Vote for the Shredder in Participatory Budgeting!

Vote to purchase and install a high capacity shredder at the Salt Lot at the Gowanus Conservancy. 

Several local public schools have worked hard to replace their styrofoam trays with compostable ones (which are substantially more expensive than the original ones).  Only problem is, there is no local site big enough to collect and compost them.  This proposal will allow the Conservancy to collect, shred and compost the trays which will substantially reduce the amount of waste going to local landfills.  It will also open the way for more schools to replace their trays at a lower cost for everyone.

Make sure you vote in Participatory Budgeting and when you get there, after schmoozing with your neighbors, vote for the shredder!

Solarize Brooklyn!

We are very excited to announce the launch of Solarize Brooklyn!

Solarize Brooklyn is a grass-roots program designed to bring cost-effective solar power to Brooklyn homeowners on a large scale.  We are proud to partner with Sustainable Flatbush and Solar One
 to bring a community purchasing power for Solar PV and Solar Hot Water systems to our Brooklyn neighborhoods.  

Join us at one of our upcoming community education sessions to learn more!

Please visit solarizebrooklyn.org for more information.

Sign up to join the email list and stay connected to the 
Solarize Brooklyn community.

Get ready to add solar on your home!

Solarize Brooklyn: KWT-Flatbush is coming soon.  Stay tuned!

Rain Barrel Giveaway in Brooklyn

RAIN BARREL GIVEAWAY PROGRAM
Saturday, April 16, 2011 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Marine Park Parking Lot at Avenue U, Brooklyn

During heavy storms, stormwater runoff can overwhelm the city’s sewer system, and, in some cases, cause street flooding.

To reduce stormwater runoff and to create a more livable, sustain-able city, DEP released the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan and is piloting several stormwater best management practices throughout the city, including enhanced tree pits, streetside infiltra- tion swales, and blue and green roofs. Rain barrels capture stormwater from your roof and store it for future use.

How do rain barrels help?
By capturing stormwater, rain barrels can help you conserve water by storing rainwater for future use, such as watering your lawn or garden. This will keep your plants healthy–and save you money–since households devote almost 40% of their water to watering lawns and gardens. And you’ll be doing your part to reduce demand on New York City’s drinking water system during the summer’s hottest days.

DEP will provide detailed instructions on how to attach and use your rain barrel at the giveaway.
For more information call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/dep.

Please Note: Rain barrels will be given away on first come first serve basis, one per household. You must live in a single-family or attached two-family home to participate in this exciting and innovative program.

Energy Competition Pie Social on Sunday!

We'd like to remind you about a fun, informative, and most of all delicious event for Green Homes Challenge participants this Sunday!

To celebrate the six month mark of the Green Homes Challenge, Councilmember Brad Lander, NYSERDA, and Con Ed invite you and your family to a pie social, where you can meet your fellow participants and learn more about how you can reduce your use. 

Drop by, exchange conservation tips, and enjoy a slice of pie or two. 

While bringing a pie is by no means mandatory, we encourage you to contribute something delicious!

If possible, bring reusable (or compostable) plates and utensils.

Event details:

What: Green Homes Challenge Six Month Pie Social

When: Sunday, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Where: The Prospect Range, 1226 Prospect Avenue (many thanks to Meighan Gale and Dexter Buell for their generosity in lending us the space!)

Click here to RSVP for the Pie Social!

Mark your calendars – next Sunday, December 12th, neighbor Myla Goldberg and Darin Strauss will be talking about their new books at Union Hall, she says, “where you can drink drinks and eat food, play bocce, and be a part of a literary conversation all at once.

From Myla:
Darin, who’s normally a novelist, has written a memoir, Half a Life, which has some interesting things in common with my new novel, The False Friend.

So, on December 12th, it’ll be Fiction vs. Memoir, with the two of us talking about the different ways they allow a writer to get (or fail to get) at the truth.

