sustainableflatbush.org

At last week’s Sustainable Flatbush Monthly Meeting, some collective decisions were made to change our organizational structure. Here’s how the change was described to everyone who has signed up for our committees’ listserv groups:

Based on discussion at Monday’s general meeting, we’re going to pilot using a single, unified group to coordinate planning for all Sustainable Flatbush events. The goal is to provide more support for each event across the Sustainable Flatbush membership, and to provide greatest awareness and involvement of all the events being planned. I believe this approach is also more reflective of the synergistic nature of sustainability itself, where one objective supports and enhances another. What I’m saying is, It’s All Good!

For example, the Gardening Committee has already begun planning for a whole weekend of activities on Arbor Day Weekend (April 25-27); yes, it’s about trees, but trees and neighborhood “greening” are also Livable Streets issues, they affect energy use, are proven to be good for business, and are healthy for children and other living things. As well, on behalf of the Livable Streets committee, Stacy has applied (and been approved!) for a Block Party grant (event date TBA), which is a great project that everyone can get involved with. In addition to the traffic-calming and community building aspects of closing the street for a party (complete with NYC street games!), we can also have information tables with literature on Recycling and Composting, we can have CFL bulbs available for sale, local businesses can get involved…. many many possibilities.

If YOU would like to get involved with Sustainable Flatbush events and projects, sign up for the Planning Group HERE.

Last week I was invited to sit in on a meeting of the Environmental Subcommittee of Manhattan Community Board 3, which represents several downtown neighborhoods including the East Village, Lower East Side and Chinatown. This district is home to a plethora of innovative environmental organizations and their founders, including Christina Datz-Romero of Lower East Side Ecology Center and Wendy Brawer of GreenMaps, amongst many others. The area is also a longtime hotbed of community gardening activity that continues to thrive, despite rampant gentrification and its accompanying pressure to develop once-abandoned lots that are now beautiful public green spaces.

A focal point of this meeting was the City Council’s recently passed (and subsequently modified) legislation to mandate electronics recycling in New York City, the Bill Formerly Known As Intro 104A (now Intros 728 and 729). Lower East Side Ecology Center has been doing community-based electronics recycling since 2002 (including last year’s event on Cortelyou Road which Sustainable Flatbush co-sponsored), and Christina Datz-Romero is one of the more knowledgeable minds on this topic. Her explanation of the bill(s) clarified several points for me:

• This type of legislation is called “Extended Producer Responsibility”, meaning that companies “which manufacture, import and/or sell products and packaging, are required to be financially or physically responsible for such products after their useful life.” To put it another way, it would establish “accountability over the entire life cycle of products and packaging introduced on the market.” (Wikipedia) The more direct terminology is “Polluter Pays”.

• Legislation such as that being proposed for New York City has already been enacted in Minnesota and New Jersey. (I knew that it has existed for several years in Europe, resulting in more environmentally responsible design and manufacturing practices — for the EU market.)

• Enforcement of manufacturers’ recycling rates would be based on retail sales data.

• Computers refurbished and distributed by manufacturers to low-income New Yorkers would receive double credits toward the recycling requirements.

• Intro 104A was introduced by Brooklyn (!) Councilmember Bill deBlasio and overwhelmingly passed in February. But after Mayor Bloomberg stated that he would veto the bill and refuse to enforce it if passed over his veto, an agreement was reached last week to split it into two parts: Intro 728 requires manufacturers to establish free take-back programs by next July, and the Mayor has agreed to sign this into law; Intro 729 establishes “enforceable collections standards”, with increasingly larger targets for the amounts of e-waste recycled and larger fines for noncompliance. It is this second bill which Bloomberg still objects to.

Now, surely the Mayor realizes that Dell, Apple, et al are not going to devote large amounts of R&D resources to improving the toxicity of their products solely out of Niceness. Presumably our own Department of Sanitation would not bother handing out tickets to building owners for recycling violations if they thought everyone would improve their recycling habits voluntarily… why on Earth should corporations be any different?

photo by Flatbush Gardener

A Few More Points to Consider:

A major portion of New York City’s trash is currently transported (via polluting diesel trucks) to incinerators in Newark, New Jersey. Electronic waste in the garbage releases toxins into the air when incinerated, which make their way back to New York City via prevailing westerly winds. The remainder of the city’s staggering amount of solid waste is transported (via, you guessed it, polluting diesel trucks) to landfills out of state. Due to rapidly declining space in these landfills, and the rising cost of transporting our waste TO them, if New York City doesn’t increase its recycling rates (of ALL recyclables, including e-waste), we will be forced to return to local incineration of our trash. The health implications of this would be disastrous. So, make no mistake, recycling is not just a Nice Thing To Do… it is rapidly becoming a crucial component of our waste management and general health policy. (An article from yesterday’s NY Times illustrates the challenges New Jersey is facing to achieve recycling goals originally set for the year 2000.) To make recycling work on the scale needed will require two things: MAJOR increase in public awareness and diligence (and yes, enforcement)… and MORE, NOT LESS, application of Extended Producer Responsibility legislation.

