Sustainability Awareness Week
Sustainability Awareness Week 2025, which takes place from October 6th through October 10th, will feature special guest lectures, discussions, tours, workshops, and the sustainability fair. This week of programming—focused on the pillars of sustainability: human, social, economic, and environmental—will highlight sustainability initiatives led by industry leaders, FIT students, faculty and staff.
Check out our presenters and panelists
Events Schedule
Monday, October 6
Feldman Center, Ninth Floor Rooftop
Spend an hour in the fresh air of the rooftop Natural Dye Garden helping us maintain
the soil and the plants as we welcome the Fall.
Whitney Crutchfield, assistant professor, Textile Development and Marketing
Feldman Center, Ninth Floor Boardroom, Room C903
Gain insights from the efforts taking place at a global omnichannel entertainment company with a major consumer-products division (approx. $100 billion annual revenue). Presenters will walk you through the company’s development of a comprehensive, product-focused decarbonization roadmap for their merchandise and supply chain. The session will highlight what was done, contextualize why it mattered, and illustrate how the strategy (assessment → planning → implementation) came together through close collaboration and stakeholder engagement.
Alex Helander, Fashion Business Management faculty, FIT; director of business development at Bluesign
Devon Rufo, sustainable transformation expert
Tuesday, October 7
David Dubinsky Student Center, Eighth Floor
Join us for a series of exhibits and discussions on India’s textile culture, highlighting luxury fashion, women’s roles, craftsmanship, sustainability, and ethics. Presented by Gingerblu Textiles and Fempowerment Foundation, the event will showcase textiles from 11 Indian states, featuring products from nonprofits and companies promoting affordable, sustainable fashion. Explore techniques like block printing, weaving, and embroidery, and learn about the journey of textiles from farms to homes. Discover the stories of artisans and gain insight into the intersection of global fashion, sustainability, and South Asian luxury traditions.
Ajay Shrivastav, creative director, Gingerblu; co-founder, Fempowerment Foundation
Feldman Center, Ninth Floor Rooftop
Featuring samples and illustrations of materials extracted from plants and animals to produce sophisticated textiles, the exhibition invites us to reconsider AFAM’s quilt collection in relation to the environment and to explore diverse methods of making and dyeing fibers.
In conjunction with AFAM’s exhibition An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles the museum is offering a special workshop led by FIT professor Whitney Crutchfield in the college’s rooftop Natural Dye Garden, a student-focused research space that supports more than 20 species of natural color-yielding plants. This exceptional Dialogue + Studio Workshop begins with a behind-the-scenes tour where participants will learn about FIT’s collection of dyestuffs and the institution’s sustainable processes in this unique urban greenspace. The tour will be followed by a hands-on session in which participants transform freshly harvested indigo leaves into vibrant color on silk, creating their own naturally dyed scarf.
Wednesday, October 8
David Dubinsky Student Center, Eighth Floor
Join us for a series of exhibits and discussions on India’s textile culture, highlighting luxury fashion, women’s roles, craftsmanship, sustainability, and ethics. Presented by Gingerblu Textiles and Fempowerment Foundation, the event will showcase textiles from 11 Indian states, featuring products from nonprofits and companies promoting affordable, sustainable fashion. Explore techniques like block printing, weaving, and embroidery, and learn about the journey of textiles from farms to homes. Discover the stories of artisans and gain insight into the intersection of global fashion, sustainability, and South Asian luxury traditions.
Ajay Shrivastav, creative director, Gingerblu; co-founder, Fempowerment Foundation
John E. Reeves Great Hall
- Screening and Talk: Watch Seaweed Stories, a short documentary narrated by Forest Whitaker, which spotlights a fascinating cast of innovators who are harnessing the power of seaweed for climate innovation. A live conversation with director Jake Sumner and FIT professor Joshua Koury will follow.
- Fireside Chat: Hear from FIT’s sustainability leader, Dr. Karen R. Pearson, and Amy Curtis of The All We Can Save Project, a climate leadership program inspired by the 2020 bestseller All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, an anthology of writings from 60 women at the forefront of the climate movement.
- Reception: Followed by a networking reception to connect with innovators and fellow community members.
Don’t miss this evening of insight, connection, and hope. RSVP today.
This event is for the FIT community and by invitation only. FIT employees and students.
Thursday, October 9
David Dubinsky Student Center, Eighth Floor
Join us for a series of exhibits and discussions on India’s textile culture, highlighting luxury fashion, women’s roles, craftsmanship, sustainability, and ethics. Presented by Gingerblu Textiles and Fempowerment Foundation, the event will showcase textiles from 11 Indian states, featuring products from nonprofits and companies promoting affordable, sustainable fashion. Explore techniques like block printing, weaving, and embroidery, and learn about the journey of textiles from farms to homes. Discover the stories of artisans and gain insight into the intersection of global fashion, sustainability, and South Asian luxury traditions.
Ajay Shrivastav, creative director, Gingerblu; co-founder, Fempowerment Foundation
Join us outdoors for interactive activities led by faculty, staff, students, and alumni to learn about sustainability projects, initiatives, and events at FIT.
Event Schedule
1–2 pm
Natural Dye Garden Tour and Workshop
Feldman Center, Ninth Floor Rooftop
RSVP
Tour FIT’s Natural Dye Garden, where you’ll find plants and flowers yielding a rainbow of colors for textiles. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn a low-impact natural dye method in a hands-on activity. Students, fill out this interest form to join the Dye Garden Student Mailing List.
