Welcome to the Sustainability Section

NEW: An informational workshop: Adding Native Trees to Your Landscape

trees
Monday, June 9, 2014
by Victoria Alzapiedi, New Castle Conservation Board Member

On Wednesday, June 11, come join the New Castle Conservation Board in the Assembly Room of Town Hall from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. for an informal informational workshop on “Adding Native Trees to Your Landscape.”  We’ll cover lots of important details about many different trees to help you narrow down which are the best options for you!  Have you lost trees over these past few years due to storms and utility line maintenance—and have you been thinking about which types of trees would be the best fit to add to your landscape?

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SATURDAY: Plastic Bag Art Expo by Greeley’s “Students and Teachers for Our Planet”


Wednesday, May 28, 2014
by Meaghan Townsend

Looking for a great way to have fun, support the environment and get involved in the New Castle community? Come to the Chappaqua Train Station on Saturday, May 31st from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a morning of fun and eye-opening entertainment! For the first time, Horace Greeley’s environmental club S.T.O.P. (Students and Teachers for Our Planet) will not only be hosting an exciting new art expo demonstrating the negative impact of single-use bags, but also supporting the movement to transition to more environmentally-friendly reusable ones.

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Finally we can recycle milk and juice boxes too!


Monday, January 6, 2014
~ from New Castle’s Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB)

The SAB is excited to report that the town now accepts more recycling materials than ever before.  Not only does recycling reduce the amount of waste that must be burned or buried, conserve natural resources and reduce pollution, but the town saves $70 per ton of garbage recycled rather than dumped.  Below is a list of Enhanced Recycling items for 2014—but remember that these items must be placed with plastics, not paper:

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Get Your Green On, at the Chappaqua Schools Green Fair Sat., April 6


March 22, 2013

The Chappaqua Schools Green Fair, a collaborative effort of students and faculty from the Chappaqua School District and the Chappaqua PTA, takes place on Saturday, April 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Robert E. Bell Middle School.  Admission to the Green Fair is free for everyone!

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Local Groups Offer Guidance on Green, Energy Efficient New Years Resolutions for Your Home

4
January 28, 2013
by Gordon Platt

If keeping your life green and achieving energy efficiency are goals for 2013, a short cut to success is offered Saturday in Bedford Hills. Efficient, Green and Healthy: New Year’s Resolutions for Your Home will be the theme of an open house and presentation on February 2 between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. at Brenner Builders, 362 Adams Street.

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League presentation: “Hurricane Sandy: A Disaster Foretold”

What Rising Sea Levels Mean for Our Homes, Our Jobs and Our Children

January 11, 2013
by Barbara Gerrard

On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Chappaqua Library Theater, the League of Women Voters of New Castle and the Chappaqua Library are co-sponsoring a forum on Rising Sea Levels. Come listen to and ask questions of our panel of highly regarded experts in the fields of climate change and environmental conservation. This is a very important issue that is already impacting our lives in dramatic ways.

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Make a plan to leave leaves alone, let them mulch in place

leaves
Monday, September 24, 2012
by Maxine Margo Rubin

Autumn’s just begun.  Have a talk now with yourself—or your lawn care person—and make a plan to let Mother Nature run her course:  Instead of blowing and bagging leaves, put the leaves raked from your driveway and other areas into the woods and let compost happen!  Or use a mower or mulching attachment that lets the chopped leaves fall in between the blades of grass and disappear into the lawn.

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Grant for book discussion group led by food-lover, teacher and cook Carol Durst

Carol Durst
Carol Durst; photo by Kevan Full, at kevanslens.com
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
~ from the Chappaqua Library

The Chappaqua Library has been awarded a Reading and Discussion Grant of $1,000.00 from the New York Council for the Humanities for a series led by Carol Durst, a New Castle resident and lover of all things food-related.  Entitled “From Farm to Table: Making Decisions about the Food We Eat,” the series begins Wednesday, September 19, and will be held once a month through December. The series is limited to 25 participants.