Plus, the event is a benefit for the Brooklyn New School, also known as P.S. 146, which like all public schools has been hit hard by the city’s budget cuts.

You should come! After Darin and I are done talking, there will be drinking and mingling.”

Here’s the info:

FICTION VS. MEMOIR: MYLA GOLDBERG AND DARIN STRAUSS IN CONVERSATION IN A BENEFIT FOR THE BROOKLYN NEW SCHOOL (P.S. 146 )

Sunday, December 12
6pm
Union Hall, 702 Union Street, Brooklyn
$12-$25 Donation at the Door

DARIN STRAUSS
In Darin’s new memoir, Half a Life, he writes of his experience of being behind the wheel when a high school classmate swerved in front of his car and died.

MYLA GOLDBERG
In Myla’s new novel, The False Friend, a woman confronts the memory of having contributed to the death of a child when she was a girl.

Kensington Cleanup

Come help clean up Kensington on October 10th (Sunday) from 9am to 10am.  We're picking up garbage at pedestrian and bike paths at the entrance to the Prospect Park Expressway.

Questions or ideas, call Lee or Jason @ 718-701-1295. Bring kids, gloves (disposable is best) and garbage bags if you have 'em.  

(Maybe a communal breakfast afterwards at Connie's?)

Ocean Pkway and Church Ave
Brooklyn
9:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m.
www.350.org

Reduce the Use in District 39!

Saw this posts on Kensington Prospect.

the competition is ON! you can still sign up for the competition here

Sign up for the district wide energy competition!

Sustainable Kensington Windsor Terrace, the community group that brought you the pilot energy conservation competition in February is proud to announce an expanded competition throughout the Councilman Lander's entire district. Thanks to NYSERDA and Councilman Lander's Office, our target for the expanded competition is 300 households!

In the 3 months that the pilot ran in the spring, the 40 families enrolled saved cumulatively about $600 in reduced energy costs. And that was in the cool months, imagine how well we'll do in the summer when electrical costs are higher and consumption typically spikes. You can read the press release here.

If you pay your own electric bill and have been in the same space for at least a year, you are eligible to participate. In addition to Windsor Terrace and Kensington, the neighborhoods we are expanding to are: Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Borough Park.

If you live in a house or an apartment, or run a retail store or manage a Co-Op, join us.

It's a fun and easy way to learn about how much energy you are using and how your usage compares to your neighbors. You'll use less energy, meet your neighbors and win prizes (seriously, there will be real prizes this time!)

Go to the signup form here
www.surveymonkey.com/reducetheused39
(you'll need to have your con ed bill handy)

Happy Conserving! See you at the pie social!

Ellen

free green-themed carnival June 12th

Free Sustainable Community event.

I got this from the Brooklyn Green Team

May 1st - 9th: NYC Wildflower Week

Wildflowers in NYC?

NYC Wildflower Week engages and connects urbanites to their local environments and aims to inspire and empower New Yorkers to conserve and cultivate a landscape that is sustainable, beautiful and ecologically sound. It is part of National Wildflower Week, an initiative begun by Lady Bird Johnson.

45 events throughout the 5 boroughs including plant giveaways, tours, nature walks, greenroof visits, childrens events celebrating NYC native flora.

Community Energy Conservation Competition Pilots in K/WT

Want to compete in the K/WT Pilot Neighborhood Energy Conservation Competition? READ ON, CLICK HERE FOR THE ENERGY COMPETITION WEBPAGE OR DOWNLOAD THE FLYER HERE.

Neighbors will compete to reduce their energy consumption and there would be winners in two categories – biggest loser and smallest footprint.

We'll all be winners if our theory proves right that the entire group’s consumption will be reduced by gaining awareness about energy conservation plus a little peer pressure.

In order to make the competition fun and fair, we need a year’s worth of energy bills from about 100 real households in order to see the actual data trends from month to month. Anyone who pays their own energy bill is eligible to compete. We aren’t offering prizes yet but there will be promotions, and the winner(s) can be featured on the website if they want!

