The Citywide Green Teens Program: 2012 Summer Highlights (Part I)

Teens who become involved in Parks’ Citywide Green Teens Program do not just receive community service credit for participation; they become immersed in environmental stewardship. From collecting bags of recyclables, picking up litter in the parks, planting and caring for trees, removing non-native invasive plants, promoting a public recycling initiative, learning about composting, conducting energy audits and creating anti-litter videos for a PSA contest, the Green Teens made 2012 a summer hard to forget.

In fact, this year marked the first citywide expansion of the Green Teens program. Due to internal and external partnerships amongst Public Programs, Operations, Capital Projects, Computer Resource Centers, MillionTreesNYC, City Parks Foundation, Department of Sanitation and Solar 1, we were able to provide an enriching summer learning experience to the 217 teenagers from the five boroughs. From 2011 to 2012, the number of Green Teens sites doubled from 10 to 21 and included recreation centers and parks. At these sites, teens managed to collect 2,167 bags of litter and recyclables, adopt 65 trees, and display nine PSA videos at 51 screenings reaching 10,200 viewers!

Here are some of the highlights from this past summer.

BROOKLYN
The Brooklyn Green Teens were in overdrive this summer, especially while volunteering at the annual Brownsville “Old Timers” event. With a crowd of over 8,000 attendees, the teens had their work of collecting recyclables cut out for them. The teens were incentivized by rewards promised to the winners from Recreation Director Sandra Coello, and they managed to collect 46 bags of recyclables at this one event! Other highlights from the summer included cleaning up under the Brooklyn Bridge and at Brooklyn’s Salt Water Marshland with the Urban Park Rangers.

STATEN ISLAND
The Staten Island Green Teens had their hands full removing non-native invasive plants at Faber Park this summer. They adopted five trees through MillionTreesNYC this summer, and cared for them by adding mulch and wood chips around the base of their trunks as instructed by gardeners. The Staten Island Green Teens had the opportunity to be featured on television this summer as they attended the 2012 Summer Watering Campaign alongside Staten Island Borough Commissioner Adena Long, the MillionTreesNYC crew, and NY1 news reporters. You can watch the footage on the Green Teens Blog at http://www.ny1.com/content/165950/staten-island-teens-water-trees-in-oakwood .

Tomorrow’s Daily Plant will feature Green Teens projects in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.

Do you know someone who is between the ages of 13-17 years old and interested in serving his/her community by making it a cleaner and greener place to live? Email green.teens@parks.nyc.gov to learn more or to get involved in the Green Teens program at your local recreation center.




Maintenance worker Manuel Sama has been with Parks for a little over a year and has been instrumental to the success of recycling at the Overlook, the borough headquarters for Queens Parks. On a daily basis, “Manny” as he is known to his peers, monitors trash and recycling bins in the building and ensures that materials are properly sorted. He never hesitates putting on the “green gloves” to make recycling efforts possible. Manny was nominated by Queens Green Guru Roberta Maureau.

Parkies – Catch someone “Green Handed” at your work location! E-mail sustainableparks@parks.nyc.gov with your nomination.


Certain large retail stores in New York City and New York State are required to accept plastic carryout bags for recycling. Other types of plastic bags, such as plastic dry cleaning bags and plastic newspaper delivery bags, are also accepted at many retailers, although not required. Plastic bags are being targeted for recycling since film plastic comprises a good portion of the waste stream. In New York City plastic film accounts for about 7.5% of the residential waste stream. (Source: NYC Department of Sanitation)

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