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Thank You to Hackley Lake Keepers! Lakes Clean-ups 10/4 and 11/15 |
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NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, October 13, 7:30 pm @ Tarrytown Village Hall
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. Joining is EASY: just come to a meeting or email Tarrytownenviro@gmail.com.
Monthly meetings. Our meetings are open to the public! Join us the second Monday of the month (unless otherwise noted) at 7:30 pm at Village Hall, 1 Depot Plaza, Tarrytown. Or join via Zoom.
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| | Tarrytown Board to Consider Total Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Ban
On Oct. 19 at 7pm at Village Hall, the Tarrytown’s trustees will consider a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers. Landscapers can convert to far quieter and non-polluting battery-operated leaf blowers, now for less up-front investment with the incentives in the new NY law. Sleepy Hollow, Irvington, Dobbs Ferry and other Westchester villages have all passed their own legislation. Now, Tarrytown can avoid being a polluting holdout in the Rivertowns.
 TEAC encourages interested residents to come to the hearing in support of the ban. If you are unable to attend, you can use this link or the QR code below and add your name to a petition in support.
AND… Thanks to amazing and fortuitous timing, NY landscapers will be able to save $$ on electric leaf blowers and other lawn equipment! Governor Hochul has just signed into law a new initiative to offer rebates for landscapers and municipalities to purchase electric lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and other electric landscaping equipment. The law is designed to improve air quality, reduce noise pollution and lower greenhouse gas emissions by creating a rebate program for commercial landscapers who voluntarily purchase emission-free mowers and other landscaping equipment.
 In addition to commercial landscapers, the rebate program would also be available to state agencies and authorities, local governments and school districts, private schools, universities, and non-profit organizations.State Senator Liz Krueger said, “This new rebate program will make it easier for New York's landscaping companies and institutions to transition to cleaner, quieter equipment. It's a win for small businesses, workers, communities, and our shared environment.”
 Assemblymember Steven Otis said, “Thank you to Governor Hochul for supporting small businesses and institutions in transitioning to emission-free equipment that will improve air quality, public health and make purchase of new equipment more affordable for local contractors.”
New York League of Conservation Voters President Julie Tighe said, “This will lower greenhouse gas emissions, help create quieter communities and reduce harmful air pollution across the state — especially for the landscapers who use this equipment every day.” New York Public Interest Research Group Senior Policy Advisor Blair Horner said, “Noisy, polluting gas-powered leafblowers beware, New York is moving toward quieter, cleaner, battery-powered landscaping equipment.” |
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| | Why Mulch with Leaves, and a Bit of History _____________________
By Mai Mai Margules, TEAC Member and Landscape Committee Chair  Leaves are nature’s mulch. Fall leaves provide free, organic mulch that prevents weed growth, enriches soil and provides essential winter habitat for wildlife. Leaves insulate and protect plant roots in winter and cool the soil in summer. As the leaves decompose they make an ideal fertilizer. What’s not to like? In the post-war 1960s housing boom, lumber mills had large amounts of waste bark that they needed to get rid of and the world of commercial mulch was born.The landscape industry jumped on board promoting the “clean” uniform aesthetic that is now ubiquitous in suburban landscapes. A large part of the industry is now devoted to removing leaves, the free mulch and fertilizer provided by nature, and selling us commercial mulch and fertilizer at a tidy profit. This trend has been expensive for us and devastating to overwintering pollinators and birds. Fallen leaves sustain a universe of wildlife, providing food and habitat for birds, pollinators, small mammals, and amphibians. Without a layer of whole leaves these animals can’t survive winter and birds can’t find caterpillars to feed to their young (baby birds can only eat soft bodied insects, not seeds) in the spring. How to Mulch with Leaves Rake or blow a 4-inch layer of leaves in your perennial beds, under shrubs and trees, and in any other non-lawn areas of your property. After the leaves have been blown/raked into the beds, take a hose or use the sprinkler to thoroughly wet them, which will aid in compaction and keep them in place. By spring the leaf mulch will be half of its original height due to natural decomposition and your soil and plants will be enriched. If you employ a landscaper ask what would be the easiest way to leave a 4-inch leaf layer given the company’s normal routine. A great solution for excess leaves that will provide you with free compost is to construct a simple leaf corral. Here’s a how to guide https://www.cjonline.com/story/lifestyle/home-garden/2016/11/18/home-corral-your-leaves-family -style/ Green Mulch In our established pollinator gardens we do not use mulch other than a light layer of leaves because our plants act as mulch. When plants are planted closely together, their leaves shade and cool the soil and prevent weeds from establishing. There is very little room for mulch between plants after the first season. In areas under shrubs and trees we plant low growing groundcovers such as small ferns and native groundcover plants that do the work of mulch and also prevent erosion. Again, leaves are left in the fall to condition the soil and provide crucial winter habitat for wildlife. Plant Stalks = Winter Habitat Plants stalks provide crucial habitat for overwintering beneficial insects such as solitary bees, ladybugs, butterflies, and moths who survive winter in hollow plant stalks. Birds eat from the seed heads of standing plants. Leave your plant stalks intact until spring when temperatures have reached 50 degrees for a week straight; this is when pollinators emerge from their winter homes. Many bees will use stalks to raise their young, so we cut back hollow stalks in late spring to 18 inches rather than removing them. |
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| TEAC Anti-Litter Campaign Update_____________________ By Rachel Tieger, TEAC Co-Chair
At the end of May 2026, the TEAC Zero Waste Committee formed Zero Waste, an anti-litter campaign task force, composed of both TEAC members and concerned community members. After a series of meetings, the task force developed a campaign action plan that included: identifying the problem locations, education and awareness, a sign campaign strategy, working with Village departments, and police enforcement which would include penalties/fines.
