Door-to-Door Recycling Collection Initiative

The Inner City Green Team’s (ICGT) mission is to protect the environment and help transform the lives of residents living in NYCHA developments through education, job training and paid work that can lead to a lifetime of employment and civic engagement. Our primary objective is to create a sustainable, scalable, and replicable recycling infrastructure at NYCHA with job creation and community revitalization at its core. ICGT is a growing non-profit organization
(501 (c) (3) status pending) founded by and staffed by NYCHA residents.

July 12, 2018, Start of recycling collection: https://twitter.com/GreenCityForce/status/1018940488706031616

Door-to-door recycling collection at @NYCHA Brownsville Houses kicked off last week as part of the @NYC_CTO #NYCx Co-Lab: Zero Waste in Shared Space Challenge. Cohort 17 served in high spirits echoing their chant through the community. #NYCHArecycles

Special thanks to:

The City of New York for awarding our project $20,000 through the NYCx Co-Lab Challenge http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycx/zerowaste/zerowastechallenge.html

Extra special thanks to:

• ​Green City Force (GCF)
• ​GrowNYC (GNYC)
• New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)​
• NYC Dept. of Sanitation (DSNY)
• Mayor's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (MOCTO)
• ​NYC Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC)
• ​Mother's on the Move (MOM)
• Fund for Public Housing 

NYCHA Recognition Ceremony 4/18

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1rmGPmNvznyJN

• Build a website 
• Develop a recycling model to full scale
• Establish 501 (c) (3) business model
• Consult with tech companies 
• Create marketing & promotion campaign 
• Invest in digital technology 
• ​Develop an incentive-based reward system 
• ​Build a job training platform  
• Train and hire resident-run collection team

While watching my mother's passionate engagement in caring for her community, her actions made me wish that I would someday adopt her desire to serve. As a teen, I was reluctant in helping her with her work, but I deeply wished I could become engulfed in a cause that I could be passionate about. When looking back at how all of this initiative got started,  I would have to thank a teen sitting on a NYCHA's recycling bins one summer in 2006, who briefed me that I was "wasting my time" continuously placing my recyclables in the bins provided, because, "it only gets thrown in the garbage." Upon further investigating his unbelievable claim, I was disappointed to learn what he revealed to me were facts! In my head, dozens of questions swirled which required answers from the powers that be. The activism bug bit me!! 

This problem had to be addressed due to the negative impact on society, the city, and our planet. 

Socially:

• Super convenient recycling service 
• Green Jobs for NYCHA Residents  
• Addresses Local Law 49 (LL49)

Economically:

• No Cost to NYC Taxpayers 
• Financial savings for New York City 

Environmentally:

• Greener and Cleaner Community
• Zero Waste to Landfill by 2030 (0x30)  - Across our city, NYCHA developments are generating an estimated 300 tons of recyclable metal, glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, and food waste, that can be diverted from landfills every day. Improving recycling capture rates (with limited contamination) in public housing is a major lever in the quest to reach the City’s goal of zero waste.