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From all of us at GrowNYC, Happy Holidays. We hope to help you make it a sustainable one!
For our final newsletter of 2011 we've compiled some great events, tips and resources you can use to reduce, reuse and recycle during this season of festivities.
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Poster Series
New Yorkers recycled nearly 17,000 holiday trees last year by bringing them to MulchFest. Help your building make its contribution by letting neighbors know where to recycle their trees. Simply download this poster, find the nearest drop-off and write in the location info.
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Tips for a Sustainable Holiday
The joyful holiday season can also be a wasteful one. Check out our holiday tips to green up your festivities and find post-holiday events for dealing with the piles of trees, tissue paper and trinkets.
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Greenmarket Compost Extended
Since March 2011, more than 300,000 pounds of food scraps have been diverted from landfills through our pilot compost drop-off program hosted at select Greenmarkets to complement existing efforts by our partners in Queens and at Union Square. Thanks to your support, the Greenmarket compost pilot program will operate through the winter into 2012! Kitchen scrap collections have been extended through February 25 and are undergoing review for long-term viability. We also continue to explore opportunities to send all food scraps collected to community-based sites within the five boroughs.
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Resolve to Reuse and Recycle in 2012
Despite the economic downturn, 2010 had the biggest increase in global carbon emissions ever recorded. Change is needed on a grand scale, but there's something every New Yorker can do every day - reuse and recycle! Learn more about how waste and recycling impact NYC's carbon footprint at NYCWasteLess and see how your recycling efforts add up using this calculator from the EPA. If your efforts still feel small, consider that around 71 tons of waste were created in the production of your discards (think mining, oil, agriculture, coal combustion, etc.) for every ton of municipal trash created. We can all look for ways to prevent waste and participate in more recycling and composting programs to help combat global climate change. Start today by checking out our NYC Recycling Resources!
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New Textile Drop-Off in East Harlem
The legendary La Marqueta marketplace is now becoming a hub for all things green (not just avocados and plantains). Thanks to a partnership between GrowNYC and Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer's Go Green East Harlem initiative, two recent successful textile collections kept more than 2 tons of material out of the landfill and led to the establishment of a permanent textile drop off. Residents can now bring clean and dry clothing, coats, linens, paired shoes, hats, scarves, bags and belts to the market's Urban Garden Center NYC, located under the Metro North elevated rail line on 116th Street and Park Avenue (9am-6pm M-F, 9am-5pm Saturdays, 10am-4pm Sundays). Materials will be picked up by Wearable Collections and sorted for reuse or recycling.
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Schedule Changes at Greenmarket Textile Collections
Winter hours are in effect at Union Square Greenmarket's textile collection, which now runs from 8am-4pm on Saturdays and Mondays. There will be no textile recycling at Union Square, Inwood, Grand Army Plaza, McCarren Park or Ft. Greene on Christmas Eve (Dec 24) or New Year's Eve (Dec 31). All markets will be closed on Christmas Day (Dec 25) and New Year's Day (Jan 1), thus no textile collection at Tompkins Square or Jackson Heights.
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Staten Island Paper Challenge Reaches Final Quarter
A year-long recycling contest in Staten Island will soon have a winner, if Staten Islanders recycle more paper than they did in 2010. Residents of the island's 3 community districts are competing in the final days of 2011 for their share of $60,000 in prize money that they will use to improve district parks courtesy of local paper recycler Pratt Industries. Households in North Shore, Mid Island, and South Shore communities are pulling out all the stops to recycle more paper before the December 31st deadline.
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Keep Your Evergreen Ever Green
If you're thinking of putting up a real tree for the holidays, plan to chip in at MulchFest on January 7 & 8! Trees (cleaned of stands, lights, tinsel and ornaments) can be dropped off at designated sites between January 2-8 to be recycled into mulch for NYC parks. Bring your own bag to select sites and take home mulch for your yard, garden or street tree. Find citywide drop-off sites and mulch pick-up locations here. If you miss MulchFest, the city will pick up trees (also stripped of ornaments, etc) curbside from January 3-14, barring any snow disruptions.
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Upcoming Electronics Recycling Collections
The Lower East Side Ecology Center will host its final e-waste collection of 2011 on Saturday, December 10 from 10am-4pm in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Responsibly recycle unwanted computers, printers, televisions and other electronics at PS 321 on 7th Ave between 1st and 2nd Streets. Click here for a list of acceptable items and check out the list of post-holiday collections throughout the five boroughs.
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Sunset Park Textile Recycling Collection
Thursday, January 26, 10am-3pm
4520 4th Ave b/t 45th & 46th Sts, Brooklyn
Holidays have your closets bulging at the seams? Bring your unwanted clothing, paired shoes, coats, linens, scarves, hats, bags and belts to this special collection! Materials will be sorted for reuse or recycling (clean and dry items only, please).
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