a whole lotta stuff going on this weekend

Oh man, this is what I live for. Stuff swapping, supporting local arts, enjoying the great outdoors of the urban jungle. Unfortunately I won't be around for the fun this weekend. Hopefully you'll get to enjoy some of these tasty events...

Saturday May 30

"Score!" Freecycling Event
@ BKLYN Yard
11am - 6pm
FREE!


Start gathering your old Twisted Sister albums, ill-advised sample sale purchases, well-intentioned gifts from grandma, those jeans that just don’t fit anymore, etc, and get ready to exchange them for new treasures.

MeanRed Productions is teaming up with FreeNYC, Newmindspace and RefugeNYC (the same folks who brought you the Wall Street Pillow Fight) to transform the waterfront venue, BKLYN Yard, into an open-air free boutique.

Over hundreds of records, clothes, household items, and regretful “impulse buys” will find new homes. This one-day event celebrates the joys of finding treasure in some one else’s trash.

Also:

• Enjoy delicious sweets from the Treats Truck
• All leftover stuff goes to Rock and Wrap It Up – an anti-poverty “think tank” that distributes donations to worth non-profits throughout the city

Full details here.

Sunday May 31

Brooklyn Bike Jumble
@ JJ Byrne Park & Old Stone House
10am - 2pm

On May 31st, JJ Byrne Park and the Old Stone House will host the 1st Brooklyn Bicycle Jumble, New York's only outdoor bicycle flea market and celebration of New York City bike culture.

At this one-day-only-event, private, non-professional vendors will be on hand to sell bicycles, bicycle components, and clothing to the public. If you're looking for kid's bikes, cruisers, BMX, mountain, racers, fixed gears, or any wheeled, pedal-powered machine, or any part for one, come to the Brooklyn Bicycle Jumble.

Click here to send us an email.

[via Brooklyn Based]

All weekend: Friday May 29 to Sunday May 31

Local Produce
You won't find locally grown veggies here - more like fresh food for the creative spirit. Park Slope's own creativity and performance art haven, Spoke the Hub, is putting on one heck of a weekend full of dance, music, stilt walking, hula hooping, you name it. Activities for kids and adults. Let the good times roll. Full details here.

And coming soon, every Sunday in June

Summer Streets
Vanderbilt Ave in Prospect Heights
(this is my 'hood!)


[Not my shot. Image via Brownstoner]

During four consecutive Sundays in June, three blocks of Vanderbilt Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic and transformed into a temporary pedestrian plaza.

Summer Streets on Vanderbilt is designed to encourage the community to come together to shop, stroll and socialize. There will be music, art and gardening, face painting, sun and trees, eating and relaxing, biking and performances, people watching - and whatever else you might like to do. Plus a few surprises.

This temporary, experimental street closure, organized by the Vanderbilt Avenue Merchants District and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council in cooperation with the NYC DOT, is a smaller version of the successful Summer Streets program that ran along Park Avenue in Manhattan last August and is part of the city’s efforts to create a healthier, more livable and sustainable city as envisioned by the PlanNYC initiative.

How can you help?
You can help by: setting up and clean up on any of the days of the event; distributing flyers and postcards; supervising activities in the "kids zone"; arranging musicians and performers; making a donation to help cover expenses and spreading the word to friends and neighbors. See our contact here.

What if you want to perform?
We welcome musicians, acrobats, visual artists, etc. We'd appreciate it if you could contact us in advance – especially if you are interested in using our sound system and stage. Otherwise, don’t hesitate to bring out your acoustic guitar, juggling balls or hula-hoops.

Can you sell merchandise or promote your business?
No. This is different than a street fair; we will not have outside vendors.

[Streetsblog via Brownstoner]

time to evolve

I don't know about you, but I feel a transformation coming. Like a great awakening, individuals, policy makers, and companies are changing their attitudes and actions to create a greener, more sustainable future.

Are you ready?

This Sunday, May 31, the evolution begins...

Evolver Town Hall

Economic recession, energy crisis, global warming -- OK, so what are we going to do about it?

