Freshkills UpStream: Freshkills Park @ Home

Upcycle your stream time with STEAM!  Explore Freshkills Park ecology and sustainability tips from home. Revisit films with Fresh perspectives after reading our FreshFlicks reviews.  Reduce waste and wasted time by tuning in to Upstream @ Home , where STEAM and upcycling meet. Learn more about how Freshkills park connects by exploring our Freshkills connections.

Learn, create, and stream using the resources below, and follow Freshkills Park on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more virtual programming.

NOTE: In-person field trips to Freshkills Park are currently suspended due to the Covid-19 New York State PAUSE order, but the Freshkills Park Alliance is pleased to offer virtual field trips and presentations to K-12 schools, universities and interested groups. Learn more and sign up for a virtual field trip or presentation.

The Freshkills Park Alliance supports the transformation of the Fresh Kills Landfill into an extraordinary 2,200 acre urban park that will be a model for sustainable waterfront land reclamation, a source of pride for Staten Island and New York City, and a gift of open space for generations to come.

If you’re spending time outside at your favorite New York City park, remember to thank a parks worker for helping to keep NYC Parks open and safe during this time.

Waste Management

What happens to our Trash? Where does it go? What’s in it? A world overrun with waste is presented in WALL-E, foreshadowing the what if scenario if humans don’t reduce their waste. Learn how to make recycling easy and accessible at home, with your own multi-stream recycling station. Find out what is being thrown out, and think about what could be recycled or reduced?

Art & Upcycling

From trash to treasure, upcycling has us asking, “What is trash?” The Little Mermaid brings us Ariel, an upcycling mermaid who will find value in almost anything. You can can hear the wind, too, by crafting your own tin can wind chime with items scavenged from home. Check out what local artists have done with trash to draw inspiration for your own projects.

Reclaimed Lands

Reclaimed lands take time and work. A Troll in Central Park helps us imagine a world that is absolutely green while advocating for personal activism. Bring some value to kitchen waste and start your own herb garden. Learn how reclaimed lands benefit wildlife and the climate.

Soil Assessment

Are dirt and soil the same thing? Is all soil the same? How do you measure and assess soil? Explore the ecosystem that grows our food by checking out Dirt! The Movie. Learn about taking core samples with some items found in your kitchen. Find out the standards soil has to meet before it’s good enough for our park.

Native Pollinators

Honey bees may steal the show in the world of pollinators for their honey, but Native pollinators play an essential role in maintaining ecosystems. Experience a world where pollinators come to a halt in Bee Movie. Learn how to make a seed fly. Take flight with native pollinators found at Freshkills Park.

Migratory Birds

Birds either live in one place as permanent residents or they migrate short or long distances in search of food and nesting grounds. Fly with geese along the Atlantic Flyway by rewatching Fly Away Home.  Have a bird or animal passing through, observe its behavior and report your findings with an ethogram.

Local Biodversity

Habitats rely on biodiversity to sustain themselves and in turn provide people with ecosystem benefits.  Wetlands are areas flooded by water or areas where water is present near the ground surface for most of the year.  Unique soils develop in these saturated environments and they support specific types of aquatic plants, termed hydrophytes, that are not found in other areas.   Take a 90s field Trip with the Frizz and learn about Wetlands and Estuaries.  Observe the biodiversity around you and  make a plant press with a few things lying around the house.

Bike Riding & Nature

Biking is a great opportunity to stay fit, get around and experience nature.  Celebrate National Bike Month on your favorite greenway or from home.  Revisit iconic characters learn to ride a bike at different ages, for different reasons and different learning approaches, reminding us there’s no right or wrong way to get into biking.  Bike to your local park with our Greenway Bingo and document the birds, plants and people you observe.

Learn about Freshkills Park:

The Freshkills Park Alliance has many online resources to help you explore Freshkills Park from home. Visit the links below for more ways to experience Freshkills Park and check out the rest of our website for even more information.

• The Landfill to Park Timeline
• Freshkills Poster Pamphlet
• Interactive Map
• Freshkills Park Videos
• Landfill Engineering
• Draft Master Plan
• The Freshkills Story: From World’s Largest Garbage Dump to a World-Class Park
• Capturing Change Photographs