Polystyrene Foam Ban

Photo credit: Sierra Club

In 2020, New York State adopted the nation's strongest statewide ban of expanded polystyrene, single-use foam food containers, and polystyrene packaging materials known as packing peanuts.

Polystyrene is a concern for the environment, as well as human health and safety.

It is difficult to recycle and one of the top 10 contributors of environmental litter, causing negative impacts to wildlife, waterways, and other natural resources, as well as littering communities and natural areas.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Program has listed styrene, a chemical found in expanded polystyrene foam, as a reasonably anticipated human carcinogen that can be transferred from expanded polystyrene foam containers into food and beverages that people consume.
 

REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN NEW YORK

Efforts over the past decade to reduce emissions from the power sector have made New York's electricity some of the cleanest in the nation, and now transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York.

The State is also working to reduce GHG emissions (including methane and hydrofluorocarbons) from buildings, food waste and agriculture.
 

And the State has huge aspirations for future improvements…

• Limit statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 40% of 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% by 2050

• A plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across New York State's economy

• 70% renewable electricity by 2030

• 100% zero emission electricity by 2040

Read more @ https://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/99223.html

By Mai Mai Margules


In April, TEAC in collaboration with Friends of the Library and dedicated volunteers will break ground on a 15’ x 10’ native plant garden.

This demonstration garden will benefit pollinators and residents alike. For our pollinators it will create much needed habitat and food sources. For our residents it will bring joy and awareness of the vital role that pollinators play within our ecosystem.


 

If you haven’t already contributed, please join our crowdfunding to support pollinators at Warner Library and throughout the Village. Thanks to everyone’s huge generosity we are more than halfway there.
 

We now have a generous matching program through a sponsorship from Rey Insurance, so your donation goes further!

By Mai Mai Margules

This month, in honor of St. Patty’s Day and pollinators, we are celebrating clover!



Clover has been the unofficial national flower of Ireland for centuries. The Druids were said to revere three leaf clovers because the number three was considered mystical and a source of power. Later in the fourth century St. Patrick used the three leaves of the clover to explain and convert the inhabitants of Ireland to Christianity.

Today we recognize clover’s power, but for different reasons.

The clover plant is an ecological powerhouse, restoring our soil and feeding pollinators, all the while creating a lush green, low maintenance lawn for us.                        

• Clover Feeds Pollinators: Early emerging pollinators such as native bees coming out of hibernation need food sources. Clover provides nourishment to bees when other plants are not yet in bloom. Dandelions and violets are also favorite food sources. Without these early season plants many pollinators cannot survive. Studies have linked bee decline to the eradication of clover, dandelions and other flowering “weeds”. So let's rethink our lawn concept and allow these beneficial early bloomers to be a part of a bee friendly lawn. Allow your clover to flower and feed a hungry bee!

• Free Fertilizer:  Clover improves soil health by fixing nitrogen in the soil. As a legume crop like beans and peas, it transforms soil nitrogen into organic fertilizer,enriching the soil and all surrounding plants. Clover has a deep root system that aerates the soil and deters weeds. This makes it great for erosion control on slopes and difficult areas. It also serves as a living green mulch that cools the soil and can be interspersed in garden beds.

• Lush Low Maintenance Lawn: If you want a lush green lawn from early spring into winter clover is the magic ingredient to add. White clover is drought tolerant and hardy, standing up well to heavy foot traffic, especially when mixed with grasses. It’s easy and affordable to grow ($10 per lb which covers 1000 sq ft). It doesn’t require added fertilizer and co-exists nicely with grass.

• Resists Pet Urine: No more discolored lawn patches because of our best friends, clover is impervious to insult in this area. It grows quickly and can rapidly fill in bare areas.

• Healthy and Natural: Adding clover to your lawn can negate the need for chemical fertilizers and herbicides. You can enjoy a lush lawn without adding harmful chemicals that poison the environment and put our families at risk. This fact has led to a massive PR campaign waged by agricultural chemical companies after WWII to label clover and other beneficial native plants as “weeds”. Because herbicides kill broad leaf plants it became necessary to convince the public that broad leaf plants were weeds to be eradicated. The humble clover was a threat to a billion dollar industry that needed to keep selling toxic products to make a profit. The good news is that we are wising up.

Anthony Ross, Tarrytown’s Parks Foreman, is a big fan of adding clover to lawn space. In a recent re-seeding project at Patriots Park he planted white clover mixed with fescue grasses to create a “forever, fast growing lawn” along the Park’s busy walkways. The Village does not use herbicides or pesticides as lawn maintenance and clover acts as a natural fertilizer.

As homeowners it's our job to reject Madison Avenue's hit job on clover. It’s right up there with “healthy cigarettes”.

So let’s give clover its proper respect and plant some this spring. Order some low growing white clover seeds and overseed them into your existing lawn. All you have to do is mow your grass, rake thatch away and spread your seeds evenly (you can mix with soil, sand  or compost for easier distribution). After sowing, water the planting site deeply, and keep the soil surface moist until the clover germinates (about 4-6 weeks).

Happy St. Patrick's Day ~ TEAC will be distributing free clover packets at the TaSH market booth on March 27 so please stop by!

A forest road in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, in New Jersey, in late February. Even as Tarrytown was under a foot of snow, snow depth maps showed that South Jersey had clear ground -- perfect for hiking or biking.


It's not just COVID quarantining that can get you stir-crazy this time of year. With a couple feet of snow dumped on Westchester in the past month, it's been a little more challenging to get out and hike and (especially) bike.

I use snow depth maps to identify places that are mostly free of snow and in good shape for hiking and biking. I've found the one at WeatherStreet.com, updated hourly, to be fairly accurate.

To use these maps, go to WeatherStreet.com. At the top of the page on the right-hand side, type in a city and state, plus the word "snow" (e.g., Trenton NJ snow) and hit return. In the resulting page, scroll down to the second map. Any areas on the map that are green are snow-free.



The map has led me to do some late-winter exploration that I maybe wouldn't have done otherwise. The Pinelands in South Jersey, especially, have been so interesting to check out, and places of incredible stillness, solitude and scenery.

Of course, there will always be patches of snow in low-lying or wooded areas, especially where foot traffic has compacted the snow into ice patches. But the maps are a good indicator of where you can go, where the snow isn't.