grow your knowledge in an east village garden

Come learn about the latest in sustainable design in a quaint little garden in the East Village. Brought to you by the New York Restoration Project.

Series on Sustainable Design in East Village Garden!
Toyota Children’s Learning Garden
603 E 11th St between avenues B & C

Join us in the Toyota Children’s Learning Garden for a 4 part discussion series highlighting techniques to green our limited urban space. Whether you’re working in a garden, apartment, business, or home, come and learn from New York City’s leaders in sustainable design.
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The discussions and workshops will take place every other Thursday, July 30th-September 24th, in the garden from 7:00-8:00pm. We will also highlight the area's environmentally conscious restaurants and businesses at the presentations. Following the discussions we invite everyone to join us for hors d'oeuvre and giveaways in the garden generously donated by Sustainable NYC, Angelica’s Kitchen, Quintessence, Hummus Place, Spino, and more.

July 30, 2009: Sarah Siegel, of Michael Van Valkenburg Associates: designer of the Toyota Children’s Learning Garden. She will give a short garden tour and speak about urban garden design, specifically the shad tolerant planting palette and sustainable technologies in this garden.

August 13, 2009: Chris Collins, Executive Director Solar1, will discuss benefits of renewable energy, the work of Solar1, and how to feasibly incorporate such technologies in your everyday life.

August 27, 2009: GreenItYourself Green Roof Workshop: Lori Gibbs and Atom Cianfarani, believe that living a healthy and environmentally responsible lifestyle should be accessible to everyone! They will teach about green roofing and prove tips and techniques for gardening in small spaces.

September 10, 2009: Marni Horowitz, CEO and founder Alive Structures, will speak about green wall installation and other techniques to make sue of our abundantly available vertical space. She will also discuss ecological gardening practices which mimic natural ecosystems that increase abundance, beauty, and biodiversity.

Space is limited, to RSVP and for more information about New York Restoration Project please contact Rachael Brody, 212-333-2552 or rbrody@nyrp.org

farm to table guest post

On Sunday, I visited Rooftop Farms, an amazing (as the name suggests) rooftop farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Read all about it in this guest post I did on Farm to Table, sustainable food blog and reality show.

my weekend in pictures

Saturday


The bluebell hyacinths were in full bloom at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.


Chris Roddick, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's chief arborist, teaches us how to plant companions for street trees in the Trees NY Citizen Pruner course. This clematis will climb the trunk - but care needs to be taken to prevent it from encroaching on the canopy (it'll deprive the leaves of light and hide potential damage to the tree).


Mulching is a group effort.


A fellow student uses the pole saw to prune an oak tree. Don't try this without your Citizen Pruner certificate!


You may have to squint, but the leader branches (those at the top) are co-dominant stems, which could be a problem for this tree in the future.


These brilliant azaleas were at the end of their bloom.


Sunday


After brunch, I brought some friends to Green Depot to check out their cleaning product refill station.


An edible green wall caught my eye when walking passed Valcucine.


Strawberries ripe for the picking. Hmmm... I want to try this at home.


My friend Jane had to drop off her bike for repairs and this beauty was outside: the electric hybrid Ultramotor A2B bike.


Same friend Jane lives in The Solaire. I asked for a tour of the building's green roof.


A rooftop oasis awaits...


Green roofs provide habitat for birds and butterflies...


They keep buildings cool in summer and insulated in winter...



They prevent storm water run-off and heat island effect...


And there just so darn inviting. If it were a nicer day I don't think I would've wanted to leave.


Another green building, The Verdesian across the way.


And for the green dwelling trifecta, The TriBeCa Green.


The park they all share below. It's much more intriguing when you're down there (sorry I missed that photo op).


Back on terra firma, a sign for the latest car-sharing service, Mint, caught my eye. (Move over zipcar, now there's something fresher...)


NYC is slowly becoming more bike-friendly. Sans bicycle, I rode the subway home.

green your school

Are you a teacher, a parent, or someone who just cares about education and the environment? Check out Greening Your School: From Green Roofs to Recycling Projects (and How to Fund Them!) tonight at the Brooklyn Center for Urban Environment (BCUE). Full event details below:

Greening Your School: From Green Roofs to Recycling

Join this crash course on greening your school from the issues you’ll encounter installing a green roof, to creative ways of incorporating sustainability themes into the classroom. Join local experts to discuss easy to implement projects, ways of getting environmental projects funded, opportunities for nonprofit partnerships, and what has (and hasn’t) worked in local schools.


Panelists Include:

• Alive Structures
• Center for the Urban Environment
• Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
• NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
• United Federation of Teachers, Green Committee

Where:
Center for the Urban Environment
168 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (btw 2nd and 3rd Aves)
718-788-8500

When:
Thursday March 19, 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

How:
Train: Take F train to 4th Avenue or R train to 9th Street. Walk over 2 blocks north to 7th Street and 1st Avenue west to 3rd Avenue.

$10 Suggested Donation [tickets]

Limited Space. Pre-registration recommended

Every Third Thursday of the Month, New Yorkers from across the boroughs converge in the Center's state-of-the-art green building to learn, laugh, and live sustainably. Drop in and join these exciting screenings, workshops, and discussions and be inspired to take action! On-site recycling: CFL lightbulbs, cell phones, and alkaline batteries accepted. Find out more about what we do at http://www.thecue.org