Wow this is some really good information. So now what are you gonna do?
1. We’ve planted 562,023 trees (and counting) since 2005. Trees clean pollutants from the air, cool streets and sidewalks, and boost property value, which is why the MillionTreesNYC initiative is dedicated to sprucing up the city with a million new trees over the next decade.
2. New York Harbor is cleaner now than at any time in the last century.
More than 116 square miles (75%) of New York’s side of the harbor meets
pathogen standards for swimming, and more than 130 square miles (95%)
of the harbor is open for boating, according to the 2011 PlaNYC report.
“You didn’t want to be near the water in the old days,” says Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “Now people swim in the rivers, which was unthinkable in the ’70s.”
3. Our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have fallen 13% below 2005 levels.
A New Yorker’s carbon footprint is already one-third that of the
average American because our densely populated city makes for an
energy-efficient lifestyle. But now more than 100 buildings have had
energy-efficiency retrofits to reduce GHG emissions 30% by 2030.
Planting trees and adding hybrid vehicles to the mass transit fleet have
also cleared the air.
4. New York is lit with energy-efficient bulbs. The
Great White Way has seen the light, with 38 Broadway theaters converting
to LED and CFL bulbs on their marquees, saving 2 million kilowatt hours
of electricity a year, according to the Broadway Green Alliance. MTA
bridges and tunnels have been replacing the old 100-watt necklace lights
on the Verrazano-Narrows, Robert F. Kennedy and Throgs Neck Bridges with efficient LED fixtures since April 2008.
5. 29 of the NYC Green Codes Task Force’s 111 recommendations have been passed into laws and practices.
By 2030, these new codes under the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan will
cut citywide carbon emissions by almost 5%, lower daily water
consumption by the equivalent of 30 Central Park Reservoirs, and divert
100,000 tons of asphalt from landfills every year — while also creating
18,000 construction-related jobs.
6. More than 30% of the city's yellow cabs turned green.
There are 2,774 gasoline-electric hybrid cabs and 1,677 hybrid buses on
the road, reducing GHG emissions from some of the city’s heaviest-used
vehicles. NYC also boasts the largest municipal electric vehicle fleet
in the country, with 430 in use by the police, fire, sanitation,
transportation and parks departments.
7. NYC has the highest concentration of Certified Green Restaurants across the U.S. and Canada. The Green Restaurant Association says 71 local eateries (from the 5 Napkin Burger chain to Mario Batali’s
Babbo) meet their standards for using sustainable food and building
materials, water and energy efficiency, waste reduction and recycling.
8. Our recycling program will divert 550,000 tons (or 30%) of solid waste from our landfills annually by 2017.
It’s also setting up 1,000 public recycling receptacles by 2013 (nearly
10 years ahead of schedule) and working to expand the types of plastics
that can be recycled.
9. More than 1,000 community gardens are flourishing across the boroughs.
Some 80% of these are growing food, mostly in neighborhoods with
limited access to fresh produce and healthy food. GrowNYC has 61
registered greenmarkets around town, as well, with 41 accepting EBT.
10. The city added 200 miles of bike lanes in just three years.
Now more than half a million New Yorkers are cycling across the
boroughs, and commuter cycling more than doubled from 2007 to 2011.
Every person on a bike avoids polluting the air in a vehicle while
getting exercise, to boot.
