Sustainability Weekly
Fridays are for…
NYC Composting, World Habitat Day, Coastal Resilience Projects, and more!
by Alli DiGiacomo
Happy Friday! If you're looking for things to do this weekend other than getting outside and enjoying this beautiful weather here in NYC, you could check out the opening of the new Flea Market in Brooklyn, or the “The Great Migration” in the Meatpacking district, a public art installation to support indigenous voices and animal rights.
Big news for NYC in October! Curbside Composting service will be available to ALL Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island residents starting October 6, 2024. It is already currently available to ALL residents in Brooklyn and Queens. Service is year-round every week, and collection is on your recycling day. See the NYC Department of Sanitation website for more information about composting in your neighborhood and a schedule of live info sessions.
Also happening this week on October 7th is World Habitat Day. 2024’s theme is “Engaging youth to create a better urban future”, focusing on how we can engage the new generation in planning their urban present and future through participatory processes and local leadership opportunities.
Keep reading for more of this week’s sustainability news…
T H I S W E E K ’ S T O P S T O R I E S
LIVING BREAKWATERS PROJECT COMPLETED AFTER A DECADE
The Living Breakwaters project, a $111 million coastal resilience initiative, has been completed after more than a decade of work. It’s intention is to protect Staten Island's Tottenville shoreline and restore marine ecosystems, featuring 2,400 feet of breakwaters. The breakwaters are eight partially submerged structures designed to reduce storm waves, curb erosion, and create habitats for marine life like crabs, mussels, seals, and fish. The structures use advanced hydrodynamic modeling to reduce wave impact and restore sediment flow, reversing beach erosion and reviving ecosystem benefits once provided by oyster reefs.
The project was originally proposed after Superstorm Sandy as part of the Rebuild by Design competition in 2013, and led by SCAPE Landscape Architecture in collaboration with engineers and ecologists. This initiative supports New York’s broader climate adaptation and resilience efforts, with a long-term goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The project will help safeguard the region from future storms and improve both the environment and local infrastructure.
TURNING SUBWAY TRAINS INTO POWER STATIONS
Barcelona's subway system is using regenerative braking technology to power electric vehicle (EV) chargers and station infrastructure. In certain neighborhoods, passengers are unknowingly riding on trains that generate electricity through friction each time they stop. This energy is converted and used to power the subway's lights, escalators, and a network of EV chargers, part of a project called MetroCHARGE. Currently, one-third of the energy powers trains, and the rest goes to station amenities and chargers. The charging infrastructure taps into energy that would otherwise be wasted as heat, cooling subway tunnels by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit.
The project cost about $8.6 million but is expected to break even in four to five years through energy savings and revenue from EV charging. Barcelona plans to add 13 more chargers by October, helping regenerative braking supply 41% of the energy needed for trains, saving about 3,885 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. Barcelona is one of the few cities to extensively use this technology, and the first to use it for EV charging.
New York is considering similar implementations. A 2018 study found that the MTA could cut its energy consumption by 35% if it adopted regenerative braking system-wide and used the electricity it generates to power trains and station amenities. Challenges to this, aside from initial funding (RIP congestion pricing), include the amount of stakeholders involved like electric and technology companies.
TRI-STATE AREA HOMES AT SERIOUS RISK OF FLOODING
A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found more than 1 million homes (and their 4 million occupants) in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are at serious risk of flooding. This means more than 1 in 10 properties are at serious risk of flooding, ranking the tristate area among the top 25% of riskiest properties in the country. The study includes some inland areas like Buffalo and Newark, and Brooklyn is at the highest risk out of anywhere in the tristate area. More than 400,000 of the buildings that are at risk of flooding in these states are located in low- or moderate-income communities. The report states, “flooding is costly, involving direct costs like property damage and damaged infrastructure and indirect costs like falling property values, rising insurance premiums, and displacement risk.” The risk is projected to continue increasing.
MORE IN SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
Amtrak train options will now show up when customers use Google to search for flights.
End of an era as Britain’s last coal-fired power plant shuts down.
Zillow is planning on featuring climate risk and insurance data on listings.
Climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum sworn in as president of Mexico.
The largest dam removal project in the US is completed – a major win for Indigenous tribes.
Four college students won an award for their wildfire-detecting “pinecone” that automatically alerts communities and rescue crews.
Scientists uncover heat-tolerant corals in Great Barrier Reef, indicating a better future for reefs.
Ford is launching a new incentive program today that will offer complimentary home chargers and installation to people who buy or lease a Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, or E-Transit. The “Ford Power Promise” program will go through the end of the year and is a bid to win over people who may be curious about EVs but are hesitant to commit.
Scientists invented “coffee robots” to clean oil and microplastics from water using coffee grounds.
World's first vertical strawberry farm opens in Virginia, covering 40,000 SF on 30ft towers.