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Where Do I Recycle or Donate Unwanted Items? 

THANKS TO OUR FRIENDS AT THE RYE SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE FOR COMPILING THIS LIST.

Before you toss an item in the trash, please check this list of organizations and businesses that will gladly accept your items for donation or recycling. Many will provide a tax-deductible receipt. Thank you for giving your items a second life and keeping them out of the trash.




APPLIANCES

  • Furniture Sharehouse. Small electronic appliances. Drop off location: Westchester County Airport Warehouse.
  • Renovation Angel, 275 Route 46 West, Fairfield, NJ, (973) 461-2344. They will inspect your kitchen (cabinets, counter tops, appliances, fixtures and building materials) and will arrange to have it removed by a licensed contractor if the kitchen is suitable.
  • Habitat for Humanity Restore, 659 Main St, New Rochelle. Submit photo via email to restorewestchester@gmail.com
  • Salvation Army, 34 North Main Street, Port Chester. Clothing, furniture, household items, cars, appliances
  • Vietnam Veterans. Small appliances. Pick-up service only.

ART SUPPLIES


ART WORK


BABY ITEMS

  • The Sharing Shelf, 47 Purdy Avenue, Port Chester. Infant car seats (less than 5 years old – wash covers before donating), pack-n-plays, strollers (cleaned), new and gently used baby clothing. New only: bottles, pacifiers. (See CLOTHING for Sharing Shelf’s donation guidelines.)
  • Rye Presbyterian Thrift Shop, 882 Boston Post Road, Rye. Strollers, toys.
  • Habitat for Humanity Restore, 659 Main St, New Rochelle. Baby furniture, including cribs. Submit photo via email to restorewestchester@gmail.com
  • Vietnam Veterans. Baby clothing, baby items. Pick-up service only.

BACKPACKS

  • Midnight Run. Contact Robin Shainberg at shain92@aol.com for drop off details in Rye.

BATTERIES

Note: Under the NYS Rechargeable Battery Law, rechargeable batteries can be recycled at most retail locations that sell them.

  • Battery Solutions. Recycles any type and every volume. Call: 800-852-8127
  • Verizon Wireless, 86 Purchase Street, Rye.
  • Rye Camera Shop, 55 Purchase Street, Rye.
  • Home Depot, Midland Avenue, Port Chester.
  • Staples, 515 Boston Post Road, Port Chester.

BIKES

  • Rye Presbyterian Thrift Shop, 882 Boston Post Road, Rye.
  • Linking Handlebars, Rye – gently used bicycles a youth run not-for-profit Organization that collects and refurbishes bicycles and gives them away to underprivileged children in local area. Drop off or arrange for pick up.
  • Vietnam Veterans. Pick-up service only.

BEAUTY/PERSONAL CARE

  • My Sister’s Place, One Water Street, White Plains. New, unopened full-size toiletries for both men and women, such as: deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, body lotion, shaving cream, and razors.
  • Hope’s Door, Hawthorne, (914) 747-0828. Full-size hair products (for all hair types), soaps, toothbrushes, toothpastes, deodorants.
  • The Sharing Shelf, 47 Purdy Avenue, Port Chester.
    • New, unopened full sized toiletries.
    • From October 15 – November 10 and March 15 – April 1: hairdryers, curling irons, flat-irons (must work!)
  • Midnight Run. Hotel size toiletries. Contact Robin Shainberg at shain92@aol.com for drop off location in Rye.
  • Vietnam Veterans. Cosmetics, body care items. Pick up service only.

BOOKS

 


BUILDING MATERIAL

  • Habitat for Humanity Restore, 659 Main St, New Rochelle. Submit photo via email to restorewestchester@gmail.com
  • Renovation Angel, 275 Route 46 West, Fairfield, NJ, (973) 461-2344. Cabinets, countertops, appliances, fixtures and building material.

CAMERAS

  • Rye Arts Center, 51 Milton Road, Rye. Accepts art supplies, digital cameras and tablets.

CELL PHONES AND ACCESSORIES

  • Apple Products. Drop off Apple products at local Apple stores or recycle online with prepaid mailing label.
  • Hope’s Door, Hawthorne, (914) 747-0828. Call to schedule drop off.
  • National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Accepts any cell phone/accessories in any condition, laptops, Mp3 players, digital cameras, video game systems, chargers, accessories, cords.
  • Verizon Wireless, 86 Purchase Street, Rye. Trade in devices for a gift card, or choose to donate devices to HopeLine, a charity that gives survivors of domestic violence a safe, reliable way to stay in contact with vital resources in a time of crisis.
  • Staples, 515 Boston Post Road, Port Chester. Accepts accessories, adapters, cordless phones, trade-in eligible mobile phones.

