*ReBlog: Our Friend, the ever stylish and ever eloquent Eco-Blogger Starre Vartan has released an article about our fearless leader.

Two Highly Inclusive, Working NYC Residential Recycling Models, Dec 2011

Implementing a new recycling bin program in most residential scenarios in NYC is both easy and desirable for tenants.

We want to thank Joan S. Levine and Allison Walsh for the effort they have put forth to pilot and host our drive program in their residential buildings. Here are some of their thoughts about hosting drives:::

WC: Community Response: How would you describe the response to the Wearable Collections recycling initiative?

AW: Concord Village is a seven-building, 1,023 unit apartment complex, and we have been having Wearable Collections events two-three times a year for the past few years. Each time, we have a larger turn-out.

JL: Very enthusiastic. People are always stopping me and asking when the next textile collection will be.

WC: Promotional Tips: Sometimes flyers and announcements can get lost in the midst of such a large community as yours. Can you tell us a little bit about how you were able to generate so much participation?

AW: Our community is now used to the events happening, and people save up their materials, planning for the next collection. As the organizer, I have more and more people asking me between events when the next one is scheduled.

JL: We make our own flyer which we put up on every floor in our co-op and in every building of the adjacent public housing development across the street.

Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you already know, we are so lucky and grateful to work with GrowNYC’s Office of Recycling Outreach and Education.  After a recent, very successful clothing recycling drive at La Marqueta in Harlem, we asked OROE’s Ermin Siljkovic what he thought about the outcome:

WC:  Community Response

How would you describe the response to the Wearable Collections recycling initiative?

E:  It was great! The community came out in droves. We collected over 1 ton of material.

WC: Previous Experiences

How has this experience compared to other events you have hosted?

E: This is was on par with an event the previous April which tallied about the same amount. This time there was more going on at the market, like a Thanksgiving food bag sale and cooking demos which certainly added an awesome element to the event.

WC: Timing: How do you feel planning/timing effects the outcome of your drives? Some folks tell us they schedule their events near specific holidays. Others aim at strategic points in a school year or fiscal year, or to fall onto the same date as a popular community event. What is your winning formula?

E: Fortunately we had a ton of community partners on our side including the NYC EDC, The Manhattan Borough President’s Office, Community Board 11, some local electeds and a number of community based orgs were involved as well. So the wider the participation, the better.
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November has been an amazing month for our partners and their clothing drives. We thought it might be a good idea to ask them some questions and have them share some things they learned from their experience.  We expect these tips to be quite useful for anyone who plans on hosting a drive in the future. For the first in our series, we have interviewed Lisa Wolff, the President of  the Board of Education for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District.  Hopewell Valley just recently hosted a district wide clothing recycling event and it was a tremendous success. The district was able to collect 8376 lbs of textiles over two weeks.  Here’s what Lisa had to say:

WC: Why do a coordinated District-Wide textile drive, rather than an individual school drive?

• Encourages Teamwork – Our district has 6 schools (4 Elementary, 1 Middle School, 1 High School).  Since we are “all in this together”, the schools all work together to maximize our outcome.   Parents of multiple kids can send in stuff to any school and do not need to choose which school to support.
• Better Advertising and PR -  A challenge for all fundraisers is advertising and getting heard over all the noise.  “District wide” initiatives are more likely to get press in local papers and in most media communications.  Individual school fundraisers often get lost since they have more limited appeal.
• Maximizes income and minimize resource usage – Wearable Collections will give you a little higher pay per pound if you supply your own storage and transport to the sorting location.  Our district used a box truck that picked up from all locations on the last day.   We could have not justified district staff & truck use for 6 separate textile drives.

Read the rest of this entry »

As the Wearable Collections crew takes a few days of well needed rest, we want to show our gratitude to those who have helped make 2011 our best year so far. Wearable Collections is nothing without the communities we service.  We sincerely thank those of you who fill out the forms to Request a Bin or Host a Drive. These activists are the true stars, helping to bring our service to your buildings and organizations.  Together we have collected nearly 1.5 million lbs of textile and clothing waste, and generated nearly $50,000 for our     partner charities, schools, and community organizations in 2011. Wearable Collections has been recycling clothes since 2005 and we are very proud and humbled by the continued support we receive.  On this day of thanks, we would like to offer our thanks to all of you. Your giving has made a tremendous impact on all of our communities.

Together, with our school and community organization allies, we are starting to see more of the exciting possibilities of recycling drives.

Our impressive recent Fall 2011 totals:

On Friday the 19th of October, Pratt Towers collected 1250 lbs of clothing & textile. The Pratt Towers Collections will support the revitalization of a large 5200 sqft outdoor space next to their building in Clinton Hill. We love their project and hope to help see it through to completion.

Wednesday October 26, The Broadway Green Alliance produced 1200 lbs. Broadway Green is organized to help ecologize our vibrant theater district by providing convenient recycling outlets and summarizing best green practices that can fit into the busy rehearsal and performance schedules of actors and crew members. BGA is managed almost entirely by volunteers. So glad we have a chance to work alongside these wonderful folks.

