UWS Recycling Group is Last of its Kind

Sustainable recycling can feel like an uphill battle for Manhattanites. Thanks to our close living quarters, a lack of accessible recycling centers, and the fact that most of us do not own cars, it’s hard for us to feel like we’re doing a flawless job. While recycling small paper, plastic or glass items is relatively easy nowadays, many New Yorkers need guidance when recycling things like electronics, clothes or household appliances.

Recycling and composting availability in NYC is a long-standing problem, and although ever-shifting policies attempt to address the root of it–such as the ban on single-use plastic bags, reinstated funding for compost programs, or Eric Adams’ new “trash revolution”–we still have a long way to go.

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Fortunately, Upper West Siders have had a recycling guardian angel in the form of Upper West Side Recycling (UWSR) for over 50 years. Their roots date back to the 1970s, long before the NYC Department of Sanitation offered curbside recycling or similar programs.

The 1970s were a significant decade for recycling and environmental consciousness in NYC and across the U.S. As a culmination of mounting public concern and activism over air and water pollution, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin worked with activist Denis Hayes to organize the first Earth Day which took place on April 22, 1970. This event served as a nationwide symbol of unity against the pollution of the planet, featuring teach-ins, community events, and peaceful protests. Earth Day is now celebrated annually and globally recognized, run by the non-profit organization Earthday.org.

In NYC, close to one million New Yorkers marched down a traffic-free Fifth Avenue to mark the first Earth Day. In the subsequent years, activists were galvanized by Earth Day and a plethora of organizations were created to promote environmental protection. Upper West Side Recycling (UWSR) was one of the groups to form during these years. It was conceived in March 1972 and is now headquartered at 325 Riverside Drive, spearheaded by Jeff and Scottie Twine, who were early volunteers with the organization.

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UWSR has transformed many times since its inception. It opened as a community drop-off center for metal and glass on West 105th Street and served the community there for ten years before relocating to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue (at West 112th Street). “When we moved into our building at 105th Street, there was already a recycling center in the back of it. And so we got involved with that right away in 1976,” Jeff recalls.

UWSR was once one of many community-based recycling centers, Jeff told us. “There were other recycling organizations that grew out of the first Earth Day. Originally, I would say there were 30 to 40 organizations throughout the city in various boroughs. There was one called The Village Green Recycling Team, and the People’s Environmental Project on the East side. These were purely volunteer organizations. It was pretty amazing, you know, that people were willing to do that.”

A notable organization founded in 1970 is GrowNYC, which began as the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) before becoming the 501(3)(c) organization we know today. Jeff also described an organization called the Environmental Action Coalition. “Sometime shortly after Earth Day, the Environmental Action Coalition formed, which was a general environmental organization. They concentrated on recycling and waste reduction. They produced a newsletter for children, an environmental newsletter which I edited, and I wrote a couple of them.” New York Public Library records indicate it also had a third name initially, “the New York Committee for Earth Day.” The EAC was active through the ’90s and became part of the NYC League of Conservation Voters.

In the early 1980s, UWSR became a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. By the end of the decade, they were able to expand their recycling capabilities after receiving grants from the DSNY and support from the West Side Chamber of Commerce. Jeff explains that recycling efforts at the city level were quite different in those days. “The Sanitation Department had a very small recycling division…but their emphasis was not on recycling but on burning things. Waste recovery through incineration–that was what they were pushing all through the early ’80s.”

Today, UWSR publishes a bimonthly newsletter with educational resources, relevant legislative updates and information about local recycling events.

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We spoke with Council Member Gale Brewer, whose funding in August 2014 helped establish the newsletter. She continues to support the organization to this day.

“They were ahead of their time,” Brewer says of the team. “Now, there’s a lot more awareness and more going on, with things like our recycling task force, but I remember the first and even the second Earth Day and they were doing this kind of work even then.”

UWSR proudly states that they are the “only community-based recycling organization” still going out of those groups formed after the first Earth Day. When we asked Jeff about this, he affirmed “We are THE last community-based recycling organization. Though we’re now more of a virtual organization with our newsletter,” Jeff adds.

“The newsletter is very helpful and unique, no one was doing anything like that,” Council Member Brewer told us. “UWSR actually does the work to keep us all informed, and the community really appreciates it. There’s a strong focus on what you can do yourself to help out and contribute.” Brewer underscores the importance of their work in today’s climate: “Just look at how hot it is in New York right now–the environment needs every little bit of help it can get from us!”

To learn more about recycling resources on the Upper West Side, check out the UWSR website or subscribe to the UWSR Eco Letter.