Reserve Your Tickets Now!

LESEC's Celebration by the River
Help us celebrate our 21st Anniversary making a more sustainable NYC and our 10th anniversary in East River Park!

Where: East River Park Amphitheatre

Date: Saturday, September 6, 2008
Time: 5pm-8pm

With special musical guests, silent auction (including a new mac laptop from tekserve), raffle prizes, delicious local food and much more!

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets!

Electronic Recycling Update:

See our FAQ page to learn more about what to bring...

IN QUEENS
Saturday August 2, 10am-4pm
Sunday August 3, 10am-4pm
Monday August 4, 4pm-7pm
111th Street & 48th Avenue, at the New York Hall of Science, Corona

We would like to thank The New York Hall of Science for sponsoring this event

IN MANHATTAN
Saturday August 16, 10am-4pm
Sunday August 17, 10am-4pm
Monday August 18, 4pm-7pm
Riverside Drive just south of Dyckman Street at the east side of RING Garden Triangle, Inwood

We would like to thank RING Garden for sponsoring this event

IN MANHATTAN
Saturday, August 23 10-4
Sunday, August 24 10-4

Warren Street, between West and Greenwich Streets, Tribeca

We would like to thank Whole Foods for sponsoring this event

The NYC Department of Sanitation offers seasonal electronic waste recycling events in all five boroughs. Click here for the upcoming Fall DSNY 2008 events .

We regret to inform you, that we no longer offer a drop off program at Build It Green due to funding constrains.

We will continue to offer three day collection events in various neighborhoods and would like to thank Councilmembers Bill deBlasio, Letitia James, Jessica Lappin and Rosie Mendez together with Con Edison for their support .

Saving Energy? What to do with your old CFL Bulbs!

Fluorescent bulb recycling just got easier. With the opening of the new Ikea store in Red Hook, Brooklyn and a recent announcement from Home Depot, users of energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) in NYC now have several locations where bulbs can be dropped off for recycling. Visitors to Ikea can recycle CFLs as well as old incandescent bulbs. Home Depot customers can drop off expired, unbroken bulbs at the returns counter at stores nationwide. According to the company, more than 75% of Americans live within 10 miles of a store, creating an easy way to help contain the small amounts of mercury in each bulb. Click here to find the Home Depot near you. NYC Residents can also continue to use the Department of Sanitation’s Special Waste Drop-Off Sites in each borough.

Learn more about the benefits of using and recycling CFLs, from out this FAQ from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Compost update:

Indoor Worm Composting Workshops:

Thursday, September 18, 6 to 8 pm
indoor worm composting workshop
Whole Foods on the Bowery, 95 East Houston Street, upstairs culinary center

Got a smelly trash can? Hate taking out the garbage every week? Looking to lighten your environmental footprint? Then learn how to set up and maintain a worm bin in your apartment! Red wiggler worms rapidly eat kitchen scraps, transforming all of this “waste” into useful fertilizer, aka “NYC Black Gold,” the best food for hungry plants and trees! Participants will be able to purchase a “worm-condo” and starter worms for the subsidized price of $10. Registration is required.

Registration is required for these events. For more information or to register, please call 212-477-3155 or e-mail info@lesecologycenter.org

Compost update:

Indoor Children's Worm Composting Workshops:

Tuesday, September 9, 3:30 to 4:30 pm
Children's Intro to Indoor Worm Composting
Whole Foods on the Bowery, 95 East Houston Street, upstairs culinary center

We’re taking waste reduction to the next generation! With red wiggler worms, you can compost indoors and watch nature recycle its nutrients, while reducing the amount of waste that you throw away. This workshop covers the process of decomposition, and how worms can help. Each participant will have the chance to make and bring home their own mini worm-bin. For ages 5 and over. Registration is required.

Compost update:

Outdoor Composting Workshops:

Saturday, August 23, 11 am to 1 pm
backyard composting basics
Unity Community Garden, 53-55 West 128th Street

Join the Manhattan Compost Project for an introductory workshop covering all you need to know to start composting in your garden or backyard right now! Explore the science of decomposition, set-up options, compost application, and troubleshooting. Composting issues specific to NYC will also be addressed. Outdoor compost bins will be available for purchase at the subsidized price of $20. Registration is required.

Compost update:

Call for new Worm Corps Members!

Ongoing!

Worm Corps is a group of compost experts who volunteer to help spread the love of vermicomposting by teaching "wormshops" (worm workshops) to students at schools all over Manhattan as well as tabling with the worms and other info about LESEC programs at environmental fairs and festivals. New members will attend a two-hour training session and then will be contacted when volunteer opportunities become available.

Compost update:

Call for Fall Master Composters!

