Upper Green Side

I'm a concerned citizen, a fan of smart, human-friendly design, sustainability, empowerment and green urbanism, and would like to see more of all of that in upper Manhattan. I brew beer, build websites, and have worked with non-profit membership services for years, when not advocating and organizing for free.

The Upper Green Side Weekly Eco-Tip for September 4/5, 2010 (Available at the 92nd and 82nd St Greenmarkets, and archived online.) The not-so-green truth about bamboo fabric T-shirts, towels and other textiles from bamboo often carry green claims. But they are not necessarily true. Four clothing companies and textile companies were charged last year with [...]

The Upper Green Side Weekly Eco-Tip for August 28/29, 2010 (Available at the 92nd and 82nd St Greenmarkets, and archived online.) Reduce your unwanted mail! Are phone books piling up to your door step or filling your lobby? According to Yellow Pages Goes Green, nearly two phone directories are printed for every person in the [...]

The Upper Green Side Weekly Eco-Tip for August 21/22, 2010 (Available at the 92nd and 82nd St Greenmarkets, and archived online.) Audubon iPhone Nature Guides Forget lugging around heavy guidebooks to ID the flora and fauna you spot on your weekend hike or nature walk. National Audubon has turned several of its popular guidebooks into [...]

On Monday this week, Mayor Bloomberg signed 11 new laws updating the city’s recycling habits. Among the new laws and changes: While currently the city only accepts bottle-shaped plastic containers (i.e., not yogurt or take-out containers), the city will begin collecting all rigid plastic for recycling. This may not happen right away; the new waste [...]

The Upper Green Side Weekly Eco-Tip for August 14/15, 2010 (Available at the 92nd and 82nd St Greenmarkets, and archived online.) Empire State ReBuilding for Sustainability People all over the world know the Empire State Building, one of the most prominent buildings in the New York City skyline. The building is about to undergo a [...]

Did you know you can recycle dry-cleaning bags, plastic wrap (from paper towels or toilet paper, for example) at New York grocery stores? While you may have seen the required plastic bag recycling bins, and switched to the reusable bags they’re required to sell, there’s more you can put in those bins. Most stores will [...]

The Upper Green Side Weekly Eco-Tip for July 31/August 1, 2010 (Available at the 92nd and 82nd St Greenmarkets, and archived online.) Eggs-ellent News about Urban Chickens! They say you shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch. But bet on enjoying your own incredible, edible eggs with help from Omlet, whose new Eglu Cube makes [...]

Did you know that here in NYC you can take your Brita pitcher filters to Whole Foods markets (or the Park Slope Food Coop), just like those #5 plastics the city doesn’t recycle? It’s part of the Preserve Gimme 5 recycling program, who teamed up with Brita to help keep pitcher filters from ending up [...]

The Upper Green Side Weekly Eco-Tip for July 31/August 1, 2010 (Available at the 92nd and 82nd St Greenmarkets, and archived online.) Green Your Caffeine! If you’re like us, you need a jolt of caffeine to start your day, especially after spending half the night awake on these hot summer nights. You already know to [...]

The Upper Green Side Weekly Eco-Tip for July 24/25, 2010 (Available at the 92nd and 82nd St Greenmarkets, and archived online.) Are you all business when it comes to hunting down gifts and gadgets? Work it at Sustainable NYC, a petite one-stop shop for biodegradable-local-organic-recycled-or-repurposed everything: home stuff (bowls, vases), body stuff (soaps), clothing basics [...]