Planted Dumpsters Coming to Gowanus This Summer

Pictured: one of the planted dumpsters coming to Gowanus. Rendering courtesy of Alloy LLC.

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — This summer, Gowanus residents can expect to see something novel dotting their streets: temporary bright blue dumpsters overflowing with greenery.

The plan, approved by the Department of Transportation and backed Thursday by Community Board 6's transportation and public safety committee, is the work of development firm Alloy LLC and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy.

Known as the "2,000 Gallon Project," the effort is focused on educating the public about the city's need to handle storm water in a more environmentally friendly way.

A total of ten dumpsters, each about 11 feet long and five feet high (much smaller than the large industrial containers commonly seen at construction sites) will be filled with trees and plants.

Four will stay at 431 Carroll St., Alloy's future headquarters, while six will be distributed around the neighborhood at 234 Butler St., 200 3rd Ave., 285 Nevins St., 450 Union St., 306 Nevins St. and 155 3rd St.

The dumpsters will be installed on July 4th, and left in place until the fall. The Gowanus Conservancy will tend to their greenery. Just before winter, their trees and plants will be removed by Conservancy members and replanted around the neighborhood.

Several of the dumpsters will also be accentuated by foldable tables and chairs as part of the DOT's Street Seats program.

A DOT official said each dumpster will take up one or two parking spaces, though project participants said they don't think it will cause headaches for local car owners.

A rendering showing the placement of a dumpster outside Ample Hills Creamery, courtesy of Alloy LLC.

Each dumpster will be able to hold 2,000 gallons of rainwater at a given time, reducing the amount of water flowing into the city's sewer system.

They'll feature a scannable code directing those passing by to a website educating people about the city's efforts to reduce storm water runoff.

As part of the cleanup plan for Gowanus, a federally designated Superfund site, massive water retention tanks will be built and buried underground.

The tanks will hold stormwater, limiting the amount of raw sewage flowing into the Gowanus during storms, when the city's combined storm water and sewage system can be overwhelmed. (The final location of those sites and the impact of their installation on local businesses like film studio Eastern Effects is still being debated.)

Currently, about 377 million gallons of sewer water enter the Gowanus each year, according to Andrea Parker, the director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy.

"Each 2,000 gallon planter helps visualize the scope of the problem, why we need trees, green roofs, bioswales and sewage tanks, and how each of us can pitch in, via rain barrels or shorter showers, to make Gowanus Blue," she said.

The project is being financed by Alloy and a group of corporate sponsors, each of which will be able to place a small add on the dumpsters.