Seventh Annual Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots Northeast Youth Summit

Battery Park city SEVENTH ANNUAL JANE GOODALL ROOTS AND SHOOTS NORTHEAST YOUTH SUMMIT

Saturday, Nov. 12, K-12 grade students gathered at Battery Park City School, the city's first "green" school, for the seventh annual Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots Northeast Youth Summit. Students traveled from all around New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey, as did environmental and humanitarian leaders from across the region, to participate in the event. The group built reflective mobiles for skyscrapers to deter migrating birds from collisions, made dog and cat toys from reused materials for local animal shelters and created a peace-themed collage from recycled materials to be displayed at the school.

The Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots program was founded in 1991 by Dr. Jane Goodall and a group of Tanzanian students. The program focuses on making positive changes in communities, for animals and for the environment.

Chinatown PIONEERING BIG BELLY TRASH COMPACTORS

Last Wednesday afternoon, on the corner of Canal and Mott streets, City Council Member Margaret Chin and members of Community Board 3 held a press conference to unveil Chinatown's newest effort to go green. The Chinatown Partnership has teamed up with Big Belly Solar to install solar-powered Big Belly trash compactors in the neighborhood. The compactors have a unique green energy sensor that monitors how full the cans are and sends a message to the unit's command center when the trash needs to be compacted. The sensors also monitor when the garbage must be collected, which cuts down on unnecessary collections that waste fuel and increase pollution.

Chin noted the financial gains the city stands to make from this installation. The compactors hold roughly five times more garbage than regular trash cans, so the city will pay less for trash collection. This program was implemented in Philadelphia, where collections were reduced from 17 to 5 in one week, with immediate savings of 70 percent, according to the Big Belly website.

Lower Manhattan RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY AT MEDHATTAN

Doctors Leslie Miller and Alicia Salzer, co-founders of Medhattan Immediate Medical Care on Liberty Street, hosted the ribbon-cutting at their new facility Monday, Nov. 14. The Medhattan center is a state-of-the-art medical facility that provides the luxury of a high-class hotel chain to ease the all-too-painful hospital experience.

Patients can expect snacks, plush robes and a host of unanticipated amenities, including wellness services such as acupuncture and massage. As many New Yorkers know, luxury has its price. However, the goal of this facility is to provide luxury at a discount. According to the press release, "Medhattan promises luxury that patients can afford, with visits costing as little as $200." As cold and flu season hits full swing, a hospital visit is often an unfortunate reality, but New Yorkers may be more willing to spend some time at the new Medhattan Immediate Medical Care Facility-in plush robes and slippers, of course. Students Margaret Christman and Sara Healey make mobiles as part of the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots program, which focuses on making positive changes in communities. Photo courtesy of the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots Program