New Farmers Market in Bushwick

The Bushwick Farmers' Market will be opening tomorrow (Wednesday, July 1st) from 10am-6pm on the corner of Linden and Broadway in Brooklyn!  Come enjoy some pedal-powered music, henna tattoos, mural painting, food demos, bike-blended drinks, and more!  Bring your friends, enemies, re-usable bags, and appetites. Please spread the word and join us every Wednesday for your farm-fresh food fix. Vendor space is available. 

Learn More. 

Recycling...as American as Apple Pie

Every time you reduce, reuse and recycle you’re celebrating your love for your country. During World War II citizens were urged to recycle (or “salvage”) metal, rubber, paper and even kitchen fat to help in the war effort. Today’s soldiers don’t need recycled steel for guns, salvaged kitchen fat for explosives or scrap paper for packaging, but recycling is still patriotic.

By recycling, we show our love for our country by protecting our nation’s resources, reducing our dependence on the resources of other countries and boosting our economy.

Here’s how:
-Recycling plastic reduces the need for virgin plastic. Of course, virgin plastic isn’t a natural resource, but the petroleum used to make it is. In fact, approximately 4% of our annual oil consumption is used to make plastics. By recycling more plastic we reduce the need for the production of virgin plastic and that reduces our dependence on foreign oil.

-Manufacturing products using recycled materials instead of virgin materials requires a lot less energy. Making an aluminum can from recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy than making an aluminum can from virgin aluminum. In 2003, we reduced our oil usage by more than 15 million barrels by recycling 54 billion aluminum cans.

-Of course, oil isn’t our only source of energy. Recycling materials also reduces our need for coal—and that protects those purple mountains majesty.

-Using less energy also saves money. Saving money improves the national economy, but the recycling industry has given the national economy a real boost by creating over a million jobs.

-Recycling reduces the amount of solid waste we need to dump in landfills, which in turn, reduces the need for landfills. By protecting our land from being “filled” with garbage, we’re helping to keep America beautiful.

-Recycling paper protects our forests by reducing the need for trees to produce paper. Recycling cars and other objects made of steel and iron reduces the amount of iron ore we must mine and recycling aluminum reduces the amount of aluminum we have to pull out of the ground.

This July 4, use reusable or at least recycled products for your picnic.

From our friends at Recycle Bank.

Jacob Riis Park

Just a leisurely trip on the A train and a quick bus-ride lets you off at the gateway to Jacob Riis Park - where the beach awaits.  Dubbed "the people's beach," it's much cheaper than Long Island Rail to Long Beach.  A great way to spend a weekend.

Learn More.

Green Power

President Clinton Announces Program for 2009 Clinton Global Initiative

New York, NY -- President Bill Clinton today announced the program for the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to be held September 22-25 in New York City.

“As the Clinton Global Initiative approaches its Fifth Annual Meeting, I am looking forward to working together with some of the world’s most forward-looking CEOs, leaders from government and innovative non-profits to make progress on the great global challenges,” President Clinton said. “Through our Annual Meeting, CGI members have made upwards of 1,400 commitments that have already impacted more than 200 million people in 150 countries. I am excited to see what this year’s Annual Meeting will bring.”

Since 2005, more than 80 current and former heads of state; hundreds of leading CEOs, philanthropists, and NGO leaders; and 10 of the last 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates have attended CGI. This year, President Clinton will again be joined by leading voices from every sector to take action on four major global challenges: education, energy & climate change, global health, and poverty alleviation.

Learn More.

Mulberry Harvest

Rumor has it you can pick mulberries at the Queens County Farm Museum on Friday because they have so many.  Then they're going to sell them. what a fun and eco-friendly Saturday that sounds like. Learn More.

Also, it's the 25th Anniversary of the Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket and there's a big celebration. Learn More. 

BZZZZ

check out this video on beekeeping here in NYC.

Cut Your Cards

And just stick to one. MTA's EasyPay Xpress helps you manage just one metrocard rather than swiping your 7 through the card reader only to find .65 on each.  Better for the environment. 

Learn More.

Great American Backyard Campout

This Saturday celebrate Great American Backyard Campout if you have a backyard. If you don't, spend some time on your roof or in your park, just not inside with the TV on.

Learn More. 

Facebook Prevents Consumption?!

The growth of social networks indicates a fundamental shift in patterns of human behavior. The unsustainable practice of ever-increasing consumption of physical goods, and expressing oneself through what one purchases and displays, is being replaced by increasing consumption of virtual goods through virtual channels. This is good news for the sustainability of our economy.
Thorstein Veblen, in his groundbreaking work The Theory of the Leisure Class, published in 1899, posited that humans use displays of wealth to broadcast status to society. . .

