But fear not (as if you were afraid)–we’re working behind the scenes on developing this project a bit and turning it into something steadier, more reliable…better.

In the meantime, we encourage you to check out all the orgs and news outlets linked to on the right there.  That’s where we learn pretty much everything.  Finally–and this is important–if anyone out there has an hour or two a day to spare, and wants to work with an emerging hyper-local sustainability news outlet (that’s us, SustaiNYC, if it wasn’t clear), please do drop us a line at: ben (at) sustainyc.com.  You’d get to work with a couple of established, relatively-savvy folks in the world of sustainability (Ben) and technology (Naveen). And we write amazing references and give shining recommendations.

Stay tuned.  Good things to–eventually–come.

And if you’d like to be notified when these developments are underway, drop a line to the same address above.

Thanks,

Ben, Naveen, Joy and the SustaiNYC family!

Brooklyn Green Team 

& GreenEdge Collaborative NYC 

Present

No Take-Out Challenge!* 

3 months. 3 meals a day.
Do it for your wallet!  Do it for the planet!

PACKAGING STATISTICS: What are we doing?

Almost 1/3 of the waste generated in the US is from packaging! Plastic takes 1,000 years to decompose (and really it just keeps getting smaller and smaller).

The US population tosses out enough paper and plastic cups, forks and spoons every year to circle the equator 300 times. Read that again.

Paper comes from trees. Plastic comes from oil. To obtain either one, worldwide forests are being contaminated and destroyed.

(source: treehugger.com)

RESOURCES: Can I?

This great article from Greenbiz suggests ways your company can begin to use eco-friendlier take-out packaging.

This article from Planet Green proposes a bunch of ways to reduce plastic, including take-out, in your kitchen.

This cute video with a nifty take on plastic was done by eco-to-go.org.

This site is also an excellent resource for statistics describing take-out containers on the environment.

This article from Treehugger.com gives helpful tips on what to do with the glut of take-out containers piling up in your cabinets.  It also describes an initiative by the New York based group, The Eco-Agents, in which customers can request to use their own take-out containers from Restaurants.

This article from The Daily Green lists the ten most (and least) green containers.   It contains the pluses and minuses on take-out containers from Styrofoam (Least Green) to Cardboard Boxes (Not As Green As You Might Think) to Edible/Inedible Containers Made From Food (Cha-Ching!).

This article from Diamondback Online describes an initiative at the University of Maryland to reduce take-out container uses and discusses the difficulties and successes they had in attaining their goals.

SOLUTIONS: Sure You Can!

Breakfast at Home. Pack Your Lunch. Stay at the Restaurant.

Visit our website for a list of restaurants that use eco-friendly take-out packaging.

If you must take something to go, get a sandwich or burrito wrapped only in foil (and reuse it) and put in your own bag or tote.

Check our blog for suggestions on restaurants that use eco-friendly packaging.

email brooklyngreen@gmail.com and write “I Take No More!” (Include first & last name and zip)

FRANK MEUSCHKE’S garden, which surrounds the house he rents in Brooklyn, is a bountiful source of tomatoes, snap peas, green beans, peppers, lettuce and multiple varieties of flowers. It is also, as he recently discovered to his dismay, a rich repository of lead. He had his soil tested last month, and the analysis showed more than 90 times the amount of lead expected to occur naturally.

Read the rest

Dear 350 supporters in the New York City area,

We’re excited to let you know about an upcoming opportunity to learn about the intersection of faith and climate change. This is something we care a lot about at 350.org, and we have just launched our Interfaith Call for 350.

To kick it off, we are co-hosting an event at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine this coming Sunday at 4 p.m. Special guests include Bill McKibben of 350.org and Mary Evelyn Tucker of the Forum on Religion and Ecology.

Please join in on the fun and the conversation! You can read more about this on the 350 website, here.

Event details:

Cathedral of St. John the Divine

1047 Amsterdam Avenue

New York, New York 10025

Sunday, May 17th

4:00 pm: Evensong service

5:15 pm: Renewal, a documentary film about America’s growing diverse religious-enviornmental movement. Introduction by Bill McKibben

7:00 pm: Call to Action: a conversation with Bill McKibben, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Marty Ostrow (filmmaker), Terry Kay Rockefeller (filmmaker), and others

For more information, contact Ms. Tenzin Dharlo, tdharlo@stjohndivine.org, phone number 212.316.7468

Hope you can make it!

