Ithaca College
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

The Environmental Sciences and Studies program at Ithaca has maintained a longterm academic partnership with educators at EcoVillage at Ithaca who teach sustainability-focused courses at Ithaca College, and use EcoVillage as a "living laboratory."
http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/science_in_the_community/index.php

Ithaca College helped to found and support Sustainable Tompkins, the premiere non-profit dedicated to sustainable regional development. www.sustainabletompkins.org

Other organizations with which Ithaca College maintains ties are:

Cayuga Sustainability Council – Sustainable Tompkins has led this quarterly convening of all the sustainability-related organizations in the region. The CSC offers representatives to learn about one another’s goals and objectives to minimize duplication of efforts and to identify unmet needs, and to identify ways to collaborate and synergize related efforts. (no website)

Ithaca Carshare – Ithaca College, Cornell University, EcoVillage at Ithaca, the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council, and the City of Ithaca collaborated to prepare a grant application to NYSERDA/Department of Transportation for funding for a locally-based carshare program. Ithaca Carshare began providing service in summer 2008; one of the 10 vehicles in the Ithaca Carshare fleet is located on the IC campus. Professor Granger Macy from the School of Business and I represent Ithaca College on the Ithaca Carshare Board of Directors. Ithaca College provided funding support for Ithaca Carshare and members of the IC community have access to carshare membership discounts.
www.ithacacarshare.org

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County Environmental Program Advisory Board – CCE created a new environmental program that oversees green building programs, local alternative transportation, and the master composting program. Ithaca College was invited in order to keep connections between CCE programs and internship and educational opportunities.

Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative – convened by former provost Peter Bardaglio, now with Second Nature, and funded by the Park Foundation, TCCPI is a multi-sector partnership of institutions, governments and organizations that have committed to reducing their climate impacts. Members include Ithaca College, Cornell University, TC3, City of Ithaca, Tompkins County, Town of Ithaca, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Museum of the Earth, Alternatives Federal Credit Union, Cayuga Medical Center, Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport, Sciencenter, Tompkins Community Action, AES Cayuga, and others. http://www.tccpi.org/

Ithaca Festival “Gorges Green” Expo - Sustainable Tompkins and Ithaca College have provided consultation to the Ithaca Festival organizers on the design and development of this showcase of “green” and sustainable products, services and general educational information. www.ithacafestival.org

Finger Lakes Reuse Center Inc. – This is a project of Tompkins County Solid Waste Management. Mark Darling, Ithaca College Sustainability Programs Coordinator, serves on the FLRC Board of Directors. The ReUse Center has a storefront operation in Triphammer Mall, where it accepts for resale usable surplus building materials and household goods. We have an arrangement with the ReUse Center to accept some surplus materials for consignment sale. The ReUse Center also has a deconstruction service, where it will take down old structures to reclaim the building materials. Ithaca College had an old cottage near Facilities deconstructed several years ago, and FLRC removed materials from Job Hall.
http://fingerlakesreuse.org/

Zimride Tompkins Community-wide Ride Share program – Ithaca College, Cornell University, Tompkins-Cortland Community College, Tompkins County Department of Social Services, Cornell Cooperative Extension's “Way2Go” transportation information program, Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, and the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council (MPO) collaborated to prepare an application for grant funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of Transportation for a community-wide ride share program. This application was approved and the program launched in Winter 2011. This program meets the needs of commuters, students seeking rides home during breaks, as well as support for the academic and local communities to find rides for shopping, medical appointments, etc.