November

News
NEWS OF THE MONTH FROM THE TARRYTOWN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
NOVEMBER 2019

What We're Talking About
Pollinator Pathways, green power, vine-cutting, footprints in the carbon, curbside food scraps, programs for teachers, where plastic goes, Repair Cafe, Bitcoin waste... READ ON!
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES

Pol­li­na­tor Path­ways 101bee on flower
 
by James Carsey, TEAC Volunteer
Published in The Hudson Independent, Nov. 2019

In case you missed James's fine article in The Hudson Independent, it's on the TEAC website HERE.
 
TARRYTOWN LAKES

Lake Keepers on the Job!
 
The recently formed “Lake Keepers” Club at the Hackley School in Tarrytown had a successful clean-up and vine-cutting effort on Saturday, November 2. Students, teachers and friends
came out from 9am-noon and worked along the main Lakes Trail. The club plans to coordinate another effort in the spring, possibly coinciding with the Annual Earth Day Clean-Up. 

Go Lake Keepers!!!! 
GREEN LANDSCAPING

TEAC and SHEAC Collaborate on E-tool Demo
This past Saturday TEAC was at the TaSH Farmers Market promoting battery operated lawn and garden equipment in collaboration with the Sleepy Hollow Environmental Advisory Council (SHEAC) and Westchester Tools Rental. We had a selection of tools including non-polluting leaf blowers, weed wackers, mulchers and mulching lawn mowers. If you missed us, you can go visit Westchester Tools Rental at 11 Vreeland Ave in Elmsford, NY  10523. They have a huge selection of battery operated tools available for sale or rent.
 
CARBON FOOTPRINTS

Tips to Save Energy
 
For most people, the heating season that's already started increases their household's carbon footprint over the warmer months. (That's leaving aside the huge carbon burden of summer vacation trips that use air travel.) Here are some ideas you can use to compensate:
  • Bring out the sweaters - Insulation you wear can be as effective as improved home insulation in allowing you save on heating costs. A room temperature of 66-68 should feel comfortable for most "well-dressed" folks. And you can drop the room temp to 63 or so at night, using a lofty comforter to keep you cozy.
  • Get higher-tech heating - You can reduce heating consumption by using a programmable thermostat. Check to see if your thermostat allows you to set automatic temperature adjustments during a certain daily schedule. For renters, if you are not in control of your thermostat, talk with your landlord about lowering the heat.
  • Turn down "other" heating - Check your water heater's temperature setting. Shoot for 120 degrees at the tap, which is plenty for dishwashing, laundry and showering. Don't leave the hot water running between washing and rinsing. And disable the "heated dry" cycle on the dishwasher; instead, open the door and let the dishes "flash dry" by evaporation. 
  • Wear clothes longer before washing - Based on your work and/or daily routine, you may be able to rotate and wear outer clothes a few times before washing them. Wait until you have a full load of each type before doing laundry. Consider washing in cold water with HE (high-efficiency) detergent. (http://coldwatersaves.org/) It's OK to combine dark and color loads in one dryer cycle if they fit. Or, hang items to dry: the resulting extra humidity can add to room comfort on dry fall and winter days, and reduce heating needs.
  • Improve Home Insulation - Uninsulated attics, gaps in the fireplace, and small openings under doors are some of the ways homes fail to be airtight. Cold air leaks, no matter how big or small, can cause significant losses to home heating, making heating systems work harder. This can be prevented by inspecting your insulation at home or hiring a professional energy auditor and seeing if improvements need to be made. 
EASIER FOOD SCRAPPING

Greenburgh Pushes Ahead With Curbside Pickup of Food Scraps

Greenburgh has announced that they will be launching a pilot program for curbside food scrap pick-up within the town and its villages in 2020! Those of use already bringing scraps to the drop-off point at the Tarrytown Senior Center know that it's less than ideal in convenience, and without rinsing facilities there, it can get a bit "stinky". Curbside pick-up is already a reality in Scardale and in a few other pilot programs around the County, and now it will be coming to the Rivertowns. 

The Greenburgh Nature Center has a Google form for residents to sign up and indicate their interest. Please note: This is NOT an opt-in for the service. By signing up here, you are just expressing your interest and will be sent the opt-in link as soon as it is live. They are doing this because pick-up will roll out on a first-come, first-served basis, and this allows those truly interested, and who may have already been participating in the drop off, to be included as soon as they launch. 
 
THE FIRST "R": REPAIR

The Hastings Repair Cafe is This Saturday!

The absolute best way to reduce waste is to keep things running and in use. That's the goal of the Repair Cafe movement, a network of free events where experts volunteer their time to fix things you might otherwise toss out. Or, at the least, they can confirm that it's not worth the effort.

The Hastings Conservation Commission, with the support of James V. Harmon Community Center, is sponsoring their second Repair Cafe this Saturday, Nov 16th, at 44 Main Street in Hastings-on-Hudson, from 11am until 3pm. They will have stations for repair of:RCHVlogo.png
• clothing/textiles
• electrical appliances
• bicycles
• furniture/wooden objects
• mechanical items
 
This TEAC Newsletter editor will be among those helping folks get their stuff running again, so come on down and see if we can keep something of yours out of the waste stream!
School Recycling Roundtables with Westchester DEF

Join the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County (FCWC) for a roundtable discussion for school administrators, staff, teachers, and PTA and parent volunteers working to help our children Recycle Right!


