The Lower East Side Ecology Center is making responsible disposal of working and non-working electronics easier than ever before by collecting them at their NEW E-waste Warehouse in Gowanus (469 President Street at the corner of Nevins Street).

Any New York resident, small business (max. 50 employees) and non-profit organization can drop-off unwanted electronics for free.  If the equipment works, let folks at the Warehouse know & they’ll try to give it a second life.  They guarantee data security & offer affordable electronic equipment & parts, too.

DROP OFF HOURS:

• Tuesday: 10am – 5pm
• Wednesday: 12pm – 7pm
• Thursday: 10am – 5pm
• Friday: 10am – 5pm
• Saturday: 10am – 4pm
• CLOSED Sunday & Monday

For more info, check out their website by clicking here.

With thanks to the Lower East Side Recycling Center, Grow NYC and NYC.gov, we bring you a slew of tips for Greening Your Holidays…

Sending cards?

Try e-cards or look for greetings made with recycled content (we’ve got them at Green in BKLYN).  Include a note with your cards saying they can be donated for reuse by sending them to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, where they’ll be re-purposed into greetings for 2012.

Purchasing gifts?

Show some style when shopping by bringing your own reusable bags (or pick up some with our Green in BKLYN logo on them at the shop) .  Choose minimally-packaged items made with recycled content and give items that will be treasured, not thrown out before the next holiday season.  Remember to “wrap it recyclable” by using old newspaper, recycled paper gift wrap (at the shop!) or a nice paper gift bag.  A convenient reusable bag is the gift wrap that keeps on giving.

Preparing a holiday meal?

Look for items in recyclable packaging and buy minimally- or non-packaged fresh produce, like that from the local farmer’s market.  Compost your vegetable trimmings or bring them to select Greenmarkets or other drop-off sites.  Prevent waste by making small changes such as using recyclable aluminum foil rather than plastic wrap for food storage or use Snack Taxis & glass storage containers (also at Green in BKLYN).  Serve your masterpiece on reusable plates and offer guests reusable flatware, glassware & napkins.

Stuck with clean up duties?

Remember to include gift boxes, wrapping paper and other paper packaging with your regular paper and cardboard recycling (remove tape, ribbons and other decorations).  Your eggnog cartons can be recycled too—place them in your recycling bin along with glass, metal and plastic items.  Reuse Styrofoam packing peanuts and compost the ones made from cornstarch.

Done with your  holiday tree?

If you’re putting up a real tree for the holidays, plan to chip in at MulchFest on January 7 & 8!  Trees (cleaned of stands, tinsel and ornaments) will be collected and recycled into mulch for NYC parks.  Bring your own bag to select sites and take home mulch for your yard, garden or street tree.  Find citywide drop-off sites and mulch pick-up locations here.  If you miss MulchFest, the city will pick up trees (also stripped of ornaments, etc) curbside from January 3-14.

Have unwanted electronics?

If you’re upgrading or unloading electronics, don’t send them to the landfill.  Find recycling resources here and check out the “After the Holidays” e-waste collection schedule from the Lower East Side Ecology Center.  There are events in all five boroughs through January 2012.

Changing clothes?

Clear out ill-fitting, outdated and otherwise unwanted clothing and other textiles (even the stuff you spilled cranberry sauce on at the holiday party) and bring them to one of GrowNYC’s weekly collections for reusable and recyclable textiles.

Swapping on your mind?

GrowNYC’s Stop ‘N’ Swap is the ultimate re-gifting party.  Bring reusable items to share (portable items only) or simply bring a tote bag or two to take home things you can put to reuse.  Winter swap dates and locations will be posted at GrowNYC.org/swap.

Feeling generous?

Others may want the stuff you no longer need. There are many local charitable organizations interested in receiving your gently used clothing, furniture, books and electronic goods.

In partnership with the Parks Department, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy is proud to host the fifth annual MulchFest.  Join their volunteer team & have your holiday tree chipped for future use in your Parks!

