Recycled Art Project (photo by Keka)

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Brooklyn Center of the Performing Arts Earth Day celebration on April 11th! The event was so crowded and energized, it was a great way to kick off the Earth Day festivities going on all spring!

There were representatives from the following organizations: Brooklyn Botanic Garden; Garbage of Eden Designs; Sustainable Flatbush; the ArtLab of the Brooklyn College Community Partnership Program; Seeds, Soil & Sunshine; The New York City Fire Department; the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation; Tova Ackerman’s Puppetry In Practice; Campus Road Garden; Puppeteer Ronny Wasserstrom; Teaching Artist Susan Marinoff; The Bar Mitzvah Project.

At 3 o’clock the doors opened from the auditorium where families had enjoyed a performance by the Dirty Sock Fun Time Band. As families were let out into the sunny (although windy!) spring air you could feel how awakened everyone was as they walked around all the tables asking for more information at every stop.

We had the privilege of working with a lot of children at our table, because we were making colorful flowers out of used plastic bottles as part of our Zero Waste Initiative. The parents and guardians seemed to enjoy the idea as much as the crafty children. Hopefully we inspired them to go home and keep thinking differently about products they have bought before they thrown them into the garbage destined for one of our already-overflowing landfills.

Seeds, Soil and Sunshine (photo by Keka)

Later in the day we walked around to meet the other participants and see what their organizations were all about. Madeline Nelson and Maikel Carder from Seeds, Soil, & Sunshine got me excited about growing my own food in my windowsill that I will plant in my parents’ garden during the summer. As I looked at the tiny, budding plant that I had just transplanted I asked Madeline with amazement, “So this will be an eggplant by the fall? Like I can eat it?” And with a big smile on her face she answered, warmly, “Yeah!” Growing my own food is such an empowering prospect, I want my windowsill full of edible greens! Not only will I know where they came from and that no pesticides were used to grow them, but the impact on the earth will be even smaller since the food will only be transported a few feet!

I was especially excited by Stephanie Huffaker from Garbage of Eden with the necklaces and headbands made out of used plastic bags. How eye-opening! It’s amazing that so much of what we throw in the garbage can be completely redesigned and rethought! Think creative, think innovation, think “What else can I use this for?”!

Thanks everyone who joined us for this day of inspiration and fun! I hope you learned something useful during the few hours we shared with one another, and that you’re just as excited as I am to make some small changes in our lives that will have significant impacts on our planet. I hope to see you at upcoming events! Enjoy the warmer spring air and sunshine:)

I recently had the pleasure of talking to Ellen Honigstock, who will be leading the 1-4 family breakout session during the Energy Forum on Saturday.

To tell you a little bit about her, Ellen is the owner of Ellen Honigstock Architect PC since 1999, where she has focused the work of the firm on energy efficient retrofits for existing residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. She has also been the Residential Green Building Advocate for the Urban Green Council since 2007, working to increase the level of green building and the penetration of the LEED for Homes certification in the residential marketplace in NYC. She is also the Chair of the Homes Subcommittee for NYC’s Greening the Codes Task Force, where she has been heavily involved in recommending new green policy in NYC as related to updating NYC’s codes, rules and regulations.

I asked Ellen a few questions about what we should all be thinking about as we attempt to make energy efficiency changes in our homes.

MB: What do you think is important for people to know as they try to make their homes more energy efficient?

EH: That a building is like a living organism, if you change one thing it affects the others. Although it is easy to do, you really need to be careful to make sure you are thinking about the building as a whole, you need the whole picture.

MB: What is the message you are sending to homeowners now when there are so many different messages and programs being talked about?

EH: I am a very New York City-centric person, I do all my work here. Buildings account for 87% of our energy currently (according to PlaNYC). We need to reduce it. In 2030 we are going to have a million more people in the city but the same buildings will still be standing. We need to make changes to those buildings now. Another message is that it’s not that hard. We need to have an “oh my god!” moment where we realize how serious these energy inefficiencies are and start changing them today. I also believe community is important, and that pressure from our peers will have a positive effect. We need the community standard to be one of reduced waste. There is such colossal energy waste in our buildings, we need to get that under control.