 






The FCWC, We Future Cycle, Greenburgh Nature Center, Teatown Lake Reservation and Sustainable Westchester (Zero Waste) have invited staff from the Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities to present valuable information and answer your questions regarding recycling challenges in our school cafeterias.
 
Have a question on a particular item?
 
Participants are encouraged to bring a clean sample item for questions.
 
Space is limited; register today.
 
 Thursday, Nov. 21
10:00 – 11:30 am
Westchester County Material Recovery Facility
Stew Leonard Dr., Yonkers, NY 10710
Free Registration - 11/21
 
Tuesday, Nov. 26
10:00 – 11:30 am
Westchester County Material Recovery Facility
Stew Leonard Dr., Yonkers, NY 10710
Free Registration - 11/26
REMINDER: Take Your Kayak Home!
If you have a kayak stored in the racks at the Tarrytown launch ramp next to Losee Park, don't forget to retrieve it soon and store it elsewhere for the winter months. Be sure to keep rain and snow out of it and drain and accumulated water in the hull, as freezing water can crack the brittle plastic materials.
MORE CARBON REDUCTION

Citizens Climate Lobby Pushes for a Carbon Fee And Dividend

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763) is a bipartisan bill aiming to drive down America's carbon pollution and help bring climate change under control, while unleashing American technology innovation and ingenuity. This policy was also introduced in the Senate in 2018 as S. 3791.

This policy will improve health and save lives by reducing pollution that Americans breathe. Poor air quality causes an estimated 114,000 U.S. deaths each year and sickens thousands more. Additionally, the carbon dividend puts money directly into people's pockets every month to spend as they see fit, helping low and middle income Americans.

The grassroots group Citizens Climate Lobby is encouraging all those who would like to see this approach adopted by our local lawmakers to write to their representatives and ask for their co-sponsorship: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/write-your-representative/#/48 .
HOW IT WORKS DEPARTMENT

How Plastic Containers Get Recycled
Image result for plastic bottles
The NY Leacgue of Conservation Voters has researched what each type of plastic is made of, what it can be recycled into, and how that recycling happens.  Check out this great information at this link: https://nylcv.org/news/how-does-a-plastic-bottle-get-recycled

Fall into Sustainability with CELF

 

Upcoming Sustainability Workshops for Teachers
 
   

The Greenburgh Nature Center will be hosting the first workshop this Thursday, November 14th from 4-6pm. 

Click Here to Register Today!
ENERGY-SAVING TECH NEWS

New Cryptocurrency Scheme Cures Bitcoin's Energy Illness

You may have heard horror stories about how money exchanges using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin use huge amounts of energy, due to each transaction requiring a consensus-based verification process by thousands of computers all over the world, each competing to be the first to solve a complex algorithm and earn some Bitcoin as a "reward". Bitcoin consumes more energy than Switzerland, and a single Bitcoin transaction consumesImage result for bitcoinas much electricity as a large U.S. home does in a full month! Clearly, this is not sustainable. https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption 

But a study by the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne in Switzerland describes an alternative method of verifying cryptocurrency transactions that doesn't engage so much computing power. The researchers say their consensusless algorithms are not only secure, but also consume negligible amounts of electricity, with transactions each requiring about as much as energy as exchanging emails. 

The algorithms also generate just a few grams of CO2 per transaction, compared to an estimated 300 kilograms (the weight of 3 large adults) per Bitcoin transaction. In addition, while the original Bitcoin protocol took up to an hour to confirm that a transaction went through correctly, the Swiss team’s prototype algorithms can do so in less than a second.

If environmentally-friendly transaction processsing such as this gets adopted, then crypotocurrencies stand a chance of becoming more mainstream.
ANNUAL EVENTS

TEAC's Eco-Fair a Success!

TEAC and the Village of Tarrytown hosted our annual Eco Fair on October 5. Despite the cool weather, we had a record number of visitors, including NY Congresswoman Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Visitors learned about reducing their Carbon Footprint, Composting, Food Scraps Recycling, Home Energy Savings, Healthy Lawns, Pollinator Pathways, Native Plants, Complete Streets, local Waterways and more.  There were kids' activities, games, give-aways, live music, and fresh local food vendors at the lively TaSH farmers market. We look forward to an even better Eco-Fair in 2020!
2nd WEDNESDAY AT 7:30!

Curious about TEAC? Come to our meetings!

TEAC relies on volunteers to keep things moving. Join our monthly meetings to see what's going on, and how you can pitch in.

Each month, TEAC meets on the 2nd Wednesday in Village Hall, One Depot Plaza, at 7:30PM. The next regular TEAC meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, November 13, 2019. The meetings are open to all.

"In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets."

Cynthia Rylant






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Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council · One Depot Plaza · Tarrytown, NY 10591 · USA

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