Flushing Meadows Corona Park

The Daily Plant : Monday, March 25, 2013

Sustainable Parks Corner

Parks is kicking off our first monthly tune-up of the year, and the focus for March is smart printing practices. Tune into the Sustainable Parks Corner for profiles, tips, facts and other information related to how you can reduce your footprint!

Green Pledge Revisited:
Janice Melnick
Position: Flushing Meadows Corona Park Administrator
Borough: Queens
Pledge: “Make double-sided copies whenever possible”

Why did you choose this as your pledge?
In my previous position as well as in my current, we have to print a lot of flyers and handouts to promote activities in the park. It just made sense to save paper by promoting two events at a time on a double-sided flyer.

What have you done to follow through on your green pledge?
I have printed and copied various internal documents as 2-sided whenever appropriate. In addition, we have printed and copied flyers promoting events in the park as 2-sided such as our Halloween Festival and our Halloween Lantern tours. We printed and distributed information on pools – schedules and rules and regulations - for the public as 2-sided. Of course, we also utilize digital media such as e-blasts whenever possible to save on paper altogether.

What specific challenges have you faced in following through with your pledge?
I have not faced any particular challenges. We do this whenever it makes sense for what is being printed, especially long internal documents.

Has this pledge made you more conscious of your actions elsewhere?
Yes, I also try to use scrap paper for printing drafts and have cut up old letterhead to use as notepads rather than throw it away.

Join the 1,272 other Parkies who have made a Green Pledge on the Sustainability Intranet page and receive a reusable water bottle. Tell us your Green Pledge story at sustainableparks@parks.nyc.gov.

Green Tip of the Week: Saving Toner and Time with Window Envelopes

Reducing your footprint and living sustainably is not always as simple as one might think. Sometimes you have to get a little creative. One day in 2009, Carol Pagano - Principal Administrative Associate for the Manhattan Construction Division of Capital Projects - found herself without any solid-colored Park envelopes. Unable to track down extras, she settled for a rare alternative; window envelopes. It did not take long before she realized she struck green gold.

"I realized then what a waste of time it had been going back each time to print an envelope with the same address that was already on the letterhead," she said. " It was so easy to adjust the margins on my correspondence work so that, when folded, the mailing address on the letterhead appeared in the window".

Not printing an address might not seem significant, but when your mailings are easily "50 or more pieces a week", the toner adds up. "Between directives, time extensions, requests for proposals, and general correspondence for directors, project managers and resident engineers on 20 active projects, I keep the mailroom very busy," said Pagano. Toner costs and the environmental impact of printing are equally important to consider along with addressing paper waste. One recommendation to reduce paper has been to scan more documents and send them via email. While Pagano supports this important practice, she also acknowledges that they "still need to send out originals of directives and other documents for legal reasons". Therefore, it is good to explore a variety of ways to reduce your impact. Now, Pagano makes sure she always has a supply of window envelopes on hand.

The Green Tip idea was submitted by Carol Pagano and written by Sustainability Intern, Mike Mullaley. Have an idea how to be more sustainable in your work area? Send us a tip at sustainableparks@nyc.parks.gov.

“There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure,
but I don't know many of them.”

Sylvia Plath
(1932 - 1963)

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