Photo via Shutterstock

Collecting cans and bottles off the streets is an honest, legal and eco-friendly way to make some income, but many still see “canners” as a nuisance and an eyesore. SURE WE CAN is an NYC non-profit that aims to change that negative connotation, or at least make it easier and safer for people, a good number of whom are homeless, to redeem cans and bottles for money. Their Brooklyn site – the city’s only licensed, homeless-friendly can redemption center – offers canners a welcoming atmosphere and a sense of community that is more than just a place to trade in bottles.

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

The Village Green is an eco-luxury building in the heart of the East Village. The façade is lined with floor-to-ceiling double-insulated windows, which flood each unit with natural light while reducing noise pollution from the city streets outside. The building

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Tekserve has teamed up with Lower East Side Ecology Center for free electronics recycling around NYC. Head to Tekserve on West 23rd Street this weekend to drop off electronics for proper recycling and help keep them out of our waste stream.

For more details,

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

The Lower East Side Ecology Center is making it extra easy for you to clean up you post-holiday waste with their “After the Holidays” E-waste Recycling events this January. Help make room for your new gadgets and recycle what you’re no longer using by dropping them off at these locations or drop off your e-waste five days a week at their E-waste Warehouse in Gowanus Brooklyn.

More information here.

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

New York’s Suffolk County has become the first one in the United States to ban retailers from issuing register receipts that contain Bisphenol-A (BPA). The legislation, called the Safer Sales Slip Act, will prohibit the harmful chemical, which has been linked

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Image: Skip Van Wert

Perhaps symbolic of how many New Yorkers are picking up the pieces after Hurricane Sandy, a spruce tree that was also toppled by the storm has been given new life as a beautiful holiday tree for Long Beach Township. Raised by the Van

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Enjoy an afternoon of repurposing & recycling activities at Load OUT! this weekend in Manhattan. GET costumes, props, furniture & more. Whatever you decide to take away is FREE of charge! The general public will be charged a $5 entrance fee but artists

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Originally designed by William Van Alen for Walter P. Chrysler’s headquarters, the building first opened as New York’s tallest skyscraper in 1930, until it was beat out almost a year later by the Empire State Building. With managing company Tishman Speyer’s

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

The MTA is planning to increase subway fares yet again in 2013, but Stefanie Gray isn’t taking it lying down. In protest of the fourth fare hike in five years, the NYC straphanger is going to attempt to break the current Guinness record for fastest subway

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

The GrowNYC event took residence next to Union Square’s famed Green Market, extending the spirit of sustainability from the local farmers into the southern part of the square. Speakers such as  Carter Strickland, Commissioner of NYC Department of Environmental

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Join GrowNYC’s Halloween Costume swap to find a fun new-to-you costume or donate your clean, gently used costumes to the swap. The swap is totally free so take and give as much as you’d like. We will also accept other Halloween paraphernalia like decorations.

Read More >

1 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Mike Morone of Rochester, NY is willing to go to great lengths to promote waste reduction – 300 miles to be exact. This summer, he plans to walk the distance while pushing a 50-gallon wheeled recycling bin over a 12-day period to promote Give Your Stuff Away

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

New Green City is a hands-on, free event full day of action and dialogue, alongside our Union Square Greenmarket, where participants of all ages can learn how to live a low impact lifestyle. Activities include DIY tutorials on weatherization techniques, a

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Join GrowNYC as they transform Union Square into New Green City, an all-day celebration of the best sustainable food, technology and art on October 10th. The hands-on symposium will invite New Yorkers to join together to learn and discuss easy green practices towards

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Head over to the Queens County Farm Museum this weekend for a traditional county fair with blue ribbon competitions in livestock, produce, home crafts, arts and crafts, and more! Enjoy pie-eating and corn-husking contests, Lumberjack shows, pig-racing, hayrides,

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Who says that outdoor lounge chairs need only be for sunbathing? The clever designers at Nea Studio have created a solar-powered Heating Lounger to keep hikers and bikers warm and toasty while they enjoy the Riverdale waterfront in The Bronx. These useful

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

©Joe Shlabotnik

This year’s U.S. Open will be much than just an enticing tennis match – it will also be a showcase of mouthwatering local produce. For the 2012 event, the U.S. Tennis Association will be sourcing forty percent of the fare for the event

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Want to add a little bit of upcycling to your weekend? RePlayGround will be at the New York Hall of Science on Saturday and Sunday as part of their Maker Days event, and they’ll be crafting up a recycled storm creating bottle cap bugs and cereal box rockets

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

In her work, Mia Liu enjoys exploring the hidden world of every day objects. By examining mundane items through a different angle, like these thousands of admission tickets to the Guggenheim, Liu reconstructs the simple and ordinary into the elaborate. As

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Upon its completion in early 2014, One World Trade Center will be one of the most sustainable office buildings in NYC and the developers are also endeavoring for it to achieve LEED Gold certification. The building, which was designed by Skidmore, Owings and

Read More >

2 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Just when you thought Etsy couldn’t get any more awesome, they break out this custom-made Etsy-cle filled with compostable waste to help out a neighborhood farm! Every Friday, three Etsy employees volunteer to bike an average of 150 pounds of organic waste

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

A massive 88-acre container terminal in Brooklyn is being transformed into the state-of-the-art Sims Municipal Recycling Facility as part of the Mayor’s PlaNYC2030 initiative to tackle waste management in the city. The facility will be overseen by the Axis

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Growing up in the Bronx, Marche found himself welding in body shops all around town. His passion grew and soon he began collecting junk from neighbors and local business. Kids would leave him their old bikes, shops would cart over pieces of scrap, and neighbors

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

Recycling may not yet be a priority for our younger generation, but a new “Recyclarium” featuring fun interactive games that teach about sustainability has hit the streets of New York City in order to change that. The re-purposed trailer, designed by Sims Municipal Recycling, will travel from school to school in order to make learning about the importance of conserving natural resources fun for children. Among other upbeat teaching aids, the mobile education center includes wheels and doors that can be turned to reveal which materials can and can’t be recycled.

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter

If you’ve ever reused your MetroCard thinking it would be a waste to chuck it, you might soon be rewarded for your efforts. Word on the street is that the MTA is looking to add a $1 surcharge for all new MetroCard purchases to encourage riders to reuse their

Read More >

0 emailemail facebookfacebook diggdigg twittertwitter