About Us
Sustainable Seedlings is a blog about living a little greener in New York City, written by a teenager who lives here too. The idea behind it is simple: caring for the planet shouldn't feel expensive, complicated, or scary.
It started in 2026 as an Ecopower project with Brooklyn Level Up, a program that helps young New Yorkers work on their own communities. The first goal was small — a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn (East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Flatlands) didn't have much easy-to-find information about reducing waste, so we set out to write it ourselves.
That work turned into everything you see here: guides, maps, checklists, and a 30-day challenge, all written in plain language and built around the city we actually live in. Read a little, try one thing, and come back when you're ready for the next.
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Our Mission
We write for New York City teens and young adults who want to help the planet without it turning into a chore or a lecture.
So every guide here answers one practical question — where to shop secondhand, how to start composting in a small apartment, what to swap at home first — and every answer is something you can actually do this week.
Adela Halollari
Founder & Editor in Chief
Hi! I'm Adela. I started Sustainable Seedlings as an Ecopower intern with Brooklyn Level Up, and I still write and edit most of what you'll read here.
I'm a teenager in New York City, so I'm figuring a lot of this out alongside you — which is exactly why I keep the language plain and the advice small. Little changes add up, and our city's future looks a lot brighter when we make them together.