A lifelong hockey enthusiast, Pierce undertook an extensive project to build a community hockey rink on his farm. Inspired by the passing of his sister, who also was a passionate hockey player and the recipient of the college hockey humanitarian award, Pierce wanted to honor her memory and give back to the community. Material reuse was an integral part of the process.
“We never could have built this hockey rink if we had to buy all the materials new,” Pierce says. “It would have cost several million dollars. A lot of the materials, including the structure and the sub-base, are recycled or reused materials. The hockey rink itself is a set of boards that came from a roller hockey rink for a roller hockey team associated with the Washington Capitals. They were getting a new rink; the old one was being torn down; and we had an opportunity.”
Having an ear open and being aware of the availability of materials presented many opportunities for salvage, reuse and major cost savings. It’s as if Pierce’s dedication to reuse helped manifest the entire project.
“We bought the boards and the glass from the old rink, paid for the move and bought a used tractor-trailer to get it all out for about $14,000,” Pierce says. “The value of the boards themselves is close to a quarter of a million dollars. In addition, I used to play hockey at Cornell University and through connections there, I found out when they were getting rid of their old scoreboard. They were able to give it to us for free, knowing it would be repurposed for an outdoor rink on our farm. The extra boards to build the benches and penalty boxes also came from Cornell. We salvaged a lot of the door parts and hinges to complete parts we were missing from the other boards.”
In the span of a few months, Pierce had built a beautiful community facility, using almost exclusively material that would otherwise have been landfilled. It is a story of reuse and cost savings.
“The materials popped up at the right time at the right place,” Pierce says. “I was excited for a rink for the kids to skate on. It’s for all different people at all different levels.”
Community Efforts
Along with work being done on the construction and design front, there are more communities trying to drive waste-diversion efforts on an everyday level. One example is Battery Park City, a 92-acre planned community on the southern tip of Manhattan. The Battery Park City Authority recently released a climate action plan committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Built into that plan is a 75 percent overall reduction in waste sent to landfills with 90 percent of organic waste diverted from landfills.
“What we’re modeling here in terms of reductions are things like waste diversion, keeping more things away from the landfill, whether that’s through incentivizing renewable materials, recycling more or composting,” explains Mikayla Hoskins, associate on the Cities Team at Buro Happold, an international sustainability consultancy tapped by the Battery Park City Authority to help develop the climate action plan. “The Battery Park City Authority operates its own onsite com- posting program, which has been very successful, and they are looking to grow that. They have a big push toward zero waste.”
The authority leads by example in its own operations and public spaces but also hopes to inspire more spaces in Battery Park City to conduct regular waste audits so residents can have real data about how much is being recycled or diverted from landfills. Having that information helps shape behaviors.
Another example in New York City is the Peninsula project in the Bronx. It transformed an old juvenile detention facility into a vibrant, mixed-use community with 740 affordable housing units, along with commercial space, retail and light industrial. The Peninsula’s design, by WXY architecture + urban design with Body Lawson Associates Architects & Planners, includes a comprehensive plan to reduce waste and separate recyclable materials.
“Waste is a major component in our daily lives, both as individuals and communities, and waste management is critical to the long-term sustainability of any new development,” says Victor Body-Lawson, FAIA, founding principal of Body Lawson Associates. “Particularly on this project, the waste-management systems support the operations of not only the light-industrial building, but also the residential buildings. The operations are synchronized, and the light-industrial building becomes a hub for managing waste.”
“We have a full waste-reduction program,” explains Ismene Speliotis, executive director of MHANY Management Inc. in Brooklyn. “The light-industrial building [Building 1A] has a biodigester available for compost for residents of that building and for residents of Building 1B. For building 1B, there are paper mini containers for compost in each apartment and larger containers in the refuse room on each floor. Maintenance staff members are responsible for collecting all recycling and compost materials each day and delivering it to Building 1A. We have training materials, videos and ongoing support for residents.”
“Building 1A has refrigerated and shelf storage for surplus edible food so it can be donated to local partners,” says Clare Mifflin, executive director of the Center for Zero Waste Design and founder of ThinkWoven in New York. “Food waste will be separated by the food businesses and processed into fertilizer with a dry anaerobic biodigester. This takes up to 0.55 tons of food waste per day and processes it with microbes and heat to create a fertilizer.”
In his book, Cradle to Cradle, William McDonough points out that in nature, there is no waste. One thing becomes food for something else. Waste itself is a human-made construct. The more we create, the more important it becomes to find ways to repurpose the things we no longer need.
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Whether it’s building materials or items from everyday use, by simply applying some forethought and reimagining the very concept of waste with greater focus on reuse and recycling, we can make a major impact on the footprint humanity makes on the environment.