Before we ended the interview, Ellen said, “The whole thing is so doable. The fact is little changes will save you so much money and energy usage, that’s the incentive! It’s just these small measures but everyone has to buy in.”

Come learn more about all this at our event on Saturday!

See you there!

Relevant Links:

• Neighborhood Energy Forum Registration
• Neighborhood Energy Forum
• What National Grid Can Do For You
• On The Path To Energy Efficiency and Affordability
• Neighborhood Energy Forum on March 20th

Multi-Family Building in Flatbush (photo by Keka Marzagão)

This week we spoke with Louis Rizzo, Energy Efficiency Lead Program Manager at National Grid, about the utility’s residential energy efficiency programs. “National Grid has comprehensive programs and generous rebates to help the homeowner reduce their energy costs and increase comfort,” Mr. Rizzo said.

If you are interested in any of these programs, contact National Grid Energy Efficiency at 1-800-292-2032 or visit their website.

Multi-Family Buildings

There are two types of programs for larger buildings (5-50 units):

1) The first type is a straight rebate of $100-$6,000 (this amount could go up!) for certain energy upgrades in your home, such as heating equipment, insulation, boiler reset controls, and more.

The rebate will cover about 50% of the equipment cost and has a 3-7 year payback period depending on how much you do.

2) The second incentive is for customized, comprehensive energy efficiency measures for buildings with larger heating systems, and can include heating system upgrades, weatherization, and much more.  To qualify for this program, you have to promise to meet a certain level of energy savings.

In contrast to the straight rebate, the customized program could cover 50% of project costs–not just equipment–up to $100,000, with a payback period of 3-5 years.

You can choose your own contractor for both of these programs, but National Grid has a helpful list on their website.

1-4 Family Homes

For smaller homes (1-4 families), there is a straight rebate of $200-$1,000. This covers natural gas heating equipment upgrades to pre-qualified high-efficiency units, outdoor reset controls, water heaters, thermostats and more.

You could save 30% or more on total project costs.  Combine this with another 30% covered by a federal tax credit for energy efficiency measures (sometimes capped at  $1,500) and you’re well on your way to meeting your cost.

According to Mr. Rizzo, “Homeowners have been seeing quite a bit of benefit. Customers are seeing savings of 20% to 40% off their heating bills.” Also, National Grid will launch a weatherization program for single family homes this spring. The expected date for the program to start is April 1st. The program describes that “eligible customers receive a comprehensive home energy audit with installed air sealing measures and generous rebates for additional weatherization measures such as insulation.”

National Grid’s pre-qualified weatherization contractors

You can learn more about this program here. Think about all those savings! And not only that, Mr. Rizzo explained, ”The process is very straightforward and easy to do.  There’s not a tremendous amount of paperwork.  We’ll work with you to make your building more energy efficient.”

Ready to get started? Great!

Visit https://www.powerofaction.com/efficiency or call 1-800-292-2032 to learn more about the National Grid Energy efficiency programs.

Relevant Links:

• Neighborhood Energy Forum Registration
• Neighborhood Energy Forum
• Ellen Honigstock at our Neighborhood Energy Forum
• On the Path To Energy Efficiency and Affordability
• Neighborhood Energy Forum on March 20th

photo by christheobscure

We’re excited to invite you to another Monthly Volunteer Gathering at Vox Pop Cafe with Sustainable Flatbush! (Our second one, yay!) We’re going to be talking a lot about our next big event of the spring, the Neighborhood Energy Forum on March 20th. We all want to learn about how to make our homes more energy efficient, right? Who doesn’t like saving money and the environment at the same time?

Come learn about the event, share your energy-related stories (or any story, really!), and mingle with others in your community that see the need for change. Also, there’s delicious coffee and food at this one-of-a-kind café we love to hang out in!

Make sure you stay after the talk to enjoy some groovy live Blues music.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 9th, 6:30-8pm
WHERE: Vox Pop Cafe, 1022 Cortelyou Road

See you there!
Maria & Nicole

Greening Flatbush 2010 (photo by Maria Bergenhem)

Hello Sustainable Flatbush community!

