July 3, 2009
by Maxine Margo Rubin

Save money and help save the planet in a twist, by switching your incandescent light bulbs to energy saving carbon fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. CFL bulbs use one-fifth the energy of incandescent light bulbs, while a 9-watt CFL produces as much light as its 40-watt incandescent counterpart.

Logo by Jessia Ma, a tenth grader at Horace Greeley HS
May 1, 2009
by Jackie O’Brien

What are kids thinking about the world they will inherit?  They are prepared to tell you, and inform you about to we can all make it a greener world, at the first ever Chappaqua Environmental Forum on Saturday, May 9. Registration begins at 9:45 a.m., and the student-run workshops continue until 2:00 p.m.

January 30, 2009
by Christine Yeres

Teatown Lake Reservation hosts its fifth annual Hudson River “EagleFest” on Saturday, February 7, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Headquarters for EagleFest is at Croton Point Park, with additional viewing sites along the Hudson at Croton-Harmon train station boat camp, George’s Island Park in Montrose, and Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center in Peekskill. Last year’s event drew 2300 eagle-spotters.

October 31, 2008
by Christine Yeres

Robert E. Bell social studies teacher Mallory Chinn and her students threw a harvest celebration yesterday on the front lawn of the middle school. Her classes visited the outdoor enclosed garden of raised beds with its own irrigation system to harvest the vegetables and greens they planted earlier this fall. 

Photos by Ann Goodman Weinstein; see more photos and map of Burden inside
October 17, 2008
by Susan Carpenter

Over a decade ago, the town of New Castle identified the property now known as the Burden Preserve as an important open space resource. At that time the town began an effort to acquire it from the estate of Margret Burden, and was finally successful in that quest in 2003. The property once belonged to William Burden, the ambassador to Belgium under Dwight Eisenhower. The Burden family owned 230 acres along Route 128, and the preserve consists of 124 acres of that land. This Saturday, October 18, at 10:00 a.m. the preserve will be officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by short guided hikes until noon.

‘Gator Blotter: Tuesday, August 12
Visit Photo Gallery for more pictures
August 15, 2008
by Christine Yeres

Josh Dreisacker, wildlife removal specialist, thought it was a joke at first. “The police called us Tuesday afternoon and said, ‘We have a two-foot alligator on the loose in Chappaqua. Can you help us?’ Last time we heard a call like that it turned out to be a large iguana,” recalled Dreisacker. But this time it was the genuine article. New Castle Police Officer Ray Bourbeau had the creature under observation at Pinecliff Sanctuary at the end of Pinecliff Road, located less than half a mile up Quaker Road from the Rte.120 bridge.

June 20, 2008
by Ann Marie Fallon

On Sunday, June 28, Westchester County is sponsoring “Plastic Bag Day at Playland.”

May 9, 2008
by Veronica Mishkind

Composting is nature’s process of recycling decomposed organic materials into rich soil. Anything that was once living will decompose. Basically, backyard composting is a quicker version of the same process nature uses. By composting your organic waste you are returning nutrients back into the soil in order for the cycle of life to continue. Finished compost looks like soil, dark brown and crumbly.

May 9, 2008
by Peter Moses

May 2, 2008
by Annie Madden

Robert E. Bell Middle School has joined a national program named Call2Recycle that will provide New Castle residents with an easy, convenient way to recycle their old cell phones and dead rechargeable batteries. Bell Middle School students will kick off this effort this Saturday at the Earth Day Celebration at the Bell porte-cochere from noon to 3:00 p.m. Students will host a booth to collect cell phones and old rechargeable batteries.

May 2, 2008
by Ellen Rothschild

Batteries can be found in many things you use in your everyday life. They are in your TV remote control, your cell phone, and so many more items. They are a vital part of our ever-growing portable lifestyle.

April 25, 2008
by Susie Pender

On April 30, Chappaqua middle school and high school students will travel to Pace University to attend the Students for a Sustainable Future Expo ’08 at the Goldstein Fitness Center at Pace University in Pleasantville. The event organizers, The Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation, or CELF, hope to ignite student interest in 21st century career opportunities in the global green economy.

Kids Against Pollution president Andrew Lafortezza
April 18, 2008
by Madeline Rivlin

As the usual line of cars snaked up the driveway at Seven Bridges Middle School on Monday, April 14, they were greeted by students holding signs that read “save the earth, not just for us but for future generations,” and chanting “Ride the bus!”

View YouTube snippet at “Read more.”
April 11, 2008
by David Swope

My family has lived here a long time.  In 1956 we moved from the Teatown area to the house on Hawkes Avenue.

David Rambo in his office on Hunts Lane
March 28, 2008
by Christine Yeres

You may not know it, but you’ve been doing exactly the right thing by not disturbing last fall’s piles of leaves. If you want to see the results of the composting that’s been happening all winter under your benign neglect, scratch down now below the leaves and see the rich, black soil that’s waiting.