Join a city-wide gathering of innovating individuals, groups, and nonprofits who are transforming today’s challenges into tomorrow's opportunities. Discover how we New Yorkers can re-imagine our beloved Big Apple, making it resilient, thriving, funky, healthy, and green. The event features workshops, panels, music, art, food, info tables, and more. Speakers will specifically address how YOU can make a direct impact in their area of expertise. Topics include: renewable energy and efficiency, green jobs, food justice, conscious health and living, locally supported agriculture, climate change, DIY art, rooftop and community gardens, media activism, resilient neighborhoods and communities, local/alternative currency, and more. Each person will come away with the ideas, information, connections, and contacts they need for getting involved within the community. Be a part of the local solution. This event will celebrate the launch of evolver.net, a social network for conscious collaboration, and mark the beginning of their off-line community, Evolver NYC. This is the first in a series of events to bring New York’s diverse tribes of transformation together to enact meaningful change.

St. Marks Church in the Bowery
Corner of 10th Street at 2nd Avenue
Manhattan
1:30-5:30p; $5
EvolverTownHall@gmail.com
evolver.net/event/townhall

what the @#$% are they putting in our food?

and what are you gonna do about it?

Join the members of New York State Against Genetic Engineering (NYSAGE) on


THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009
7PM
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street (Between Avenues B & C)
Manhattan

to organize for SAFE FOOD LOBBY DAY in Albany June 10, 2009.

The meeting will begin with a panel discussion with Dr. Michael Hansen of Consumer Union, Greg Todd of the Park Slope Food Coop and Rob Schmidt of SOS Food. The panel will provide an update on the latest science around GE foods and crops, the recently released food labeling study by Park Slope Food Coop and a summary of the recent trip to Albany by six NYSAGE members who met with the staffs of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith. Following this we will discuss plans and logistics for the upcoming Safe Food Lobby Day scheduled for Wednesday, June 10.

Bring a dish or drink to share if you can. We hope you can join us!

Howard Brandstein and Annette Averette
SOS Food/NYSAGE
212-677-1863
www.sosfood.org
www.nysage.org


Learn more about genetically engineered or genetically modified foods, from:

• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Farm Aid
• Institute for Responsible Technology

events for memorial day weekend and beyond

No plans yet this Memorial Day weekend? Here are a few eco-minded events for the holiday and beyond.

Saturday, May 23

Flatbush Supper Club Compost Potluck
Get your hands dirty digging in compost and enjoy a lovely (vegetarian or vegan) potluck meal with some new friends. The fun begins at 3pm.

The Flatbush Supper Club - an ongoing series of community-led potluck meals and environmental discussions - is sponsored by Sustainable Flatbush, GreenEdge Collaborative NYC, and Educating Tomorrow.

Hosted by collaborators just like you, these small potlucks are intended for neighbors to get to know neighbors while sharing their skills, ideas and interests in urban sustainability.

RSVP and get the full details at GreenEdge NYC.

Saturday, May 23 or Sunday, May 24

Crawfish Boil to benefit the Make It Right Foundation
@ SolarONE
(2420 FDR Service Road East @ 22nd Street)
Help yourself to some tasty crawfish while helping the Make It Right Foundation rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans using environmentally sound designs and materials. Make It Right is working with the heavy-hitting cradle-to-cradle architecture firm of William McDonough + Partners.

The feast includes 4 crawfish pours (4-5lbs of crawfish per person) along with corn on the cob, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, sausage and spices served with unlimited beer and New Orleans Hurricanes!

The good times roll from 4 to 8pm.

Get tickets here.

Sunday, May 24

What Will it Take to Create a New World?
The Awakening the Dreamer Initiative
@ Park Slope Food Coop
(782 Union St btwn 6th and 7th, Brooklyn)
Upstairs in the Community Room
FREE

This workshop connects the dots between environmental sustainability, social justice and personal fulfillment, and zooms out to ask, How did we get here? Experience a new sense of hope grounded in action, understanding the future of our planet as not inevitable, but creatable through the global movement of many acting on behalf of our world.

Combining reflection, video and dialogue, this is an experience you will remember! Please plan to attend from start to finish.

