UBB NYC Cleanup
Location:
This UBB Cleanup will only be conducted once we reach our target purchases.
Help UBB get this cleanup off the ground by putting your purchases toward cleaning NYC's waterways. When you purchase a UBB product, you can choose to put your purchases toward "dream" cleanups. Once these cleanups have enough purchases, we will make them official and let the recruitment process begin. Next spring, we hope to conduct a cleanup of Randall’s Island, NYC.
Randall’s Island is nestled in the East River between East Harlem, the South Bronx and Astoria and Queens. In 1637, Dutch Governor Wouter Van Twiller bought Randall’s Island from the Native American tribe, Minnahanonock. The island was later purchased by the city from Jonathan Randel in 1835 for $60,000.
The East River provided a plethora of resources for commerce amongst early settlers and Native Americans. The river brought in new settlers from Holland in 1623, was a birthplace for shipbuilding and its booming harbor led to a massive industrialization of NYC.
Another resource from the East River that provided some muscle for NY's economy and trading with the British West Indies--the oyster. When the Dutch first arrived in NY, the lower Hudson River Estuary contained 350 square miles of oyster beds. These filter-feeders cleaned out NY's waterways and were sold on every corner in all five boroughs.
Nowadays, Randall's Island contains 60 athletic fields, an indoor/outdoor driving range, 20 tennis courts, a state of the art stadium, gardens, 9 acres of salt marshes and freshwater wetlands, and bike pathways. The East River has helped shape the landscape and economy that is New York City today and with your help, we can preserve it for future generations.
