As summer sets in, there's no slowing down for GrowNYC's Office of Recycling Outreach and Education! We're bringing you three Stop 'N' Swaps this month, and setting up nearly a dozen new Greenmarket collection sites for your food scraps and textiles. Read on for more recycling news, including a Shred Fest on the Upper East Side and a great way to preserve your t-shirt memories.

What about...BULKY PLASTICS?

Most New Yorkers know by now to recycle plastic bottles and jugs, and more are getting on board with recycling other rigid plastics, like margarine tubs and plastic take-out containers, thanks to the City's expansion of recycling last April. But what about bulky plastics, like lawn furniture, buckets and appliances? Large rigid plastics, including those too big to fit in recycling bins or bags are also accepted for recycling! Simply put them out with the rest of your recyclables on your recycling set out day. Learn more.

Snug Harbor Apartments Puts Staten Island on the Map for E-waste and Textile Recycling

Congratulations to Snug Harbor Apartments for being the first in Staten Island to join the NYC Department of Sanitation's e-cycleNYC and re-fashioNYC programs. Bins will be placed onsite at this beautiful 66-unit garden apartment complex to allow convenient access for electronics and textiles recycling, preparing the property for the upcoming ban on curbside e-waste disposal set for 2015. Electronics such as televisions, computers and printers will be safely stored in locked bins and picked up for domestic processing according to the strictest environmental standards available. Clothing, linens, shoes and other textiles will be collected for reuse or recycling. Making up 6% of household waste, removing textiles from the trash will surely lighten the load for building staff! Want to improve recycling in Staten Island? Contact our Staten Island Recycling Outreach Coordinator.

Food Scrap and Textile Collections Continue to Expand at Greenmarkets

GrowNYC Greenmarkets are opening for the season throughout the city, bringing with them not only a bounty of fresh regional products, but also expanding weekly opportunities for New Yorkers to recycle textiles and compost food scraps. We're opening 10 new locations for clothing & textile recycling this spring and summer, and adding 3 new food scrap collection sites. To date we've collected more than 2.7 million pounds of textiles and 2.85 million pounds of food scraps at dozens of Greenmarket collection sites throughout the city. Together, food scraps and textiles comprise 23% of NYC's waste, making efforts like these critical to reducing the big apple's environmental footprint. Learn more.

Greenmarket Food Scrap and Textile Collections Opening in June

Collection hours may differ from market hours; please adhere to stated drop-off hours.

Bronx Borough Hall - food scrap and textile collection (6/3)
St. Mark's Church - food scrap and textile collection (6/3)
Bay Ridge - food scrap and textile collection (6/3)
Socrates Sculpture Park - food scrap collection (6/7)
Staten Island Mall - food scrap and textile collection (6/7)
Parkchester - food scrap and textile collection (6/13)
97th Street - food scrap and textile collection (6/13)
Sunset Park - food scrap and textile collection (6/21)
92nd Street - food scrap and textile collection (6/22)
Mt. Sinai - food scrap and textile collection (6/25)
175th Street - food scrap and textile collection (6/26)

Upcoming Events

Stop 'N' Swap� Community Reuse Events

We're coming to the Bronx, Staten Island and Washington Heights this month! Bring clean, reusable, portable items such as clothing, house wares, games, books & toys that you no longer need, and take home something new-to-you, free! You don't have to bring something to take something. No furniture or large items, please. Learn more.

Saturday, June 14, 12pm-3pm - Bronx
Classic Cornerstone Community Center
286 E. 156th St at the corner of Morris Ave (map)

Sunday, June 22, 12pm-3pm - Staten Island
Christ Church New Brighton
76 Franklin Ave (map)

Saturday, June 28, 11:30am-2:30pm - Washington Heights
STAR Community Center
650 W 187th St at Wadsworth (map)

Shred-A-Thon - Upper East Side
Sunday, June 22, 11am-2pm
curbside on the west side of 1st Ave b/t 92nd and 93rd Sts

Upper Green Side will host a paper shredding event to celebrate the season opening of the 92nd Street Greenmarket. Shred and recycle documents of any kind, free! No cardboard, handled shopping bags, paper clips, metal or plastic bindings, or hardcover books.

Electronics Recycling with the LES Ecology Center

Responsibly recycle unwanted or broken electronics (no appliances such as microwaves or refrigerators) with the Lower East Side Ecology Center. All events 10am-4pm. Click here for a list of what's accepted and find the full summer schedule here.

6/14/14: Prospect Heights, St. Marks Avenue between Underhill & Vanderbilt Avenues
6/21/14: Park Slope, 5th Street & 6th Avenue

7/12/14: Chelsea, Tekserve 119 W 23rd Street
7/13/14: Flushing, Queens Botanical Garden, enter parking lot at Crommelin Avenue
7/19/14: Staten Island, College of Staten Island, 2800 Victory Blvd, parking lot 6
8/16/14: Morningside Height, LaSalle Street at Broadway

Preserve Your T-shirt Memories and Do Good!

T-shirts tell the story of a special time and place in your life, or the life of someone you love. Give your t-shirts a new life by making them into a one-of-a-kind blanket through Project Repat.

Use promo code 'grownyc' at checkout on projectrepat.com for a 10% discount, and another 10% of your purchase will be donated to support GrowNYC!

Want to be informed about Greenmarket, Recycling and Gardening programs in your neighborhood? Update your profile! Tune your preferences to get the information you want from GrowNYC.

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OFFICE OF RECYCLING OUTREACH & EDUCATION (OROE) is a NYC Department of Sanitation funded project housed within the nonprofit organization, GrowNYC. OROE works to improve the City's recycling rate by educating residents about recycling and waste prevention, and working with landlords to make sure building recycling programs are adequate. Our free services include apartment building recycling audits, trainings for tenants and supers, community events centered on education and special collection programs for textiles, electronics, and compost. Our efforts target one-quarter of New York City residents. Our borough-wide coordinators identify and address the specific challenges to recycling within a Community District. For more information visit www.grownyc.org or call 212-788-7964.