I often find myself blocked, or at least thinking I am blocked, from doing certain things that I feel would be better environmentally because I live in a major city, in an apartment, without a lawn. (Yes, I know No Impact Man did it all….but I’m not him. I, however, will be snooping around his sight “borrowing” ideas for this particular greenie adventure.) So…I have decided to reverse my thinking. Instead of seeing my somewhat communal living as a hindrance to making environmental improvements, I should be looking at it as an opportunity to make green steps in bulk. There are 120 apartments in my building. I could be encouraging changes 120 x more powerful than just my little home. My plan: reduce plastic waste and awareness through #5 plastic collection, start communal composting, create a little very local produce…or at least herbs in the form of a tiny garden, reduce bulk waste through a type of freecycle type network, and offer personal monthly challenges.

Recycling- NYC does recycle some things: all paper, metal, and glass, 1&2 plastic bottle. Everything else is garbage. Now…besides needing to review the very clear signs with pictures hanging over each recycling container in the recycle closet located on each floor of the building….I would like to propose a #5 collection. These could be mailed in to Recycline or Stonyfield or carted out to the Park Slope collection center. Seems small- but from gandering at the misrecycled items in our building- it is pretty clear that those yogurt cups are a big source of trash. This wouldn’t have to be a huge burden. If I could even get 5 other people to help out we could rotate throughout the year with each of us taking two months.

Gardening & Composting- I obviously don’t have my own yard or place to seriously compost, but our building has a weird unused lot between the playground and the building that could hold a small garden and a compost. The playground is part of our building too so we don’t have to worry about getting permission from the city. I would bet that at least 5% -20% of the buildings garbage is compostable food. The city even offers used compost bins for 20 dollars -so start up cost shouldn’t be a factor. We could then use the soil for the landscaping and for the small garden. There are definitely people in the building who would like this….it would really just be a matter of education and organization.

Building “Freecycle”- Usually, if someone wants to throw something out in our building that is still in good shape, they leave it in our basement. The problem is that if no one else claims it with in hours, the porter moves it into the “junk” room which no one goes into and there is sits waiting for the proper trash pick up day. Now sometimes passersby will retrieve it from the trash once it hits the street, but not always. If people have large things like bedroom sets they will sometimes post a notice in the laundry room, but not often. I am going to propose a building freecycle list to be posted in the lobby and the laundry rooms. People throw out really good stuff here. My first years in NY were spent “shopping” for furniture on collection day. Also, I would suggest that the porter, or a resident more likely, create an inventory of what is in the junk room. It would have to be something exceptionally easy.

Challenges- One of the really great things I have discovered about the blogging community is how well it turns thoughts and ideas into actions. I am blown away by what Crunchy was able to do in such a short time with her pad drive. Beth at Fake Plastic Fish has changed how her readers see their plastic consumption and what they can do about it. Erin at Burbanmom is always offering us very doable steps in a green direction. The truth is most people want to do good things…they just need more direction. Our building already supports several charities thanks to some of the residents. We do a spring “garage” sale and donate the proceeds to the zoo. We have a coat drive for the Boy Scouts. My husband and I hosted a charity for Iraqi children, and were wonderfully supported. When people are asked to give they give generously. Now the question is if they are asked to Do will they Do. I would like to post, right next to the “freecycle” list, a monthly home challenge. I have a few good starters: don’t take any plastic shopping bags for a month, hang one load of laundry in your apartment, swap out one non-local product for a local one, switch your hall lights to CFLs. The idea would be to make them very easy for anyone and maybe a little fun.

I would absolutely love feedback on these ideas. I want to be able to present the board,the house committee, and fellow home owners with a sound plan that has answers for any foreseeable objections. Any suggestions?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 8:35 am and is filed under plastic, projects, recycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.