CHINA


CLEANING SUPPLIES

  • Humane Society ofWestchester, 70 Portman Rd, New Rochelle. Disinfecting wipes, paper towels, Windex, bleach, brooms, small scrub brushes, large garbage bags, disposable gloves, dish/liquid hand/bar soap, hand sanitizer, laundry detergent, Ziploc sandwich bags.
  • Hope’s Door, Hawthorne, (914) 747-0828. Laundry detergent, fabric softener, dish detergent, Brillo, sponges, cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, napkins.

CLOTHING

  • Rye Presbyterian Thrift Shop, 882 Boston Post Road, Rye. Accepts only new clothing
  • The Sharing Shelf, 47 Purdy Avenue, Port Chester. New and gently used clothing, SHOES for infants, children and teen.
    • Clothing should be in clean, wearable condition ready for immediate distribution.
    • No used socks, underwear, hats or gloves (new is fine).
    • Accepts: Fall and winter clothing from July 15 – February 28 and spring and summer clothing/shoes from March 1 – July 14.
    • Recycling of stained or damaged clothing: Bag recyclables separately. Label bag “For Recycling”. Drop off Tuesday/Wednesday, Thursday between 9:30am-2:30pm. Do not include items for recycling in your regular donation bags.
  • The Children’s Collective. Collects gently used and new coats and warm winter clothing the first week in November. Email: ChildrensCollective@gmail.com
  • Bottomless Closet. Women’s professional clothing. Contact: krkressler@gmail.com
  • Operation Prom. Have an old prom dress still hanging in your closet? Donate it, jewelry or bags (no shoes) to a local teen. Drop-off locations are listed in the fall/winter. Westchester Contact: Noel D’Allacco, email: Noeld@HelpPROM.org
  • Rye Middle School. Spring Clothing Drive
  • Midnight Run. Sweatshirts, sneakers and backpacks. Contact Robin Shainberg at shain92@aol.com for drop off location in Rye.
  • Salvation Army, 34 North Main Street, Port Chester. Clothing, furniture, household items, cars, appliances
  • The Golden Shoestring, 149 Larchmont Avenue, Larchmont. Gently used apparel, accessories (shoes, handbags, scarves, belts, jewelry).
  • Vietnam Veterans. Clothing, accessories and shoes of all types and sizes (men’s, ladies, children’s, baby’s). Pick-up service only.

CONTACT LENSES


CORKS


CRYSTAL


COMPUTERS

  • Westchester PC Renew. Refurbishes donated computers and distributes them to non-profit groups.
  • Apple Products. Drop off Apple products at local Apple stores or recycle online with prepaid mailing label.
  • Staples, 515 Boston Post Road, Port Chester. Accepts accessories, adapters, cables, all-in-one computers, computer speakers, desktop computers, eReaders, flash drives, gaming consoles/handhelds, GPS devices, hard drives, iPod®/Mp3 players, keyboard/mice. laptops (trade-in eligible), modems, monitors (LCD, LED, CRT), printers/multifunction devices (desktop), routers, scanners (desktop), shredders, small servers, tablets (trade-in eligible), UPS/battery, backup devices, and webcams.

ELECTRONICS

  • Rye Arts Center, 51 Milton Road, Rye. Accepts art supplies, digital cameras and tablets.
  • Music and Memory. Accepts all Apple music players in working condition. Provides prepaid shipping label. Music & Memory is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.
  • National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Accepts any cell phone/accessories in any condition, laptops, Mp3 players, digital cameras, video game systems, chargers, accessories, cords.
  • Apple Products. Drop off Apple products at local Apple stores or recycle online with prepaid mailing label.
  • Staples, 515 Boston Post Road, Port Chester. Accepts accessories, adapters, cables, all-in-one computers, computer speakers, desktop computers, eReaders, flash drives, gaming consoles/handhelds, GPS devices, hard drives, iPod®/Mp3 players, keyboard/mice. laptops (trade-in eligible), modems, monitors (LCD, LED, CRT), printers/multifunction devices (desktop), routers, scanners (desktop), shredders, small servers, tablets (trade-in eligible), UPS/battery, backup devices, webcams, cable/satellite receivers, calculators, camcorders, CD/DVD/Blu-ray players, computer speakers, connected home devices, copiers (desktop), cordless phones, digital cameras, fax machines (desktop), Flash drives, mobile phones (trade-in eligible), stereo receivers, video streaming devices (Apple TV®, Roku Player, etc.).
  • Home Depot, Midland Avenue, Port Chester. Accepts rechargeable batteries, CFL bulbs and plastic bags for recycling. Accepts incandescent holiday lights from November to mid December for recycling.