As part of the education piece, the task force worked with Tarrytown’s EF School curriculum director to create a series of six lectures, presented to a small class of incoming EF students, focused on litter prevention and keeping the Village of Tarrytown beautiful. The series included a cleanup-up effort around the campus and at the Tarrytown Lakes and concluded with the students creating colorful posters with positive messaging aid to prevent littering. The students were engaged and enthusiastic. We hope to continue.
A slide presentation was made to the Village trustees at the September 16th work session with a request that the trustees adopt the anti-litter campaign as a TEAC priority in 2027. Please watch the slide presentation HERE. Stay tuned for further updates, and email us to get involved. |
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| | Energy Notes
_____________________ By Dean Gallea, TEAC Energy Committee
Solar Panels Aren’t “Forever”: For years I’ve been documenting my home’s 2012-vintage solar panel production to see how much of my electric energy use is being supplied by free sunlight. Since I have a relatively-small upper rooftop with only 11 panels, it’s been about 36% at best in the summer, as expected. And it’s dropped over the years to about 75% of the original output, as one might expect with panels reaching “middle age.”
But in mid-June this year, something happened that made the energy from one of my two panel strings drop precipitously, producing a small fraction of their usual wattage. Looking at the graph of the expected versus actual generation, you can see that, beginning in June, the production drops to about 50%.
Though the techs from “Solar Medix” came out and replaced an obviously overheated connector on the roof, it hasn’t solved the issue. So, it’s time I consider replacing my system with a newer one. My 190-watt panels could be swapped with more-efficient 410-watt ones, doubling the nameplate output rating, and covering more like 75% of my energy use. If I remove my abandoned brick chimney, I could add an additional panel, and maybe one more on the small south-facing side of my hip roof. The old panels can be recycled to recover the glass, silicon and aluminum to go into materials for new ones.
This Heatmap article discusses doing the same thing at older utility-scale solar farms, which can have the same effect as building new ones at much lower cost.
Speaking of renewal: Reconductoring? There’s no debate about the need for more electric power transmission lines, the towers that criss-cross the landscape between cities, connecting sources of generated energy to giant substations for distribution to homes and businesses. Growth in electrification, EVs, data centers, and distributed renewable energy resources have strained our transmission infrastructure to the point that brownouts (voltage reductions to reduce overall load) have been necessary at peak times to keep overheated power lines from sagging into trees. Something has to change.
Building new power lines is really expensive: millions of dollars per mile, and hundreds of miles are typically needed. That assumes using existing rights-of-way, but sometimes those are already fully utilized. And the process can take many years. It’s a conundrum. But engineers have proposed a much cheaper, faster way to expand transmission capacity in existing rights-of-way: Reconductoring. The traditional overhead, high-tension lines (conductors) consist of many strands of aluminum (for lightness) around a central core of steel (for strength). The steel core, like any metal, expands as it heats up, leading to sagging of the lines. But those lines could be “reconductored” with a new type of cable that swaps the steel core for carbon fiber that doesn’t expand as much, so it won’t sag. And carbon fiber is lighter, so the conductive aluminum part can be made larger to carry more current. 
Researchers fed mathematical models two scenarios: one where the only option for transmission was to build new lines at their slow, historical rate, and another where there was also an option to reconductor along existing rights-of-way. The second scenario resulted in nearly four times as much transmission capacity by 2035, enabling the country to achieve a more than 90% clean electric grid by that date. Regulators (FERC) are now aggressively intervening to force utilities to reconductor.
For What It’s Worth Dept Today (Oct 8th) is World Hydrogen Day. It would be worth a cheer if it were not still the case that almost all commercially sold hydrogen fuel in the U.S. is made by refining natural gas. We’ll need vastly more renewable energy build-out before Green Hydrogen becomes dominant. |
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VOLUNTEER WITH TEAC
GET INVOLVED
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 TEAC offers lots of ways for you to join our projects and events, for fun, for a sense of accomplishment being an environmental steward, or for community service credit. Click HERE to learn more! And read about our Committees below.
Community Outreach
Year-round event planning to engage the community and help our neighbors reduce their carbon footprint. Head: Jenny O'Connor.
Tarrytown Lakes Committee
Trails, water quality, recreation, and plant and animal life of the Tarrytown Lakes Park area, including Wilson Park, plus "Vine Squad" initiative to control invasive vines to preserve native trees in the area. Head: Catherine Ruhland.
TEAC Landscaping Committee
Planting and maintaining public pollinator gardens through the Village to create pollinator habitats, educate the community, and beautify our public spaces. Head: Mai Mai Margules.
Zero Waste Committee
Advises and assists the Village on waste reduction and recycling, including "Waste Warriors" initiative at the TaSH farmer's market, food scraps recycling, swaps, and repair cafes. Heads: Catherine Ruhland, Rachel Tieger.
Energy and Conservation Committee
Advises on best practices to reduce energy use and losses in municipal and residential buildings, including renewable energy and electrification initiatives. Head: Dean Gallea.
Council Members
Rachel Tieger, Co-Chair
Dean Gallea, Co-Chair
Suzy Allman
Kerstin Erdbrink
David Gutschmit
Nora Husseini (associate member) Nico Kim (associate member)
Mai Mai Margules
Jenny O'Connor
Catherine Ruhland
Rohit Sareen
Effie Phillips-Staley, Trustee Liaison |
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NEWS OF THE MONTH FROM THE TARRYTOWN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COUNCIL |
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