To join, just click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NYSERDA. The survey will ask you for your neighborhood, zipcode, type of home, number of occupants and appliances and allow us to access your Con Ed account using your account number.

The information will be used only to crunch numbers to figure out and inform you of your energy consumption compared to your neighbors, it will NOT be released to anyone else. You will receive a monthly email with your standing in the competition, energy saving tips from NYSERDA and coupons/special offers for energy saving products. Signing up will not put you on any other NYSERDA email list.

We are hoping to have everyone signed up by the end of January. Thank you in advance and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need further information. Click here to see the competition rules below so you don’t have to scroll through the survey.

Contest Rules:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

How to enter: To enter the Prospect Park Energy Reduction Competition, you must complete the online survey. One (1) entry per household. All entries must be submitted by February 9, 2010. No responsibility is assumed for lost or misdirected entries.

All registrants to the Prospect Park Energy Reduction Competition must have a valid email address. All registrants must be a direct customer of Consolidated Edison Company of New York (Con Ed). Residents or households who do not pay directly for their own electricity usage are not eligible for this competition. All registrants authorize NYSERDA to access their electricity consumption for the duration of this competition and two (2) years thereafter.

Competition Timeline: Starting February 2010, each month’s energy usage shall be tracked by NYSERDA. The winners will be determined based on their energy usage after 3 months from the competition’s start.

Evaluation and Notification: The electricity usage for each registrant for each month (as determined for each registrant based on their utility meter read and billing date) will be calculated by NYSERDA based on the actual utility bill from Con Edison (as reported for that registrant at Con Edison’s website). The total usage will be divided by the number of occupants in the home to determine the electricity usage per occupant (kWh/person) for each evaluation period. The “Smallest Footprint” will be determined by comparing the kWh/person for the monthly evaluation period among all registrants. The “Biggest Loser” will be determined by subtracting the kWh/person for each evaluation period from the same time period of the previous year.

Each registrant will receive an email from NYSERDA once per month indicating their current usage per person for that period and providing them a ranking comparing them to all other registrants in the competition. The email notification may also include tips and/or information on NYSERDA’s programs and incentives to help the registrant reduce their energy usage in the future.

General: Competition is open to New York Energy $mart Program territory residents who are customers of Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., 18 years of age or older as of the time of entry, except employees (and their immediate family member)of NYSERDA, the State Department of Public Service and their advertising, promotional production

Open Invitation to K/WT Neighbors to compete in the Pilot Neighborhood Energy Conservation Competition

Hi Neighbors,

My name is Ellen Honigstock.

Many of you know me – I’m an architect in the neighborhood who works on environmental and energy efficiency projects.

I have been working (volunteering is more accurate) with NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) to design a neighborhood residential energy saving competition using Con Ed bills as the scoring device and I want to ask Kensington & Windsor Terrace to host the pilot project.

Neighbors would compete to reduce their energy consumption and there would be winners in two categories – biggest loser and smallest footprint. Our theory is that the entire group’s consumption would be reduced by gaining awareness about energy conservation plus a little peer pressure.

We want to pilot this competition in Kensington/Windsor Terrace within the next three months, starting February 1st. Eventually, we’d want to scale it up so that we could have KWT versus Park Slope (we’d kick their butts) versus Fort Greene, versus Flatbush versus Sunset Park etc... and eventually Brooklyn v. Queens!

In order to make the competition fun and fair, we need a year’s worth of energy bills from about 100 real households in order to see the actual data trends from month to month. Anyone who pays their own energy bill is eligible to compete. We aren’t offering prizes yet but there will be promotions, and the winner(s) can be featured on the website if they want! The main benefit will be an increased awareness about your energy usage and (hopefully) a reduction in your bills!

Would you be interested in allowing us to use your electrical data?