EYEGLASSES


FOOD


FURNITURE

  • Rye Presbyterian Thrift Shop, 882 Boston Post Road, Rye. Accepts small furniture, including tables and chairs.
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters.
  • Furniture Sharehouse. Bed frames, mattresses, dressers, tables, lamps, small electronic appliances, rugs, mirrors, artwork, TVs (less than 27” and less than 5 years old). Drop off location: Westchester County Airport Warehouse.
  • Salvation Army, 34 North Main Street, Port Chester. Clothing, furniture, household items, cars, appliances.
  • The Golden Shoestring, 149 Larchmont Avenue, Larchmont. Small furniture pieces and bric-a-brac.
  • Vietnam Veterans. Small furniture, rugs. Pick-up service only.

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

  • Carver Center. Collection in early fall. Contact Shami Kini at shami.kini@gmail.com

HEATING PADS & HOT WATER BOTTLES


HOUSEWARES

  • Rye Presbyterian Thrift Shop, 882 Boston Post Road, Rye.
  • Salvation Army, 34 North Main Street, Port Chester. Clothing, furniture, household items, cars, appliances.
  • The Golden Shoestring, 149 Larchmont Avenue, Larchmont. Household, decorative items, china, crystal, glassware, kitchen items.
  • Hope’s Door, Hawthorne, (914) 747-0828. Gently used or new household items: dishes, microwaves, toasters, silverware, coffee pots.
  • Vietnam Veterans. Pick-up service only. Household items, glassware. They will take almost anything.

IPODS/MP3 PLAYERS

  • Music and Memory. Accepts all apple music players in working condition. Provides prepaid shipping label. Music and Memory is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.
  • Staples, 515 Boston Post Road, Port Chester. Accepts music players for recycling.
  • Apple Products. Drop off Apple products at local Apple stores or recycle online with prepaid mailing label.

JEWELRY


KNICK-KNACKS

  • Rye Presbyterian Thrift Shop, 882 Boston Post Road, Rye.
  • Salvation Army, 34 North Main Street, Port Chester. Clothing, furniture, household items.

KNITTING NEEDLES

  • Hope’s Door, Hawthorne, (914) 747-0828. Crochet/knitting needles.

LAMPS


LINENS/TOWELS/BEDDING


MARKERS

  • An In-School Program: Crayola ColorCycle will accept all brands of used plastic markers, including dry erase markers and highlighters. Schools box and mail collected markers to Crayola for recycling. Crayola pays all shipping charges.
  • See Art Supplies for related guidelines.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES

  • The AFYA Foundation. Collects used medical supplies to be donated to those in need. Accepts used medical equipment (wheel chairs, shower chairs, commodes, crutches, slings etc.) chucks, adult diapers, bandages, pencils, notebooks. Collections organized through Rye Rotary. Drop Off: Webster Bank, back entrance, 72 Purchase Street. Please call before dropping off: (914) 967-1679.

MIRRORS


PET SUPPLIES

  • Mount Vernon Animal Shelters. Canned cat food, canned dog food, dog treats, cat treats, milkbones, peanut butter, bleach, laundry detergent/ powder, Pine-sol, Fabuloso, dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, 30 gallon garbage bags.
  • Humane Society of Westchester, 70 Portman Rd, New Rochelle. Ziploc sandwich bags, snow shovels, pet-safe ice melt, heating pads/hot water bottles, toys, canned/dry food items, stuffed animals, peanut butter, hot dogs. (Accepts all food donations, but has a greater need for canned pet foods.)
  • Pet Rescue, 7 Harrison Avenue, Harrison. Dog food, dog treats, canned cat food, cat litter, kennels, cat toys, dog toys, laundry detergent, bleach.

PHARMACEUTICALS

  • Drop off at Rye Police Station, 21 McCullough Place. A full list of medication collection boxes in NY State can be found here.

