BEWARE OF THE PORCELAIN BERRY

It's the time of the year when you drive along a parkway and marvel at how lush and jungly the trees look, their vibrant greenery seeming to envelop you in nature's embrace. However, amid this beauty, a hidden menace lurks in the underbrush: porcelain berry. Originally introduced as an ornamental plant, this aggressive vine has emerged as a significant environmental threat, particularly in New York State.

The vine produces small greenish flowers in clusters in late spring to early summer. The most distinctive feature of porcelain berry is its fruit, which appears in late summer to early fall. The berries are small, ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter, and are known for their striking, multicolored appearance. They can be blue, green, purple, or white, often with a translucent, porcelain-like sheen, hence the common name.

Porcelain berry is native to northeastern Asia, specifically China and Japan. It was first brought to the United States in the 1870s, largely for its aesthetic appeal. Gardeners and landscapers appreciated its colorful berries and vigorous growth, making it a popular choice for covering trellises, fences, and other structures. The allure of porcelain berry lay in its rapid growth and the way it could transform ordinary landscaping into something vibrant and lively.

However, the same traits that made porcelain berry an attractive addition to gardens also paved the way for its invasive spread. Once planted, it quickly adapted to various environments and began outcompeting native species for vital resources such as light, water, and nutrients. Birds and other wildlife consumed its berries, and its seed spread far.

As the porcelain berry spread across various landscapes, its invasiveness raised alarm. This aggressive vine not only strains local ecosystems but also threatens the diversity of native plant communities. State authorities recognized its detrimental impact, leading to significant regulatory action. 

In September 2014, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) published final regulations that included porcelain berry in its Prohibited and Regulated Invasive Species list. This prohibition aims to prevent further ecological damage and protect native vegetation from the relentless encroachment of this invasive species.

However, by the time porcelain berry was banned in New York State, it was already too late. If you walk the Aqueduct Trail, you see trees engulfed in this invasive vine, alongside other significant offenders like Oriental Bittersweet and English Ivy. Despite the prohibition, porcelain berry continues to flourish in our parks, hedges and yards, and it occasionally reappears in nurseries. Its thorough infiltration of local ecosystems allows it to keep multiplying and spreading. The seeds of porcelain berry are easily dispersed by birds and animals, and its ability to propagate vegetatively makes it a persistent threat to our environment.

The Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council (TEAC) is hosting its annual Eco Fair on September 20, 2025 (rain date 9/27/25) at Patriots Park from 10am to 1pm during the TaSH Farmers Market. 

Come learn about reducing your carbon footprint, composting, food scraps recycling, home energy savings, healthy lawns, pollinators pathways, native plants, complete streets, local waterways, and more. 



There will be something for the whole family including kids activities, games, seed giveaway, live music (provided by The TaSH, Celebrating Hispanic heritage month), and fresh local food vendors at the lively farmers market!  This will be a Zero-Waste event. 

The Eco Fair brings together community organizations and local businesses to educate and share ideas to enrich our Villages and enhance the environment. It is an opportunity for community members to increase awareness and engage on environmental issues. The goal is to highlight things that we can all do at home and in our own neighborhoods, for ourselves and for the sake of future generations.

Kayak to Nyack - Sep 28

• Start from Losee Park Kayak Launch
• Experienced paddlers only – aged 16 and older
• Participants must provide their own vessel
• Kayaks must be 12′ or longer, no inflatables or folding boats
• Participant must bring and wear a PFD while on the water
• Radios and safety whistles will be provided
• Safety Boat escort provided
• Participants should bring personal drinking water, a hat, sunscreen, a snack, and ID at check-in.

Sign up HERE

Photos from our 2023 paddle:

By Dean Gallea, TEAC Energy and Conservation Committee

According to economist Paul Krugman, the rise in electricity prices seen in states heavily dependent on carbon-based energy generation is not due to the renewable-energy buildout that has been ongoing for many years. The utility industry understands that the most economical way to generate new electricity is to develop wind, solar and hydro power.

Wind Energy Hurdles

In a move disfavoring renewable energy, Washington ordered a halt on Aug 22 to the mostly-complete Revolution Wind offshore wind-energy project in Rhode Island. It was slated to produce enough electricity to power at least 350,000 homes by next spring. Other planned projects have also been shelved. And in an announcement last week, the administration canceled $675M earmarked for ports in support of wind projects.

