Volunteer Opportunities

Looking to get involved in environmental work right in your backyard? Look no further! NYC has a plethora of environmental volunteer opportunities, and we’ve compiled some of them here - although this list is by no means exhaustive.



GrowNYC

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/275671257/ 

GrowNYC is the largest environmental organization in NYC, with over 3 million participating in their programs each year. They have 4 main areas of volunteer work, reaching across all 5 boroughs: 

  • The Garden Program, which builds and maintains urban gardens, school gardens, and rainwater harvesting systems.

  • The Greenmarket Program, which manages greenmarkets (like the Union Square Greenmarket!) and produce delivery programs. This program is especially in need of volunteers to ensure hygiene during the pandemic.

  • The Recycling Program, which provides recycling education and events like food scrap and textile pickups and Stop ‘N’ Swap community reuse events.

  • The Environmental Education Program, which leads school field trips to gardens and greenmarkets, helps establish school gardens and recycling programs, and more.

Individuals must be 18 years of age or older and attend an orientation before volunteering. Grow NYC orientations are held monthly. Sign up to volunteer here.






NYC Parks

https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/its_my_park_day 

NYC Parks is the city’s parks department, which manages “over 30,000 acres of land - 14 percent of New York City.” Help restore forests and wetlands as an NYC Parks Steward, beautify smaller local parks in their It’s My Park program, or tend to community gardens in the GreenThumb program. 

Create a volunteer account, and then register for individual events here.





Madison Square Park Conservancy

https://www.flickr.com/photos/andreas_komodromos/45250644084/

Madison Square Park is currently recruiting Waste Warrior Volunteers for Janurary-July 2022 to assist with their commitment to “reducing the waste we send to landfill 40% by 2030”. Waste Warriors will help visitors sort waste, conduct outreach to local businesses, collect data by observing which materials are missorted in the park and visitor’s misconceptions around recyclable and compostable materials, and more.

Volunteers should commit to at least 36 hours of service every 6 months. See the volunteer description and how to apply here.




Lower East Side Ecology Center

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUVKg0PrI3g/ 

The LES Ecology Center began in 1986 as a community-based organization to promote recycling and composting, and has since expanded to offer a variety of environmental programs like park stewardship and education. 

They seek volunteers to help with compost drop-off sites, stewardship of the East River Park, the Street Tree Care Program, the Environmental Education Program, and translation of their materials into Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, Yiddish, Bengali, Arabic, and more.

Complete their volunteer intake form here. 




New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/51925.html 

For those looking to get out of the city, you can also contribute to citizen science as you hike, birdwatch, or hunt throughout New York State! 

Become an amphibian crossing guard in the Hudson River area in late February-March, submit sightings of black bears and other mammals, collect and band Canada Geese at Wilson Hill in June-July, and more. See the DEC’s website for more information on participating in citizen science.











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