• What: MulchFest 2012
• Where: Washington Park & Willoughby
• When: Saturday, January 7th & Sunday, January 8th, 2012
• Time: 10am – 2pm

WHAT: FREE Halloween Costume Swap at Build It Green! NYC – Gowanus

WHERE: 69 9^th Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn NY 11215

WHEN: FRIDAY, October 28th    3pm – 6pm

Take a sneak peek at Build It Green! NYC’s new non-profit salvage surplus warehouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn – their second reuse center in the city!  Activities include recycled cardboard mask-making with Solar One, spoke flowers hand crafting with Recycle-A-Bicycle, Halloween-themed music, a bone-chilling haunted house, festive family-friendly movies to watch, and an apple/donut-eating contest thanks to GrowNYC’s Greenmarket! There will also be a raffle for a children’s bike, thanks to Recycle-A-Bicycle!  RSVP for this event at www.bignyc.org/halloween.
For more information call 212-788-7989.

Tekserve and the Lower East Side Ecology Center have teamed up again to offer free electronics recycling throughout September and October. 

Recyclable items include computers, monitors, fax machines, copiers, DVD or VCR players, radios, telephones, cell phones, televisions, cameras and stereo equipment.  However, they cannot accept home appliances such as microwaves, stoves, refrigerators and air conditioners.

Residents, small businesses and not-for-profits can drop off unwanted electronics at the following sites:

• September 17: 10am-4pm / Manhattan @ Tekserve, 119 West 23rd Street, Manhattan b/w 6th and 7th Avenues

• September 18: 10am-4pm / Manhattan @ Delancey Street b/w Chrystie and Forsyth Streets, Lower East Side

• September 20: 11am-7pm / Manhattan @ Church of the Heavenly Rest, 5th Avenue and East 90th Street

• September 24: 10am-4pm / Queens @ St. John’s University parking lot, enter at Gate 4, Union Tpke and 175th Street

• September 24: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ Habana Outpost, Fulton Street b/w South Portland Avenue and South Oxford Street

• September 25: 10am-4pm / Queens @ NY Hall of Science visitor parking lot, enter at 111th Street and 49th Avenue, Flushing

• September 25: 10am-4pm / Bronx @ Van Cortlandt Park, Broadway b/w Manhattan College Pkwy and Post Road

• October 01: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ Smith Street b/w President and Union Streets, Carroll Gardens

• October 01: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ The New New York, N 11th Street b/w Kent and Wythe Avenues, Williamsburg

• October 02: 10am-4pm / Staten Island @ Showplace Entertainment Center, 141 E Service Road and Beresford Ave

• October 02: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1, Furman Street b/w Old Fulton and Doughty St

• October 15: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ 8th Avenue b/w 14th and 15th Streets, Park Slope

• October 16: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ 7th Avenue b/w 4th and 5th Streets, Park Slope

• October 22: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ Restoration Plaza, Herkimer St entrance b/w New York and Brooklyn Aves, Bedford Stuyvesant

• October 22: 10am-4pm / Manhattan @ Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Amsterdam Avenue b/w West 96th and West 97th Streets

• October 23: 10am-4pm / Brooklyn @ PS 29 Schoolyard, Baltic Street b/w Henry and Clinton Streets

• October 23: 10am-4pm / Manhattan @ Stuyvesant Town, 14th Street Loop, at 14th St and Ave A

For more info, check out the LESEC website.

Green in BKLYN recently heard from an awesome group in Philadelpia.  United by Blue (who removes one pound of trash from our world’s oceans and waterways for every item of clothing they sell) will be cleaning up two sites in Brooklyn.  On September 17th, they’ll be removing tons of trash from “Bottle Beach” and Plumb Beach and are seeking lots of hardworking volunteers!  If you can join them, meet at the Ranger Station Parking Lot at 1 Aviation Road in Brooklyn.

