Grassroots Recycling Effort Springs Up in New York City Housing Project

The New York Times recently covered an inspiring story about a couple of unlikely environmental superstars: Gloria Allen and Sarah Martin, elderly residents of New York City’s General Grant Houses public housing project.

Leaders of the project’s residents’ association, Allen, an 82-year-old retired printing company worker, and Martin, a 72-year-old former school food preparation manager, share a marked determination to spread the “gospel” of recycling to their fellow residents.

The efforts of Allen and Martin may sound quaint, but theirs is important work. Although New York City’s recycling program is one of the largest in the nation, only about 17% of the city’s household waste makes it into recycling bins, according to The Times. Among the city’s housing projects, those rates may be even lower.

Indeed, both Allen and Martin noticed that recycling signs and bins were largely being ignored, so they set out to educate their fellow residents about how — and what — to recycle. They started recruiting and training volunteers, organizing collections of electronic waste and holding workshops on issues such as nontoxic cleaning products. They say their efforts have led a reduction of at least 10 bags of waste per day in each of the project’s five buildings, proving that they’ve managed to garner at least some of their fellow residents’ support.

Read more about the ladies’ work in The New York Times.