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NEW: Those beautiful-ugly Heirloom tomatoes and artichokes


August 10, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

Rotating Vendors:
Flourish Baking Company
Honey Locust Farmhouse
Spice Revolution

Music – Fred Gillen, Jr.
Knife Sharpener is here this Saturday!

Have you ever seen anything so inherently ugly that tastes so delicious? The same goes for sea urchin, artichokes and kohlrabi. Sometimes you just have to look – far – beyond the physical appearance of certain foods to experience something truly sublime.

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Wildflower Bouquets and Fresh Baguettes for Bastille Day!


July 13, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

Welcome New Vendor – Grammy’s Garden
Rotating Vendors:
  Flourish Baking Company
  Honey Locust Farmhouse
  Bombay Emerald Chutney
  Spice Revolution
  Flour City Pasta
Music – Jason Waters
Special Guest – Renaissance

Knife Sharpener is here this Saturday!

When Sandy and Mark Kurtz retired from teaching they thought they’d live out their golden years indulging in their favorite hobby: growing flowers. Little did they know that their hobby would quickly sprout into a second career.

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Chappaqua Farmers Market: Giddy for garlic scapes

sophie
Sophie Morgiewicz at CFM, open 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s
June , 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

Sophie Morgiewicz, the white-haired matriarch of Morgiewicz Produce, called me bright and early Thursday morning before my second cup of coffee. “Don’t you want to know what we’ll have on the truck this week?”  I love it that even after 60 years of farming, the sight of spring spinach and chard still makes Sophie giddy as a schoolgirl. Garlic scapes make me giddy, and Sophie says she’ll have plenty of those, as will other farmers at market.

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NEW: Trains, brains and automobiles: Town task force on transportation asks for input from YOU

transportation
Monday, June 4, 2012
by Christine Yeres

Last Saturday afternoon, NCNOW asked passers-by in Chappqua and Millwood what ideas they might have to improve transportation in New Castle.  See their comments in “Read more…”  The Transportation Task Force of the town’s Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) is holding an open forum to discuss how to do better with trains, traffic, parking, biking, walking, jitneys and more on Monday, June 4 in the assembly room of town hall at 7:30 p.m..

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For Mother’s Day, a Farm-to-Bed Breakfast


On St. Mary’s Great Lawn, 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
May 11, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

• Music by Jason Waters
• Rotating Vendors: Flourish Baking Company, King Roaming Angus, Renee’s Jam, gluten-free Little Croc Bakehouse

I’ve already told my two daughters, Mina, 9, and Sabine, 7, what I want for mother’s day this year: a farm-to-bed breakfast.

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Party-time!  Chappaqua Farmers Market officially opens summer season—outdoors at St. Mary’s


Summer Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s, next to Bell
May 2, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

• Music by Chris Fox
• Cooking Demo by Maria Reina
Seven Bridges Gardeners
• Horace Greeley AIDS Awareness Club

Please don’t head to the train station—we have spontaneously moved our market permanently to the great lawn in front of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin at 191 S. Greeley Avenue!

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Chappaqua Farmers Market: Fiddlehead ferns


April 27, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

“Fiddleheads are the unfurled fronds of a fern.”  Try saying that ten times! Better not. Their season is so fleeting you might miss them. Some shoppers were lucky enough to snap some up at the market last week. Newgate Farms will have more this week and probably next. These vegetables are gathered in the spring when they are still tightly curled and between 4 and 6 inches high.

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Spring Greens: Asparagus, Fresh Herbs, Lettuce and Fiddleheads!


Open 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s next to Bell
In “Read more…” see Warren Hart’s recipe for fiddlehead ferns with high-protein pasta from Four City Pasta
April 20, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

Nothing says “Spring!” quite like a thick, textured asparagus spear. In France, April belongs to asparagus – white asparagus. Did you know that farmers and home gardeners cut their asparagus at the crack of dawn each morning before the asparagus tips get a chance to emerge from the soil and take on any hue?

