Community Board 6 is doing its part to help the environment — and also save a bit of green, its district manager said this week.
The board, which encompasses Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Gowanus, Cobble Hill, and the Columbia Waterfront District, dispatches roughly 1000 pieces of mail a month, and is planning to cut that amount down to 250 pieces a month, the minimum required to qualify for cheaper bulk mail rates.
The move will save approximately $150 a month, not a huge sum, but significant with more budget cuts looming for community boards, according to Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman.
“This is part of our belt-tightening to deal with the anticipated budget cuts and also our way to consume less office supplies and improve our carbon footprint,” he said.
Each board has had a budget of around $200,000, money that pays staff salaries, rent and office expenses.
The initiative is beginning immediately, and will not penalize those averse to technology. People unwilling or unable to provide an email address will still receive standard mailings, detailing the goings on at the board and other announcements. “We will leave no member of our community behind,” Hammerman vowed.
For the third year in a row, the city’s 59 community boards are gearing up for cuts, this time amounting to four percent in January, and eight percent slashed as of July 1, 2010.