Hey NYS Allies,

NYPIRG, RAN, and the Sierra Club are organizing another Coal Kills Rally, the third so far, this time against JP Morgan Chase.

As some of you may know, JP Morgan Chase is one of the largest financiers of coal-fired power plants in the United States.  Despite the fact that JP Morgan signed on to the Carbon Principles, a resolution to ensure that these institutions make all investment decisions with an eye towards the environment, it still continues to fund new coal plants.  In fact, currently, JP Morgan Chase serves as the lead underwriter for the proposed AMP-Ohio coal plant.  For more info about the proposed AMP Ohio plant, please visit http://www.ohiocitizen.org. 

What’s even worse is that since the US government has lent banks billions of taxpayer dollars via the bailouts, they are using our money to finance the very plants that are speeding global warming and killing us.  Now, more than ever, we have a right and a responsibility to demand that they stop.  

Members of NYPIRG, Rainforest Action Network, and the Sierra Club will be out in force to protest the JP Morgan Chase Annual Shareholders Meeting and I hope you will be there too.  We can’t sit by while the bank uses our money to fund global warming.  They are mortgaging our future and it must end with us.

JP MORGAN AGM RALLY

When:     Tuesday, May 19 • 9am - 12pm
Where:   1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, New York (corner of William and Pine)
We will be staging at the Pine St. entrance to the right of the large black and white sculpture in the picnic area

JP Morgan TEACH-IN (Join us to learn about the relationship between banks and coal)
When:   Monday, May 18th, 6pm-9pm

Where:  Community Church of New York, Chapel, 40 E. 35th St. (Btwn Park and Madison)

When: Monday, May 18th, 6-9pm

For more information, please visit www.nypirg.org/enviro/1sky or email Lauren Schuster at LSchuster@nypirg.org

Are you passionate about local food, urban gardening and social justice?

Would you like to make
your passion your job?

Come spend a year with Just Food as an
AmeriCorps* VISTA!

Apply to serve as a fulltime AmeriCorps* VISTA member and help build a more just and sustainable food system in New York City.

Just Food and several of our partner organizations are currently seeking 11 AmeriCorps*VISTA members to dedicate a year of service to address hunger, poverty, and food justice problems in New York City.
Applications for most July positions are due tomorrow, April 30, but the submission deadline has been extended for Just Food’s Development Associate, FSNYC’s Program Associate, and the Sylvia Center’s Program Promotion Associate.

For additional details, please visit the AmeriCorps*VISTA website and review the details in the left-hand column.

If you are interested in learning more about these positions, please visit Just Food’s website http://www.justfood.org/jobs/index.html. If you have additional questions, please contact vista@justfood.org.

In Health and Harvest,
Amy Blankstein
Just Food

New York Solar Energy Society

presents

Solar in the City: Episode II - Financing Solar Systems

Monday, May 18, 2009 • 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Columbia University • Altschul Auditorium

The International Affairs building • 420 W. 118th Street • NYC

The first panel of the Solar in the City series explored the extensive scope for solar in an urban setting. This panel will explore the cost of solar, as well as provide attendees with comprehensive information on the various financial incentives currently in place for solar installations of both residential and commercial scale. Panelists will also discuss the various third party financial models available in some states, such as equipment leasing and power purchasing agreements. We will also explore different opportunities created through the financial stimulus bill.

The Solar Panel:

Stanley Fishbein, President, Capquest Group

Gabe Selig, Gabriel M. Selig, Esq., President, Southport Power, LLCAndrea Watson, NYC Solar Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Energy, Bronx Community College, CUNY

Tickets: NYSES members: $10 / $15 for non-members.

Pay for your spot at PayPal: Click HERE

Or RSVP to rsvp@nyses.org

Schedule 6:00 - 6:30: Registration 6:30 - 8:00 Panel discussion and Q&A 8:00 - 9:00 Networking   Topics for discussion

• The cost of solar?
• What are all the financial incentives, how do they work, to whom are they available?
• The financial models - leasing, PPA’s
• Financing solar thermal
• How does net metering work?
• How to calculate the ROI for solar PV
• What new funds are available for solar businesses?
• Does solar make sense financially? What is the ROI, IRR, payback period?

Who should attend?

Members of the New York Solar Energy Society, members of the American Solar Energy Society, members of the International Solar Energy Society, members of other renewable energy organizations, solar energy professionals, engineers, green building professionals, architects, construction professionals, building owners, consultants, urban planners, students.

For Directions go to: http://www.cs.columbia.edu/theory/directions2.html