Upcoming E-Waste Recycling Events in Brooklyn

To celebrate Earth Month the Lower East Side Ecology Center is offering chances to recycle your electronics in all five boroughs. Here are the upcoming recycling events in Brooklyn.

April 09, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Poly Prep Country Day School, 9216 Seventh Ave., Bay Ridge

April 10, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sephardic Community Center, 1901 Ocean Parkway, Sheepshead Bay

April 30, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., PS 29 Schoolyard, Baltic St between Henry St and Clinton St, Cobble Hill

The Ecology Center will accept e-waste for free from residents and small businesses (under 50 employees). Bring your working or non-working electronics to the collection events to have them recycled responsibly. Acceptable materials are:

•    Computers (laptops and desktops, servers, mainframes)

•    Monitors

•    Printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers

•    Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.)

•    Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc.)

•    Components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.)

•    TVs, VCRs and DVD Players

•    Audio-visual equipment

•    Cell phones, pagers, PDAs

•    Telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.)

The Lower East Side Ecology Center does not accept home appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators or air conditioners.       

These events are sponsored by Panasonic, Toshiba, ConEdison, and MRM.

More information here.

Electronics Recycling Event at Brooklyn Bridge Park Saturday

Brooklyn Bridge Park will team up with the Lower East Side Ecology Center to host an E-Waste Recycling Event this Saturday, Oct. 2nd. The event will take place at Pier 1 on Furman Street, between Old Fulton and Doughty Streets.

Residents and small businesses (50 employees or smaller) are invited to stop by and bring their unwanted electronics such as working and non-working computers (laptops, desktops, servers, etc.), monitors, printers, keyboards, mice, cables, TVs, audio-visual electronic devices, and cell phones.

In case you can't make it out to the park for the event, here are some other options for electronics recycling:

The 4th Bin: This New York City organization takes e-waste from residences and businesses. They accept computers, monitors, printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers, network devices, peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc.), components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.) TVs, VCRs, DVD Players, Audio-visual equipment, cell phones, pagers, PDAs, telecommunication (phones, answering machines), digital cameras, MP3 players, toner, and UPS batteries. They refurbish and resell as much equipment as possible, and whatever cannot be refurbished is transported to one of their partners for processing. You can fill out a form on The 4th Bin's web site to let them know what you have to collect and schedule a pick-up date.

The Mac Support Store: As a member of NYC's Retailer Take-Back Program, the Mac Support Store is a collection center for any unwanted computer equipment, Mac or PC. Simply drop off your stuff at its location at 168 7th Street, 2nd Floor, in Gowanus during its open hours, which are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The e-waste is then picked up by a C7 NY State registered/NJDEP registered recycler.

Goodwill: Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey has partnered with Dell to launch Reconnect, allowing people in New York and New Jersey to recycle any brand of computer or computer equipment for free at any of the 38 participating Goodwill donation centers and retail stores. Here you'll find a list of what Reconnect accepts and be able to search for a Goodwill location to drop off items.

GrowNYC: A non-profit working to improve the city's quality of life through environmental programs, one of GrowNYC's key programs is its recycling program. Through its Office of Outreach and Education (OROE), it works to improve the city's recycling rate by educating residents about recycling and waste prevention, and working with landlords to make sure building recycling programs are adequate. There is a section on GrowNYC's web site for upcoming recycling events (though many are held by the Lower East Side Ecology Center), but you can also contact the organization with any recycling-related questions at any time, just fill in the contact form on the site. Also, here are some of GrowNYC's recycling resources.

Green Block Party Coming Up in Carroll Gardens

On Oct. 2, local non-profit GreenHomeNYC will hold a free block party — "The NEW New York GreenHomeNYC's DIY Green Street Festival" — focusing on teaching New Yorkers how to green the built environment. It will take place on Third Street between Hoyt and Bond streets in Carroll Gardens, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

During the day, attendees will have opportunities to learn how to install and plant a green roof, learn about worm bin composting, complete an energy audit and learn how to capture and reuse rain water to water plants.