Ever think you would see a bottle graveyard? What about a beach that is littered with bottles of every age, shape, whole or fragments, along with toys from yesteryears (many of which are plastic), shoes, bones, toothbrushes, tires and other random discarded items?  While a place like this sounds a bit surreal, it does exist and can be found in the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreational Area.  “Bottle Beach” can be found along Dead Horse Bay at the bottom edge of Brooklyn.

In the 1920s, the watery marshland separating a series of small islands (with the largest being Barren Island) from mainland Brooklyn was filled in to create NY’s first municipal airport—Floyd Bennett Field.  From the 1850s until the last residents of Barren Island were evicted in 1936, Barren Island was home to dozens of factories and rendering plants and received all of the household items from Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.  The landfill was used until it was capped in the 1930. In the 1950s the cap burst and its contents started to spill into Dead Horse Bay in the 1980s.  Ever since then, more of the beach continues to erode exposing thousands of glass bottles and pieces of trash along its shores.

Bottles, plastics, tires and other pieces of trash pose a risk to our beloved oceans, waterways and the creatures that dwell there.  Register to join UBB & help clean it up!

Change by Us NYC is the City’s new social media tool for greening New York’s neighborhoods. Change by Us NYC allows participants to post ideas, connect with other New Yorkers, find City & non-profit resources & start projects to make NYC greener & greater.

So if you have an idea for a greener, greater New York, log on & connect to the people & resources you need to make it happen.

Currently, Change by Us NYC is offering 20-40 mini-grants between $500 & $1,000 each to support selected projects on the site.  Eligible projects must be focused on neighborhood gardening & agriculture, tree or park stewardship, or composting.

It’s a great opportunity to come together to create new or improved gardens to produce local produce & decrease the carbon footprint of Brooklyn neighborhoods. The mini-grant application deadline is August 15th.  So review the application details & don’t wait to apply.

Little Essentials is a Fort Greene community-based organization that provides free baby & toddler clothing, furniture & other essential items to Brooklyn families living in poverty.

Little Essentials is hosting a block party/fundraiser this Sunday, July 24th from 11AM-7PM at Grand Avenue (btw. Lafayette & Clifton Place in Clinton Hill).

The event promises fun for all ages including chair massage, face painting, a donation drop off & a raffle with great prizes (including one from Green in BKLYN).

Little Essentials helps keep children safe (in cribs, car seats & clothing), lifts spirits & provides hope to parents. It also takes care of our environment by reusing items that are only slightly used.  Reduce, reuse, recycle & help your neighbors.

So if you have gently used baby items (clothing, toys & other essentials), drop them by the Block Party & join in the festivities.  And, if you’d like more info, email info@littleessentials.org.

• WHAT: Little Essentials Block Party & Fund Raiser
• WHEN: Sunday, July 24th 11am-7pm
• WHERE: 282 Grand Avenue (btw Lafayette & Clifton Place)
• HOW: Donation Drop Off, Raffle, Chair Massage & More!

Based in Williamsburg (Brooklyn, of course) & made locally, Common Good products are 100% readily biodegradable, plant based and safe for people & the environment.

They never use any dyes, masking agents or synthetic perfumes, chlorine bleach, optical brighteners or phosphates.

Born of the idea that folks use too much plastic, even when using eco-friendly products, Common Good’s solution is to provide easy-to-use bulk refill stations.

We currently carry Common Good’s hand soap, dish soap, all purpose cleaner & awesome cotton flour sack dish towels.

And now we have a Common Good refill station at Green in BKLYN! Stop by, check out the line & help stamp out the sea of excess plastic usage with good old fashioned local cleaning products…  It’s for the Common Good.

Tiffany’s groovy book is jam-packed with 95 do-it-yourself “Recycling Projects from the Stuff You Usually Scrap”.  So you can transform outdated CDs into a lampshade, empty cereal boxes into a magazine holder, bottle caps into a game of checkers & a whole lot more!

Join us joining Tiffany & make something awesome with something scrappy.  Bonus crafty project included!