Obama's Plan For Green Energy

In today's speech on the economy at George Mason University, President-Elect Barack Obama spoke of his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. Regarding the environment, he made the following statements:

"To finally spark the creation of a clean-energy economy, we will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced — jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings, and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain."

For the full transcript on The New York Times website, click here. For responses from both sides, click here.

Back to Homepage

Hall Street Self Storage Is Now iStoreGreen

Last spring, Hall Street Self Storage (right) opened in Brooklyn as the first green self-storage space in the country. Now, it has changed its name to iStoreGreen, a brand which will enable the company to expand to Manhattan and also throughout the rest of the nation.

Owner Jeffrey Sitt took over the location at 12 Hall Street — which was originally a cold and dry storage facility — two years ago. He gutted and renovated the building to make it green.

Among the facility’s many green features are Green-E certified energy (Green-E is a certification process for renewable energy), and a solar water heater that was installed in October.

Wooden beams from the original building (built in the early 1900s) were taken out during renovation and turned into wood chips, which were then packed in bags (left) and sold in the facility’s retail store as green packing materials.

Self-storage manager Wanda Dash said that bags of shredded paper for use instead of bubble wrap are also sold in the store. This paper comes from the facility’s offices and otherwise would have been thrown out.

Sitt opened a “reuse” room, for clients who want to discard items. Unwanted items can be put in this room to be donated instead of thrown out.

After seeing the positive reaction from clients about green self-storage, Sitt changed the name of the facility in order to make it national.

“There’s been green dry cleaning, and even green wines available today — self-storage needs to be greened, too, especially since it’s an industry that can use a lot of energy and materials, and is one which people use every day, not a few times a week. It needs to be accessible.”

Since becoming iStoreGreen, company office desks and shelving for the storage spaces have been made out of wood reclaimed from the original building. The facility has also started distributing a booklet (printed on recycled paper with soy ink) to clients and community residents with advice on how to be green at home.

But Sitt is not stopping there. Dash said that in the future, his hope is to open more facilities that will be even greener than the first. He wants everything to be green, “from the ground up,” she told the Eagle. Instead of a green renovation, he will construct a green building, where the construction materials themselves will be eco-friendly.

iStoreGreen is now looking for its next location, which will be in Manhattan. Future hopes are to create iStoreGreen franchises, where green self-storage facilities across the country will share the name.

So, if you ever see an iStoreGreen in Illinois or California, just remember: it all started in Brooklyn.

Photos by Derek Koleba

Back to Homepage

Transportation Alternatives Memorializes Cyclist and Pedestrian Fatalities

On January 4, Transportation Alternatives (TA) held its fourth annual Memorial Ride and Walk for Cyclists and Pedestrians killed in traffic in 2008. Organized by the Street Memorial Project, the event included bike rides across four boroughs to white-painted "Ghost Bikes" installed at the scenes of bicyclist fatalities, and a Memorial Walk in honor of pedestrians killed.

In 2008, there were 14 known bicycle fatalities and more than 100 pedestrian fatalities. Out of the 14 cyclist deaths, five were Brooklynites, said Wiley Norvell, TA spokesman.

Two rides went through Brooklyn, explained Norvell. One began in Sunset Park and went over the Manhattan Bridge, the other began in Queens and traveled through Bushwick and over the Williamsburg Bridge. These two rides, along with others that started in the Bronx and Queens, all converged in Manhattan.

These rides are intended to give a message. "We have to change the 'Wild West' atmosphere of our streets," Norvell told the Eagle. He added that there needs to be "more civility and respect" of street users.

The "Ghost Bikes," Norvell explained, are "personal memorials that call attention to the cost our streets inflict on us." Each one is personalized by families of cyclists who have been killed, and are a "perpetual reminder."

Over its past four years, the memorial ride and walk has grown, this being the biggest year, said Norvell. But the number of cyclist deaths has remained largely the same, he added. And even though the amount of pedestrian fatalities has steadily decreased over the past few years, it's not enough.

The goal is to bring the number of deaths down to zero, he said, explaining that right now, streets are designed for cars. "It would be different if safety were a priority."

For additional information, visit www.transalt.org.

Ghost bike photo courtesy of www.ghostbikes.org

Back to Homepage

This Week's CB 6 Meeting Addresses Atlantic Basin

New Plan Includes Green Space for Future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway

The city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is returning to Red Hook’s Atlantic Basin with a symbolic hat in hand, but also with a new development plan that is ready to be executed.

The new plan, called a “balanced strategy,” replaces an earlier plan that suggested more glitz and glamour, but drew few if any responses to request for proposals. That plan was tied in with a more dramatic plan for the piers north of the basin that proved completely impractical.

These false starts and abrupt stops related to a goal to put Brooklyn’s waterfront piers from Atlantic Avenue to the Atlantic Basin — Piers 7 to 12 — to new use. As part of this goal, some planners hoped to evict of the Red Hook containerport ... read more

Back to Homepage

Another Tree Recycling Event

Bring your tree to Green-Wood Cemetery on January 10 to be turned into mulch. Master composters from the Brooklyn Compost Project will talk about the benefits of using mulch and other related topics. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, viist www.green-wood.com

Back to Homepage

Recycle Your Holiday Tree

The Prospect Park Alliance is holding their annual "Mulchfest" event this weekend. On Saturday or Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., if you bring your tree to the park, volunteers will put it in a tree chipper and turn it into mulch. You can even take that mulch home to your yard or garden. Mulchfest will be happening at two locations: Third St. and Prospect Park West, and the Park Circle entrance to Prospect Park at Prospect Park Southwest and Parkside Avenues.
Make sure to remove the decorations first!

Photos of volunteers from previous Mulchfests courtesy of the Prospect Park Alliance.

Back to Homepage

CB 10 Approves Plan For More Bike Parking

The voting wheels turned at Community Board 10’s recent meeting in favor of a new city zoning requirement to place parking for bicycles in most newly constructed buildings, enhancing the sustainability of life in the city and boosting bike ridership.

The board serving Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights at its recent meeting easily approved the Department of City Planning’s Bicycle Parking Zoning Text Amendment, which is making the rounds of boards in the city and gaining support.

It would “require the placement of indoor, secure, long-term bicycle parking in new multi-family residential, community facilities, and commercial buildings,” as stated in the city’s provision. “The proposed text amendment would provide for bicycle parking and storage at both home and in the workplace.”

“The text amendment is part of an overall citywide effort to promote bicycle usage, and to reduce congestion and carbon emissions in keeping with PlaNYC-2030 and to promote fitness,” said Chair Joanne Seminara of the Zoning and Land Use Committee. She gave her report at the meeting held in the Shore Hill Community Room.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC-2030 was created to make the city more eco-friendly and sustainable ... read more

Story by Harold Egeln

Back to Homepage