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Above: Our Earth Month events wrapped up with a well-attended Repair Café, where over 20 “repair coaches” helped more than 70 visitors keep their beloved but broken items from being trashed.
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Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council News - May 2025
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NEXT MEETING: Monday, May 12, 7:30 pm @ Tarrytown Village Hall
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We need you! The Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council (TEAC) relies on volunteers to keep things moving. We're a fun and engaging group of like-minded folks working to make Tarrytown's air, land, and water healthier and cleaner. Participating is EASY: just come to a meeting or email Tarrytownenviro@gmail.com.
Monthly meetings. Our meetings are open to the public. Join us on the second Monday of the month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:30 pm at Village Hall, 1 Depot Plaza, Tarrytown. Or join via Zoom.
- Monday, June 9
- Monday, July 14
- Monday, August 11
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Sustaining An Earth-Month State of Mind
by Kirsten Bourne, Sustainable Sleepy Hollow
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"The greatest threat to our planet is hoping that someone else will save it”—Robert Swan
Earth Month 2025 is over, but you may be feeling some lingering effects. Are you thinking about yard management, waste disposal, or community advocacy differently? Then you’ve slipped into an "Earth Month state of mind." Our land and climate are degrading every day, so we need this year-round change in mindset!
If you joined some of our annual Earth Month events, you may know what I mean. If you placed household items on the curb or picked up treasures in your neighborhood on Village Free Day, then you have begun the mental shift toward a circular reuse economy. If you brought a broken necklace or busted bike chain to the TarryHollow Repair Cafe, you may be viewing broken items as fixable, not trashable. If you joined one of the Riversweep cleanups and collected plastic, metal, and other garbage from the Hudson riverbank, you—and the walkers and bikers who passed by—likely realize that nature can't pick up after itself.
This year’s most inspiring mindset shift may have been sparked by the two new Earth Month Listening Sessions at Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow village halls. Some of the residents who shared their environmental priorities with our trustees and mayors were "regulars," but these meetings marked the first time that many others attended a village board meeting. Several adults—along with the Morse School second graders—had never participated in a public comment session before, and now know that they can do it again.
Here's to hoping that the "Earth Month state of mind" will stay with you for as long as possible...hopefully through next April!
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Tarrytown Residents Speak Out at Village Board Listening Session
On April 21, in honor of Earth Month, TEAC hosted a “listening session” at the Tarrytown Board of Trustees meeting, giving residents an opportunity to voice their environmental concerns to the board. Several residents requested tightened restrictions on gas-powered leaf blowers due to the noise and air pollution they generate. Two second-graders from Morse School, who brought postcards from their class, asked that the village create more community gardens, reduce plastics usage, and use more compostable materials like seaweed. Speakers requested curbside food scrap collection; the mayor responded that Tarrytown and other municipalities are exploring this option together. Other attendees expressed concerns about pollution and disruptive activities at the waterfront, and thanked TEAC for clean-ups they lead along the river.
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Celebrate the Beauty of Spring—Plant for Pollinators
by Mai Mai Margules, TEAC Landscaping Committee
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Help us beautify Tarrytown and plant hundreds of new native plants this May! Participating is a great way to learn about native plant gardening, help pollinators thrive, and connect with our community.
Saturday, May 17, 9am - 11am: help add plants to our Metro-North Pollinator Garden in front of the MNR Tarrytown Station from. Bring garden gloves and a trowel. (On Saturdays parking is free in the Village Hall lot across the street.)
Saturday, May 24, 9am-noon: join us in Neperan Park to install a new 500 sq ft monarch garden filled with milkweed and other vital natives that help endangered monarch butterflies survive. Wear long sleeves and bring garden gloves and a trowel. (Neperan Park, 43-61 Neperan Road, Tarrytown)
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