Welcome to our Living Green page.
This page is meant to introduce you to some basic ways you can engage in green living. With simple “how to’s” and links to more complete information, we hope you will be inspired to put your knowledge into practice.
Choose one category or one action and try it. Pledge to do it for one week or one month. See how it goes. What parts work best; what unexpected pleasures do you encounter? What didn’t work? How can you adjust? Next month, add a new commitment. Teach your kids, or let them teach you. Talk about what you are doing with your friends and neighbors.
This is by no means a definitive list. We will add more resources over time, and you will find much more information as you begin to explore the links below...
Contents
Green
Your Yard
Garden for Wildlife
Compost
Take care of your street trees
Use organic methods
Manage your stormwater
Live Green Every Day
Take control of your energy use
Buy locally-produced food
Clean Green
Reduce, reuse, recycle
—includes everyone's question: how to dispose of batteries
Green Your Home
Know your zoning requirements
Use sustainable materials (this section under development)
Buy sustainable furnishings (this section under development)
Green Your Yard
Did you know?
According to the National Wildlife Federation: Approximately 50-70 percent of our residential water is used for landscaping, most of it to water lawns…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that nearly 70 million pounds of active pesticide ingredients are applied to suburban lawns each year, helping to make polluted runoff the single largest source of water pollution nationwide, affecting ground water, lakes and streams, wildlife, and human health…
And the use of gas-powered lawn mowers contributes five percent of the nation's air pollution. A gas-powered lawnmower emits 11 times the air pollution of a new car.
Garden for Wildlife
Riverdale is located on the Atlantic flyway, a major route along the eastern seaboard for migrating birds and butterflies. The birds’ eye view of Riverdale, flanked by Riverdale Park and Van Cortlandt Park, promises these long-distance fliers a good place to stop.
Welcome birds and butterflies to your yard with the right plantings and some water. You can make it as simple as a butterfly bush and a bird feeder, or as complicated as a complete habitat.
Get started:
- Place a bird bath in your yard and replace the water every two days.
- Plant a butterfly bush, butterfly weed, parsley, and purple coneflower.
- Replace some of your lawn with wildflowers or native groundcovers.
- Use a push lawn mower.
- Choose native, non-invasive plants.
Get all the details:
The National Wildlife Federations Garden for Wildlife program gives you the details on feed, water, shelter, nesting, and much more.
The Special Natural Area district zoning regulations include a list of native ground covers, shrubs, and trees. Click here, and scroll down to Appendices C and D.
Compost your yard waste and kitchen scraps 
Whether you live on an acre of property or in a one-bedroom apartment, you can make “black gold” for your garden or houseplants.
Composting is a win-win activity. You save money and gain a rich fertilizer for your garden, the city wins through reduced trash volume, the environment wins because when you use compost you don’t need chemical fertilizers that are based on petrochemicals and that result in excessive nutrients in surrounding waterways.
Get started:
- Leave your grass clippings in place on your lawn.
- Participate in NYC’s leaf composting: Place autumn leaves in brown paper bags and set out for collection on announced leaf pick up days in the fall. Get free compost on NYC’s compost give-back days in the spring and fall.
- Make your own compost: Mix fruit and vegetable peels, egg shells, and coffee grounds with equal parts dried leaves in a closed, ventilated container, add a shovel-full of soil from time to time, keep as damp as a wrung-out sponge, and mix every week (the closed container can be a trash pail with holes drilled into it).
Get all the details:
Find out the best ways to compost and how to use compost at the New York City Compost Project web site: www.nyccompost.org
Take care of your street trees
Urban trees cool our streets, can reduce heating and cooling bills, anchor slopes, absorb carbon dioxide, trap particulate pollutants such as those from diesel engines, add value to real estate, provide habitat to wildlife, add beauty to our neighborhoods…But they need our help to survive.
Get started:
- Water street trees as often as you water trees in your yards.
- Keep out competing plants by weeding and planting only shallow-rooted flowers.
- Add about three inches of mulch over the root area to conserve moisture and keep lawn mowers away from the trunk. Keep mulch about four inches away from the trunk, or you can encourage the trunk to rot.
- Reduce salt damage by using calcium chloride or granular urea in the winter.
Get all the details:
Street trees are planted and pruned by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. Learn more about what homeowners can do at the Parks website:
The National Arbor Day Foundation has information on tree ID, care, planting, value, and more.
Garden Organically
Do you know these ten reasons to ditch your lawn and garden chemicals?
(Provided by the Northeast Organic Farmers Association, as adapted from a factsheet by the Organic Landscape Alliance, Toronto, Canada http://www.organiclandscape.org/ (Used with permission.)
Chemical pesticides and fertilizers contaminate surface and groundwater.
Chemical pesticides threaten the health of children.
Chemical pesticides threaten the health of outdoor pets.