RSVP here

Monday, May 25

On the Horizon: Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Potential in New York City
@ SolarONE
(2420 FDR Service Road East @ 22nd Street)
7pm
FREE

Anyone who has visited the top of a Manhattan high-rise knows that our city enjoys a wealth of wind power potential. However, it is only recently that technological designs have emerged that can efficiently, cost effectively and silently convert that potential into electrical power for city buildings.

Russell Tencer is the CEO of AeroCity, a Hudson Valley based start-up that manufactures and markets vertical axis wind turbines. In this discussion Mr. Tencer will survey the technology’s potential and readiness in the New York City area, and review case studies of current and upcoming projects.

FREE AND OPEN TO ALL. Space can be limited, RSVP by calling 212.505.6050 or by e-mail to greenrenter@solar1.org.

Tuesday, May 26

Help Build Biking into NYC's Social Green Map!
@ Open Green Map
(220A East 4th St. in Manhattan's East Village)
4 to 7pm
FREE

We're inviting cyclists and 'non-smoking lane' advocates citywide to Green Map's global office to contribute their fav bike sites, routes and resources to the Open Green Map. Open to exploration, comments and contributions anytime at http://OpenGreenMap.org/nyc, you can help build in the bike sites and lanes in person at this special Bike Month event.

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.

milliontrees nyc announces volunteer opps

[Tree and me]

Just the other day as I stared out my apartment window, I thought about how lovely it was that the trees back there have grown closer our building. The lush green branches and perching birds were a great comfort to me, considering we have no outdoor space in our place. This morning I awoke to the sound of chainsaws. Half the tree is gone. I just hope they made a clean cut at the branch collar so the tree will "heal" properly (tomorrow I have my field day with the Trees NY Citizen Pruner course). 

If you appreciate trees and wildlife as much as I do, maybe you'll be compelled to help the city take care of our little bits of green habitat. MillionTrees NYC just announced their upcoming schedule of events. Maybe I'll see you at one of them...

SPRING INTO ACTION WITH MILLIONTREES NYC
Natural Resources Group: Forest Stewardship Days: Citywide
This spring take part in the restoration of forests in natural areas in NYC. We will be removing invasive weeds, watering and mulching. Volunteers will learn the history and ecology of the sites and help ensure the future of the forest!

Registration is currently open to volunteer with MillionTreesNYC in our reforestation areas!

• Saturday, May 30, 2009, 9:00am-2:00pm: Ocean Breeze, Staten Island Kissena Corridor Park, Queens
  
• Saturday, June 20, 2009, 9:00am-2:00pm: Pelham Bay Park, Bronx Canarsie Park, Brooklyn Idlewild Park, Queens Clove Lakes Park, Staten Island Mt. Loretto Unique Area, Staten Island Randall’s Island, Manhattan
  

Sign up at http://milliontreesnyc.org/html/involved/nrg_registration.shtml
Children under 16 must be accompanied by a guardian. Not recommended for children under age 12.
Contact Ellen Arnstein Ellen.arnstein@parks.nyc.gov with questions

Conference House Park, Staten Island: Forest Stewardship Volunteering
Looking for interesting and meaningful activities in the great outdoors? Experience nature, learn plant and animal species and volunteer at Conference House Park. Activities will include planting, invasive plant removal, and tree-care activities.

• Saturday, May 16th, 2:00-5:00pm 
  
• Wednesday, May 20th, 9:00am-12:00pm 
  
• Saturday, May 30th, 2:00-5:00pm 
  
• Saturday, June 27th, 2:00-5:00pm 
  
• Wednesday, July 8th, 5:00-7:30pm 
  
• Sunday, July 26th, 9:00am-12:00pm 
  
• Monday, July 27th, 9:00am-12:00pm
  

Stewardship events begin at the Conference House Park Visitors’ Center. For questions, directions, and to RSVP, contact Cheri at:cheri.brunault@parks.nyc.gov or 718-390-8021.

