Sure We Can

Sure We Can Sure We Can is a non-profit recycling center, community space and sustainability hub in Brooklyn.

Sure We Can is a non-profit recycling center, community space and sustainability hub in Brooklyn where canners, students and neighbors come together through recycling, composting, gardening and art. Our mission is to support the local community, particularly the most vulnerable residents, and promote social inclusion, environmental awareness and economic empowerment. For over 9 years, Sure We Can has supported canners, who are people that make a living collecting cans and bottles from the streets and redeeming them for 5 cents each. Today, it has evolved into a community center that promotes a sustainable urban culture and facilitates a circular economy.

We're hosting a Climate Week event tomorrow at 6pm! Join us for a happy hour + tour of our 12,00 square foot recycling c...
09/22/2026

We're hosting a Climate Week event tomorrow at 6pm! Join us for a happy hour + tour of our 12,00 square foot recycling center & learn about the role of canners as green workers building our circular economy!

Find out more and register 🔗 bit.ly/swc-climateweek26 (link in bio)

This Climate Week NYC, tour a non-profit redemption center & learn about the role of canners in NYC's waste management!

⭐️♻️ Sign up to volunteer with Sure We Can on this Saturday, September 19th at 🔗 bit.ly/swc-sept19 (link in bio)
09/14/2026

⭐️♻️ Sign up to volunteer with Sure We Can on this Saturday, September 19th at 🔗 bit.ly/swc-sept19 (link in bio)

RECYCLED CULTURE ⚙ ♻️ 9/13Meet the performers !(part 2)Ken Butler is an artist and musician whose Hybrid musical instrum...
09/10/2026

RECYCLED CULTURE ⚙ ♻️ 9/13
Meet the performers !
(part 2)

Ken Butler is an artist and musician whose Hybrid musical instruments and other works explore the interaction and transformation of common and uncommon objects, and diverse sounds as function and form collide in the intersection of art and music. The idea of bricolage, essentially using whatever is “at hand”, is at the center of his art. Almost all of his work is repurposing objects from the street.
--
Alex Sniderman, aka No Accidents is a spoken word, noise, pop song, and improvisation artist. He makes pieces constructed from sonic refuse such as feedback and noise manipulated through electronics and effects, spoken narratives where the musical elements punctuate and spar with the voice, and improvised works that encompass elements of noise, song, and spoken word.
--
Eighty-pound pug is Alex Lozupone's ever evolving public composition project, which now has featured over 100 different members over the past decade.

Musician/Multi-Disciplinary Artivist/Event Curator/Journalist Rose Tang only allows one label, “Tiananman Massacre survivor.” Rose is a descendant of a Mongol rebel who founded the navy to establish the Ming Dynasty.

Madeline at Neighbors found themselves in the Catskills in 2018. Started as an acoustic dialogue project, they quickly transformed into a DlY art collective, focused on improvising and capturing spontaneous sounds of surroundings and constructing new urban and rural soundscapes.
This will be the first time ever this combination of people have collaborated.
--

🎟 Tix @ recycledculture.eventbrite.com (link in bio)

RECYCLED CULTURE ⚙ ♻️ 9/13Meet the performers !(part 1)Brooklyn record producer Martin Bisi curates a large ensemble of ...
09/02/2026

RECYCLED CULTURE ⚙ ♻️ 9/13

Meet the performers !
(part 1)

Brooklyn record producer Martin Bisi curates a large ensemble of musicians making ambient sound art using repurposed objects and materials. In collaboration with Bradford Reed, MV Carbon, Ego Sensation, and Lawry Zilmrah.

Lawry Zilmrah uses custom-built electro-acoustic instruments that double as interactive sculptures. Musician and composer Ego Sensation is one-half of NYC’s avant garde noise duo WHITE HILLS. Her tools include percussion, scrap metal, found objects, electric bass, voice and synthesizers. Bradford Reed is an experimental luthier and member of the avant-garde band King Missile II, & inventor of the Pencilina, a custom string instrument. MV Carbon is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of sound, sculpture, and experimental instrument design.

🎟 Tix @ recycledculture.eventbrite.com (link in bio)

Come be a part of the recycling process & help us sort bottles & cans this Saturday! ♻️⭐️ Sign up at 🔗 bit.ly/swc-aug29
08/26/2026

Come be a part of the recycling process & help us sort bottles & cans this Saturday! ♻️⭐️ Sign up at 🔗 bit.ly/swc-aug29

RECYCLED CULTURE ⚙ ♻️ 9/13Join us for a community festival with music, performances, and visual artworks that all incorp...
08/19/2026

RECYCLED CULTURE ⚙ ♻️ 9/13

Join us for a community festival with music, performances, and visual artworks that all incorporate and transform found and discarded objects.

We'll also have screen printing, food, and more. Bring your friends and an old t-shirt to silkscreen on!

🎟 Tickets at 🔗 recycledculture.eventbrite.com

Sure We Can is the only redemption center in New York that directly supports canners by providing space and amenities to...
08/18/2026

Sure We Can is the only redemption center in New York that directly supports canners by providing space and amenities to meet their needs in both their work and their lives. We offer a special style of redemption service and support for canners to help create a sense of belonging and low-barrier access to work and community.

Your support is critical to sustain this service! Make a donation at 🔗 mightycause.com/story/sustainswc

Photo by Anna Leah

Did you know that Sure We Can & all redemption centers earn their income from a 3.5 cent handling fee per bottle & can w...
08/13/2026

Did you know that Sure We Can & all redemption centers earn their income from a 3.5 cent handling fee per bottle & can we redeem? That rate is set in the law and hasn’t risen since 2009, while the cost of operating a business in New York City has increased dramatically in the same timeframe.

This is just one example of the reasons the bottle & can redemption system is struggling in NYC, and it hurts us at SWC too. That's why we're turning to our community for assistance to close the gap we’re facing so we can continue to provide our unique and compassionate style of redemption service!

Learn more & make a donation at 🔗www.mightycause.com/story/sustainswc 💌

Photo by Carlos Rivera

The bottle & can redemption system is in grave danger from institutional neglect. If civic leaders won’t take action to ...
08/03/2026

The bottle & can redemption system is in grave danger from institutional neglect. If civic leaders won’t take action to help our most effective recycling system and the essential workers who keep it going, it’s up to normal allies who care, like you.

Learn more & make a donation to help maintain our essential redemption service over the next few months at 🔗www.mightycause.com/story/sustainswc 💌

Photos by Carlos Rivera

Help Redeem the Redemption System! Read the latest Sure We Can newsletter
07/29/2026

Help Redeem the Redemption System! Read the latest Sure We Can newsletter

Address

219 McKibbin Street
New York, NY
11206

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 5pm
Thursday 7:30am - 5pm
Friday 7:30am - 5pm
Saturday 7:30am - 1am

Telephone

+13474639257

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