Environmental Group

July 2023

Our TRU department is much more than a collection of accomplished artists. TRU is also the home to our Cognitive Therapy department, whose therapists are multitalented and endlessly creative in the execution of their distinctive therapies. For all those Mother Earth lovers out there (which, hopefully, is everyone) the Cog Therapists run a weekly Environmental Group that focuses on all kinds of volunteering and recycling projects, with the goal of spreading awareness and of doing their part to help the planet.

When the group is not focusing on a specific project or testing their creativity for a contest, the clients get their hands dirty with some of the more thankless yet extremely important jobs. Every two weeks, the clients sort through all the recycled trash collected at the Day Program. Once the recycling is fully sorted, the therapists and clients take a ride to the West Orange Environmental Center to drop it all off. The group also holds discussion sessions where they brainstorm ways to make UI Rehab more sustainable and recycling friendly. Below, we’ve highlighted two projects from the past year that were some of the group’s favorites. The descriptions for both projects are from Laura Bancone, one of the Cognitive Therapists who helps run the Environmental Group.

Project #1 – Earth Day Sculpture

“For the Earth Day sculpture, we were inspired by a contest at the Essex County Environmental Center that they called ‘Making g’ART’bage.’ Unfortunately, the contest was only for schools, but we took their idea of making a sculpture using recycled objects. We collected a bunch of green and blue recycled cardboard and plastics to use for the earth. We also purchased some hula hoops and garden fencing to make the base of the earth, which are items we could use in the garden for the tomatoes or for other projects in TRU. We used glue to hold it all together. The group wanted other clients to help with the sculpture in order to spread awareness about recycling, so there were a lot of clients who worked on it. We also made close to 100 flowers out of recycled materials to put in the courtyard garden. We worked on the sculpture and flowers for a month; we completed them by holding around 10 individual sessions a week for that month – it took a while!”

Project #2 – Forest Friends Feeder Contest

In December, the Essex County Environmental Center held a Forest Friends Feeder contest. The rules were as follows: All entries must be an original construction using wildlife friendly edible ingredients intended to feed species such as squirrels, chipmunks, blue jays, cardinals, and other winter birds and forest wildlife. Each entry must fit on top of a flat tree stump no larger than 14″ x 14″. The materials of the feeder should be able to withstand the elements and provide feed for multiple days. Construction with biodegradable compostable material is encouraged (sticks, paper roll tubes, carboard, newspaper, etc). No plastic allowed.

Laura describes, “We came up with the look of our feeder while brainstorming ideas for a design that would represent us as a group and also UI Rehab – so the clients ended up choosing a brain. We did look at the previous birdfeeder contest examples that were on the flyer we received from the environmental center. The rules for the contest stated that all the materials must be safe for the animals and biodegradable since the feeders were going to be displayed outside.”

“We used newspaper, cardboard, birdseed, beet juice, oatmeal, and syrup to make the feeder. We experimented with both oatmeal and syrup as the glue but we found that the syrup worked best. We did have some trouble getting the feeder to stand up, but we balanced it with the cardboard base and stuffed it with newspaper to help. The clients were really excited to see all the feeders at the recycling center; we had fun walking around comparing materials and designs! Unfortunately, some of our feeder was ruined in the weather, but the clients didn’t mind – they were proud to see their work on display. We ended up placing 2nd in the contest. To this day, that award is our pride and joy in the Environmental Group!”