Thank you so much to everyone that joined us at the second annual Greening Flatbush event on Sunday, February 21st! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and learned a lot about what we can do to actively ensure that our food is local–grow it ourselves:) I had a lot of fun spending my afternoon with you all!

Barry's sprouts (photo by Flatbush Gardener)

What was your favorite part of the event? I have to say the food samples excited me the most. Barry’s sprouts were so tasty and fresh, it really proved to me that we can grow quality stuff right in our apartments/homes. And the Moroccan carrot and orange salad was like nothing I’ve ever tasted, I’m going to look up Just Food Chef Nicole Caruth’s blog ASAP to find out more recipes. I’m having people over for dinner next weekend, I’m totally going to try and make it for them! I also enjoyed speaking to Pieranna about composting with worms, I was skeptical before but she made it sounds so doable. She mentioned that Brooklyn Botanical Garden has a hotline you can call for composting questions, so you’ll always have help there if you need it.

Thank you all for making this a great event! I look forward to starting to recognize some of your faces at future events:)

ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Thank you to our sponsors: Kings County Nurseries, Flatbush Food Co-op (for providing tasty snacks and ingredients for Nicole’s cooking demo), and Vox Pop for the coffee!

Thank you to our DJ Azmatec for the musical soundscape!

Thank you to our venue, Dorchester Senior Center!

Emily Goodman in Gardening for Children (photo by Flatbush Gardener)

PRESENTERS and WORKSHOPS

Maikel Carder
“Seeds, Soil, and Sunshine”
This workshop will cover what to grow, where to grow it [indoors, outdoors, in the ground, in containers] and how to grow it. Participants will learn how to prepare soil, plant seeds and care for seedlings, and how to grow herbs and microgreens on the windowsill.
Maikel Carder has been gardening all his life [60+ years] and is a confirmed “foodie”. He is active in local urban gardening and other efforts to re-invent daily life on a more simple, sustainable and satisfying basis.

Emily Goodman
“Gardening for Children”
Park Slope resident Emily Goodman never really appreciated plants until she moved to New York City and realized she missed seeing green. She studied horticulture at the New York Botanic Garden, worked briefly as a professional gardener, and is now a full-time freelance writer and editor with a special interest in writing and teaching about plants. Her award-winning children’s book PLANT SECRETS was published by Charlesbridge in 2009.

Nicole J. Caruth
“Cooking Tips from a Just Food Community Chef”
Nicole J. Caruth has been a Community Chef with Just Food since 2009. When she’s not giving cooking demos, she primarily works as a freelance writer and visual art curator. She contributes a monthly food-art column to the PBS-affiliated blog, Art:21; and frequently pens reviews for the contemporary art e-journal …might be good. Her writing has been published by the Brooklyn Museum; Studio Museum in Harlem; Brooklyn Fine Arts Magazine, and Gastronomica to name only a few. She is currently organizing an exhibition about food for the Center for Book Arts in New York. Her companion book — a cookbook featuring recipes by contemporary artists and art world professionals — will be the first in an ongoing series. Both projects debut next spring. Caruth resides in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

Maya Nayak
“The Windowfarms Project”
Windowfarms are vertical hydroponic systems made of recycled bottles and used indoors to grow veggies year-round. The Windowfarms Project combines social media, urban farming and open-source product development to provide city dwellers with the tools to grow food and cultivate their understanding of agriculture and collaborative change-making. Please visit www.windowfarms.org to see photos/additional information.

Pieranna Pieroni
“Composting with Worms in Your Apartment”
Working with residents, schools, community gardens, and other organizations, the Brooklyn Compost Project offers workshops on both indoor and outdoor composting and provides technical assistance to gardeners, building managers, landscapers, and institutions who wish to compost.
Pieranna Pieroni is a Brooklyn Botanic Garden-trained Master Composter and educator who works with New York City public school students around school-community gardening and ecoliteracy.