Various exhibitors will be on hand to showcase environmental programs, such as Brooklyn-based Vokashi with its compost system and kits and Foro Marble presenting eco-friendly counter tops. Also have the opportunity to see the Jerko, a motor-less houseboat with a built-in wetland, rainwater harvesting, solar thermal, solar photo voltaics, and a composting toilet.

Kid-friendly activities will include solar car building and racing with SolarOne, and jewelry making from bike parts with Recycle-A-Bicycle.

The Lower East Side Ecology Center will be on hand for electronics recycling, Wearable Collections will be on hand collecting clothing and textiles, and Recycle-A-Bicycle will be collecting bicycles.

There will be boating on the Gowanus Canal in conjunction with talks about environmental remediation. The Jerko, the Gowanus Water Vacuum, an off the grid houseboat will take its maiden voyage, surrounded by a built-in wetland. Hudson, developer of J Condo and the Village at Atlantic Center, will give tours of Third + Bond which is expected to be LEED-Gold and EnergyStar certified.

This event will compost its food waste, minimize the use of paper, utilize bio-fuel, and offset its carbon footprint.

Where Can You Recycle All That E-Waste, Anyway?

Recently I've gotten several e-mails regarding where to drop off electronics for recycling, so I thought I'd devote some blog space to it. Because if you have an old computer, a cell phone or two, or even a TV taking up space in your home, there's always something you can do with it, even if you missed the most recent electronics recycling event that cropped up in your neighborhood.

The 4th Bin: This New York City organization takes e-waste from residences and businesses. They accept computers, monitors, printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers, network devices, peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc.), components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.) TVs, VCRs, DVD Players, Audio-visual equipment, cell phones, pagers, PDAs, telecommunication (phones, answering machines), digital cameras, MP3 players, toner, and UPS batteries. They refurbish and resell as much equipment as possible, and whatever cannot be refurbished is transported to one of their partners for processing. You can fill out a form on The 4th Bin's web site to let them know what you have to collect and schedule a pick-up date.

The Mac Support Store: As a member of NYC's Retailer Take-Back Program, the Mac Support Store is a collection center for any unwanted computer equipment, Mac or PC. Simply drop off your stuff at its location at 168 7th Street, 2nd Floor, in Gowanus during its open hours, which are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The e-waste is then picked up by a C7 NY State registered/NJDEP registered recycler.

Goodwill: Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey has partnered with Dell to launch Reconnect, allowing people in New York and New Jersey to recycle any brand of computer or computer equipment for free at any of the 38 participating Goodwill donation centers and retail stores. Here you'll find a list of what Reconnect accepts and be able to search for a Goodwill location to drop off items.

The Lower East Side Ecology Center: Founded in 1987 as one of the first organizations in the city to offer community-based recycling and composting program, the Lower East Side Ecology Center started an e-waste recycling program in 2003, offering free collection events in neighborhoods throughout the city. They accept computers, monitors and peripherals (printers, keyboards and mice) as well as TVs and cell phones. Visit the center's web site for a calendar of upcoming events. 

GrowNYC: A non-profit working to improve the city's quality of life through environmental programs, one of GrowNYC's key programs is its recycling program. Through its Office of Outreach and Education (OROE), it works to improve the city's recycling rate by educating residents about recycling and waste prevention, and working with landlords to make sure building recycling programs are adequate. There is a section on GrowNYC's web site for upcoming recycling events (though many are held by the Lower East Side Ecology Center), but you can also contact the organization with any recycling-related questions at any time, just fill in the contact form on the site. Also, here are some of GrowNYC's recycling resources.

I hope this helps you all with your electronics recycling endeavors. As always, e-mails and questions are welcome anytime! Send them to greenbeat@brooklyneagle.net.

E-Waste Recycling Days in Brooklyn Heights

The Brooklyn Heights Association (BHA) is co-sponsoring an e-waste recycling drop-off event on Saturday, June 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday, June 6 from noon to 2 p.m.

Residential waste only will be accepted at the First Unitarian Church side chapel, 121 Pierrepont St. (between Clinton Street and Monroe Place).

