ioby blog

We are seeking mild-mannered, young to middle-aged professional computers willing to work with the ioby staff and our four new interns. We are patient, somewhat clean, and willing to eat and drink far away from any donated electronics. No cats. Mouse Friendly.

Firefighters, vagabonds, bus buddies. Just a few names given to the new wave of people who spend more than an hour and a half traveling to and from work every day, the national average being 50 minutes. These new super commuters have increased over 95% since 1990, and the number only seems to be rising.

When most people think of New York City, one of the last things that come to mind is “green.” Although the buildings might outnumber the trees, and the air quality is far from ideal, surprisingly, New York City is the greenest city in the United States.

There’s nothing quite like the fresh, clean smell after it rains in New York. The scraps of food, the grime, and the puddles of unidentified liquids are swept away by the rain, leaving us with a visibly cleaner city. Right? Wrong.

With the recent release of plans for New York City’s bike share initiative, many people are drawing comparisons between New York’s proposed system and  successful bike shares in London, Paris, and other American cities like Boston. While a lot could be learned from these systems, it’s important not to overlook a bike share that already exists in New York.

When people think of New York City, they don’t think of farmland. At least, not usually.

A few years ago, the space on the corner of South 4th St. and Hewes St. in Williamsburg was just an abandoned lot; today, it is a vibrant community garden.

After having interviewed Gary Giordano and Joe Addabbo about their take on the development of the Ridgewood Reservoir, we decided it would only make sense to ask someone from Parks and Recreation-- the agency, not the show-- about the process.

The 50-acre, three-basin Ridgewood Reservoir sits on high ridge where Queens and Brooklyn meet, just south of the Jackie Robinson Parkway, in the northeast corner of Highland Park.

Over the past few years the Ridgewood Reservoir has become the recent battle grounds for the all too familiar turf war between the demands of New York city’s population and the natural environment. 

It would be hard to argue that New York is a clean city. We’ve all seen it: mounds of trash, air pollution, pests, last night’s dinner congealing on sidewalks, etc. But since 1989, the city has required that businesses and citizens alike recycle cardboard, paper, aluminum, beverage containers, and certain other plastics. People separate their recyclables, bag it up, and watch it get whisked away, much like regular garbage. But what happens to it after that?

It would be hard to argue that New York is a clean city. We’ve all seen it: mounds of trash, air pollution, pests, last night’s dinner congealing on sidewalks, etc. But since 1989, the city has required that businesses and citizens alike recycle cardboard, paper, aluminum, beverage containers, and certain other plastics. People separate their recyclables, bag it up, and watch it get whisked away, much like regular garbage. But what happens to it after that?

It would be hard to argue that New York is a clean city. We’ve all seen it: mounds of trash, air pollution, pests, last night’s dinner congealing on sidewalks, etc. But since 1989, the city has required that businesses and citizens alike recycle cardboard, paper, aluminum, beverage containers, and certain other plastics. People separate their recyclables, bag it up, and watch it get whisked away, much like regular garbage. But what happens to it after that?

Food waste is the third largest component of generated waste and second largest component of discarded waste. The amount of food waste generated in the waste stream has increased by 1.2 million tons in the last 25 years.

Everyday, New York City produces 32,000 tons of construction-demolition waste and over 16,500 tons of building material are thrown out. Disposal of these materials is also a sizable expense, individuals have to pay for local municipalities, landfill costs (charged by the ton or yard), tipping cost, rental fees (charged by size), taxes, and the occasionally special fee. Adding up all of the charges, dumping waste can cost around $500! Furthermore, the disposed substances congest landfills, release carbon into the atmosphere, and stimulate a demand for new manufactured materials--all of which have detrimental effects to the environment. But so much of the disposed articles are salvageable, such as wood floors, doors, windows, etc...