Flatbush Students Win Award for Green Entrepreneurship

Two students from Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, Isaac Lati, 16, and Morris Jaradeh, 17 — both of Flatbush — have been named winners of the 2009-2010 J. Morton Davis/Lander College for Men Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition. They won for their invention “Winergy,” a turbine that captures hot air released by central air conditioner condenser units and recycles it back into the unit, thereby saving both homeowners and commercial building owners energy and money.

Lati and Jaradeh said they got their idea last year, when solar panels and wind turbines began to make headlines in the news. “We had an in-school entrepreneurship competition and we both absorbed what was going on during the economic crash,” Lati said.  “Right around the presidential election, a lot of discussions were taking place about alternate sources of energy. I looked around my home and I realized that the wasted air from the air conditioning unit could be used in a way that might prove practical.”

“In addition to their creativity and sound presentation, the team of Lati and Jaradeh zeroed in on an issue that is front and center in today’s world — green solutions for saving energy and money,” said Dr. Moshe Sokol, dean of Touro College’s Lander College for Men (LCM). “We were all impressed with their ingenuity and drive to create something that has the potential to benefit homeowners and businesses worldwide.”

Five teams of students were selected as finalists out of 31 submissions and invited to give oral presentations. The winners were chosen for their creativity, sound business plans, and oral presentations.  Prizes totaling $3,000 were awarded, with $1,500 going to the grand prize winners; $1,000 to the second place winners; and $500 to the third place winner. All five teams received plaques honoring their achievements.

Photo above, left to right: Dr. Moshe Sokol, Dean of LCM; Professor Larry Bellman, formerly of Touro College and the developer and inspiration for the contest; winner Morris Jaradeh; Dr. Ira Teich, assistant professor of marketing and management at LCM and director of this year’s competition; and winner Isaac Lati. Photo by James Musumeci

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NYU-Poly Prof Given Fulbright Study Psychology of Sustainable Design

Richard Elliot Wener, Professor of Environmental Psychology at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) was awarded a four-month Fulbright grant to lecture and conduct research on the psychology of sustainable design.

Dr. Wener’s research focuses on how to improve design so as to encourage sustainability. Will easily accessible and highly visible recycling bins remind tenants not just to recycle but also to act responsibly and use less water in the shower, for example?

For his grant, he will travel to Europe to examine sustainable buildings in Germany and Austria and lecture at the Vienna University of Technology.  

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Brooklyn Public Library Announces Power Up! Winners

Last week, the Brooklyn Public Library announced the winners of its sixth annual, Power Up! business plan competition. One of the second place winners, taking home a cash prize of $5,000, submitted a plan with a green theme.

Prospect Heights resident Vandra Thorburn (above left) proposed Vokashi Kitchen Waste, a simple, natural solution to disposing of kitchen refuse. This business will give residential households a small catering companies the tools to recycle their food waste — primarily, a product that ferments discarded food and distributes it to composting sites where it becomes organic soil. The process is natural and easy.

Read about the rest of the winners here. 

It seems Power Up! winners commonly have green business plans. One of last year's second place winners was Elissa Olin, who proposed the plan for a green home goods store, Green in BKLYN, which she then opened in Clinton Hill on Earth Day last year. 

Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library

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Three Brooklyn Students Are Finalists in 'Green Teen' Essay Contest

Six New York City students — three from Brooklyn — were finalists in the second annual Green Teens Essay Contest. It was a competition which invites young writers ages 12 to 18 to submit a 300-word personal essay about how they will help Mayor Bloomberg implement MillionTreesNYC, which is a PlaNYC initiative to plant and care for one million trees by 2017.

The grand prize winner of the contest (who was from Manhattan) received $1,000, two runners up received $500 each, and three honorable mentions received $100 each.

“Growing young minds through environmental awareness is the key to success in greening New York City,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “These green teens have demonstrated a savvy understanding of the immense health and environmental benefits of trees, and they have generated a number of creative ideas to engage even more New Yorkers in MillionTreesNYC. We look forward to working with the essay finalists to further develop their ideas for implementation and help create a greener, greater New York City.”

Runner up Nedine Dobson, 17, from Clara Barton High School in Crown Heights titled her essay, “A Melting Pot of Beautiful People With Beautiful Trees,” and in it wrote, “Each school district should be responsible for involving each school in the district to embark on a go green project. The project will require groups of students to be responsible for the design of areas in their school district to plant trees — this initiative promises to make New York, with its melting pot of beautiful people, a garden of beautiful trees.”