This is what we would ask you to do:

Fill out a short online questionnaire including your neighborhood, zipcode, type of home, number of occupants and appliances and allow us to access your Con Ed account using your account number. Just go here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NYSERDA

The information will be used only to crunch numbers to figure out and inform you of your energy consumption compared to your neighbors, it will NOT be released to anyone else. You will receive a monthly email with your standing in the competition, energy saving tips from NYSERDA and coupons/special offers for energy saving products. Signing up will not put you on any other NYSERDA email list.

We are hoping to have everyone signed up by the end of January. Thank you in advance and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need further information. Click here to see the competition rules so you don’t have to scroll through the survey.



Ellen Honigstock



--
Ellen Honigstock RA, LEED AP
Ellen Honigstock Architect PC
Sustainable Strategies for Existing Buildings
45 Main Street #806
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(212) 228-1585
ellen@ehapc.com
www.ehapc.com
[toeprint project] www.toeprintproject.com

Plastic-Free Food Containers

I just got these fantastic watertight stainless steel food
containers and I love using them. They are an excellent plastic
alternative. If you're looking for a good lunchbox or leftover food
container I recommend these.

Stainless Steel Airtight Watertight Food Storage Container/Lunch Box



These organic cotton drawstring bags are also great - I use them for
grocery shopping and packing lunch. They are great for vegetables,
fruit, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, etc. This is the type of
bulk bag I've been thinking about making and selling at cost at
community events. They are so useful! Another great alternative to
petroleum plastic bags and containers.

Organic Cotton Muslin Produce & Snack Bag

Other sustainable groups doing interesting things in Brooklyn

Brooklyn Skillshare

"The Brooklyn Skillshare is a communal, hands-on, learning experience that aims to serve as a jumping-off point in the construction of an autonomous, nonexclusive, reciprocal learning community."

Brooklyn Green Team A team of Brooklyn superheros dedicated to reducing our environmental impact and inspiring others. POW. YOU'VE BEEN GREENED.

Help Bring Butterflies to Windsor Terrace

Last week a flyer for the Windsor Terrace Greenway Project appeared in my mailbox. The group aims to encourage residents in the Windsor Terrace area to plant butterfly and bird friendly plants to support travel for birds and butterflies between Prospect Park and Greenwood Cemetary.

Find out more at the brooklynbutterflyproject.org

Powerpoint slides from June 17th event

The powerpoint was too big to display in one file so here you go:

Part 1: Energy conservation
Part 2: Weatherization
Part 3: Solar Thermal
Part 4: Solar PV

SKWT Inaugural Event: Energy Conservation Teach-in

On Wednesday, June 17th, we held an energy conservation "teach-in" at the Oak and Iris.

With the goal of increasing sustainable strategies in the neighborhood, we asked local providers of weatherization and solar installations to speak about the costs, benefits and incentives associated with this work.

The agenda included:

• Energy Conservation information: How much energy do residential buildings use and where does that energy come from?


• Weatherization: Waste less energy through air sealing, increased insulation, window upgrades and improved ventilation.


• Solar Energy: Learn if your building is a good candidate for installing solar panels and start making your own electricity and hot water.


• Meet neighbors who have weatherized their homes and installed solar panels.


• Hear from local Contractors and Providers about costs, financial and environmental benefits and government incentives to help offset the costs.

We had about 35 people in attendance and heard from representatives of:


Aeon Solar



A.S.K. Construction (weatherization contractors)



Ellen Honigstock Architect PC (Solar hot water)



Solar One - Advocacy and policy around solar energy.



One Block Off The Grid - California based solar bulk buying club.

Thanks to all these providers and to the Oak and Iris for hosting us.

Welcome to Sustainable Kensington Windsor Terrace

Hi Everybody!

Sustainable Kensington Windsor Terrace is a project started by two Brooklyn neighbors, Sarah Goodman of Windsor Terrace, an environmental educator, and Ellen Honigstock of Kensington, an architect specializing in sustainable strategies for existing buildings.

Our goal is to build community through education and actions focused on reducing our local environmental impact.

Join us!