Chemical pesticides threaten the health of local wildlife.
Chemical pesticides and fertilizers reduce the activity of beneficial organisms.
Local wildlife need safe places to live.
Chemical fertilizers are a waste of money.
Chemical pesticides have the potential to cause damage throughout their lifecycles. Chemicals actually degrade the over-all long-term health of your lawn and garden.
Lawn chemicals are unnecessary.
Get started:
- Have your soil tested and request organic recommendations. Where? – Cornell Cooperative Extension Service, Ithaca, NY, 607-255-4540
- Switch to organic fertilizers, ask your garden shop for information on how to use them.
- Topdress your planting beds with a 2” layer of organic compost; work it into the top 6” of soil.
- Pick off garden pests when they appear; use an organic pesticide for large infestations.
- Rotate the placement of vegetables from year to year, to avoid build-up of pathogens in the soil.
- Use a landscaping service that follows organic methods – Who? Visit NOFA's list of organic land care professionals.
- Read the Northeast Organic Farmers Association Organic Land Care pamphlet.
Get all the details:
The Suffolk County Water Authority has information on reducing water usage and sustainable lawn care.
Organic land care refers to organic methods of landscaping and gardening. The Connecticut and Massachusetts chapters of the Northeast Organic Farmers Association have developed materials explaining the hows and whys of organic landscaping for homeowners and professional landscapers.
Manage your stormwater
If it’s on the ground, it will be in the river
When asked in surveys, most people do not know that the major source of water pollution in the United States is surface water runoff. (National Environmental Education Foundation) Rain water connects our yards and streets to the nearest river or bay.
In Riverdale, rain water that does not enter the ground carries gardening chemicals, oil and other motor vehicle fluids, soap, paint, litter and anything else left on the ground downhill to either a storm sewer or, if there are no storm sewers, the Hudson or Harlem River.
And even if the water makes it to a storm sewer, if there is enough rain to overwhelm the sewer, an overflow pipe carries the excess rain, combined with raw sewage, directly to the river. This is referred to as a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO).
Minimize pollution of the rivers by helping water infiltrate the ground where it is naturally filtered and cleaned, and by keeping toxins and litter off the ground.
Help rain water infiltrate into the soil:
- Use permeable paving materials. Groundcover plants, gravel, and paving stones with spaces between are common choices. Permeable pavements are also available. Learn the details.
- Keep soil loose. Rainwater will sheet off the surface of compacted soil as though it were pavement.
- Plant a rain garden. How? Download the NEMO guide here.
What is a rain garden?
A rain garden is a garden that collects rain water and allows it to slowly seep into the soil. Rain gardens are often located near a downspout or paved area. Simple formulas enable you to calculate the size of the garden you need for the amount of rain water you expect, and planting guides help you choose plants that will thrive in wet soil. In the Special Natural Area District, you may not change the grade of your landscape by more than 2 feet without a review by the City Planning Department. Keep this restriction in mind when planning your rain garden.
Keep chemicals and litter out of the water:
- Garden organically – see our Garden Organically section, above
- Think about where you wash your car. If possible, wash it in an area where the soapy water and grime will infiltrate into the ground. Use biodegradable soaps.
- Park your car on a permeable surface so that auto fluids that drip are not washed away by the rain.
- Remember that litter ends up in the river and collects on the shoreline. Take care that your personal floatables stay put in trash cans or recycling containers.
- Participate in cleanups such as the Annual International Coastal Cleanup.
- Do not dump toxic household chemicals or other waste down the drain or storm sewer.
Tell me more:
For a collection of tip sheets on the connections between your yard, household chemicals, and clean water, visit the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) program, and look for the last set of tip sheets on the page, under the heading Clean Water. These are geared to homeowners.
To see what New York City is doing to address pollution of local waterways, visit the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.
Live Green Every Day
Take control of your energy use
Coal-burning power plants are the number one source of green house gases in the United States today. Automobiles are the second-largest source. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the U.S. produces more carbon-dioxide pollution than Japan, India, and China combined. Changing to newer technologies, including wind and solar power, is an important step toward reducing this pollution. But demand for energy continues to grow, and reducing that demand is also important.
Get started:
- Don’t just buy efficient items, use them efficiently too: Turn off lights, the radio, etc. when you leave a room or leave the house, turn on the dishwasher only when it’s full, set the water level in the clothes washer to match the size of your load.
- Fine tune your home’s heating and cooling: Keep the windows open in summer whenever possible, instead of running the air conditioning continuously. Window coverings keep direct sunlight from heating up your rooms in summer; they also help keep your home warm overnight in winter.
- Use solar power: Hang your clothes to dry (if not outside then maybe in the basement), instead of always using the drier.
- Walk around town: Save on gym fees by doing your errands on foot. An “old fashioned” shopping cart can come in handy for bigger shopping trips.