Eric Murray Datcher, 16, from the Bushwick High School for Social Justice, earned an honorable mention with his essay, writing, “The key to the Mayor’s plan is involving the youth of New York City. There are young people throughout the city who are simply waiting for an opportunity to make a major change. The Million Trees project could be that change to unite the youth in a positive project. I believe I can use my strong voice to gather more students, young people, and community members to beautify more places throughout New York City.”

Jamel Irby-Shabazz, 12, of Park Place Middle School in Park Slope, also earned an honorable mention with his essay, in which he wrote, “Every month we will get teens to sign up as a special citizenship program with the NYC Parks Department to help plant trees. Teens will then make a difference in their community and experience something positive in their community. The teens will also be able to place their family name on the trees. I also believe that a million trees will equal a million healthy breaths. A million healthy breaths can help a brain learn and be more conscious about the environment in which we live.”

The essay contest was sponsored by Flowerworks Florist & Landscape Contractor, Carver Federal Savings Bank, Our Time Press, and Gxart Studio. Essay finalists were honored on November 19th at Restoration Plaza on Fulton Street, in an event celebrating the newly-formed Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District (BID).

For more information about MillionTreesNYC, visit www.milliontreesnyc.org.

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Williamsburg Florist Honored For Green Entrepreneurship

While growing up in West Virginia, Kimberly Sevilla (pictured at left with her daughter Lavender) frequently noticed non-natural gardening practices: plants lined up in rows, and the use of Miracle-Gro products, to name a few.

“Americans were never really taught how to garden and how to compost and use the world around them,” said Sevilla, who cultivated a passion for gardening as she traveled the world to study the techniques of other cultures, reading historical books on the subject.

Sevilla has always gardened for herself — she has a garden in upstate New York and one at her home in Williamsburg — but didn’t make it part of her profession until just over a year ago, when she opened Rose Red & Lavender, a full service florist in Williamsburg.

Rose Red & Lavender isn’t just a place to buy cut flowers. Sevilla offers classes in urban gardening to the community through the store. “We’re teaching people how to repurpose and reuse things that they may have already to grow [gardens].”

She showed children how to plant a variety of seeds — herbs and vegetables — in a five-gallon bucket to create a “meal in a bucket” and also teaches students at her classes to create planters out of old tires. “This was popular in the ’60s,” she said. “We’re trying to revive that.”

Sevilla started a campaign to distribute seed balls, which are balls of clay that have flower seeds in them that don’t need to be planted in the soil. “It’s a technique used by Native Americans,” she said, and the flowers can sprout anywhere, namely the number of vacant lots in Williamsburg.

During the summertime, Sevilla sources her flowers from local farms. She grows the lavender she sells at the shop on property in West Virginia. She composts all the waste from the flowers and recycles everything she can.

It is this commitment to educating the community and making Williamsburg a greener place that won Sevilla an award for green entrepreneurship by the Business Outreach Center (BOC) Network, an organization dedicated to small business development in New York City’s ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Entrepreneurs were selected for this award for their efforts to go beyond just recycling in their green businesses.

Sevilla wants the award to help her spread eco-awareness. “I hope that people will seek us out for advice,” she said. “Everybody wants to be green — I don’t think they necessarily know how to do it.

“People come to me and say, ‘I don’t have a yard.’ Well, you don’t need a yard,” Sevilla continued. “We could be growing food on the roofs, there’s so much wasted space on the roofs ... you have a wall, put hooks on your wall, use window boxes.

“There are a lot of things around us that we can use.”

For hours and information about Rose Red & Lavender’s products and services, visit www.roseredandlavender.com. For information about BOC, visit www.bocnet.org.

Photo above by Amy Wise. Little Lavender came before the shop.

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First Bay Ridge 'Green' Festival

Last week's Third Avenue Festival in Bay Ridge was the 36th annual, but the first ever with a green theme. About a dozen booth entered themselves into a "Green Pioneer" contest, the winners of which will be announced at the 16th Annual Third Avenue Pioneers and Civic Awards Reception on October 26 at Café Remy.

Pictured here are the three "Green Judges" at the Festival: Home Reporter arts columnist Liz Gassimi (second from left), Bay Ridge Courier Marketing Director Jeanne Eisenhardt (second from right) and myself (right), with Festival Chairman Chuck Otey (left).