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SATURDAY: PTA Green Earth Day Expo—more than 40 booths with interactive fun and green ideas!

“Meet Your Wild Neighbors” Animal Show Presented by the Greenburgh Nature Center at Noon
chappaqua
schools
green fair
April 13, 2012
by Sue Bolen

The Chappaqua Schools Green Fair, a collaborative effort of students and faculty from the Chappaqua School District and the Chappaqua PTA, will be held on Saturday, April 14 from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at The Robert E. Bell Middle School. This year admission is FREE for everyone! The Green Fair will be a fun and educational event that explores the science of sustainability and showcases how eco-friendly practices impact our communities.

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Local Tastes Better! Fresh Asparagus, Greens, Fish, Chicken


April 13, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

If you shop the farmers market then you already know what the culinary benefits are of eating local. Fruits and vegetables simply taste better when you eat them within 12-24 hours of being picked or harvested. Traveling along the highway for three days in a hot truck doesn’t do much for tomatoes and asparagus. Never mind baby spinach and mesclun. How “local” are we?

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NEW: Chappaqua Farmers Market: Food with flourish – and Flourish Baked Goods!


Saturdays, 9:00 am to 1:30 pm at St. Mary’s, next to Bell
March 23, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

The other day market co-founder Priscilla Sorensen answered her front door to find a dear friend looking, well, slightly desperate.  The friend clutched an empty container of lentil soup that had been virtually licked clean and she held it out for Priscilla to see.

“More,” she said, channeling Oliver Twist.

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Spring Lamb from Stone Barns, Vegetable Tarts from Flourish Baking Company


Open Saturdays at St. Mary’s next to Bell, from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm
March 9, 2012
by Pascale LeDroulec

When I was a restaurant critic in NYC one of my favorite restaurant havens was Verbena on Irving Place. Chef Diane Forley was an early pioneer of farm-to-table cooking and her delicate command of the vegetable was something to behold. I was crushed when I heard the restaurant had closed and that she and her co-chef husband Michael Ostuka had gone out West.

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NEW: Chappaqua Farmers Market: Onion and cherry tomato confit—with mushroom pasta


Open Saturdays, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s, next to Bell
Friday, February 27, 2012
by Pascale LeDraoulec

It’s so much easier being a locavore in my native California. I’m in Santa Monica visiting my parents and a trip to the farmers market yesterday made me a tad envious.  OK, maybe more than a tad. Gorgeous lettuces, pink blossoms, navel oranges….

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TUESDAY:  Save energy, save money, increase comfort

Sign up for a FREE or reduced-rate home energy assessment!
house in scarf
December 28, 2012
~ from New Castle’s Sustainability Advisory Board

Mark you calendar!  Join us at the Chappaqua Library on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. for an informational presentation featuring our local energy expert Norm Jen, who will help homeowners to understand how their homes leak energy, how they can fix them—and how to take advantage of state incentives to pay for it.  Learn how you can increase home comfort, reduce utility costs, improve indoor air quality and lower overall carbon emissions. Homeowners are encouraged to ask questions about their own homes.

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Salutatory Address by Katherine Rosenberg, HGHS Class of 2014

Tuesday, June 24, 2014
~ from HGHS Graduation Day

There are many tents like the one we’re in. The first time I ever saw one, I was three years old, on a family vacation in Canada, and there was a tent in the town’s main parking lot for somebody’s wedding.

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The Horace Greeley House undergoes a 21st Century energy assessment


July 19, 2013
by Gordon Platt

The Greeley House has come a long way since it was heated by fireplaces and cooled by open windows. The historic house and onetime residence of Horace Greeley and his family ushered in summer with a 21st Century energy assessment conducted by Healthy Home of Somers and Bedford, New York.