- Think about energy-efficiency as well as time and cost: For more distant trips, consider scheduling appointments with the train schedule in mind; make car pooling a priority; if you are traveling to a high-traffic area, consider going at an off-peak time or using mass transit – remember that idling in traffic creates additional air pollution.
Get all the details:
WWW.ClimateCrisis.net, Al Gore’s companion web site to his film An Inconvenient Truth, provides a flyer with 10 things everyone can do to reduce their energy use. The NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) web site covers all the bases. Start with their easy energy saving habits at: http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife.
Whenever possible, buy locally-produced food
The terms “local” and “organic” are often used interchangeably. In New York, local is often organic, but not always. Local is defined in our region as about 200 miles, or 4 hours, or, for certain programs, produced in your state. Here in the northeast, local often also means coming from a small, family-owned farm.
Buying local usually means buying minimally processed foods such as fruits, vegetables, baked goods, granola, eggs, dairy, meat...all the things we are accustomed to seeing at our local farmers’ markets.
Get started:
- look for signs of origin in your grocery store
- buy in season - What's in season? View the NY State Department of Agriculture's harvest schedule.
- join a CSA or buyers club – How? Visit the Just Food web site for CSA locations.
- shop at farmers’ markets – Where? Most farmers' markets in NYC are managed by Greenmarkets and Community Markets. Independent markets operate in East New York and Red Hook, both in Brooklyn.
Clean green
Vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, borax. Washing soda, olive oil, salt.
What do these have in common? In various combinations and concentrations, they make excellent cleaners for a wide variety of household items, and they are non-toxic and inexpensive.
It is impossible to catalogue here the deleterious effects -- on our health and our environment -- of many common commercial cleaners. Beware: not only products labeled as toxic, such as oven cleaners, can be dangerous. Surprisingly, even something seemingly benign such as hand dishwashing detergent can contain known neurotoxins and poisons.
What to do?
Get Started:
Perhaps the simplest approach is to review the list of tasks and natural products in the second bullet below, and select a few tasks to try out with your new cleaning arsenal. Place the list and products together in a handy place, ready for the next time you need them.
- Purchase the following items:
baking soda, vinegar, borax (CAN BE TOXIC TO SMALL CHILDREN AND PETS), salt, lemon juice, fresh lemons, ammonia, cornstarch, washing soda, olive oil, castile soap, steel wool, several empty spray bottles. Look in the supermarket, hardware store, and natural foods store.
- Caution: As always, test products on inconspicuous areas first, before using for the first time. Always keep cleaning products, even natural ones, out of reach of children and pets. Products should not be consumed, and children should learn a basic habit of not eating or handling cleaning products.
Get all the details:
For detailed information on the hazards contained in commercial household products and many ways to use natural products, browse the NYC Department of Sanitation's NYCWasteless website section on cleaning products. In particular, read the USEPA's fact sheet on non-toxic household products.
Manufacturers' claims of natural, hypoallergenic, organic, etc. on cleaning products are not substantiated by any third party and may be meaningless. If you want to purchase environmentally-sustainable cleaning products (or any other sustainable products), check out the product reports and Products A to Z list in The Green Guide, by the National Geographic Society.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
According to the NYC Department of Sanitation, New Yorkers produce 12,000 TONS of residential and institutional trash and 13,000 TONS of commercial trash EVERY DAY. In 2001, a NYC Department of Sanitation report found that New Yorkers recycled 20% of their trash and threw “away” the rest. But there really is no “away”. It has to go somewhere.
Reduce and Reuse:
- Donate unwanted household items. — Where?
- Buy paper products with recycled paper (post-consumer) content.
- Stop junk mail. — How?
- Avoid disposables when there are durable alternatives.
- Use rechargeable batteries. — How should I dispose of batteries?
- Reduce packaging by avoiding single-serve packages
Recycle:
(If you don't already recycle, use the tips below to get started. NYC law requires that all households and commercial establishments recycle.)
- In your home: Designate a spot in your kitchen, porch, hallway, or anywhere else that makes sense for you, in which to collect recyclables. Finding a convenient place for storage is often the hardest part of beginning to recycle.
- You will need two bins: one for paper and cardboard, and one for beverage cartons, bottles, cans, metal and foil.
REMEMBER TO EMPTY AND RINSE CARTONS, BOTTLES, CANS, and FOIL. REMOVE PLASTIC BOTTLE CAPS, AND PLACE THEM IN THE TRASH.
IF YOU HAVE TOO MUCH CORRIGATED CARDBOARD TO FIT INTO YOUR CURBSIDE RECYCLING CONTAINERS, FLATTEN AND TIE THE CARDBOARD WITH STRING INTO BUNDLES NOT MORE THAN 18 INCHES HIGH. HEAVY PAPER ITEMS SUCH AS STACKS OF MAGAZINES SHOULD BE TIED WITH STRING INTO STACKS NO MORE THAN 18 INCHES HIGH.
