New Program Helps Condo / Co-op Boards Make Residents' Charity Easy
June 3, 2011 — New York City has begun a program to help apartment-house residents conveniently donate used clothing through collection bins in their buildings. The initiative, called refashionNYC, seeks to recycle apparel, reduce landfill waste and help provide for low-income and homeless New Yorkers.
The no-cost program is designed to lessen the approximately 200,000 tons of clothes, towels, blankets, curtains, shoes, handbags, belts and other textiles and apparel that the city says New Yorkers throw away annually. As a way of minimizing the need for taxpayer-supported resources, the city has partnered with the longstanding charitable organization Housing Works to manage the program.
"We've tried to design a good program that is simple to use, safe for the building and convenient," says David Raper, a Housing Works executive. "You call the city, we come and arrange all the information. When the bin is full, you call us and we're there within five days."
The bin, which is made of tamper-resistant, heavy-gauge steel, is assembled by Housing Works on-site in a location approved by the building manager or co-op / condo board. "We work with the building to find a place that's convenient and works for everybody. You don't have to have to put the bin in the lobby, obviously. You can have it in a place that's best for you in the building," such as in a laundry room, for example.
Convenient ... and Tax-Deductible!
Residents can deposit clean clothing and other textile materials either loosely or in bags. In terms of income-tax charitable deductions, residents whose donations are valued at less than $250 can use tax-receipt forms supplied with the bin itself.
"By making it easier for New Yorkers to donate or reuse their clothes and saving taxpayers the high expense of long-distance transportation and waste disposal we are achieving our vision of a greener, greater New York," said David Bragdon, director of the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability — which no longer has a website — in a statement. "This partnership will help us achieve our PlaNYC goal of diverting 75% of our solid waste from landfills," said Bragdon, referring to the city's framework of 2030 goals for infrastructure, the environment, the economy and other areas.
The refashionNYC program was launched May 24, with bins in a small number of pilot buildings chosen by the city in a past program. These include Community Counseling and Mediation / Georgia's Place, a 48-unit residence in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, for the homeless mentally ill. While that particular building may seem an ironic choice, the placement itself, at this stage, helps to work out the practical and prosaic logistics – bin transport and installation, clothing pickup, scheduling, and unforeseen problems that only the actual placement of a bin will reveal.
"That was one of the issues," says Raper. "Literally, 'What sort of drill do we need to put [the bin] together?'"
Signing Up
The program is open to residential buildings of 10 units or more in all five boroughs. Boards and managers interested in joining the program can contact 311 and ask for refashioNYC, or visit the program's website. The city will respond to applications within three months. In the event a building leaves the program, Housing Works will remove it at the co-op / condo board or the manager's behest.
"It's doing a great turn for the city in terms or reducing waste," says Raper, "and also helping people who need a hand."
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