A Green Bike Ride
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Walk or better yet, bicycle around Williamsburg for Bike Month and visit these green and sustainable sites. A quick ride on this tour, which I itemized, (with some great help from Ben Jervey, author of Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco Friendly Living in New York City) begins at McCarren Park on Driggs Avenue and Lorimer Street. For those who are up reasonably early enough, take advantage of the cornucopia of fresh produce from local farms that await at this Green Market on Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The Greenmarket was founded in 1976 to support local farmers. This translates into produce that is fresher and more sustainable because it takes less mileage and gas getting to you. Most of the local farms use no pesticides or chemicals because of smaller sized farmland and because they nurture them with long-established natural processes. This is a great start for a breakfast scone and apple cider from the farm vendors. Greenmarket information can be found on www.cenyc.org.
Then from there, a very short pedal over to the Green Dome Volunteers Garden on North 12th Street between Driggs and Union Avenues, which is one of my favorite community gardens. This 2,500 square foot garden with winding paths and lush growths is considered a quiet zone to some who come to bask in the serenity and beauty of its diverse flowers and plants. What makes this garden sustainable is that they offer a composting site for community drop offs of food scraps and organic waste on Saturdays before 2 p.m. By recycling the food waste they are able to use the rich compost for gardening needs.
The garden is also near the pick up site for the Community Supported Agriculture folks (CSA) who work closely with local farms such as the Garden of Eve farm in Riverhead, Long Island. Through the CSA group, the farmer will sell “shares” of the upcoming harvest to community members. This in turn ensures a viable market for them to continue doing business and to offer a fresh and healthy food supply to people in the city. The direct relationship with the local farm helps finance its operations and guarantee sales of the season for its farmers. (www.justfood.org)
Next, ride over to Bedford Avenue and Manhattan Avenue where you will find the Vivavi Contemporary Sustainable Furniture and Home Design store on 644 Manhattan Avenue. You are apt to find some interesting and modern furnishings that are not only stylish but sustainable in materials or in manufacturing.
Then take a longer ride over to the Green School (via Leonard Street) onto 223 Graham Avenue between Scholes and Maujer Streets. This high school focuses and trains its students on sustainable and environmental issues as well as these 4 core values: Sustainable self, sustainable relationships, sustainable community, and sustainable society. It is a very appealing place to check out if you’re curious about the possibilities for our youth.
Ride back around now (you can take Powers Street) to 19 Hope Street between Roebling and Havemeyer Streets, to stop in at the Gitana Rosa Gallery, open from 1-7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday or by appointment. The Gitana Rosa Gallery is known as the first green gallery in the neighborhood, and 15% of the sales from the space go towards local and national environmental non-profits. They have a small shop that features some high-end eco items. Most exhibits showcase artists with a sustainable or environmental bent and it is a good place for ideas or inspiration for sustainable art.
If by this time you want a snack or a bite to eat, ride to Bedford Avenue to Sparky’s on 135 North 5th Street between Bedford Avenue and Berry Street, or Bliss (a vegetarian haven) on Bedford Avenue and North 7th Street. Both feature organic ingredients and great food. At the time of this writing, Egg, which occupies the Sparky’s space for brunch hours, may soon be open all day and is also a good place for an organic country style breakfast.
Once sated, check out some of these green stores, if only to get some idea of what’s out there. Being sustainable also means not buying things that will only end in a landfill in a few years so be sure you really need something or reuse something that is already there by buying recycled.
Future Perfect on 115 North 6th Street between Berry and Wythe Avenues is a modern home furnishings store that also carry some recycled and eco-friendly designs (also, Sodafine on 119 Grand Street between Berry and Wythe Avenues, a small boutique for handmade and eco-friendly clothing and accessories, is also worth a mention for stopping in at another time)
Then continue the ride over to the Bettencourt Green Building Supplies on 70 North 6th between Wythe and Kent Avenues where you will find a gallery of furniture pieces and supplies that are made of sustainable and green materials such as bamboo and environmentally responsible paints that are not made of chemicals such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) that are harmful to the environment and your health.
From there, off to Om Sweet Home - an eco-friendly home furnishings store on 59 Kent Avenue and North 10th Street. Here you will find some natural products for the home, recycled glass vases and glasses and organic sheets and towels. For the environmentally conscious home dweller, there are loads of sustainable housewares but you can also find vintage and used clothing on their upper level.
Right across the street a block away is a great open space on the waterfront, which will ultimately be a finished park on Kent Avenue near North 9th Street. Though open hours to the public are sporadic, the park is shaping up to be a good spot for enjoying the outdoors and views. Part of the mayor’s sustainability plan for New York City will be to have all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Parkland and open spaces are crucial for public health and better quality of life. Activities in open spaces like this encourage fitness, well-being and group involvement within communities.
From Kent Avenue, the final leg of the tour ends at the Brooklyn Brewery on North 11th Street and Wythe Avenue. The headquarters is known for “the wind in their ales” by being the first company in New York City to switch to all wind-generated electricity. End with one of their free tours of the brewery on Saturdays at 1, 2, 3, and 4 and see how a local brewery makes their beer.