- Call 311 to ask when your recycling pick up day is, if you live in a single-family house. If you live in an apartment, ask the management or board for the requirements for your building.
- Be sure that everyone in your household, including housekeepers and child care professionals, know of your commitment to recycling and know how to recycle in your home.
- At the curb: Single-family home residents must decide whether to use trash pails or plastic bags for curbside pick-up. If you decide on bags: you must use clear plastic bags, which can be purchased at most supermarkets or hardware stores. (USE ONE FOR PAPER AND CARDBOARD AND ONE FOR BEVERAGE CARTONS, BOTTLES, CANS, METAL, AND FOIL.) If you decide to use cans: you must either obtain the blue and green decals from the DOS to paste on the pails (call 311 to request the decals), or label the pails in large, permanent letters: "MIXED PAPER" and "BOTTLES AND CANS".
Get all the details:
The New York City Department of Sanitation's "NYC Wasteless" program is a one-stop-shopping guide to reducing, reusing, and recycling. Start at the NYC Wasteless home page and find information on:
- bulk pick-up,
- what to do if you get a ticket for a recycling violation,
- how to dispose of hazardous materials, and
- anything else you can think of related to solid waste management.
Green Your Home
Know your zoning requirements
Living Green in Riverdale is made easier because of two sets of zoning regulations and the presence of two historic districts.
Know what the zoning requires of you, before you begin any major projects in or around your home. Know what historic district regulations require if you live in one of the districts.
- Riverdale’s steep slopes, trees, and other natural features on private property are protected through a special set of zoning regulations called the Special Natural Area District. Turn to our zoning page for a summary of requirements and a link to zoning maps and text.
- The distinctive, pastoral neighborhood character of some sections of Riverdale is protected under the city’s lowest residential zoning: R 1-1. This zoning envisions that Riverdale will keep its bucolic feel into the future, even as pressures to build intensify. Become familiar with the requirements for yards, building sizes and more on our zoning page.
- The Riverdale Historic District was approved in 1990 and encompasses several blocks along Sycamore Avenue, south of West 254th Street. This District showcases buildings built in the 1850s as part of seven estates comprising one of the original suburbs in the United States. Buildings of later construction are also included in the district, but are regulated differently. The designation report by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and the District’s design guidelines are available on our historic preservation pages.
- The Fieldston Historic District was approved in January 2005. According to the Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report, Fieldston’s
…picturesque, historical revival style architecture, set in a romantically landscaped setting, epitomizes suburban development in the United States during the early part of the twentieth century. This highly intact neighborhood stands among the country’s most significant suburban developments…
The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation report and Frequently Asked Questions about the Fieldston District are available on our historic preservation pages.
Buy Sustainable Furnishings
Style, durability, cost, size, delivery time ... what were your main concerns the last time you shopped for home furnishings?
Did you know... |
The EPA estimates that your indoor environment can be as much as 5 times more polluted than the outdoor air. Sources of pollution can include: (Except where noted, this material is summarized from: Living Green by Greg Horn, Freedom Press, 2006).
|
| furniture, paneling, and bookshelves |
If your wood furnishings contain pressboard (as much wood furnishings do), they are probably emitting formaldehyde-containing gas as the glue that holds the particle board together decomposes. This means that they will continue to "offgas" well after they are placed in your home. |
| paint |
The most hazardous components of paint are the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which can affect your central nervous system. |
| carpeting |
Carpets that are made of synthetic fibers can emit up to 120 hazardous chemicals. If your carpet is of natural fibers, the carpet padding or backing, if not also of natural fibers, is probably emitting hazardous chemicals. In addition to these problems, wall-to-wall carpets are sometimes installed over a particle-board subfloor, which emits formaldehyde. |
| bedding and upholstery |
Bedding and upholstered furniture are typically constructed of polyurethane foam and treated with fire retardant chemicals. The polyurethane foam is manufactured from petroleum and has been described as a block of solid gasoline sitting in your home. When it burns, it emits a lethal mix of fumes and black smoke. It also burns very fast, making it one of the greatest threats to people involved in a fire. Fire retardant chemicals on bedding and upholstery reduce the risk that bedding and upholstery will ignite when exposed to a flame or a cigarette. However, these chemicals have raised health concerns across a broad spectrum of regulators and the furnishings industry.
New Consumer Product Safety Commission standards, adopted in July 2007, call for increased fire resistance of furnishings made with polyurethane foam, but do not require the use of fire-retardant chemicals. There are other new fire retardant technologies on the market that may also be used. (furnituretoday.com--July 2007, new Consumer Product Safety Commission standards) |
