One of the cornerstones of sustainability is the concept of reuse. Waste, whether it’s as a by-product of our energy consumption or from energetically buying products, can have a second life. At Love Tomorrow Today, we have what you might call a healthy obsession about a product’s second life. Our bags, for example, are made entirely of recycled PET plastic bottles, and we’re constantly keeping an eye on the landscape of creative reuse. The concept of reuse in art is nothing new. Centuries ago, masters would often paint over existing works of art to reclaim the canvas. More recently, artists have taken that concept to new heights of imagination, using existing every day products as blank canvases of creativity. Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary , a new exhibition at the Museum of Arts & Design showcases that creativity in reuse. The show begins tomorrow and will mark the opening of the museum’s a new building at 2 Columbus Circle. The exhibition features work by 50 international established and emerging artists from all five continents who create objects and installations comprised of ordinary and everyday manufactured articles, most originally made for another functional purpose. more…

Move over US News & World Report, here comes GreenReportCard.org! In its recently published College Sustainability Report Card, the site grades colleges and universities in their commitment to sustainability. The report, put out by the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), is intended to provide accessible information for schools to learn from one another’s experiences and a resource for students looking to establish more effective sustainability policies.

In the SEI study, 300 schools we’re given overall grades, as well as grades in nine categories: climate and energy use, green building, food and recycling, transportation, administration, student involvement, endowment transparency, shareholder engagement and investment priorities. 15 schools received an A-, more than two-thirds received Bs and Cs, while over 50 of the schools received grades of D or below. The top schools included Middlebury, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Stanford, Carleton, Dickinson, Oberlin, University of Colorado, University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont, University of Washington and University of British Columbia. Rounding out the bottom, schools like Seton Hall, Catholic University, College of The Ozarks, Hillsdale, BYU and Howard all received D-s or Fs. Ironically, neither Hope College nor The New School offered much in the way of hope or new thinking when it came to sustainability. Both schools received D-s.

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