Hubby and the wovel (“wheel” + “shovel”—rhymes with “shovel”)
Monday, January 23, 2012
by Susan Rubin

It is 23 days into 2012 and on Saturday we finally got some seasonally appropriate weather. While I’m not a huge fan of winter and snow, I do realize that the cold dark stillness of winter is necessary for a green and vibrant spring. One thing I dislike more than snow is snow blowers. I can’t stand the noise and I don’t enjoy breathing in the toxic stinky fumes. Quite frankly, I harbor a deep concern whenever fossil fuels are burned. We’ve got to find ways to cut our addiction to gas, coal and oil on every level if we care about future generations surviving on our planet.

More photos in “Read more…”
Monday, December 12, 2011
by Noah Bressman

“Eww, he’s drinking fish water!” exclaimed a young girl at the Chappaqua Farmers Market.  And it was true. Using a LifeStraw, we drink water straight out of a fish tank containing a simulated ecosystem with fish, crayfish, and plants. And it’s perfectly safe!

“Energize Bedford” visited to enlighten New Castle

Tuesday, December 6, 2011
by Christine Yeres

At town hall last Tuesday, New Castle’s first “Sustainability Summit” filled the house.  Around 100 members of town boards, residents and students as well as emissaries from “Energize Bedford” met to discuss both how to reduce New Castle’s carbon emissions and how residents can save energy dollars while making their homes more comfortable (yes—last winter’s icicles are pointing the way).  In “Read more…” see what measures your neighbors suggested that will help reduce our town’s carbon footprint.

November 18, 2011
by Deb Heineman

In what has become a favorite holiday event, over 100 people will again join Atka, the WCC Ambassador Wolf, local restauranteurs, authors and vendors for “Wine & Wolves 2011” at the Waccabuc Country Club Carriage House on Friday, December 2.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs: Not only the right thing to do to save energy, but cost-saving besides
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
by Christine Yeres

From the simplest, biggest-bang-for-the-buck changes to your household—like replacing conventional light bulbs with CFLs or insulating your house, on Tuesday, November 29 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., sustainability gets a boost from the Bedford 2020 Coalition which has been trail-blazing in home energy-efficiency for surrounding communities.  Visitors from the Coalition will share their findings (chief among them: that 53% of all our energy use goes to heating and cooling our homes) and strategies for change—and even identify some funding to support it.

Yard waste pick up by SaniPro is every Monday (except the Mon. after Thanksgiving) through Dec. 19
November 11, 2011
by Christine Yeres

Town highway crews have 100 miles of roadway to cover.  They will not pick up or chip brush from Irene unless the material was originally in the Town’s right-of-way—around 25 feet on either side of the road, as measured from the center of the road. No dragging out all your yard debris to curbside! It’s evident to crews that it didn’t fall there from above—and they will leave it behind.  However, SaniPro will pick up your yard waste if property packaged.

Sustainability Advisory Board members will meet morning and evening commuters on Tuesday at the train station; see photos of student sustainability artwork in “Read more…” and in Photo Gallery
Monday, November 14, 2011
by Christine Yeres

To mark a week that celebrates “America Recycles Day” on November 15, the New Castle Sustainability Board has invited Jessica Haller, an environmental advocate with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, to visit Town Hall on WEDNESDAY, November 16 at 7:30 p.m., to engage the public—of all ages—in conversations about climate change and creating solutions.  Bring the family!

In “Read more,” see a video of county legislators’ committee discussion on New Castle’s sewer petition.
October 21, 2011
by Christine Yeres

The recent revival of the sewer hopes for three New Castle communities with failing septic treatment plants has caused others to question why their own communities aren’t on the list – especially once Chappaqua Crossing was added to the group last May.

October 7, 2011
by Ethan Fuirst

Whether or not to recycle styrofoam or waxed cartons (yes to the styrofoam, no to the waxed cartons – see “All right, campers: Two common recycling misconceptions!”) wasn’t the only confusion people revealed in our Community Day recycling quiz.  Sometimes, your search for the little recycling triangle will be in vain. . . because there is none!  What to do?

Lanna Semel, HGHS Class of 2001, with her parents, Doreen and Joel Semel, cozy and dry inside CHIP at the 2011 Solar Decathlon; more photos in “Read more…” and in Photo Gallery
Monday, October 11, 2011
by Christine Yeres

For the last year of her time as a graduate student in architecture at Southern California Institute of Architecture in downtown Los Angeles, Lanna Semel labored with team members from Cal Tech to construct a full-scale mock up of the sustainable solar house they brought to Washington, D.C. this autumn for the Department of Energy’s fifth biennial Solar Decathlon.

October 7, 2011
by Christine Yeres

“The stars have aligned,” announced County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz in a press conference on Wednesday at the Riverwoods treatment facility. “The time is right, it’s the right thing to do. Our water supply is imperiled, and officials know it.  Local officials know it.  And the solution is to pump [the sewage] out by pipe and send it to a treatment plant that has the capacity and can best treat this sewage.”  That plant is in Yonkers, a city historically not the least bit interested in taking it.

October 7, 2011

Editor’s Note: The non-profit Bedford 2020 Coalition has published a job description for a planning director. The notice follows.

Monday, September 26, 2011
by Ethan Fuirst

At last week’s Community Day, New Castle’s Sustainability Advisory Board ran a recycling quiz to see how well our community recycles. We found that although many people recycle the basics (water bottles, newspapers, yogurt containers, etc.), few knew what to do with the confusing may-be-recyclables. From our on-the-spot research, we’ve come up with the two most common misconceptions out there.  Want to guess what they were?

There’s gold in them-thar leaves!
September 16, 2011
by Maxine Margo Rubin

All through the spring and summer, your trees are working to draw minerals and nutrients up from the earth, and storing them in their leaves. When the leaves come down this fall, you can save the time, energy and expense of blowing, bagging and carting this valuable resource off your property by creating your own mulch and fertilizer. It’s easier than you think!  On Thursday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. come to the Chappaqua Library to find out how to do it.

August 26, 2011
by Laurel Kastner

My sister, friends and I headed out to the Chappaqua Community Garden. We are part of a group of kids from the New Castle Recreation and Parks’ Teen Alliance, and the Chappaqua Library Volunteens who, along with Zahra Baird (“Z”), the Head of Teen Services at the Library, have tended our first garden.