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Real Food, Real Farmers: a forum for people who want safer, healthier food

realfood
March 8, 2013
by Suzi Novak

Interested in the local food movement but think it’s too expensive? Join us for Real Food, Real Farmers, a free forum where you can become friendly with the people who could grow some of your food. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 17, at the Unitarian Fellowship, several local growers will talk about the differences between the food that comes from their farms and the products of industrial agriculture.

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Get a winter read on your house: Eight signs that say “You need a comprehensive home assessment”

After a subsidized assessment, you decide whether and which suggestions to implement. Some simple, low-tech measures will save you money right away.
house in scarf
Monday, January 28, 2013
by Norm Jen

Wintertime is a great time for us homeowners to evaluate how well our homes are performing.  Insulation, air-tightness, and heating systems are all being put to the test as they work help keep us warm and comfortable.  Is your house performing well?  Here are eight signs that you house is chugging away to heat the great outdoors.

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Can you beat this return on investment? A calculating look at home energy retrofitting


January 4, 2013
by Brian Kaminer

When I evaluated energy improvements to my home in 2008, I spent a lot of time looking at the financial return.  In order for this to work, I said to myself, the financial return must be there – and, as it turns out, it is.  The amount of air leaking out of my house was equal to having a 5-foot by 5-foot hole in one of my exterior walls, open all the time.  Heated and cooled air was being sucked out my house and money was floating away with it.  I was determined to capture those dollars.

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Care and feeding of your generator—so it’s ready for the next time

Oil change, fuel stabilizer
house in scarf
Monday, November 19, 2012
by Norm Jen

For those of us who had a generator running for some or all of the Sandy aftermath, we know what lifesavers these things can be.  Many of the generators I saw running in New Castle were portable generators.  Before they’re put away, I would suggest having a look at the owners manual for storage information.  You’ll want to be sure the generator will be ready to go the next time you need it.  Instructions on storing a generator are in your owners manual.  Don’t have the owners manual?  Try searching the internet.  Still can’t find it?  The basic process is pretty simple:

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Self-help = Generator:  Preparing for The Next Time

November 16, 2012
by Norm Jen

With Sandy, this is the third time I’ve lost power for a significant period of time in two years (I lost power during Hurricane Irene and the Halloween snow storm last year, too).  In the coming weeks and months, there is sure to be plenty of discussion about what we can do to prevent such outages in the future.  Personally, two adages come to mind:  a) “You can’t fight Mother Nature;” and b) “Always be prepared” (compliments of my old Boy Scout days).  So when it comes down to natural disasters, I boil it down two words:  self help.  Apply these two words to our recent mess, and for me, I can further boil it down to one word:  generator.

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“Energize New Castle” gears up to keep energy dollars in your pocket

Sign up for a FREE home energy assessment
cozy house
Monday, September 18, 2012
~ from the New Castle Sustainability Advisory Board

On Tuesday, September 18, at 7:00 p.m. at the Chapapqua Library, ENERGIZE NEW CASTLE is sponsoring a Home Energy Assessment and Efficiency presentation at the Chappaqua Library by expert Energy Coach Dick Kornbluth. Drawing on his 33 years of experience as a residential retrofit insulation contractor and home performance contractor, Kornbluth will provide information to help homeowners learn how to take advantage of existing state programs that increase home comfort, reduce utility costs, improve indoor air quality and lower overall carbon emissions. Homeowners are encouraged to ask questions about their own homes.

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Bedford 2020 Internship Opportunity

2020
2020
Deadline for applications is June 10
June 1, 2012
~ from Bedford 2020

Exciting news . . . The B 2020 Business Task Force has received a grant to help local businesses go green. This grant will be used to hire an environmental intern to work with the Task Force in developing a pilot program to help small business owners take green steps that will benefit the environment in our local communities and help them save money.

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Bring your extra seeds and seedlings to a community planting party Saturday, May 19

See our list of easy-to-grow vegetables in “Read more…”
cvac garden
May 18, 2012
by Susan Rubin

The Chappaqua Community Garden is having a planting party on Saturday, May 19, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The garden is located next to the Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps headquarters, located at 323 North Greeley Avenue. We’ll be planting seeds and seedlings. Experienced veggie gardeners will be on hand to help coach beginners and share stories of what grew well in past sunny and rainy summers.

