East 5th Street's  Raised Garden Bed

Ever wonder what happens when the ugly scaffolding in front of your favorite corner store comes down? Well, after the scaffolding has been used for construction purposes, it is retired and sent to a landfill. Build It Green!NYC saw an opportunity to help divert the wood from the waste stream and provide free materials to local gardens. 

BIG!Blooms began last year, and has already diverted 3,000 boards of scaffolding lumber to be used as raised garden beds, tree guards, and compost bins for local community and school gardens. 

Two Coves' Raised  Garden Bed

One of the early donors for this program is local LIC company, United Hoisting and Scaffolding.  "I have got to say, it feels great seeing the end result with the product we donate," said Joe Covello, Vice President at UHSC.  "Seeing the joy in the people's faces and the benefit we bring to their communities is what make us continue to donate to BIG!NYC."

Another big scaffolding donor is NJ based,

Scaffolding drop off  for GreenThumb gardens