said.

companies who supported teleworking before the pandemic prove that implementing a telework system increases productivity and company savings, in addition to reducing carbon footprints.

dell, headquartered in austin, texas, is one company leading the global movement toward hybrid teleworking programs. since implementing its “connected workplace” program, dell allows employees to design a work-from-home schedule tailored to their preferences. dell cuts 136 million travel miles and more than 35,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually through this program, as calculated in their most recent sustainability report. 

john pflueger, the principal environmental strategist at dell who designed the connected workplace program, told environment+energy leader, “we’re pleased with the flexibility it offers our employees and the positive consequences it has on carbon emissions.”

if the environmental impacts do not incentivize companies, perhaps the benefits in finances and productivity will. dell’s recent sustainability report highlights that it saved $39.5 million from the connected workplace program, which allows the company to reduce the amount of office space they pay for and maintain. dell also hires from a greater applicant pool, with the ability to hire top talent beyond the region of austin.

“when a company is considering a work-from-home program or telecommuting or remote work, sustainability is probably not the primary reason why. the primary reasons are issues related more to work-life balance and being the sort of employer that the 21st-century employee has come to expect, but we found sustainability-related benefits are an important side effect,” pflueger said.

golden is hopeful that this quarantine period will help companies and employees realize the various benefits to teleworking. 

“i think this is a defining moment for telework in that it is likely to be much more commonplace after this pandemic. now that it’s forced on so many people, it’s changing mindsets because teleworking is no longer something that ‘other people do’, it is something that everyone does,” golden said.

shabanpour demonstrated the environmental benefits of teleworking scientifically, while companies such as dell show how teleworking programs foster a more sustainable and cost-efficient workplace. now, the covid-19 pandemic showed many companies already have the means for telework, although they may not have taken advantage of it previously. 

perhaps what helps to flatten the curve of covid-19 cases now just may help flatten the curve of greenhouse gas emissions as well.

—

sources:

https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/can-seaweed-cut-methane-emissions-on-dairy-farms/

https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2018/may/can-seaweed-cut-methane-emissions-on-dairies

http://www.fao.org/in-action/enteric-methane/background/en/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/forests-of-seaweed-can-help-climate-change-without-fire/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/food/the-plate/2016/11/seaweed-may-be-the-solution-for-burping-cows/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-bad-of-a-greenhouse-gas-is-methane/

founded by greta thunberg, one youth movement that has gained traction is the fridays for future movement, in which students from around the globe strike for climate in their local cities every friday. students skipping school weekly to protest has become a bizarre enough phenomenon that the news has taken notice, but very rarely is the story portrayed from the youth’s point of view. last fall, i had the pleasure of following around the youth activists of fridays for future in dc, who spend every friday not just striking, but also visiting congress members and writing letters demanding action.

here are the stories of four of the nation’s most influential fridays for future activists: ari rubenstein (17), khadija khokhar (18), sophia geiger (17), and kallan benson (15). when the fridays for future movement was awarded the champions of the earth award by the united nations in 2019, benson was one of the activists who publicly declined the award on stage. benson then delivered an eye-opening speech explaining how the movement refuses the award because “awards are for celebrating achievement, but the achievement we seek has not occurred”. 

in my video, these inspiring fridays for future leaders explain why they strike for climate every friday and why the climate movement urgently needs not just the passion from youth, but from everyone.

washington, d.c., is one of the participating cities of the climathon, and george washington university hosted the d.c. hackathon. students and professionals  from as far as north carolina participated. participants came from a wide variety of ages, backgrounds, and walks of life — from aspiring textile engineers to first-year undergraduate students. the theme of this year’s climathon was “closing the loop on textile waste,” as textile waste and sustainable fashion are topics not discussed enough in the climate conversation. 

perhaps the coolest thing about hackathons is that most participants enter solo, not necessarily already having a plan. it is during those 24 hours that participants form teams, brainstorm potential project ideas, and finally plan and present their idea(s) to the judges. truly, a day packed with innovation, collaboration, and potential for some world-changing proposals to arise.

the final projects ranged from mobile apps to blankets made from textile waste to clothing sorting services — all of which were truly reasoned, innovative, and creative approaches to reduce textile waste and make sustainable clothing options more available and accessible to the d.c. community — and beyond. 

one project in particular that stood out for demonstrating considerable potential on gw’s campus was “remix your loop” — a reimagined thrift store for gw students that makes a wide variety of clothes accessible to all students on campus. the idea was designed by some of the hackathon’s youngest participants: freshmen iradukunda claudine and alise ndacayisaba, and sophomore brianna reynolds.

claudine finds that the root of the textile problem is that “we are always overconsuming in america, whether it’s food or supplies or clothes, and we get lost in this influx of nonsense.” thus, this overwhelming issue fueled their passion to create a tangible, innovative project like remix your loop.

when pitching their project, these young women emphasized the shocking statistic that gw donates 97,000 pounds of textiles per year, coming from clothing donation bins on campus. oftentimes, these textiles are donated to companies that send the clothing abroad to developing countries, which creates more harm than intended as these clothing imports ultimately hurt local clothing businesses. thus, they envisioned an idea that would not only put these (literal) tons of clothing to good use on campus, but also engage the gw community on the important conversations that we need to have about sustainable fashion, responsible consumption, and other related topics. when they took a glimpse of the kinds of clothes that were donated on campus, they found all sorts of quality pieces of clothing. essentially, they thought to themselves: why not put these quality clothes back in the hands of the students?

from this discovery, came the proposal of their thrifting hub, remix your loop. the ladies explained the various perks and unique characteristics of their “reimagined thrift store”: it would provide students with far more affordable options to a wide variety of clothes, which is especially needed in an area where the majority of local clothing stores are high-end and expensive. the store would also provide students with a creative outlet. remix plans to partner with fashion and art students to serve as makeshift “fashion designers” for the store, who would help customers interested in customizing or revamping clothing pieces they find to their own unique liking. 

team member ira claudine finds potential in all clothing donations to be reused in some capacity, and this is where remix your loop would serve as the creative middleman. 

claudine said: “people always see an item as having use for one thing. but in actuality, you can easily turn an existing t-shirt into a tank top, instead of wasting your money and buying a new clothing item you may just wear once or twice.” 

the designers at remix your loop would help customers with such a process. they even considered having classes open to the student body where students would be able to sew and redesign clothing items — fostering a creative outlet and community that the school currently lacks.

there are plenty of other much-needed functions that this thrift store would serve. for example, for a school with a huge internship and professional culture, students often find themselves needing several professional outfits for their wardrobe, but may not be able to afford them. remix your loop would serve any students’ clothing or accessory needs for any occasion, simply using the existing supply of clothing donations from the gw community. 

luckily, a concept that already sounds too good to be true may just turn into a reality. the remix your loop team won 2nd place in the competition. they will receive a $2,000 grant to kickstart their project, as well as guidance from mentors to support them through the execution process.

interested in participating in this exciting event in the future? climathon is an annual event and can be found in cities around the world. if you’re local, gw has always been the host for the d.c. climathon, and this school certainly does not fall short of innovative minds. who knows? you may just be the mastermind behind the next big solution to climate change.