… and just had to share:

Flatbush Gardener has a piece on Making Brooklyn Bloom, this Saturday at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden…

Streetsblog, Brooklyn Junction and Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens on transit upgrades proposed in the recent State of the MTA address. Of particular interest is the idea of converting a “lightly used Bay Ridge freight line into a subway service that would run in an arc from southern Brooklyn to Queens to the Bronx”… yes locals, those are the tracks down by Avenue H…

This video illustrates why so few plastic beverage bottles get recycled in New York State, and why we need to update the Bottle Bill to change it…

Copenhagen Cycle Chic gives us the lowdown on Everyday Bike Culture…

Reclaimed Home on being Cheap and Green or, How I Learned to Get Past the Green Hype and Love Craigslist…

Streetfilms brings us more Livable Streets lessons from Bogota, Colombia: pedestrian-friendly streets, miles of bicycle paths, and free outdoor recreation for all…

A slice (and a sketch) of NYC subway life from Ami Underground…

Yesterday New York’s City Council voted in favor of implementing what would be one of the most stringent electronics recycling laws in the country. According to the New York Times, the bill would

impose a $100 fine on anyone who throws an old computer, printer or other electronic gadget into the trash. Recycling the electronic waste will become mandatory, and manufacturers will be required to take back their own products as well as those made by companies that have gone out of business.

The voting majority was enough to override an expected veto from Mayor Bloomberg, who supports e-waste recycling in principle but believes that holding manufacturers accountable for customers’ behavior is unconstitutional. Be that as it may, I can’t think of a better motivational tool to get manufacturers to redesign their products using less toxic materials…

Check out the whole Times article here.

P1000961, originally uploaded by Sustainable Flatbush.

P1000960, originally uploaded by Sustainable Flatbush.

Public Recycling bins for Paper (Papel), Glass (Vidro), Metal (um, Metal), and Plastic (Plastico). These bins were not around when I was here in for Carnaval in 2005; I haven’t poked my head in (yet!) to see how much they are being used.

P1010105, originally uploaded by Sustainable Flatbush.

Lixo (trash) Organico and Lixo Inorganico dancing together. Anyone know what SESC stands for?

Okay, so I’ve been a rather bad blogger for a week or two, but I have a really good excuse: I’m in Recife, Brazil for Carnaval!

Needless to say it’s crazy here (in a good way), but I have a few photos to post that are relevant to the sustainability discusssion… here they come!

Last weekend was a big one for Reuse and Recycling here in Brooklyn!

2008’s first Saturday Greenmarket in Grand Army Plaza began a series of textile recycling events called “Second Chance Saturdays” (acceptable donations include used clothing, shoes, boots, hats, jackets, towels, bedding, and linens). These collections will continue at the Greenmarket every Saturday until March 29th; details from Council on the Environment are here .

“We are thrilled to be expanding this very successful clothing collection program to Brooklyn,” said David Hurd, OROE (Office of Recycling Outreach and Education) Director. “Some 193,000 tons of clothing and textiles that could be recycled end up in the landfill each year. By bringing these materials to the Greenmarket on your way to shop, New Yorkers help save these valuable commodities.”

Greenmarket Textile Recycling photo by Gowanus Lounge

Saturday and Sunday were Mulchfest days at Prospect Park and many other locations, where Brooklynites brought their Christmas trees to get chipped into mulch for gardens. I was fortunate enough to ride by on my bike and savor the lovely evergreen scent while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate, served up by our own Gardening Committee co-chair, Flatbush Gardener (aka Santa), who covers the event here. Apparently this is the first year the city has had two drop-off locations in Prospect Park (previously the only one has been at the Prospect Park West and Third Street entrance); the new Park Circle location, which is much more accessible for residents of Flatbush, Kensington, and other neighborhoods south of the park, collected 784 trees. This success speaks to the importance of providing convenient locations for recycling opportunities, particularly in New York City, where many people don’t own cars but are very creative at coming up with short-distance transport options.

Mulchfest photo by Flatbush Gardener

Back in the neighborhood, Sustainable Flatbush held our own Post-Holiday Electronics Recycling Event . As with the Christmas tree drop-off, we feel that providing a convenient location is key to local participation. 50+ visitors and three cargo vans filled with “electrojunk” (a new term coined by 3R Committee chair Mark Levy, host of the event) seem to prove our point. We delivered our goods to Lower East Side Ecology Center’s massive year-end e-waste collection at Union Square. Look for a repeat of this event every few months, due to popular demand.

Printer Recycling photo by Flatbush Gardener

2007 was the first fully operation year for Sustainable Flatbush, and I must say we accomplished a lot. Starting with our Kickoff Meeting on March 16th at Vox Pop Cafe/Bookstore, the goal was to find people in the neighborhood who wanted to work on sustainability issues locally. To my amazement, 25 people braved a blizzard to attend this event, and we had a great discussion where some common interests and goals were defined. (Full disclosure: to boost attendance I scheduled this event one week after my birthday and combined it with a party… but at least half the people there were new faces to me!)

