On Saturday, February 18th, we we spent a few hours on Randalls Island. A few things I had not known prior about Randalls Island is that it was previously a land fill which has now become the island which contains many marshes, multiple species of birds and beaches.

Randalls Island has many initiatives to allow its community to participate in a more sustainable city. With their Urban Farms of 40,000 square feet, they have 100 beds, two greenhouses, four rice paddies and a fruit orchid tree. Their Urban Farm not only allows New York City visitors to have a larger understanding of where food comes from, but it allows participating schools to come and help on the farms through their Edible Education Program. To learn more about what Urban Farms plan on doing this year, I reached out to to the Urban Farms coordinator through email and still am waiting for a response.

In our time there, I was able to learn about a part of New York I had never been to before. I enjoyed walking and exploring the area while learning so much about it too. Overall, this little journey outside of the city had opened my eyes to what could be done everywhere with landfills and areas where there needs to be a more sustainable approach. Randalls island was not only beautiful but allows everyone to participate and experience a greener city.