This week we bring you two ways your building can save the world while saving you time at the paper shredder.
Property manager Cooper Square Realty tells us about a co-op that successfully implemented a "Paper Opt-Out" program.
Residents who sign up no longer receive hand-delivered memos, letters, or notices. Building communiques formerly dispersed via tree pulp are instead dispensed via Cooper Square's community website, Cooper Square Connect. New residents are automatically enrolled.
To control the incipient catalog tsunami threatening mailboxes and mailrooms, a free online service called CatalogChoice will cancel your catalogs for you.
"It saves the mailman's back (and time) as well as the super's recycling and sorting time," says Marlene Hartstein, an associate broker at Warburg Realty.
A push at the building level can nudge neighbors into action: "Many buildings encourage residents to sign up for it," says Hartstein.
Do you have a Bright Idea for a low-cost quality-of-life improvement in your building? Let us know so we can spread the word!
Recent Bright Ideas:
A cure for stroller-strewn hallways
A bike-loan program for your building