Stay tuned for details on the festival entrants with photos, and also for the winners!

Photo by Giancarlo Annese

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Green Theme for Upcoming Third Ave. Festival in Bay Ridge

The Third Avenue Festival, a Bay Ridge tradition in its 36th year, will have an eco-spin this year. It's the first "Green" Festival, and it will take place on Sunday, October 4, from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. along Third Avenue in Bay Ridge from 69th Street to 95th Street.

Vendors will be encouraged to enter green displays and attractions into a contest, and I'll be there as one of the judges.

Attractions already lined up are solar-powered hot tubs, thanks to Super-Roofer’s Bill Boshell, and solar-run cellphones, as well as energy-generating bicycles outside Mike Kaspar’s Tri & Runs at 81st Street.

The Green Pioneer Award will be announced at the 16th Annual Pioneers Champagne Cocktail Reception at the Café Remy on October 26.

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Williamsburg Faux Chicken Sandwich Named One Of Top 10 in Country

For many, the word “vegan” does not invoke mouth-watering temptation. Jeff Blanchard (above), one of the owners of vegan fast food restaurant Foodswings, often sees passers-by look at his menu and grimace when they read the word.

But this Grand Street eatery has perfected a faux chicken sandwich that tastes just like the real thing. In fact, its “Chick’n Caesar Club” was chosen by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as one of the top 10 meat-free chicken sandwiches in the country.

The sandwich is made of grilled mock chicken with romaine lettuce, tomato and black olives with Caesar dressing on Italian bread and is the brainchild of Foodswings’ original owner. Blanchard bought the place nine months ago with Melody Henry and Eric Gershick, and they decided to keep the sandwich when they reinvigorated the menu.

Blanchard explained that the “chicken” patties are made from soy protein, wheat gluten and vegetarian spices. But what really sets the sandwich apart is the dressing. “The Caesar dressing gives it the great flavor,” he said, noting that all the dressings are made from scratch at Foodswings using vegan ingredients.

“[The sandwich] is fantastic,” said PETA spokesperson Ashley Byrne. “It tastes and looks like a chicken patty ... I really do think that most people couldn’t taste the difference.”

Many people who are meat eaters try the dishes at Foodswings and keep coming back. “I encourage everybody to try it once even if you’re not vegan,” Blanchard said. “We’re constantly coming up with new recipes. We love food and want to be satisfied by it. We want everybody to enjoy it.”

Customers at Foodswings can choose from a wide variety of options on the menu. There are mock chicken nuggets, mock fish sticks, mock steak, soy salami, soy cheese and soy milk shakes. The “No Turkey Club Hero,” for example, is made of peppered soy turkey slices, crispy soy bacon, romaine lettuce and tomato with soy mayo or mustard on Italian bread.

Blanchard, a vegan himself, used to frequent Foodswings as a customer. A resident of Bay Ridge who is part-owner of the bar Lucky 13 in Park Slope, he had always wanted to open a vegan restaurant, and jumped at the chance when Foodswings was up for sale.

While he has been a vegetarian for 10 years, Blanchard has only been vegan for less than two (he had a difficult time giving up pizza). For him, it’s an ethical issue, and while he doesn’t judge people who choose to eat meat, he says, “it really disgusts me what we do to this planet and how we treat other beings on this planet.”

“The meat industry is taking a devastating toll on the environment,” said Byrne. “Choosing a vegetarian option for one meal will make a tremendous impact on the environment.

“It’s great that places like Foodswings are catering to all the people who are turning away from meat products,” she continued. “It’s a perfect place for people who want the taste and texture of chicken while avoiding the cruelty.”

Visit www.foodswings.net for the menu and hours.

All photos by Mike Plotz

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Climate Change Exhibit Extended in DUMBO, and Other News

The photography show, Visualizing Climate Change, at DUMBO's Henry Gregg Gallery, has been extended until July 31st. It is a showcase of work from photo agency GHG Photos. For more information go to www.henrygregggallery.com.

Joshua Wolfe, founder of GHG Photos will receive the 2009 Ansel Adams Award. The “award honors an individual who has made superlative use of still photography to further a conservation cause.” Josh will be the third GHG member to win the award. Steve Kazlowski was last year’s recipient and Gary Braasch won in 2006. This is coming on the heels of his recently published book Climate Change: Picturing the Science, that was co-authored with Gavin Schmidt. For more information on the book and reviews go to www.picturingclimatechange.com.

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