Throughout the last century conspicuous consumption meant buying cars, boats, larger houses, jewelry, art, and meals in restaurants. Keeping up with the Joneses required a lot of energy—and produced a lot of carbon and waste. More and bigger became our mantras. The average size of the American home leapt from 983 square feet in 1950 to 2,080 in 1990, increasing roughly 20 percent per decade. The number of cars per U.S. family saw a similar 14 percent growth rate per decade over the same period. . .

This shift from material goods to self-expression and social capital is heartening, but the real story is not in the coffee shops in California, but in villages in India and small towns in China that are just beginning to get online. Jared Diamond notes that Easter Island’s fatal fad for giant stone effigies—one well-known example of conspicuous materialism—didn’t travel well at all. But the newest form of conspicuousness is instantly transferable across geographies and cultures, and is spreading much faster than consumerism did. . .

Read on at Good.is

Rating Your Take-Out

This great article in Chow breaks down from bad to best in terms of take-out. Before reading, try to figure out the best and worst. We hope you'll find it inspiring. . . perhaps inspiring enough to join our No Take-Out Challenge.

Find out about your take-out.

Eco Film Fest

Rain getting you down? go to a movie. . .

Sustainable Planet is THE international film festival that promotes sustainable development. Eco-activist and environmental economist Pamela Peeters founded the festival in 2005 to celebrate UNESCO's strides in creating awareness around the issues of sustainability.

This year's program features Tad Fettig, award-winning director of the film "Green Apple," which was narrated by Brad Pitt, and GustOrganics founder and CEO, Alberto Gonzalez.

What: Sustainable Planet Film Festival
Where: Bohemian Hall 321 E. 73rd St. (between 1st & 2nd ave), New York, NY 10021 Nearest Subway: 6 to 68th St - Hunter College or 77th St stations
Date: Saturday, June 20, 2009Time: Noon-6pm
Tickets: http://sustainableplanet-emailinvite.eventbrite.com/Price: $60 per person

Breath It In

Did you know this week is Commit to Cleaner Air Week? Now you do.
NYSDOT in partnership with the American Lung Association declared this week the week. NYSDOT's Clean Air NY initiative motivates us, nyc residents, to make simple changes to everyday travel to improve our air quality.

Click here to pledge your support for a healthier New York and see how fellow New Yorkers are making a difference.

To understand why this campaign is so important and to learn about some of the exciting things Clean Air NY has planned, read our press release.

Learn More.

NYC Recycling 101

Sir Paul "Meat-less" McCartney

Paul is on a campaign to cut down meat consumption. Will you join his meat-free Monday's cause?

Learn More.

Souce: Good.is

End of the Line

Fish comes up again and again on the blog. Well, that's because it's such an important issue.  Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048.  Read that again.  End of the Line is a new doc. coming out about the crisis in our oceans.  It's coming Village Cinema in NY on June 19. Go see the film. Re-think the way you eat seafood. Get involved. Support their work to solve the overfishing crisis.

watch the trailer and other clips.

visit the website. 

get involved with orgs. working to solve this issue. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO. only eat sustainable seafood. ask when you get sushi how your fish was caught and where it came from.  make sure you have THESE DOWNLOADABLE WALLET GUIDES when you dine out (and not take-out we hope). 

No Impact Man - Big Impact

A few Brooklyn Green Team members flew into the preview screening of No Impact Man.  It is an incredible film.  We give it 6 thumbs up.  You should absolutely get involved in his new initiative the No Impact Man Project.  And when the film comes out, go see it and support so it can go national.

Learn More. 

No Impact Man Screening and Party Tomorrow

Brooklyn Green Team will even be there signing people up for the No Take-Out Challenge!
Oscilloscope Pictures and The Fledgling Fund present
NO IMPACT MAN 
FREE BEER AFTER-PARTY 
A local family drama with global implications: the inspirational (and controversial) No Impact Man (and family) challenge themselves to make no environmental impact for one year. Rooftop and The Fledgling Fund invite you to join the challenge. 
Venue: On the lawn of Automotive High School 
Address: 50 Bedford Ave. @ North 13th St. (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) 
Directions: L to Bedford Ave. or G to Nassau Ave. 
7:30: Eco Carnival: A celebration of environmentally-friendly activities, including bike blenders, raffles, prizes, and Sound Fix presents live music by The Hungry March Band.
9:00PM: Films 
11:30PM-1:00AM: After-party: Open Bar at Matchless 
Tickets: $9 at the door or online at going.com 
Presented in partnership with: The Fledgling Fund, Cinereach, New York magazine, IndiePix, Shooting People, Council Member David Yassky & Automotive High School 

Learn More.

Visit No Impact Man blog. 

Buy Tix.

New Requirements for Recycling at NYC Street Events

Our friends at CENYC's Office of Recycling Outreach and Education told us...