PLASTIC BAGS

  • By state law, stores with 10,000 square feet or more of retail space and chains that operate five or more stores with greater than 5,000 square feet of retail space are required to provide plastic bag recycling bins. Accepted items must be clean and include:
    • retail bags with string ties and rigid plastic handles removed
    • newspaper bag
    • dry-cleaning bags
    • produce bags with all food residue removed
    • bread bags with all food residue removed
    • cereal bags with all food residue removed
    • plastic wrap from paper products (paper towels, toilet paper, etc.)
    • plastic stretch/shrink wrap with all food residue remove
    • plastic zipper-type bags

PLASTIC BUBBLE WRAP & PACKAGING MATERIAL

  • UPS Store, 222 Purchase Street, Rye. Collects plastic bubble wrap, but does not collect packaging peanuts.

RUGS


SCHOOL SUPPLIES

  • My Sister’s Place, One Water Street, White Plains.
  • The Sharing Shelf, 47 Purdy Avenue, Port Chester. New, unopened and unused school supplies and new or used scientific and graphing calculators

SHOES/SNEAKERS

  • Midnight Run. Sneakers for the homeless. Contact Robin Shainberg at shain92@aol.com for drop off location in Rye.
  • Rye Running Co., 37 Purchase Street. Collects gently used sneakers and donates them to morefoundationgroup.org
  • The Sharing Shelf, 47 Purdy Avenue, Port Chester. New and gently used sneakers and shoes.
  • Vietnam Veterans. Pick-up service only. All kinds of shoes.

SILVER


SNOW SHOVELS


SPORTING GOODS


STEREO/RADIO


TELEVISIONS

  • Furniture Sharehouse. Drop off location: Westchester County Airport Warehouse. TVs (less than 27” and less than 5 years old).
  • Vietnam Veterans. Pick-up service only. Portable TVs.

TOOLS


TOYS


ZIPLOC BAGS


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

RYE CITY INTERACTIVE SANITATION CALENDAR – Does everything except slice bread: You can create a personalized waste pickup calendar, schedule metal/electronics pickup, and its “what goes where” feature tells you where to donate/recycle anything. A must use for Rye residents.

RYE MOM SALES ON FACEBOOK –  You can sell any type of item or offer it for free in this group. www.facebook.com/RyeMomSales

WESTCHESTER FREECYCLEJoin this group through Yahoo to offer almost anything. List your item through the group’s moderators, and a member will respond if they would like to take the item. You may only offer items for free. Visit

CRAIGSLISTPost items for sale on Craigslist or in the “For Free” section.

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EcoWise: For a Festive and Eco-Friendly Party, Bypass Balloons

By Cathy Taylor

In this season of graduations and summer celebrations, it’s a good time to think about alternatives to that most popular of party decorations: balloons.

Unfortunately, balloons are harmful to the environment on three fronts. First, just like single-use plastic bags and straws, discarded balloons – particularly those that are released into the air — make their way into the environment where they do not biodegrade.

Pieces of balloons have been found nearly everywhere – including in the digestive tracts of animals, blocking their ability to absorb nutrients and slowly killing them. The texture and color can be particularly deceiving for marine animals, which can mistake them for food.

Second, balloon strings and ribbons can prove dangerous to animals, who routinely get tangled in them.

Third, party balloons are often inflated with helium, which is not a renewable resource and has more important uses, such as in the treatment of emphysema, the production of MRI scans and the manufacturing of semiconductor chips.

Unfortunately, balloons that are not made of plastic also miss the mark. Mylar, which has become a popular material for making balloons, comes with its own environmental hazards. Made of synthetic nylon with a metallic coating, it is not biodegradable.

Also beware of the many stores and sites that market “biodegradable” latex balloons. While natural latex is biodegradable, by the time the latex is treated with chemicals, plasticizers and dyes, the final product’s biodegradability slips. During that time, these so-called biodegradable alternatives can do plenty of damage to the environment.

But EcoWise doesn’t want to be a party pooper. Fortunately, there are many festive eco-friendly alternatives. Here are just a few:

Tissue paper flowers: These are easy to make and can be created in as much variety as there are colors of tissue paper.

Pinwheels: Part of the fun of having balloons at an outdoor gathering is watching them dance in the wind. Paper pinwheels can have the same effect without the environmental hazards.

Kites: If you’re tempted to do a balloon release, think of flying kites instead. It’s another way to get that uplifting feeling – but in an eco-friendly, reusable manner.

