Green Options » green spaces

From Landfill to Park in 30 Years

Dawn Killough — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:32:30 +0000

It is hard to believe, but the City of New York has implemented plans to renovate a former landfill into a city park. This is quite an endeavor, and certainly a model for site restoration.

The Fresh Kills Landfill was established in 1948, and was the principal dumping site for the City of New York. It even had the dubious distinction of being the largest landfill in the world! The site was closed in March of 2001, until 9/11, when it was reopened for ten months to receive debris from the World Trade Centers.

The current master plan incorporates several programming elements, including athletic fields, horseback riding, mountain biking, nature trails, and large-scale art exhibits. It will also host a variety of wildlife and native plants, and provide amenities for nature viewing. The park campus will be broken up into five smaller sections, each providing many opportunities for the public to use its various resources. The entire project is expected to take 30 years, and will be split into three 10-year phases.

This is a monumental project, which will hopefully spur other communities to look at how they can take what may be considered “contaminated” sites and turn them back to nature.

For more information, visit the Fresh Kills Park website. You can even sign up for a newsletter to track the progress of the development.

Sunshine Inside and Out, New Interior Decorating Options, for Those that Love the Sun All Day

Lucille Chi — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:18:03 +0000

For me, sunshine is so important, it makes me smile. Just think, if we could harness sunlight indoors, not only would we cut back on energy bills by twenty percent, we will also be able to nourish ourselves with indoor gardens, that heal. Here are futuristic indoor sunlight options (some visionary research projects) that may become more widely available with time (going counter-clockwise)~

This indoor chandelier is brilliant, I’d love to see this available in different sizes and shapes, staying with the cosmic theme.
“Turn off the light ~ here comes the sun” is the motto of Parans, who states that their goal is to collect natural sunlight, distributed through fiber optic cables to office work spaces.
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National PARK(ing) Day: Turning Car Spaces into Green Spaces

Becky Striepe — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:30:07 +0000

[image via John Lambert Pearson]

This Friday is National PARK(ing) day! Across the U.S. volunteers will transform hundreds of parking spaces into tiny, temporary parks. The event is sponsored by The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization launched by REBAR, an art collective, to raise awareness about the need for more green space.

The first PARK(ing) Day was held in September of last year, and there were over 200 spaces turned into guerrilla parks. This year, the plan is to double that number! With over 70 cities participating, National PARK(ing) Day is aiming to transform more than 400 parking spaces into green spaces. Check out a few of the events after the jump!