Lean, Mean & Green – LM is a Recycling Machine!

By: Caroline De Tino

Late last month, Lower Manhattan hit a new milestone! In a neighborhood known for record-breaking skyscrapers, this success was more grounded, but no less monumental. And it couldn’t have been done without you!

The Downtown Alliance’s recycling initiative surpassed the 1,000 ton mark! That’s 1,000 tons of glass, metal, paper and plastic from Lower Manhattan that were kept from landfills and helped make our city and planet greener. The program has helped divert one-third of all of the neighborhood’s waste into recycling.

For a sense of perspective on all this recycling, that is on par with the weight of 33 elephants making their way down Broadway. That’s 74 city buses. If you want to think about a different type of green, try $37 billion worth of gold. And in a neighborhood of skyscrapers, if all this recycling was stacked in paper, it would be 12 miles high with what one would imagine is a heck of an observation deck.

The recycling initiative, which started in 2014, would not have been possible without the support of Council Member Margaret Chin, NYC EDC and the Department of Sanitation.

There are now 176 Bigbelly compactors in Lower Manhattan. Next time you’re looking to throw out a newspaper, bottle or, soda can, drop it in one of the recycling compactors and help us reach our next milestone!