Park(ing) Day on Cortelyou Road (story below!). Photo by Keka

For our second event we celebrated Bike Month with a program of Streetfilms (curated by yours truly) and a guest appearance by their creator Clarence Eckerson. In keeping with our theme of overcoming weather challenges, Clarence’s flight from the West Coast was delayed by severe rains and while waiting for him we conducted a discussion on Congestion Pricing with Livable Streets luminaries Paul Steely White of Transportation Alternatives and Aaron Naparstek of Streetsblog. Clarence’s honorarium was a vegan cupcake.

Event #3, an Urban Permaculture Lecture with former Flatbush residents Wilton Duckworth and Joan Ewing of Green Phoenix, packed Vox Pop with permaculture enthusiasts who exchanged ideas on how to apply this sustainable design practice to city living.

Then we worked with Lower East Side Ecology Center to create the first e-waste recycling event south of Prospect Park: Cortelyou Road Electronics Recycling diverted a truck full of discarded technology (and its accompanying toxins) from the landfill. Many thanks to Christina Datz-Romero for her pioneering work to make New York City more sustainable through LESEC’s recycling and composting programs, and for helping me stake out the perfect spot to park the big red dumpster.

In July we teamed up with the Green Edge Collective for Event #4, Eating Sustainably: a meetup and discussion on Sustainable Food. The Green Edge ladies, known for their Eco-Eatery tours and Supper Club community potlucks, kept the discussion lively as topics ranged from healthy food shopping to plastic bags to the environmental implications of consumption. Lots of food for thought (ouch).

I spent most of August on the West Coast, playing music, visiting family, and touring Oregon’s Willamette Valley by bicycle with a group of sustainability-minded vegans. Who knew quinoa was such a useful grain?

We started Autumn off right by participating in the neighborhood’s biggest street festival, the Flatbush Frolic, with a table full of materials promoting recycling. Eve Martinez from the Department of Sanitation’s NYC WasteLess program brought her full compliment of recycling stickers, brochures, posters, and fridge magnets. (What’s a street fair without fridge magnets?) We got to know our neighbors and I scored my new favorite T-shirt.

On September 21st Park(ing) Day was celebrated all over New York City, the U.S., and Planet Earth… including right here in Flatbush. We occupied a parking space and created a park for the day, complete with real grass, trees, a bench, art supplies, live music… and lots of people, especially kids! (See photo above.) Naturally Streetfilms covered this event, and Cortelyou Road Park is featured in their piece… check it out! This event’s special thanks go to Lindsey Lusher of Transportation Alternatives, who coordinated resources and information for almost two dozen sites all over NYC, and especially to Keka Marzagão, without whom Cortelyou Road Park simply would not have been possible! In addition to providing every possible form of support (moral, creative, physical), Keka insisted that we have real grass, which provided endless wonderment and joy to everyone who visited our park.

Okay, so in October we recuperated. By November we were ready to kick off a whole new level of activities with our Town Hall Meeting. 25 people attended (our magic number, perhaps!), and six committees were established, each with specific goals and projects. We are now holding monthly meetings where newcomers can get involved and committees report on their plans. 2008 already looks exciting, with the R3 Committee’s Post-Holiday Electronics Recycling Event coming up this weekend, the Gardening Committee planning a Spring event in conjunction with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Livable Streets Committee working on a Transportation Conference with Center for the Study of Brooklyn and Transportation Alternatives.

That’s the news for 2007. Much much more to come…

Special Thanks (in order of appearance):
Keka Marzagão (website/logo design, photos, VJ, chief co-instigator)
Jeff Duneman (DJ Drummerman, groove provider for Events #1-3)
Sander Hicks and the staff of Vox Pop
Cacao Arcoverde and Ileana Santamaria (musical magic for Event #3)
Susan Siegel and everyone at Flatbush Development Corporation
Clarence Eckerson and all at Streetfilms
Christina Datz-Romero (Lower East Side Ecology Center)
Carolyn Gilles and the Green Edge Collaborative
Lindsey Lusher (Transportation Alternatives)
Eve Martinez (NYC Department of Sanitation)
Mark Levy (host of Sustainable Flatbush Mothership)
Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)
Eli Kramer (Brooklyn Junction blog)
Gretchen Maneval (Center for the Study of Brooklyn)
Cycleliciousness blog (inspiration for a bike-friendly NYC)
The Flatbush community for supporting our green future
Brooklyn bloggers for setting high standards of journalism, neighborhood pride, and humor
YOU… for reading

Next Sustainable Flatbush monthly meeting:
Monday January 7th, 7pm
462 Marlborough Road (between Ditmas and Dorchester)

Our regular meetings on the first Monday of every month are for newcomers and committee members alike. We will report on projects in progress and plan for future activities. Everyone is welcome!