Closer to home, a few offshore wind projects remain under construction, including Equinor’s Empire Wind development, which will be the first to plug into the NYC power grid, despite numerous industry challenges. Sunrise Wind is currently under construction in New York, with the project expected to be operational in 2027. And South Fork Wind is a 132 MW offshore wind farm that already generates enough clean energy to power 70,000 homes. For more info, and some myth-busting, see this article by EarthDay.org

Energy Use We Can (or Can’t) Avoid

Your home likely has many little things that feel warm, sucking energy from your outlets 24/7 even when doing nothing useful. Together, these can add up to hundreds of watts of “wasted” electricity. You CAN reduce this waste, except when you CAN’T. Here are some examples:

Can:

• Reduce optional “Vampire Power”: Some of these can be turned off or disconnected when they’re not needed for a while, or replaced with more-efficient ones:

  • Old-school, transformer-based power adapters and chargers, like those powering wired doorbells, thermostats, and appliances

  • TV sets and set-top-boxes that are in “standby” and not being used regularly

  • LED clocks and clock radios

  • Lamps on individual timers lighting unoccupied areas

• Go to sleep: Put your computer(s) in “sleep” or “hibernate” between uses. Just shutting off the display helps a little, but may leave the main unit running full-tilt. You can set the computer to automatically sleep after a few minutes of being idle, or just put it oin sleep-mode manually. Most displays will auto-sleep when the attached computer does.
• Dry cooler and longer: It's more energy-efficient to use a lower temperature for a longer time. While a higher temperature dries clothes faster, it uses significantly more energy for heating than for tumbling. Lowering the temperature reduces the energy expenditure, and even though the cycle is longer, the overall energy used is less.

Can’t (unless…):

• Turn off smart-home devices: Some devices need to be powered on 24/7 to do their jobs. These include remote-controlled light switches, Amazon Echo, Google Home and Sonos speakers, connected appliances and home-network routers and hubs that connect to other things.

  • UNLESS… Engineers are continuously working on making these products more energy-efficient, so as they are replaced with newer ones (or have their software updated), they will use less energy. If an older device feels warm, or has a fan that runs to cool it, consider upgrading to a newer type.

• Stop AI use when doing a Google search: Google places an “AI Overview” at the top of most if not all searches that ask a question. It’s been estimated that the Overview uses ten times the energy of a normal search. You can’t turn it off with normal Google controls. There are numerous browser extensions that will “hide” the Overview from your search results, but Google still creates it as an integral part of the first page of resulIn a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses | MIT Technology Reviewrgy/ 

  • UNLESS… You install and use the Ecosia browser and search engine, which is not only more respectful of your privacy than Chrome, Bing and others, but lets you disable automatic AI search completely, is solar-powered, and uses its profits to plant trees. 

Lower Westchester Power Rates for 2026-7

Westchester Power, the renewable electricity supplier serving Tarrytown under the Village’s Community-Choice Aggregation (CCA) agreement, has agreed to new, lower prices: Tarrytown’s 50%-renewable default option is 11.81 cents per kWh for the 2-year contract starting December 1st 2025. 

But for less than a half-cent more per kWh (about $3/month for a typical home), you can OPT-IN to 100%-renewably-sourced electricity. TEAC recommends residents take this option to reduce the use of carbon fuels and help NY State meet its greenhouse-gas-reduction goal. Just visit https://sustainablewestchester.org/wp/con-ed-area-choosesupply. 

To learn more about Westchester Power, our Rivertowns are sponsoring info sessions this month. One is on Sep 8th at Warner Library, at either Noon or 4:30pm.

A New “Enerport?”

The Stewart Airport Commission has put forth a proposal to state officials for Stewart to operate as a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility, effectively developing it into what it called a modern “enerport,” or airport energy hub. The proposal argues that SAF, an alternative biofuel that the airline industry is heavily embracing to reduce the carbon impacts of flying, could be readily produced at Stewart, making the airline a “model for other airports seeking enerport status.”

But the Chairman of the Commission, Paul Quartararo, says that if Stewart is going to succeed, the Port Authority has to push harder to attract new commercial airlines. “For its long-term viability, it needs service, and it needs not just flights to Florida or Myrtle Beach—it needs flights like it had before” he says.