rally to stop coal plant financing

Join Dozens of activists with the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, and New York Public Interest Research Group this coming Tuesday - May 19 - to rally against the financing of dirty coal by JPMorgan Chase. Be sure to bring your banners, signs, and voice to let CEO Jamie Dimon and other JPMorgan Chase shareholders know you won't stand for dirty coal plants and mountaintop removal coal mining. Full details below:

Groups to Rally at JPMorgan Chase Shareholder Meeting on May 19th
New Yorkers Ask CEO Jamie Dimon to Stop Financing Coal Plants

WHEN: May 19th,
Rally, 9:30 am - 10:30 am
JPMorgan Chase Shareholder Meeting - 10 am

WHERE: One Chase Manhattan Plaza, New York, NY [map]

WHAT: Rally outside the JPMorgan Chase annual shareholder meeting, questioning Jamie Dimon, one of the leading financiers of coal plants and mountaintop removal coal mining. Despite Mr. Dimon’s rhetoric on the need for clean energy and strong environmental policies, JPMorgan Chase continues to underwrite Massey Energy, one of the biggest and most heavily criticized mountaintop removal coal mining companies in the country. JP Morgan Chase also continues to fund expensive and highly polluting coal plants throughout the United States, including the proposed AMP-Ohio coal plant, one of the most financially risky coal proposals in the country.

WHO: Dozens of activists with the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, and New York Public Interest Research Group.
- Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action,
- Larry Gibson, President of Keeper of the Mountains Foundation
- Dana Clark, Director of Global Finance for Rainforest Action Network

this saturday, the great american book drive!

This Saturday, May 16 from 10am to 3pm at the Brooklyn Public Library, it's the Great American Book Drive. Bring your old, your tired, your weary books to the steps of the grand ol' library in Grand Army Plaza and give them a new home. Full details from BPL below:

As many of you know, this Saturday, May 16, is our second Great American Book Drive, held in conjunction with Better World Books (BWB). Better World Books, is an environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible company that collects and sells books to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. This event at Central Library offers you a chance to clean out your bookshelves and donate unwanted materials to a good cause -- your library!

But before you pack up that shopping back full of old textbooks and Windows '98 user manuals, we wanted to clarify our policy regarding donations:

1) Our first step when we receive a donation is to check the ISBNs of the books we receive with BWB's database to see if they're "sellable"
2) We send "sellable" ones to BWB, which they sell and give proceeds back to us
3) We recycle those books BWB cannot sell
4) We also weed our collections so that we recycle worn-out books, or those that do not circulate to make way for more popular materials

So before you come, please review our donation policy as it would be a shame for you to herniate a disc carrying old items to Central that we ultimately can't use.

introducing the first LEED-certified bowling alley in the US

[Not my shot: images via Brooklyn Bowl flickr page]

Manhattan has Chelsea Piers, Bowlmor, and the Port Authority bowling alley. But what about Brooklyn? The only bowling alley I know of in Brooklyn is Melody Lanes in Sunset Park, and the miniscule lane or two at Brownstone Billiards in Park Slope. Until now - and this one will blow all of those other alleys out of the water. 

It's not open for business yet, but Williamsburg's Brooklyn Bowl looks like a great place to knock down some ten pins and a few pitchers of local beer. The great thing is, it's not just a fun spot to recreate with friends, it's also got eco cred.

Brooklyn Based got a sneak peek of the new bowling alley/music venue, and here are some of its sustainable features:

• Salvaged Brooklyn Navy Yard windows that decorate the banquettes and tables fashioned from the former Woodhaven Lanes in Queens (by Ferra Designs)
• A stage made from recycled truck tires
  
• Salvaged or sustainably harvested wood throughout
  
• ...plus many other green details that make Brooklyn Bowl the first LEED-certified bowling alley in the country

And if that's not enough, some more eco features (from their site):

• 100% Wind-powered electricity
  
• Pin-spotters use 75% less energy than a typical pin-spotter
  
• No bottles, no cans. All our soft drinks and beers are on tap
  
• Our 10 draught beers are all brewed locally in Brooklyn, New York
  
• LED stage lights use 90% less energy than the typical draw
  
• Energy Star Certification wherever possible
  
• HVAC Johnson Controls are the most efficient units available
  
• HVAC also features CO2 sensors, variable frequency drive motors, air-side economizers
  
• Four “Big Ass Fans” brand ten-foot fans to augment HVAC system
  
• 100% reclaimed cork floors in Bowler’s Lounge
  
• 30+ capacity bike racks
  
• 16 trees planted in and around property
  

All this from Peter Shapiro and Charley Ryan of Wetlands, an environmentally conscious music and activist venue.

