2008 by Flatbush Gardener

You know when you see those hippie dippie hipster types sitting in the street on a plot of grass? Well, that’s an organized thing. In fact, Park(ing) Day is an international event and it’s taking place tomorrow on 9/18. Participants reclaim parking spots and transform them into hang out areas.

Check out the map. The “parks” will be all around the city. There’s even one in Newburgh, NY.

My ex-tenant is doing one on my corner….“1. Our park imagines a crack in façade of concrete and time, allowing a glimpse of the native vegetation that populated our island ecosystem prior to the introduction of invasive species (and Europeans). 2. (We are aware of the irony of white kids teaching invasive vegetation in Bed-Stuy, a gentrifying community).” I can’t wait to hear what the crabby old timers have to say about it.

The biggie in Brooklyn is probably the Cortelyou Road “park” hosted by Sustainable Flatbush.

It’s a daytime event. So, like….why don’t these people have to work? I’m jealous.

Oh fun! Vermont Farm Table allows you to build your own table right there online. You can choose from sustainable new or reclaimed wood and pick out any legs you want to go with the top. No tools or skill needed.

Prices run from $1280-$1380 for stock tables. The furniture is sealed with tung or linseed oil and any paint they use is low VOC. They do custom designs as well.

Gerald at Brooklyn Modern, my new BFF, sent me info on green roof workshops in Brooklyn. The intensive courses are $600 a pop for a full day or $300 for a semi-intensive 3 hour course. If you just want some basic info, there is a free class at the Park Slope Coop on August 8th.

Brought to you by Green It Yourself and Eco Brooklyn.

Therapeutic Landscapes did a lovely, thoughtful post about Landscapes of Remembrance last week and asked for some input. Well, since I spent my Sunday at a cemetery, I can do just that.

Let me start by talking about me, because that’s my favorite subject. I’m terrified of pain and suffering, but once I’m dead, I don’t care what you do with me. I won’t feel it. I don’t want my decomposing body to take up good space on this earth. So, I’ve signed up to recycle my organs and the rest of me can be cremated and flushed down the toilet for all I care.

With the green movement well under way, are there more options for eco friendly burials these days?

Absolutely! But let’s backtrack by talking a bit about religion. Ok, I don’t know anything about religion, being the heathen that I am, but I did find out one thing over the weekend. Jews don’t embalm. They also don’t cremate (or tattoo, but that’s off topic). It has something to do with leaving the body as it came into this world. I’m sure Judaism isn’t the only religion to opt out on the hazardous embalming fluids, but I’ll let you fill me in if you know of others.

A green burial simply means no embalming fluids and a bio-degradable casket. There are green burial grounds popping up all over.

Going back to my cremation, I’ve learned that the use of fossil fuel during the process doesn’t make it the  most sustainable alternative.

The Great Burial Reef offers a burial of ashes at sea. Sounds like a fantastic idea! But the cheap bitch in me says “Why can’t my friends and family just take my ashes and throw them overboard themselves?”

A sky burial seems like the best option to me, but alas, it is SO NOT legal in the states! This is the Tibetan funerary practice of cutting up the body and letting the birds eat it. Talk about recycling! There is a sky burial cemetery in Texas, but the bird eating thing is only allowed for pets. Pets that may be buried with you. Now, I like THAT option! But dead or not, I’m not spending my eternity in Texas.

The Center for Architecture always has some wonderful exhibits, but there’s an upcoming show that’s special to us here, because it features 439 Metropolitan.

Allow me to refresh your memory. 439 Metropolitan was the LEED certified building in Williamsburg that I visited to interview architect Mark Helder for “A Walk Around the Blog“. You can read more about it here and here.

Well, you can have a look at the apartments on the website or you can get off your butts and visit the exhibit. “Make it Work/Engineering Possibilities” looks at how engineers envision and realize the future of our built environment by transforming structures, enhancing materials, and re-inventing building technologies.

The show runs January 22-April 25th at Center for Architecture on LaGuardia Place.