Flags: String small paper flags across the party area and watch them flutter in the wind.

Crepe paper: Crepe paper can be used in a number of different ways, not just as streamers.

Bunting: Bunting can be made out of a number of materials, from construction paper to fabric, and it’s an interesting way to tie a party theme into whatever you create.

Plants: Flowering plants make for great décor and are a particularly wonderful alternative if party-goers can plant them afterwards.

Painted rocks: These can be placed all over the party setting, adding color and imagination.

The Internet is full of balloon-free decorating ideas that can spur your imagination. Enjoy this season of celebration, and try looking beyond balloons.

 

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EcoWise: Huguenot Says No to Waste

By Cathy Taylor

Huguenot Memorial Church went zero waste last month, which means the entire building is now recycling, reusing or composting all discarded items, from apple cores to plates, cups to paper towels.

The initiative also includes the Huguenot Nursery School and Spotlight Gymnastics, which operate out of Huguenot. “It only made sense if it was the whole campus and the whole facility,” said Lynne Dintrone, a member of Huguenot’s Building and Grounds Committee.

The Committee voted in favor of the move in early January. The organization officially shifted to zero waste on April 25 at Huguenot Cabaret, an annual fundraiser for the church’s mission work that is one of its most well-attended events of the year, drawing almost 240 people.

For Cabaret, Dintrone ordered cups that looked like plastic but were actually compostable, used the church’s reusable dishware and utensils, and strategically placed blue bins for recycling of glass and paper and green bins for cups and food scraps. A humorous sketch during the show instructed attendees on how to dispose of everything.

A successful zero waste dinner last fall for Huguenot’s youth group helped move the larger initiative forward. Associate Pastor Jacob Bolton realized then that if the church could go zero waste for a small event it could do so on a larger scale.

Huguenot received extensive guidance from Michelle Sterling and Ron Schulhof of Scarsdale, the duo who started the food scrap recycling program there and also helped make Westchester Reform Temple the first zero-waste house of worship in the county. “They were phenomenal,” Bolton said. “They held our hands through this entire thing.”

Along with giving frequent consultations, the two did a full walk-through of Huguenot’s 35,000-square-foot building to figure out how zero waste could work for a facility that size.

The biggest challenge was implementing food composting, which is not offered by garbage services in either Pelham Village or Pelham Manor. The church contracted with CRP Sanitation, which transports the material to a composting facility in Ulster County. The topsoil produced is then sold throughout the Hudson Valley.

The decision to go full-out zero waste was years in the making. In 2012, the church launched its Sustainable Huguenot campaign by converting the entire building to a geothermal heating and cooling system and later buying a refurbished organ when the old one needed to be replaced.

Also in 2012, youth group members learned how to perform an eco-audit, sorting through trash and figuring out what could be recycled, composted, and so forth; the group also performed audits for houses of worship throughout Pelham.

But the idea of becoming a zero-waste facility sprouted anew last September when Bolton and just-hired Pastor Paul Seelman attended a zero-waste event for the Hudson River Presbytery, which guides 79 regional Presbyterian congregations.

Seeleman gave the green light to move forward on a dream Bolton had held for a long time. For Huguenot, this is a major step forward in living out its faith in caring for the earth.

(Disclosure: The author is an active member of Huguenot Church.)

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EcoWise: A Way for Educators to Embrace Earth Day

By Cathy Taylor

This year’s Earth Day, on Sunday, April 22, is focusing on a theme familiar to readers of EcoWise: ending plastic pollution. In fact, Earth Day organizers want it gone by 2020, which, not coincidentally, is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

That’s not a lot of time to rid the world of a scourge that’s poisoning our environment. So we’d like to take this column to urge local educators to incorporate lessons about it into Climate Education Week, which begins on Monday, April 16 and ends on Earth Day. Earthday.org has interactive educational toolkits for elementary school, middle school and high school, but if you can’t work plastic pollution into the curriculum that week, the lessons can be helpful at any time.

First, let’s discuss why there is such urgency about plastic – and specifically single-use plastics, such as straws and plastic bags.

Even though some plastic is recyclable, plastic pollution has become a global crisis because it doesn’t degrade and much of it makes its way – eternally — into the environment. Once there, it poisons and injures animals, particularly in the oceans; disrupts human hormones; litters our landscapes, and clogs landfills. According to a story last month in The New York Times, the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, “is four to 16 times bigger than previously thought, occupying an area roughly four times the size of California and comprising an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of rubbish.” The vast majority of it is plastic, from hard hats to water bottles.