I'm not a great bowler, but I can't wait until they open, just to check out the space.

Brooklyn Bowl * 61 Wythe Ave Brooklyn, NY 11211 * 718.963.3369

buy handmade and local in brooklyn

This weekend, support local artisans peddling their handmade goods.

@ The Brooklyn Flea

[Map]

Bonbon Oiseau
Great Brooklyn-based jeweler who has a penchant for vintage baubles and beads
Check 'em out at the Brooklyn Flea (Fort Greene)
This Saturday, May 9th, 10am-5pm
(just in time to buy mom something pretty!)

Check out their adorable Petit Buddha Necklace (at right)
It's not just cute, it's for a good cause:
$20 from each sale will go directly to the Food Bank, providing over 100 meals to people in need.
Get one while supplies last.


@ The Bell House

[Map]

The Handmade Cavalcade
With over 30 local designers
This Saturday and Sunday
10am-4pm

Full details in the flyer below (click to blow up)

freemeet this saturday!

Does your home look like this? [not my shot, image: smoke & mirrors]

Have you been decluttering and Spring cleaning like I have? If so, you probably have a pile of stuff that needs a new home. Relocate your stuff at a Freecycle FreeMeet!

This Saturday, in Flatbush, Brooklyn, free your home of clutter and maybe find something "new" you can use (I'll have to use all of my strength not to bring anything home!). Any unswapped items will be donated to local charities or recycled.

Flatbush FreeMeet

Saturday, May 9, 2009
11am - 3pm
P.S. 217 Playground
(1100 Newkirk Avenue at Coney Island Avenue)
Flatbush, Brooklyn

Co-sponsored by: Sustainable Flatbush

Closest Public Transportation
SUBWAY: Q train to Newkirk Ave or F train to 18th Ave
BUS: B68 to Coney Island Avenue and Newkirk.

You will find the FreeMeet on the playground next to the school.
Check out HopStop.com or Mapquest.com to find the best route for you.

Not in Brooklyn? Find a Freecycle group near you!

get somethin' nice for your mama

Mother's Day is Sunday, and I'm writing this post to remind myself to send my mama some beautiful flowers from Organic Bouquet.



Last time I sent her flowers from Organic Bouquet, she wouldn't stop talking about how beautiful they were. So the fact that their flowers are all grown without pesticides just put it over the top. By supporting organic flower growers, you keep flower farmers and workers from being exposed to toxic chemicals used in conventional flower growing practices.

If your mom's not into flowers, consider giving to a cause in her honor. Here are some ideas:

Sponsor a wild place through the Sierra Club
Choose from national parks like Sequoia or Yellowstone and get a cute little stuffed creature like a bear or moose to give to mom ($25).



Sign her up for a membership to Friends of the Earth
For as little as $15 you can help mom save Mother Earth with a charitable gift membership.



Plant trees in her name through the Nature Conservancy
Help protect one of the largest and most endangered forests in honor of mom (50 trees for $50).



Get her goat (symbolically) through Oxfam Unwrapped
By adopting one of the animals through this org, you support the work they do in 100 countries around the world.


No matter what you get mom, be sure to consider the impact of your gift on her health and the health and well-being of others on the planet.

loomstate sale at greenloop

This Swan's for You!

These days, I'm trying to focus on buying less, especially new things. But there are a few things I'll buy new - underwear and Loomstate 100% organic cotton t-shirts. They might be the softest t-shirts I've ever owned.

I just got myself one on sale (along with some Pi organic cotton undies) at Greenloop.


And in case you didn't know, Greenloop recently won best online fashion shop from Treehugger's Best of Green Contest.

So take advantage of this great sale and stock up on some super soft organic cotton goodies at the Greenloop!