by Curtis Sliwa, syndicated radio host and founder of the Guardian Angels
I was green in 1968. There had not yet been an "Earth Day," there was no environmental movement. They hadn't even come up with the term recycling yet. I was all of 14 years of age.
Following in the footstep of my grandfather, Fedel Bianchino, I was collecting newspapers, rags and metal cans. Back then you were considered a junkman. By 1969 I had collected in the basement of my house 5 tons of newspaper, a half ton of metal cans, and I was just beginning to collect and separate bottles by color. You had to have tonnage in order for an industrial re-user of product to send a truck to pick it up.
Then on April 22, 1969 Earth Day was born. People created the term recycling and went about searching for people who were actually recycling garbage. They discovered me in Canarsie, Brooklyn. At that point they assisted me in organizing my whole neighborhood to separate and put out for collection bottles, newspapers and cans. I would pick it up with the help of local youth and then separate it, grade it and ship it out for recycling. It was the first official recycling center in the United States. If you look at my office where I broadcast at WABC you can see that I recycle everything to this day. I have been green for 41 years.
In 1976 while a night manager at McDonalds in the Bronx, I organized street clean ups though a group a volunteers that I created that was called the Rock Brigade. I convinced McDonalds that we were the primary business generating the waste and we had a responsibility to set an example by cleaning up everybody else's waste too. It was recognized throughout the city and culminated in an award given to us by then Mayor Ed Koch of the city of New York.
Jay G. says:
This is a great story!
Scott F. says:
Curtis. This is so weird. About a month ago I was thinking about you. I grew up in the Bronx in the 1960's. In the early 70's I was, like you, a Boy Scout. Was a wonderful organization back then. While I still have my patch, commemorating the Great Paper Drive of 1974, I am still bummed that you beat me out by about 90 Lbs.!! I can still remember the photo of you, sitting on the pile of papers you had collected, in you Dad's garage, that had been printed in the Daily News or the Post.
I can only imagine that it must have been the imputes for the recycling program called the Rock Brigade.
Man, when I was a kid, there wasn't a bottle in sight. That's how we funded our trips to the RKO, Valentine and Lowes Paradise theaters.
I remember my Mom freaking out because we kids would want to drag home pillow cases filled with sandy bottles from Orchard Beach on the bus.
Well anyway, I was thinking about you. You're a great American. I was listening to you on Sean's show today. Pretty good stuff. Glad to know that you guys are, in your own way, on that wall.