The FIT Style Shop’s Vintage Swap
The FIT Style Shop invites the campus community for an exclusive vintage swap event
at the Sustainability Fair. Explore a curated collection of unique, timeless pieces
selected with a keen eye for fashion trends and sustainability. Whether you’re a vintage
enthusiast or new to the scene, you don’t want to miss this amazing opportunity to
score rare finds and learn the art of vintage buying.
Take the Fill It Forward Challenge
The Department of Student Life and New Student Orientation partner with Fill It Forward
to inspire the campus community to reuse and make a positive impact on our planet
and its people. Each time you refill your reuseable H2O bottle, scan the bottle’s
code and watch your environmental-impact efforts rise! Stop by to learn about the
challenge and pick up your very own impact-tracker sticker to start making a difference.
FIT Hives
What’s the buzz about FIT’s honey bees? Meet the beekeepers who tend FIT’s hives,
taste some honey, and learn why our honey bees are important to us and the environment.
FIT Student Sustainability Club Information and Opportunities Table
Stop by, meet club members, and learn all about the club’s forthcoming upcycling exhibition,
The Art of Fashion, as well as how YOU can get involved!
The Sustainability Club at FIT grew out of a desire by students for a platform where they could engage outside the classroom on topics surrounding sustainability and the development of an environmentally conscious community. The group works to educate and connect students around sustainable solutions and resources available to them, as both current students and future members of the business and design communities. The club hosts numerous activities throughout the fall and spring semesters, including lectures, discussions, fundraisers, interactive workshops, and field trips. The club meets weekly: Thursday, 1–2 pm. Learn more about the Sustainability Club and how to join on the club’s page on FITLink. Follow along on @fitsustainable for updates.
FIT Fabric Recycling Program
Join the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Fashion Design department to
learn about FIT’s fabric recycling initiatives and ways to get involved. The Fabric
Recycling Program (FRP) is an SGA student-led initiative that aims to reduce FIT’s
environmental impact and CO2 emissions by collecting fabric scraps and muslin from
Fashion Design classrooms and studios here at FIT. Instead of letting these go to
waste, the textile scraps are recycled by our partners, Greentree Textiles. Last semester,
the FRP recycled over 2,700 pounds of fabric. This not only offset 10,872 pounds of
CO2—it also saved 1.9 million gallons of water, 1,359 cubic feet of landfill space,
and 4,348 kilowatts of energy.
Sustainability Grant Recipients Showcase: 2025–26
Sweater Recycling Project Kickoff
Bring your old sweaters and donate them to the FIT Yarn Recycling Initiative, recipient
of a 2025 Sustainability Grant.
Marsha Greene, Fashion Business Management faculty, FIT
Yedam Lee, Fashion Business Management student, FIT
Investigation of Next Generation Natural Fiber Ingredients Using Upcycled Lemon Fiber
Explore the environmental impact of synthetic fibers used in personal care products.
Stop by and see our efforts to replace the nonrecyclable with natural fibers, as we
work to curb environmental pollution that harms human health and aquatic ecosystems.
Dr. Sue Feng, Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing faculty, FIT
Virginia Bonofiglio, Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing faculty, FIT
Building a Biomaterials Reference Library
Explore our growing collection of biomaterials—made of used tea, orange peels, avocado
skins, mushrooms, eggshells, and kombucha—along with some handmade items that showcase
their potential applications. Stop by for a hands-on experience, get inspired, and
ask questions.
Gwen Sanchirico, Science and Math technologist, FIT
Sustainability Opportunities at FIT
Sustainability Grants
Learn how to apply for 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. Find application details on our website.
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 cultivate understanding
of the interconnected topics, information, and applications related to ethics and
sustainability.
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.
Genspace Scholars
The FIT Genspace Scholars Program offers 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 be found on our website.
Friday, October 10
Dubinsky Student Center, Woodworking Studio, Room AC08
In this hands-on workshop, we will explore how waste can be transformed into something new and useful by making glues from old soybean oil. Together we’ll learn the basic science of how oils can be “epoxidized,” or slightly altered, so they can stick better to surfaces like paper, cloth, and wood. We’ll also experiment with adding natural ingredients that help the adhesive harden and last longer. Biobased adhesives from old soybean oil offer a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based glues for paper, cloth, and wood.
Julian Silverman, Science and Math faculty, FIT
Dubinsky Student Center, Eighth Floor
Join us for a series of exhibits and discussions on India’s textile culture, highlighting luxury fashion, women’s roles, craftsmanship, sustainability, and ethics. Presented by Gingerblu Textiles and Fempowerment Foundation, the event will showcase textiles from 11 Indian states, featuring products from nonprofits and companies promoting affordable, sustainable fashion. Explore techniques like block printing, weaving, and embroidery, and learn about the journey of textiles from farms to homes. Discover the stories of artisans and gain insight into the intersection of global fashion, sustainability, and South Asian luxury traditions.
Ajay Shrivastav, creative director, Gingerblu; co-founder, Fempowerment Foundation
Learn More About Previous Sustainability Week Events
Questions?
Contact the FIT Sustainability Council at sustainability@fitnyc.edu.