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Menus in the Movies looks at backyard poultry in “Mad City Chickens”

chicken
May 11, 2012
by Susan Rubin

The Chappaqua Library will screen Mad City Chickens on Friday, May 11, at 7:00 p.m., as part of its Menus in the Movies series, led by food author and film buff Carol Durst.  Homemade (non-chicken) desserts and discussion—about backyard chickens—follow.

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Pups are born; living with coyotes—co-existing strategies

eastern coyote
April 6, 2012

Editor’s Note: Coyotes’ pups have now been born and their parents must feed them. Watch your pets and small children, especially on hikes in natural habitats.  Parks are home to lots of wildlife.  Coyotes are at the top of the food chain in these parts and the mice they live on are in short supply. Below we’ve reprinted Steve Coleman’s advice on co-existence with coyotes.

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Lyme Disease Surge Predicted for the Northeastern U.S.

Boom-and-bust acorn crops and a decline in mice leave humans vulnerable to infected ticks
acorn
Reprinted with permission from Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
April 6, 2012

Millbrook, NY – The northeastern U.S. should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring. And we can blame fluctuations in acorns and mouse populations, not the mild winter. So reports Dr. Richard S. Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y.

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PTA’s free screening of award-winning environmental documentary “Bag It” 7:15pm @ Bell

bag it
March 26, 2012
from PTA President Mindy Berkower

At its meeting on Monday, March 26, at 7:15 p.m. at the Bell Middle School, the Chappaqua PTA will hold a free screening of “Bag It”—a gripping, touching and often funny (and award-winning) documentary about how we use and abuse plastic.  Ever wonder where plastic bags and other disposables go when you throw them away? Where exactly is “AWAY?”

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Shredmobile comes to gobble up your confidential papers


Prevent identity theft; entrust your confidential papers to the shredder
March 16, 2012

You’ll find the shredmobile at the Hunts Lane Recycling Center on Saturday, March 17, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

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Get a jump on the season by starting seeds indoors

There are still a few plots available.
garden
Photos by Kevan Full, at kevanslens.com; see more pics of the seed-starting meeting and of the community garden at CVAC in Photo Gallery
Monday, February 27, 2012
by Susan Rubin

Spring is just around the corner!  Many gardeners try to get the jump on the season by starting seeds indoors.  This was the topic of a workshop given at the Chappaqua Library last Sunday by Suzi Novak and me, Susan Rubin, coordinators of the InterGenerate community garden at the Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps yard on North Greeley.

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NEW: Small business workshop: “How to Put More Green in Your Business”

March 2, 2012
from Bedford 2020

On Wednesday, March 7th at 6:00 pm at Grand Prix New York in Mt. Kisco, the Bedford 2020 Business Task Force is co-hosting an evening workshop on “How to Put More Green in Your Business.” The workshop is all about saving money, conserving energy and improving waste and recycling practices.

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THIS SUNDAY: Chappaqua Community Garden Second Season Kickoff Meeting

come garden with us!
February 10, 2012
by Suzi Novak

Many of us in Chappaqua would like to try vegetable gardening, but have been daunted by too much shade or too many deer.  The solution?  A community garden, made possible by the generosity of the Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the leadership of InterGenerate, a local non-profit established to give more people access to fresh, healthy food.  We are kicking off the 2012 season with a meeting and workshop on starting seeds indoors on Sunday, February 12 from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at the Children’s Program Room in the Chappaqua Library.

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A green way to move the snow

wovel
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.

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The very basic gift of drinkable water, through the LifeStraw

LifeStraw
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!

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What did your icicles reveal to you last year?  Move to recapture heat and dollars

“Energize Bedford” visited to enlighten New Castle
icicles
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.

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