This February the City Council passed a law requiring recycling at all street events. Every event producer, manager, or sponsor must ensure that all recyclables are being collected and recycled. They must provide and monitor sufficient recycling receptacles for the duration of the event, gather all recyclables and arrange for their pick up. CENYC's Office of Recycling Outreach and Education has information available for how to comply with this law. We can review your recycling plan, assist you in identifying proper receptacles, assist in volunteer recruitment and training, and help identify recycling opportunities beyond the regulatory requirements where possible. Please contact Rebekah Sale @ CENYC with questions about your event's recycling plan. For more information on recycling at street events and to find out your District Superintendent visit the Department of Sanitation's web site.

Read the law.

High Line Opens!

Elevated Railway tracks that were abandoned 30 years ago have been transformed into a public park, filled with gardens, grass, fountains and lounge areas. The High Line runs along the west side of Manhattan from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street. Three stories above the ground, the park provides a new vantage point to experience the city. It was designed by James Corner Field Operations with Diller Scofidio & Renfro. The second phase of construction is set to begin in a few weeks and will extend the new park to W. 30th Street. Check out the New York Times review, "A Fresh Outlook on High," for more information

Read about it and see a picture in Good. 

Are You a Green Artist?

On July 26, Senator Eric Adams will host the Eco Art Community Festival. Book your spot for free.

Details:
Eco Art Community Festival
Sunday, July 26
11am - 4pm
Prospect Park Carousel Entrance
the event features eco vendors, art for sale, arts workshops, composting demos, and ways to save green by being green

To participate, email ecoartadams@gmail.com

World Environment Day - hosted by Mexico

Aside from being the birthday of a Brooklyn Green Team member, June 5 also has significance because it is World Environment Day! Your Planet Needs You - UNite to Combat Climate Change!

Here's how they suggest taking action tomorrow (or this weekend) to support the effort:

Plant a tree! Help achieve UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign target of planting seven billion trees – one for every person on the planet – by the end of this year! Three billion are planted. Five billion are pledged. On every continent in the world trees can be planted in June, so start your efforts on WED.

Find needy homes or charitable organizations for things that you no longer need or want rather than throwing it away.

The day was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

The day's agenda is to:
Give a human face to environmental issues;
Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

This year’s host is Mexico which reflects the growing role of the Latin American country in the fight against climate change, including its growing participation in the carbon markets.
Mexico is also a leading partner in UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign. The country, with the support of its President and people, has spearheaded the pledging and planting of some 25 per cent of the trees under the campaign.

Learn More.

Show Your Love for Community Gardens

Community Gardens Hearing at the New York City Council
Thursday, June 24th, 2009 10 AM, 250 Broadway

The New York City Council will be holding a hearing on community gardens and the two garden resolutions introduced by Councilwoman Helen Foster. Come show your support for gardens and voice your opinion on these resolutions and about the importance of gardens in New York City. Contact us or the Parks Committee of the New York City Council for more information about the hearing.

Speaking of community gardens, visit council on the environment of new york city, green guerillas, East New York Farms, or green thumb.

Cool Product at Local Green Shop

Hoyt Street GRDN location in Brooklyn just started carrying organic lawn and garden fertilizers from Converted Organics. Based in Boston (which reminds us of The Departed and The Greening of Southie), the products are derived from restaurant and supermarket food waste. This waste is diverted from landfills through several agreements with hauling companies, local NYC restaurants, and food processing facilities to the Converted Organics Facility in Woodbridge New Jersey. There, it is "super composted" at an accelerated rate, bagged, and sold to various GRDN and Whole Foods locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.

For those of your readers who aren't able to compost their own food waste for their vegetable and flower gardens, this product is a great alternative. Plus, when you're buying from Hoyt Street GRDN, you're supporting local businesses.  Speaking of local businesses, check out SBNYC. 

Learn More about Converted Organics. 

Learn More about Hoyt Street GRDN.

Local Green Round-Up

Sustainability Beat-- Compiled by Rebeccah Welch

Editorial: Brooklyn Can Handle Superfund Label [NY Times]

Janette Sadik-Khan Takes on Cars in the City [New York Magazine]

Turnips and Tatsoi: A Farm Comes to Flatbush [City Limits]

Plan to Bring Back Oysters in Sunset Park Unsuccessful [Brooklyn Papers]

Green Space Slow Coming to North B'klyn [NY Daily News]

EPA Head Says Superfund Can't Stop Flow of Sewage Into Gowanus [Brooklyn Papers]

Streetcars for Brooklyn: Transit Blogger Proposes a Revival [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]

Cycling on the Upswing in New York City [NY Post]

Super Marketing: Better Food Choices May be Ahead [City Limits]

Farragut Houses Getting Greenery, Bike Lanes [Brownstoner]

Hospitals Pledge to Reduce Carbon Emissions [WNYC]

Commuter Cycling Indicator [Report - DOT]

Green Jobs and Green Homes [Report- Center for American Progress]