Many different items will be accepted, including batteries, cell phones, laptops, TVs and VCRs. Click here for a full list of items. Call the BHA for more information at (718) 858-9193 or the church at (718) 624-5466.

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Electronics Recycling in Cobble Hill

This Sunday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Lower East Side Ecology Center and the Cobble Hill Association will host an electronics recycling day at the P.S. 29 schoolyard, on Baltic Street between Clinton and Henry streets. Recycle unwanted or broken electronics: computers, printers, scanners, fax machines, copiers, network devices, keyboards, mice, cables, hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, audio-visual equipment, cell phones, pagers, PDAs, handheld and desktop phones, and answering machines. Home appliances such as microwaves or refrigerators will not be accepted.

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Electronics Recycling at Prospect Park in Brooklyn

This Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., bring your electronic waste to be recycled at Prospect Park West and Third Street. Volunteers from the Lower East Side Ecology Center will collect items such as old computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, modems, DVD players, VCRs, cell phones and answering machines. Kitchen equipment is not accepted.

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Electronics Recycling in Gowanus

Through Sept. 30, from 10 a.m.–3 p.m, drop off your used electronic equipment for reuse or environmentally safe recycling, at 88 Ninth St. in Gowanus. For more information, e-mail john@valiant-ny.com or lberrios@perscholas.org.

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Slope Shop 3r Living Sells Eco-Friendly Products

Back before ‘green’ was on everybody’s lips and in everybody’s lives, the movement had to start somewhere.

Five years ago, Samantha Delman-Caserta (left) and her husband, Mark Caserta, decided to go into business together. They opened a mom-and-pop shop on Fifth Ave. in Park Slope and started selling eco-friendly products.

“We lived in the neighborhood. I had worked in retail for a long time, he was working in eco-politics in New York City,” she recalled. “We kind of married again.”

At the time, the types of goods Delman-Caserta was looking to stock in the store weren’t widely available; she had to search, ask questions and do research. “There was a decent amount already available but no one was really talking about it.

“You would find [these products] in little sections, because people thought they were cute or they had beautiful aesthetics, but no one was telling you why they were good for you, or why it was good to have them, or why it might be that it costs a little bit more,” she explained. “We decided that the need was really there.”

So she contacted suppliers and manufacturers to acquire products that matched several requirements. “Everything in the store has to fit the 3 ‘r’s’ [reduce, reuse, recycle],” Delman-Caserta said. All the products in the store are either manufactured with all natural or organic ingredients, made using recycled materials or made in a way that reduces waste to the environment.

But 3r’s stock also has to fit into two other categories. “We’re not an eco-luxury store,” Delman-Caserta said, asserting that everything she sells has to be affordable. “We’re really about the affordable and then we’re about aesthetics I needed to be able to work these things in my life as well.”

Upon venturing into 3r Living, customers are presented with a wide variety of merchandise, including reusable water bottles, bamboo kitchen utensils, reusable shopping bags, wallets and jewelry made from recycled materials, cleaning supplies, organic cotton sheets and books.

When Delman-Caserta and her husband first began planning for the store, it was important for them to actually have a location, and not just be online.

“Opening a brick and mortar was something that we felt we had to do,” she said. There was a pretty wide range of availability online, but she wanted people to be able to “come in and touch and feel and see and test and become familiar with [the products] and feel comfortable incorporating them into their lives.”

Now, with two locations (one in New Jersey) and a web store, Delman-Caserta is more than happy to share the stage with the many businesses that have joined the green trend.

“It’s our pleasure to have other people out there doing it with us. It makes people more aware, it keeps us foraging ahead and trying to find the new and the better and the different.” But she is quick to say that quality should stay high.

“We don’t want companies to come into the market and lower the standards,” she said. “That was our biggest fear — that they would force manufacturers to lower standards.”

Living Green

As part of 3r Living’s philosophy, Delman-Caserta and her husband set up a community recycling center (left) when they first opened the store, to collect batteries, small electronics and CDs to send out to recycling centers.

