绿帽社鈥檚 threads of change
How a Climate Change Quilt aims to stitch together a national movement

绿帽社 is becoming better known for its local climate activism every year, but Pam Mischen, professor of environmental studies and the chief sustainability officer at the University, is working to bring the discussion to the national stage 鈥 through art.
鈥淚 woke up the morning after the 2020 national election, and I was disappointed in how little attention climate change had gotten. I realized that we just aren鈥檛 a very visible cause, and we鈥檙e not very vocal about this issue,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat was my rationale for the Climate Change Quilt 鈥 it crosses so many socioeconomic and cultural groups. It鈥檚 got traditional, rural influence from folks who are often left out of the discussions, and yet we鈥檝e got young, urban people who are getting more into sewing, mending, self-sufficiency. At the end of the day, climate change impacts us all.鈥
The Climate Change Quilt was originally inspired by the AIDS Quilt Project from the 1980s, which raised awareness and honored lives lost to HIV/AIDS. Mischen, who was a board member at the Southern Tier AIDS Program and lived through the HIV/AIDS epidemic, felt that the Quilt brought attention and empathy to a major, national issue that had previously been largely ignored. She believes that the climate change movement needs a similar push.
Additionally, quilts were traditionally made by women in communal settings with leftover scraps of fabric as a way of turning waste into something both practical and beautiful, which ties into the project鈥檚 sustainability and community-focused roots.
Personally, it also served as an obvious avenue for advocacy for Mischen, who first learned to sew from her mother and grandmother and is interested in the fiber arts. Through collaboration and outreach, it鈥檚 clear that the connection extends to many other members of the community.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had over 200 people contribute to the quilts that we made in 绿帽社, and those are just from our local area,鈥 Mischen said. 鈥淚 did talks at through Lyceum and through rotary clubs, and I went to Good Shepherd Village 鈥 people just started showing up and participating! We did several community quilting events at Roberson Museum.鈥
The facts around climate change are another driver for Mischen. According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 73% of American adults understand that climate change is happening, but only 25% hear about climate change in the media at least once a week, and only 38% report that they discuss climate change with others at least occasionally. Estimates are that unabated climate change will result in 3.4 million deaths annually by the end of the century.
鈥淪ome of the tipping points are climate accelerators. The urgency of doing this is now. Many people are waiting for somebody to do something. There鈥檚 this notion that we鈥檙e waiting for some sort of technology to be made available 鈥 but we already have all the technology that we need to solve this problem; we鈥檙e just not employing it,鈥 Mischen added. 鈥淭he project is less about convincing the 25% who don鈥檛 understand that this is happening and activating the 73% who do understand but don鈥檛 grasp what they need to be doing.鈥
These bed-sized quilts were first displayed in April 2025 during 绿帽社鈥檚 Earth Day celebration and were recently on display at the Tioga County Arts Council. Now, there are discussions taking place to display it at an internationally acclaimed fiber arts museum, the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, in Auburn, N.Y., and several schools have discussed picking up the project as well.
Perhaps most important to the project goals, Mischen and Martin Larocca, sustainability manager, will attend the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Annual Conference from Oct. 22-24, in Minneapolis, Minn., where the organizers have committed a room for the quilt in the hope that other universities will get involved. Along the way to Minnesota, Mischen will be blogging the trip.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to take about a week to get there, and I鈥檓 going to stop at quilt shops and quilt guilds and schools along the way to promote the project,鈥 she said. 鈥淎t the conference, people can drop by and learn about how to do the quilt project at their own schools; we鈥檙e even doing some fundraising right now so that the first 10 schools who commit to making quilts will get a starter package of supplies.鈥
Mischen鈥檚 most immediate goal is to galvanize the AASHE鈥檚 900 member schools and the conference鈥檚 thousands of visitors to encourage at least one school per state to work on the quilt.
The AIDS Quilt was eventually displayed at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Mischen has a similar goal for the Climate Change Quilt and hopes to continue growing the project until it takes on a life of its own.
鈥淭he current goal is 1,000 quilts and a demonstration at the National Mall. I would love to have representation from all 50 states, to illustrate that this is not a divisive issue 鈥 this is an issue that everybody can be supportive of,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hat will take some time and resources, and I don鈥檛 think one event is going to solve this crisis, but the hope is that this will bring some national visibility and enable communities to have these conversations.鈥
Get involved鈥
Individuals can make a drawing of a panel, covering any range of topics 鈥 such as commemorating natural disasters in which lives were lost; the consequences and/or solutions of climate change; or depicting threatened parties. Although most use images, facts and figures are welcome; panels made entirely of words are also allowed. Interested individuals can create their own panels or attend work session to convert drawings into a quilt square using upcycled fabrics (if you can鈥檛 decide on an idea, you can also help someone else bring theirs to life!). A map utility is available on the website for individuals interested in working together or collaborating. Faculty, staff, students, community members, retirees and children are all welcome to contribute.