I would think that it would be easy to be green in New York City as compared to other places in the US. With all the various vehicles at your disposal to do so i.e. Vegan restaurants, stores selling eco-friendly clothes and  furniture, accessable public transportation and huge famers markets selling local produce.  But mostly the incentive you would get each day walking down the streets of manhattan.  Living in the burbs is beautiful, but believe it or not, you may have to try a little harder or go out of your way to really live a greener life .  

The resources are definitely abundant. I guess I was referring more to the actual landscape. Not too many trees. Thank goodness for Prospect Park

Also, with apartments so small, it is easy to just throw stuff away here in New York. However, there can be some informal "recycling" from the trash pile. I definitely got a little perfect size end table for my apartment once. It would be hard to see that happening when I lived out in the suburbs.

we also in NY do a good job (maybe too good and to the extreme) of not using thousands of square feet of living space per person. we definitely live within our means spatially

New York is a cold city to be in. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. 

I don't necessarily think that is so.  New Yorker's are a special breed and when you least expect it are very helpful and friendly.  It is a funny place though.  I once gave my take out sushi to a bum on the street and he gave it back to me asking for money instead.  I don't  think he realized how much I paid for the food he just turned down.  I guess he was a vegetarian!!!!

Often times, when we think about green building, we envision strawbale homes, covered in adobe clay, with solar panels on the roof, and captured rain-water cisterns in the back yard.  When it comes to us city-dwellers, its hard to imagine what we can do with our living space to make a difference.

The good news is, just by living in this fine city, you're already half way there.  The vast infrastructure and community around us makes it easier for us to live in spaces that we can consider to be green.  Green renovating is the final touch.

Our green building practices value conservation and re-use.   Reducing your footprint on the earth doesn’t mean rejecting your apartment to live in the middle of a rainforrest.  Build Green Inc. can remodel your home to align it with environmentally sustainable standards that improve indoor air quality while conserving energy and water.  Making use of all the fine locally produced re-cycled and re-used building materials can make your apartment unique, beautiful, and a greener place to live.

 

Build Green Inc - NY, CT: Residential building & renovation. Environmentally responsible homes.
www.buildgreeninc.com
516-902-7998

 

I like your philosphy.  I think many of us feel overwhelmed with having to start from scratch and remake our homes eco-friendly from top to bottom.  I think that you give us food for thought.  You can do things slowly and one thing at a time.  Whether it is buying dish towels, glassware, a new carpet or a new heating system, we can all make better choices.  Now I don't necessarily feel the need to do everything at once. Thanks!

I walk, I take public transportation, I recycle!

 

Luck Factory

http://www.luckfactory.com

It sounds funny, but New York is a great place to be green.  Everything you could want to be green is at your fingertips. You sound like your doing your part.  Are you organic too?

Sure thing!

Do you find that New York has many organic restaurants or do you eat at non-organic when dining out? I always wondered how that worked.  Is being truly organic as strict as being a vegetarian?

Since I live over one of the most toxic environmental disasters, namely the 55 acre oil spill in Newton Creek which flows in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, it certainly is hard to be green in an area that is soiled. We can recycle, although I've heard that much of our efforts to separate cans from trash get thrown in the same spot anyway. Bloomberg even said it himself a few years ago, that "The program is expensive and inefficient and much of what is in the blue bags does not in fact get recycled, ending up instead in landfills along with the rest of the garbage." He claims that it has changed, but has it really? NYC needs to do so much more than just offer some good organic/vegan cuisine.

http://www.lime.com/business/story/1933/turning_trash_into_cash

LIME posted this article last year.  It might provide you with an alternative method to your recycling and put your mind at ease.  It seems like a really good concept, one worth looking into. 

Did anyone see the article in the www.newyorktimes yesterday about the couple who is going 200 days green.  I mean really green, no toilet paper, spices, oils, public transportation or anything non-organic or eco-friendly.  Interesting.  He's writing a book on it-might have to get it.

I saw the article too, can't believe how green they are going though, seems a little excessive, but I guess he needs  good fodder for the book.

The true test will be if he and his family continue to live their life like this after the check comes in.  It does seem a bit excessive.  That is true love-the wife must really hot on her man or just or out of her mind.

Did not even think that far out about it, I guess the actions after the book is done will be the true test.

Is anyone out there interested in trying to make a difference?

I am sure there are small things we the community at LIME can do to improve the city, even if it is just grabbing a trashbag and walking around the block and picking up trash, or making sure everyone in our homes or offices recycles correctly.

Our office manager here at LIME has done a great job ensuring that all the trash from our office is recycled, and Therese our amazing designer has done so much to ensure that the coffee and tea in our office is fair trade.

All the little things we do individually can make a huge change.

Recently read an article on cars that idle for parking spaces, give off tremendous amounts of carbon emissions.  Parking in a garage saves tons.  Next time you drive in to NYC if you must, go directly to a parking garage and save a little of the planet.