Application Form due Monday, September 15, 2008
Orientation: Thursday, Sept. 25, 6 pm to 8 pm at the Fireboat House, East River Park, south of the Manhattan Tower of the Williamsburg Bridge
Classroom Instruction: 5 Thursdays, 6 to 9 pm at the Neighborhood Preservation Center (232 E 11th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues):
October 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2008
Field Instruction: weekend day in October to be determined
Field Trips: 2 weekend days in November or early December
master composter certificate program—manhattan

Calling all compost enthusiasts! If you enjoy composting, but would like to learn more in order to spread the practice of composting in NYC, then consider the Master Composter Certificate Program. This program is designed to promote the practice of home and community garden composting, as well as the reduction of our city's solid waste. The course covers the science of decomposition, varieties and different scales of compost set-ups (both indoor and outdoor), compost applications, and community outreach and education strategies. The program consists of 18 hours of classroom instruction, one day of field instruction, and two field trips. To receive certification, participants must also volunteer 30 hours of outreach service in compost education and promotion in the year following completion of the course.

Education update: Climate Change, Energy and Air Pollution

The Small Business Environmental Sustainability Program

A Project of the Lower East Side Ecology Center

The Ecology Center's new initiative,the NYC Small Business Environmental Sustainability Program, seeks to develop a local "urban heat island" mitigtion, education and monitoring project by offering a certification program for small businesses. The program is designed to bring opportunities for small businesses, students, and the general public to actively reduce air pollution and airborne environmental health hazards in our community - the Lower East Side.

The Small Business Environmental Sustainability Program will provide small businesses in Community Board #3 with resources on how to reduce overall emissions, while saving money and increasing their community involvement. Our implementation and monitoring teams of trained, local college and high school students will determine each participating businesses' "environmental baseline", provide businesses with a checklist of steps they can take to increase their energy efficiency and thereby reduce harmful emissions. The team will also make recommendations for best environmental pratices and provide options for retrofits. Monitoring teams will do follow-up visits with participants to ensure their continued progress to achieve energy efficiency and sustainability. For more information on the SBES Program, please go to the progam website: www.EcoBizNYC.org

If you are a business owner or student interested in participating in the program please contact Tara at tara@lesecologycenter.org

The New York City Climate Coalition

A Project of the Lower East Side Ecology Center

The Ecology Center has long been running programming and initiatives about the hot (no pun intended) environmental issue of the moment: Climate Change. Although climate change is a complex global issue, efforts to address it need to begin on a local level and start with education to increase awareness and understanding. LESEC current climate related offerings include: the NYC Climate Coalition www.NYCClimate.org , public education on climate issue through our Climate Crew and youth Climate Ambassadors, and the NYC Small Business Energy Efficiency Program.

A need for shifting energy demands!

The East River Park Environmental Learning Center (to be reopened to the public upon completion of park construction)

Please contact us to have a presentation in your school or community organization on Climate Change and Solutions, Energy, or Sustainability in Businesses, in NYC by calling 212.477.4022 or e-mail info@lesecologycenter.org

Education Update: Water in NYC

Spring Brings Back our FREE Friday Fishing Clinics!

An integral part of our late spring and summer education programs is our FREE Friday (Catch-and-Release) Fishing Clincs, open to New Yorkers of all ages. Come practice your urban angling skills and learn about the East River. Poles and bait provided.

All fishing clinics will be held behind the ampitheater inside East River Park. Meet in East River Park, at the waterfront promenade, behind the ampitheater. No registration required, just show up!

Summer Fishing Clinic Schedule:

CANCELLED! Friday August 15, 4 to 6 pm
NEW DATE! Friday, August 22nd, 4 pm to 6 pm

Friday August 29, 4 pm to 6 pm

Subway directions: Take the F,J,M, or Z trains to the Delancey/Essex Street station, exit and walk east (towards the Williamsburg Bridge) along the south side of Delancey Street until you reach the FDR highway. Continue east over the pedestrian bridge to enter East River Park and walk south in the park along the FDR past the Grand Street Seal Spray Showers and the ballfields to reach the promenade located behind the ampitheater.

The Launch of the Fishmobile!

The Fishmobile is LESEC's idea to combine the educational activity of catch-and-release fishing on the East River with sustainable transportation (a bicycle). Basically, we've attached a custom bike trailer to a tricycle and put all sorts of cool equipment on the trailer!

In June 2008, Sean Meenan's Urban Studio Brooklyn (USBK) and Habana Works partnered with the Lower East Side Ecology Center and pedicab designer George Bliss to design and build a one-of-a-kind mobile wetlab and fishing clinic: The Fishmobile. The human-powered vehicle/spectacle was built by student participants working alongside seasoned design professionals and will be used to deliver environmental education programs in waterfront parks and informal open spaces.

For more information on the Fishmobile, click here

The Water Underground Viewable Online!

The Ecology Center partnered with Center for Urban Pedagogy, City-as-School, and RECYouth to explore the Water Underground–the millions of gallons of water that enters the city, gets used in various ways and discharged to local waterways each day. During this semester-long project, students and teachers developed The Water Underground, a video about their investigations.

The Water Underground video is a 25-minute student-led exploration of where water comes from, where it goes and what happens along the way.
THE WUG VIDEO IS NOW VIEWABLE ONLINE(opens a new window)