Barry Schwartz
“Seed for Change”
Barry Schwartz is a recent transplant to the Peoples Republic of Brooklyn, having moved here from being the medical director for a socialist youth movement camp in Liberty, NY, and before that cooking for Ananda Ashram in Monroe, NY. The skills he has learned along the way have culminated in starting “Seed for Change”, a sprouting and microgreen workshop which features “Garden in a Bag”, a simple way to grow sprouts. He also makes fresh tempeh out of many different types of beans and makes wonderful ghee. He is looking to start a collective kitchen in the area if anyone is interested or has feedback.

Lisa Maya Knauer
“How (and Why) to Join the Flatbush Farm Share CSA”
The mission of Flatbush Farm Share is to make fresh organic produce available to any Brooklyn resident, regardless of economic status.
Lisa Maya Knauer is a member of the core group of Flatbush Farmshare. She is a professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she is also involved in sustainability initiatives. She is currently helping develop a women’s weaving cooperative and a micro-enterprise incubator focusing on women, immigrants and low-income residents in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Madeline Nelson
“Save the Campus Road Community Garden”
This gorgeous community garden and functioning ecosystem has graced Brooklyn College since 1991. It’s now endangered by the College’s plan to build a parking lot on the garden site. The gardeners welcome you to see why we want to save the peaches and mulberries, azaleas and daylillies, a refuge for people, bees, and Brooklyn parrots.
Madeline Nelson is a freegan, bicycle activist, forager and avid gardener. She’s especially interested in growing plants native to Brooklyn, as well as no-cost and very-low-cost food gathering and growing.

Energy Efficiency and Affordability Where We Live

We are faced with the pressing challenge of reducing our resource use and greenhouse gas emissions, but how can we make that happen? We all know it’s going to take more than just changing our lightbulbs (although that is a great first step!), but the problem lies in the cost of retrofitting our older buildings or installing renewable energy.

The Neighborhood Energy Forum is bringing together all the people in the chain of making energy efficiency and alternative energy happen here and now.   If you have the desire to start an energy efficiency project in your building–whether big or small–come learn about how you can do it!  Find out how to get funding from all kinds of programs, and meet the contractors who can help you take the first steps.

The Forum’s long-term objective is to create a model block in Flatbush where the majority of homes and apartment buildings have lowered their energy use and costs, inspiring others to do the same.  Together we can decrease energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions and increase New York City’s overall energy efficiency.

You can look forward to speaking with representatives from Sustainable Flatbush, National Grid, Solar One, NYSERDA, and many other energy experts. Our elected officials will be on hand as well to let you know what they are doing to meet our energy efficiency goals.

Click here to register to attend the event. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

If you are interested in sponsoring the event we offer a range of  sponsorship opportunities that can help your business or organization reach its core audience and increase its visibility.  Check it out!

We look forward to seeing you there!

WHEN: Saturday, March 20^th 9:30am – 2pm

WHERE: Brooklyn College Student Center, Campus Road and E. 27th Street, 5^th floor

Relevant Links:

• Neighborhood Energy Forum Registration
• Neighborhood Energy Forum
• Ellen Honigstock at our Neighborhood Energy Forum
• What National Grid Can Do For You
• On the Path to Energy Efficiency and Affordability

photo by Maria Bergenhem

I spent last summer working for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Connecticut as a biological intern on Falkner’s Island, in Long Island sound. As part of the field team, I helped manage the productivity of two species of terns throughout the summer breeding season. This semester, I look forward to an exciting experience working with energy solutions on the community level with Sustainable Flatbush.

The big project of the semester is definitely the Neighborhood Energy Forum that Sustainable Flatbush is putting together. It’s taking place March 20th. The event is going to deal with how to make Flatbush energy usage both more efficient and increase the amount of alternative energy used for everyone in the community.

On my first day Jocelyn Cohen, Director of Sustainable Flatbush’s Energy Solutions Initiative, showed me around the Brooklyn College Campus and introduced me to some of the participants that have already signed up for the Forum. National Grid will be there, which seems like really big news. I am going to be helping with the planning of the event, contacting potential participants, as well as the organization on the actual day of the event. I am basically going to try to help Anne Pope, the Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable Flatbush, and Jocelyn with whatever they need in order to make this a great event. This of course includes blogging! You can look forward to more posts from me as we get closer to the date itself. Saturday March 20th, mark your calendars today!