Green Education: 9/11 Memorial Garden - Recycled materials - IceStone

I have high ambitions for the project at PS Q151, my overall hope is to create both an environmental education program for the students and the staff and to have the school itself be transformed into a more sustainable site. This will start next fall with the school being part of the Recycling Champions Program through Grow NYC.  This program looks over all the schools recycling activities and sees how it could be optimized as well as educating the students and staff about the subject.  I hope to incorporate a composting program with the recycling program as well.  I have a contact in the Queens botanical garden composting department that will be advising the school, supplying compost bin equipment and workshops for faculty and students.  

Attention to detail in everything also needs to be considered.  This brings us back to the 9/11 memorial butterfly garden.  Here we planted both nectar and host plants and we will be planting milkweed plants for the monarch butterfly to feed on, these have been ordered.  As it is a memorial garden, I created sculptures from recycled car parts and disposed of cinder blocks to be part of the garden.  Again for it is a memorial garden, I wanted to have it be a symbol as well as serve its designated function, so finding the right material to cover the landscaping was important.   

I am happy to say that I will be working with the folks at IceStone to receive recycled glass and / IceStone discarded samples for the ground cover for the butterfly garden. IceStone will be donating all the materials that are needed to the school.  IceStone not only produces all its product from recycled materials, it also has a Cradle to Cradle Gold Certification.  Cradle to Cradle means that everything from the way they manufacture their product to the disposal of their product is done to high environmental standards, they also think of what will happen to the product from creation to the grave.

This product is great if you are going for LEED certification of any type as it can be installed vertically and horizontally.  It has many applications and can achieve many LEED points ( MR 4.1, MR 4.2, MR 5.1, MR 5.2, ID, EQ 4.1).  And I think you could get an innovation credit if the product is used as we will be using it as Landscape mulch cover.  What I also love about this product is that it is produced and manufactured here locally in the Brooklyn navy yard.  For more information and to see their product check out their website www.icestone.biz.



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