Pelham Bay Park clearing

As part of GrowNYC’s Environmental Education program, 31 students from DeWitt Clinton HS spent half a day clearing 3,800 square feet of bush honeysuckle invasive plants at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. The NYC Parks Department will follow the students’ work by planting natives in the area.

Grains Week - a success!

November 29, 2010
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged Grains, grains week

Greenmarket Grains Week—seven days of collaborative programming to promote the re-emergence of local grains in our regional food system—has ended, and we're proud to say that it was a huge success! Home bakers compared recipes and tried each other's bread; experts discussed the past, present, and future of local grains; and baking classes and cooking demonstrations showed New Yorkers how to use local grains to make anything from pancakes to bagels.

Learn It, Grow It, Eat It on LunchNYC

November 22, 2010

NYC Media, the official television, radio and online network of the City of New York, recently profiled Learn It, Grow It, Eat It on LunchNYC.

Our part starts at 6:40. Check it out!

Greenmarket recipe contest

November 21, 2010
Posted in Greenmarket

Calling all home cooks! Online recipe website Epicurious is hosting a Greenmarket-inspired recipe contest. Turn in your best market recipe (from any time of year) and you could win $1,000 and have your recipe posted on the GrowNYC website!

Go to the contest webpage.

Holiday food donations

November 15, 2010
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, GrowNYC is partnering with local food rescue organizations to help feed New York City's hungry men, women, and children. For one day, customers shopping at the Greenmarkets listed below can purchase an extra bag of produce and donate it at the Greenmarket manager’s tent.

Most needed items: Apples, pears, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, onions, potatoes, root vegetables, and winter squash

Mt. Sinai Greenmarket
November 17
8am-4pm
Collection for Yorkville Common Pantry

Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket
November 20
8am-5pm
Collection for City Harvest

Union Square Greenmarket
November 20
8am-6pm
Collection for City Harvest

Abingdon Square Greenmarket
November 20
8am-3pm
Collection for The Bowery Mission

Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket
November 21
8am-5pm
Collection for City Harvest

77th Street Greenmarket
November 21
8am-5pm
Collection for City Harvest

Tribeca Greenmarket
November 24
8am-4pm
Collection for Housing & Services, Inc.

 

Million Pound Challenge, explained

November 8, 2010

GrowNYC's textile recycling program recently announced the Million Pound Challenge, an effort to reach more New Yorkers in order to help them recycle their unwanted clothing, linens, and shoes. We spoke to Christina Salvi, Assistant Director of the Office of Recycling Outreach and Education, about textile recycling, why it's important, and how far along we are with the Challenge.

Where did the idea for the Million Pound Challenge come from?
6% of NYC's residential waste stream consists of textiles, like sheets, towels and unwanted clothing. That's 193,000 tons a year, which means that New Yorkers throw away 733 pounds of textiles every minute.

We've been collecting clothing and textiles at select Greenmarkets since 2007. We were in the process of evaluating our promotion of this program when the latest numbers came in at 750,000 pounds collected. So we thought, "Let's go for a million!" Right now we’re around 900,000 pounds.

Where have those 900,000 pounds of textiles been going?
We partner with Wearable Collections, a textiles recycling company that gives a certain percentage of their proceeds back to charitable organizations. They not only accept material at some of our markets, but also provide collection bins and do pickups at residential buildings.

Wearable Collections takes the material to a sorting facility where items are designated as usable or non-usable. The usable items will go to secondhand markets like thrift stores. Materials that are stained, ripped, or otherwise non-usable are further sorted into grades like cotton and synthetic blends. These textiles are then distributed to different markets and manufacturers that can turn them into things like car seats, insulation, and industrial rags.

Where can people drop off their stuff?
We are hoping to continue expansion of the program, but for now we have weekly drop-off sites at 8 markets in 3 boroughs on 4 days of the week. We also have special collections taking place during the Million Pound Challenge, like at the Bronx Borough Hall Greenmarket on November 2, 9, 16 and 23.

People can bring any clean and dry textiles including clothing, paired shoes, sheets, towels, hats, bags and belts. We offer receipts for tax deductions as well.

People should wash everything before they donate?
Yes. It's okay if things have stains, but they should be laundered before donation. You can bring them in a plastic bag or just pack them in a reusable bag that you can empty into bins at the drop-off site.

What happens if you reach 1,000,000 pounds?
1,000,000 million pounds is a nice big number, but we see it as a great place to start. Keeping textiles out of landfills helps reduce disposal costs for taxpayers and prevents landfilling of materials that could create powerful greenhouse gasses. It will be great to reach a million pounds, but we will need to keep working to divert more material from going to waste; what it would mean is that we've made that many more people aware and have activated them to participate in recycling.

Halloween & Candy Apples

November 1, 2010
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged halloween, kids, union square

On Saturday, Market shoppers at Union Square indulged their sweet tooths on candy apples donated from Terhune Orchards, Locust Grove, and Migliorelli Farms and candied by Deb Gavito, owner of Body and Soul Bakery.

Thanks to our wonderful Greenmarket volunteers, who were painting faces and distributing apples all day.

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