Here are some of the suggestions for educators at earthday.org. (Check out the site to figure out what is age appropriate.)

  1. Have your class list all of the plastics they use, and then have students brainstorm a about ways of shortening the list.
  2. Take a quick field trip to one of the neighborhood storm drains to illustrate how plastic travels down them and ends in waterways.
  3. Watch a short film, such as the PBS video featuring Jean-Michel Cousteau’s trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or a National Geographic video that discusses the connection between plastic pollution and the foods that we eat.
  4. Hold a low-waste lunch day.
  5. Test the recycling IQ of your students – before and after they’ve learned more about plastic pollution.
  6. Teach the class about composting, which is a great jumping off point for discussing decomposition and the nutrient cycle.
  7. Focus a lesson on microplastics, which are what larger plastics become when they break down in our oceans.

There are also plenty of resources at the site if you’d like to help your family end plastic pollution, such as a calculator for adding up your household’s plastic pollution, and suggestions for alternatives. Let’s all celebrate the earth on April 22 — and every day, for that matter.

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EcoWise: Affordable Solar Energy Set to Come to Pelham

Discounted solar energy is finally coming to the Town of Pelham through the Solarize Westchester program. The deadline for homeowners to sign a solar contract is June 4.

The model takes advantage of economies of scale in individual municipalities to bring down the installation cost of solar for interested residents and commercial property owners.

“[Solarize Pelham] is a way to be more responsible to our planet, our community, and each other,” said Town Supervisor Pete DiPaola.

Since it began operation in 2015, Solarize Westchester has conducted 11 Solarize campaigns in 20 Westchester municipalities, resulting in 500 solar installations. It is currently rolling out new efforts in Pelham and Croton, among other communities. “The municipalities we worked with have been very positive about the program,” said Nina Orville, principal of Abundant Efficiency, a sustainable consulting company that administers the overall program and coordinates between municipalities and solar contractors.

The selection of Pelham as a new Solarize market followed an extensive vetting process. Pelham first had to submit an application to Sustainable Westchester, which looks for a number of attributes, including whether the population is big enough to qualify for discount.

According to Pelham resident Lindsay Preftakes, who served as team lead on Solarize Pelham, “We also had to show that we had support through dedicated community members to run the campaign and civic organizations such as EcoPel.”

Village of Pelham Trustee and EcoPel liaison Ariel Spira-Cohen coordinated the municipal application process between Pelham and Sustainable Westchester. Pelham residents Kevin Healy and Maryann Joyce worked with former Pelhamite and EcoPel board member Christian Privat to initiate the application process last year.

Sustainable Westchester also promotes the opportunity to participate in Solarize Westchester with its municipal members and issues the requests for proposal to solar installers. Additionally, solar installers are pre-screened by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Pelham chose Ross Solar, a ConEdison Solutions Company, for the Solarize Pelham campaign, which has been the contractor for 21 other Solarize campaigns.

How big are the potential savings? Excluding the long-term reduction in energy costs, once the estimated 20 percent group discount is applied, along with a mix of rebates and tax credits, the price of a solar installation can drop by as much as two-thirds off the average market price of $28,000. Payment plans are also available through Ross.

An initial kickoff workshop was held on March 7, organized by the Solarize Pelham team with a presentation will by Ross. Other forums are being planned, including one focused on commercial property owners. While homeowners have until June 4 to sign a solar contract, commercial property owners can register for site visits until June 4 and wait until October to sign a contract.

For more information, go to https://www.solarizewestchester.com/pelham/.

 

 

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EcoWise: Don’t Just Recycle…Reduce

The recent decision by the Village of Pelham to return to weekly from biweekly recycling pickup – after residents asked for the change in the new garbage contract – is just one indication that most households in the broader Town of Pelham dutifully recycle their plastic, paper and metal.

Recycling is to be encouraged. But next time you’re hauling out your bin full of plastic bottles, you might take a moment to think about things differently. How? By figuring out how to lessen both garbage and recycling – by buying items that have minimal packaging, using refillable water bottles instead of buying the kind that can eventually be recycled, or refusing a straw with your soda.

If that sounds like a big ask, you could first focus just on reducing use of plastic, particularly single-use items. (And if you’re buying items like ketchup and detergent for the house, buy them in bulk; it cuts down on packaging.)