“The community recycling center is opened during our business hours seven days a week,” she said. “New York City doesn’t provide a program for [recycling these types of items] and they don’t provide education.”

The electricity in the storefront on Fifth Ave. is also completely wind-powered, and the paint on the walls is low-VOC.

Delman-Caserta, her husband and their three-year-old son, live eco-friendly at home. They use reusable shopping bags, have wind-powered electricity and furnish their house with antiques. Their son even uses a reusable water bottle.

“We try as best as we can to live as minimally as possible, because that’s the best thing you can do for the environment,” she said.

Shopping Locally, Buying Less

3r Living, despite the popular opinion about the resiliency of green businesses, hasn’t been immune to the current economic climate. And even though she does want people to shop at her store, Delman-Caserta doesn’t want her customers to spend what they don’t have.

“We’re not asking you to come out and spend money that’s going to put you in jeopardy,” she said. “What we’re saying is, if you’re going to go out and buy, think about what you’re buying and think about where you’re buying it and what it does for you. Buying from a major retailer, the money doesn’t come directly back to your community.

“Buying from a brick and mortar or a mom and pop shop in your neighborhood, I believe it’s close to 50 percent of the money that you spend stays within your community, if not more,” she noted.

“A lot of small businesses are just not going to be able to make it through the long haul. We just have to count on our neighborhood and hope that they all understand that shopping locally really does make a difference,” Delman-Caserta continued. “Even if it’s ten dollars it makes a difference.”

But, she said, “We’re not all about buying. We also hope that sometimes when people come in we inspire them to go home and see the different things that they already have in their home. Whether it’s finding a better use for them, using them differently, or just using them.”

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Bring Your Old Electronics to the Heights

The Brooklyn Heights Association, First Presbyterian Church, First Unitarian Church, Grace Church Brooklyn Heights and Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims are sponsoring an E-Waste Recycling event on May 16 and 17, according to the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

Collection will be in the chapel of the First Unitarian Church on Pierrepont St. between Clinton St. and Monroe Place, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 16 and noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 17.

Among the items you can bring to recycle are: computers, air conditioners, TVs, batteries and cell phones. For more information, click here.

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New Park Slope BID Committed to Recycling

After at least four years of attempts, a Business Improvement District (BID) has finally come to Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, and it’s about time, says Irene LoRe (right), owner of Aunt Suzie’s restaurant and executive director of the new BID.

“We took a couple of wrong turns,” she explained. “But we finally got our act together.”

Stretching along Fifth Avenue from Dean Street down to 18th Street, the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID is self-funded with a budget of $300,000. It held a holiday tree lighting in Washington Park and a Valentine’s Day promotion. LoRe said that the organization will soon release a web site, a blog and hopefully a guidebook.

This week, in honor of Earth Day, the new BID launched a recycling initiative.

The initiative, called “Green Grows in Brooklyn,” is an expansion of something that 3r Living, a store on Fifth Avenue that sells eco-friendly and organic products, has been doing since it opened five years ago.

Samantha Delman-Caserta, co-owner of 3r Living, said her store has always taken batteries, small electronics, CDs, VHS tapes and cell phones to recycle. Their recycling containers are always full, and Delman-Caserta says she sends the items to an outside company (in the U.S.) to be processed.

The aforementioned 3r Living was footing the bill for this recycling, and it was getting to be too much of a burden for the store to shoulder all of the expense. So when the BID formed, Delman-Caserta approached LoRe about making the recycling a BID initiative.

Several Fifth Avenue merchants have joined in, all putting green tree signs in their windows and asking customers to donate one dollar to the cause this week because Wednesday is Earth Day.
With the BID taking on the fundraising, it would allow more drop-off points for recycling, and also one day every so often where larger items would be collected, such as computers and microwaves.

“It’s a very exciting beginning to what we hope will be a successful program and campaign to green Brooklyn,” said Delman-Caserta.

LoRe noted that in this economic downturn, recycling programs are often the first ones to be cut. “I’m looking for all of us, merchants and customers alike, to share this burden,” she said. “We can’t leave recycling behind.”

Photo courtesy of Allford Trotman Photography and Video

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