Consumer education is a critical component of the sustainabiliy movement.  It is the shift in demand created by educated consumers that motivates businesses to offer sustainable materials and services and presents existing green businesses with the customers they deserve.

Due to our focus on launching the Sustainable Enterprise & Entrepreneur Network from the start of 2009 to present, we have had to take a break from our Consumer Education programming. We look forward to resuming and will announce the next events via our email list

Monday, May 5, 2008
Green Jobs for the Finger Lakes

Over 40 community members, business leaders, and elected officials gathered at the Human Service Building in Ithaca to discuss green jobs in the Finger Lakes. Cornell researchers highlighted recent trends in the green collar job market, and explained how policy makers can promote these jobs, where people can receive training for them, and how they can benefit the entire community.

Professor Susan Christopherson of Cornell’s City and Regional Planning Department and her graduate students in the green economic development class presented their research on green jobs and policy. The class researched the job creation potential in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors, and analyzed how state and local policies can drive the creation of green jobs. The group shared their findings and discussed the implications for the Finger Lakes region.

The presentation was followed by an open discussion about how we can promote green jobs that will benefit people from all areas of the community.

We’d like to thank the many people who attended and contributed to this event. The discussion was full with participation from the government, higher education, non-profit, and business sectors. Many people contributed including representatives from city, county, and state government; educational institutions including Ithaca College, Cornell, Tompkins Cortland Community College, and TST BOCES; non-profits such as Cooperative Extension; and local sustainability businesses.

Consumer Education Seminars

Our consumer education seminars introduce citizens to various ways they can live a more sustainable lifestyle. Experts present useful, applicable information that they have gained through the time spent in their respective fields. Below are some past seminars. 

• March 31, 2008: Save Money, Stop Wasting Energy and Improve the Comfort of Your Home (in collaboration with the Southern Tier Energy $mart Communities and the Energy Committee of the Finger Lakes Group of the Sierra Club) 
• February 21, 2008: Save Money and Energy with Home Insulation (in collaboration with Southern Tier Energy $mart Communities)
• January 17, 2008: Micro Hydro: Using Water to Power Your Home or Farm
• November 29, 2007: Home Heating with Biomass
• June 26, 2007: Commercial and Residential Green Cleaning
• May 30, 2007: Green Remodeling: Kitchens and Baths
• April 3, 2007: Sustainable Energy Seminar (in collaboration with Ithaca Forward)

April 21-25, 2008
Expanding “Green” Jobs in the Southern Tier

The Hub produced a special seminar series to focus on manufacturing, agricultural, and energy efficiency sectors. All three presentations were at the Corning Community College Library to better reach interested participants in Elmira-Corning.

• April 21, 12-1pm:  Jobs in the Energy Efficiency Sector
• April 23, 12-1pm:  Controlled Environment Agriculture: Growing Fresh Local Food in All Seasons
• April 25, 12-1pm:  Green Polymers: Making Consumer Products from Plants

Sunday, June 17, 2007
Living Wall Community Project

Community members of all ages gathered to plant a vertical garden known as a living wall. Under the guidance of Motherplants green roof nursery staff, volunteers got their hands dirty organizing plants onto panels that were then installed onto the side of a commercial building. You can still see the living wall at 227 Cherry Street, which is behind Wegman’s in the City of Ithaca. Like green roofs, living walls are designed to capture stormwater runoff and prevent pollutants carried by stormwater from reaching our waterways. The stormwater runoff from buildings on Cherry Street drains directly into the Cayuga Lake inlet.Funding for this project was graciously provided by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Through this grant, the Hub also funded the installation of a filtration system for the 227 Cherry Street parking lot drainage. This filtration system is visible under a grate in the center of the lot and employs several layers of gravel and sand to capture pollutants that the stormwater picks up from the parking area. Both of these installations stand as educational examples of design strategies for protecting our local water quality.We’d like to thank the following for their sponsorship of this event: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, the Stormwater Coalition of Tompkins County, and the Tompkins County Water Resources Council.