anne (www.sustainableflat's Profile

I was rather amazed that the price here in Brooklyn was lower than in Seattle or Minneapolis...

i think there is a semantics issue here: when you describe the green benefits of "rental housing" what you are actually describing is the density (apartments/townhouses vs. single-family homes on large lots) of the housing than whether the occupant is an owner or renter. here in new york city most homeowners are also apartment dwellers. conversely, throughout the country many single-family homes are occupied by renters.

we actually do have some public recycling bins in NYC, they are part of a pilot project by the Department of Sanitation. there are bins for both paper and metal/glass/plastic at Union Square, Brooklyn Borough Hall, the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and some others. here are some of DOS's conclusions from their experiment:

"The sites with the lowest contamination rates and the largest amounts collected were the ferry terminals, Union Square, and Columbus Park. These sites are characterized by heavy commuter use and are located in dense, downtown neighborhoods with large numbers of office workers who use the public space for lunch. In contrast, public space recycling was highly contaminated and yielded little material in residential parks frequented primarily by families and children. Such users are less likely to generate newspapers, bottles, and cans than are commuters and lunching office workers."

also:

"For this pilot, the DNSY Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling researched public space recycling in London, England; Toronto, Canada; Seattle, and Portland. All cities face challenges keeping their public space recycling free from contamination, and all site bins in high traffic areas where efforts are most likely to succeed."

and, surprisingly:

"Contrary to popular opinion, waste generated in public spaces is only a tiny fraction of residential, public maintenance, and commercial wastes overall. While public space recycling won't raise the city's diversion rate by more than fraction of a percentage point, it is an important way to reinforce the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message."

Ditmas Park in the house!

Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) is a huge problem in New York City, where we do have combined sewers/storm drains. Riverkeeper has an excellent summary on this topic:

http://riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/pollution/the_facts/989

The city's sewage treatment plants frequently get overwhelmed when it rains. A big part of the problem is that we lack sufficient permeable surfaces to absorb the rainwater, so it simply gets mixed with all the dirt and pollutants on the street surface and goes straight into the sewer system, and in heavy rains from there to our rivers and beaches. PlaNYC, introduced by the mayor's office this year, includes several provisions to address CSO's, including the goal of establishing more parks, trees and greenery, all of which can help retain stormwater.

The CSO problem is one of the best arguments for green (vegetated) roofs, as the engineered soil they use is designed to absorb stormwater (but is light enough not to destroy the roof even when wet). Sustainable South Bronx and Earthpledge are two groups working to establish more green roofs in NYC.

But a solution that many homeowners and apartment buildings could implement cheaply and more quickly would be to set up rainwater collection systems (one or several rainbarrel/cisterns), and use the water for gardening or household tasks. Water Resources Group has a great explanation of the whys and hows, and a map of demonstration sites. Municipal water rates are going up every year, so capturing this resource instead of letting it pollute our waterways makes financial sense too.

Other cities addressing their sewer overlow issues with rainwater collection plans and incentives include Portland, Chicago, Seattle, Toronto, Austin, and Vancouver.

(And on the mosquito issue, any rainwater collection system should include screens to prevent mosquito breeding.)

one of the best water- and energy-saving devices i've seen for handwashing is a faucet aerator with an on-off switch:

http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/09-0224

six bucks. eliminates that problem of not wanting to turn off the water because you've found the perfect temperature; also just easier to do while wearing rubber gloves and holding soapy sponge.

my canvas shower curtain (touted as not needing a liner) has mold stains that i can't get out. bummer. glad to hear about nylon as an alternative.

i recently bought a microwave for heating stuff up as it seemed more environmentally friendly to use 90 seconds of wind-generated electricity than 20 minutes in the gas oven!

i met someone who owns one and says it is already falling apart after a few weeks. oh well...

re-using plastic shopping bags for trash seems like a good thing to me (must be why i do it!), though i have a small step-can for this purpose. hanging it on the doorknob is not the most attractive thing, but hardly cause for a meltdown. :)

just one point though: in nyc junk mail is recyclable - even the envelopes with the little plastic window. according to the dept. of sanitation, we could be recycling MUCH more paper here, and apparently the city actually makes money off it (incentive for more and better recycling programs).