Local environmental blogger Ethan Oringel of Green Brooklyn was interviewed in yesterday’s Metro New York for an article called “Blogarithms: Going green, not just by recycling”. My favorite quote:
If everybody used the term landfill instead of garbage, they would think twice before throwing things away.
Flatbush Community Garden Planning Begins
Plans are in the works for a community garden here in Flatbush! The site is a privately owned property on Albemarle Road off of Marlborough, near the subway tracks; Flatbush Development Corporation, Friends of Cortelyou, and owners of local restaurant The Farm on Adderley will all be involved with this project, and Sustainable Flatbush hopes to offer up some energy and ideas as well. Last weekend some interested prospective gardeners paid a visit to the East 4th Street Community Garden in nearby Kensington to get ideas; Flatbush Gardener has many photos depicting the amenities this garden (organized in 1979) offers to all residents of their neighborhood — including a lovely tree-shaded seating area, a pond, individual plots, and a distribution center for the local CSA. They also have a composting area, and rainbarrels for water collection. The prospect of a neighborhood composting site here in Flatbush is very exciting, and having rainbarrels in the community garden could be a great demonstration project to show homeowners and apartment buildings how they can do it too.
photo: Flatbush Gardener
Bulb Planting on Cortelyou Road
Last weekend a group of neighbors planted daffodil and crocus bulbs in the tree pits on Cortelyou Road. Flatbush Gardener and Ditmas Park Blog both have photos and accounts of this event. I am told by the experienced gardeners that these bulbs are planted now to bloom in Spring.
photo: Flatbush Gardener
If you missed it, no worries… there will be more bulb planting this Saturday and Sunday* at 10am. Meet at the corner of Cortelyou and Rugby, bring gloves and gardening tools if you’ve got ‘em.
*That’s the latest: Sunday bulb planting at 10 a.m. is ON!
YES, that would be the very same Jan Gehl mentioned in a post last week! At this lecture he will propose an inspiring vision for New York City’s future, based on his 30-year international career “making neighborhoods lively, diverse and safe”. He also has a great sense of humor!
For starters, Gehl posits that “Half of Manhattan Trips Could Be Done By Bike”::
REPORTER: Jan Gehl is an urban designer, also from Copenhagen, who advises the city’s Department of Transportation. Like his friend and mentor, the late Jane Jacobs, Gehl speaks of the ‘humanization’ of the city’s streets, which he thinks have become ‘infested’ by cars. But Gehl thinks Manhattan, given its density and flatness, is perfectly positioned for a wide-scale conversion.
GEHL: It would be a piece of cake to have a really high class bicycle system which could take care of half of the commuting in Manhattan.
…
In Europe increasingly we are trying to make the cities so that they are wonderful places, where you like to go out and sit and have meals and watch your fellow citizens, talk with them in spaces which are not completely filled with noise.
photo: Transportation Alternatives
Here are the event details (admission is free, but RSVP is required)… if you can’t make it, look for a report on Gehl’s presentation here later in the week.
Sustainable Flatbush is about to enter an exciting new phase of our activities in the neighborhood, and we’d love for YOU to be involved! Please join us:
WHAT: Sustainable Flatbush Town Hall Meeting
WHEN: Monday, November 12th at 7pm
WHERE: 462 Marlborough Road (between Ditmas and Dorchester)
Longtime Flatbush resident Mark Levy has come onboard, bringing his history of commitment to the neighborhood and experience as a community organizer and environmental educator. He has also kindly offered to host this meeting at his home. Thanks Mark!
We will form committees geared toward specific activities and service projects, establish leadership roles, and set some new goals for 2008. To give you an idea of what’s in store, here are some of the proposed committees:
• RECYCLING/WASTE REDUCTION
Focusing on recycling education and promotion, as well as other methods of reducing waste in our homes and businesses, from composting to blocking unwanted fliers.
• SUSTAINABLE GARDENING
Sharing knowledge and resources on sustainable approaches to all forms of urban gardening, from yard landscaping to street tree pits to organic farming. We will also be actively involved in the new neighborhood community garden.
• TRANSPORTATION/LIVABLE STREETS
Working with Transportation Alternatives and other Livable Streets advocates, we will bring a local perspective to the citywide discussion of such issues as traffic calming, congestion pricing, public transportation improvements, and infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.
• ENERGY EFFICIENCY/ALTERNATIVE ENERGY AND FUELS
Let’s talk about how to save money by using less energy in our homes and businesses, and how to incorporate alternative energy sources such as biofuels and solar power into the landscape.
• LOCAL BUSINESS OUTREACH
Helping neighborhood businesses to adopt sustainability practices that improve their “Triple Bottom Line”: People, Planet, and Profit.
• LOCAL SCHOOLS OUTREACH
Implementing environmental education and practices in our local schools.
Hope to see you there!
