Bringing Nature Back in Balance:

WM lo res for web — (2^nd from left) Joanne Persad of Waste Management with colleagues from Waste Managment

Waste Management Restorative Efforts along the Newtown Creek

Along the English Kill, a tributary of Newtown Creek, in the industrial zone of East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York you’ll find Waste Management’s Varick I Solid Waste Transfer Station. This location offers a prime opportunity to restore wildlife habitat along a riverfront, which has been overshadowed by over a century of industrial and urban development.

wm 02 — Waste Management hosts students from Grand Street Campus for a field/exploratory trip to Waste Managment’s Wildlife Habitat at 221 Varick Avenue. Students participated in tree planting.

Back in 2011 Waste Management joined forces with Wildlife Habitat Council and the result is a wildlife management plan with the goal to remove invasive species along the riverfront property and restore native plants to the site. Waste Management staff members, after restoring the area by removing invasive plants and weeds, planted a wide variety of flowers, vegetables, and trees in both the pollinator garden and the restoration area on the opposite bank.

In 2013, the Varick I Habitat Restoration Project received certification as a “Wildlife at Work” habitat by the Wildlife Habitat Council. Waste Management is applying for recertification of the site by the Wildlife Habitat Council this year.