Our Partner Schools:

For  Sunday October 23, PS 29 generated 5000 lbs on the tail end of their community recycling day. PS 29′s efforts were truly inspirational- they organize a recycling day for old electronics, paper shredding, and a general rummage sale. Their planning and promotional methods will be detailed in a later entry- this type of enthusiasm is really exciting for us.

• 1000 lbs from PS 139 on Sat, October 29th.
• 900 lbs Morningside Heights on Halloween.
• PS 276 collected 1500 lbs of clothing and recyclable textiles on November 4th
• And on November 7 PS 89 generated 900 lbs.

Our Schools are hosting strong collections! It must be a combination of good promotion and community enthusiasm. Thanks very much guys!! Let’s keep this trend going!

It is a pleasure to work alongside other enthusiastic people!!!

If you have been considering going greener in your residential building, October is a great month to do so.

For the month of October only:  Assist us by signing up your building. If we are able to place a recycling bin in your 75+ unit Residential Building/Complex, you will receive a $150.00 gift certificate for cleaning services from our FAVORITE full service cleaning company: SLATE NYC.

At Wearable Collections, we encourage you to take care of your clothing so that it lasts a long time. SLATE NYC will help you do just that, and when it is time to dispose of those garments you wont have to go far, a Wearable Collections bin will be right downstairs.

Send Inquiries to: requests@wearablecollections.com.
We need the following information with your request:

• Your Name & Contact Info
• Your Building’s Address and # of Apartments
  
• Building Manager’s Name, Phone Number, and Email Address

We can assist you with any paperwork or information you might need to show building admin, if you contact us via the above email address.
******* PLEASE TRY TO GET NECESSARY PERMISSION BEFORE SENDING US INFORMATION************



We really appreciate your help with getting our program off the ground!

NOW  it’s official.  Whenever an NYC management company enrolls all of its eligible buildings, with 75 or more residential units, 5 cents per lb of recycled material will be donated to a charity of the MGMT co’s choice.

Designate a space the size of a coat rack in a service room to recycling spent clothes & textiles, and generate funding effortlessly all year round.

Contact us at info@wearablecollections.com

The 14th Street Y would like to invite YOU to participate in their first ever Kids Song Writing contest where everyone gets the chance to be a star!

As part of the Y’s ongoing commitment to the environment we’re hosting a citywide contest to find the next Eco-Idol! Families and kids of all ages have the chance to participate and collaborate in a brand new music video featuring singer/songwriter Nathan Tysen. And it’s all about going green!

Are you a great singer? A songwriter? Someone who just likes to have fun? This contest is for everyone!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

From September 18th until October 31st kids can submit a self-made video on line featuring their great self singing TWO original lyrics that they created (Parents can help!) about what they do as a family, at school, or in their community to be GREEN. Don’t worry, we will provide you with the songs chorus and fun music to get your groove going!

The contest officially kicked-off in person at the 14th Street Y OPEN green HOUSE event on Sunday, September 18th. Kids were be able to jump on stage and sing their heart out with the cameras rolling.

For instructions on how to submit your video click here.

Wearable Collections Recycling is a useful fundraising tool for schools, community centers and universities, and a big relief for building managers who hope to go greener without turning their daily operations upside down. The endorsements speak for themselves! Read on:::

Helena Durst, Co-Vice President of The Durst Organization Inc.: Wearable Collections is a great addition to all of our green luxury residential buildings. The attractive canvas bin provides an easy drop off location for resident used clothing in a building’s common area. And Wearable Collections provides reliable pick-ups so there is never a problem with odor or cleanliness.

Camille Diamond, Director of Community Engagement and Communications, 14th Street Y: This [drive] was so successful!  Everyone is delighted that we’ll have the bin here permanently.  I especially love the way it’s designed to be just flat against the wall and takes no more room than a coat rack.  I’m glad we’ve got wearable collections at the Y! I think we’ll get more and more as people become aware of the bin.

Becky Neustadt, PS 199 PTA: One of the best decisions our PTA made was to invite Wearable Collections to place a permanent bin in our school. We had, in the past, used clothing drives – maybe two or three times a year – all of which were wildly successful. So…having the permanent bin placed, for any family, any time our school is open, to be able to bring in a bag of outgrown clothes, shoes that no longer fit or Little Mermaid sheets your child doesn’t like anymore….and toss them into that bin – well, that was the next logical step. And it has been GREAT. Our parents are happy with it. Bring your child to school and drop off a bag. Pick your child up from school and bring in a bag . And Wearable Collection is happy with us! When the school is open = the bin is available. We are doing our part to keep all of this stuff out of landfills. And the money generated per pound of textiles collected goes directly into our PTA account to help our school. A win win.

Cassandra Agredo, LMSW, Director of Xavier Mission Church of St. Francis Xavier: Wearable Collections has truly helped Xavier Mission become a more environmentally friendly organization.  We’re secure in the knowledge that clothing and textiles that we cannot use will be repurposed somewhere else, instead of becoming landfill.  In addition to this peace of mind, the staff of Wearable Collections are friendly and easy to work with and obviously care deeply about the work that they do and the impact they make.  It’s a pleasure to work with them and to be part of their efforts to make NYC a greener place to live!