Why single out plastic? Because even after it’s recycled, it never really goes away. Virtually all of the plastic that has ever been made is still on the planet in some fashion. A plastic bottle takes over 400 years to decompose — a plastic straw about 200 years.

The fact is that is the United Nations has termed plastic pollution “a planetary crisis” and there’s no sign – yet — that demand for plastic is slowing down. Some 311 millions tons of plastic is produced each year, and that amount is supposed to quadruple by 2050, according to the European Environmental Bureau. Especially given that everyday items such as plastic bags and straws can’t easily be recycled, this is not a problem that can be handled solely by recycling.

And, unfortunately, there’s an even bigger issue on the horizon: whether items that are meant to be recycled will actually end up being recycled. A December story from Bloomberg News detailed a change in policy in China that is having global implications for the recycling business. The country – the biggest buyer of the world’s waste – is getting much more finicky about what recycling it will accept. The story explains: “The country is trying to curb rampant pollution with new restrictions on waste imports and shutting old industrial plants, including mills that process foreign scrap into reusable raw materials.”

While it’s unclear right now how or if this change will affect the much smaller world of Pelham recycling, the best way to adjust to an ever-changing landscape is simple: don’t just recycle, but refuse, reduce, reuse — and then recycle.

 

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EcoWise: Village of Pelham Moves Closer to Environmental Sustainability Commitment

One of EcoPel’s bedrock goals is to raise the environmental consciousness of local government officials in support of policies that promote a greener, cleaner Pelham.

Recently, the Village of Pelham has moved steps closer to that goal as its Board of Trustees explores the creation of a sustainability advisory board (SAB). Such a body would develop programs and recommend policies that contribute to the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the Village.

“A sustainability board can provide more than green window dressing,” said VOP Trustee Ariel Spira-Cohen, who is spearheading the effort with Trustee Xaira Ferrara. “Municipalities that meet a number of environmental goals can receive grants for their efforts, in addition to enhancing their towns going forward.”

Though still in the exploratory stages, the board would potentially be made up of six members appointed by the mayor with trustee approval, along with a liaison from the Village government. Sustainability members might come from like-minded civic organizations such as EcoPel.

Generally speaking, sustainability boards provide non-binding advice and expertise. For instance, while residents may express interest in food-scrap composting, to put that into practice requires a relationship with local governing bodies. “We have a great civic organization here, EcoPel, but we don’t currently have a sustainability committee that is very aligned or integrated into village government like some of the other Westchester municipalities,” Spira-Cohen said.

For an example of how a sustainability advisory board might work, EcoWise reached out to Steve Wolk, chairman of the Town of New Castle SAB. In recent years, it has helped establish a town-wide plastic bag ban and coordinated a shift from dual stream recycling – which requires that paper products be sorted separately from other recyclables — to single-stream recycling, which is more efficient.

Spira-Cohen said the idea of a Pelham SAB has come up for a number of reasons, including a desire by the trustees to modernize the tree committee that is currently part of the Village code. (The duties of the tree committee are largely carried out by the Village’s private contractor.) “An SAB is more beneficial than one-off initiatives,” she noted, “because it focuses on a long-term working relationship towards a set of goals.”

Pelham Manor isn’t currently discussing the creation of a formal advisory board, according to Manor Trustee Michelle DeLillo. But she noted that the Village is serious about sustainability, as evidenced by its robust recycling and waste management program that includes electronics recycling and curbside collection for leaf composting. It is also a member, as is the Village and the Town of Pelham, in Sustainable Westchester.

Interest in sustainability and environmentally-friendly policy is growing in Westchester, and an SAB can serve as a crucial linchpin, connecting the ideas and desires of citizens to improve their communities with the municipalities that can help enact them.

Village of Pelham residents interested in serving on the proposed SAB can contact  ariel.spiracohen@pelhamgov.com or xaira.ferrara@pelhamgov.com.

 

 

 

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EcoWise: How to Winnow the Waste Out of Your Holidays

In October, the youth group at Huguenot Memorial Church planned an event for 50 people with a key goal in mind: to generate zero waste.

According to Associate Pastor Jacob Bolton (above), the organizers asked the caterer – Modern Restaurant in New Rochelle — to deliver the food in recyclable foil tins and avoid using plastic wrap.

They clearly marked bins for recycling, composting, and regular trash. They even enlisted the help of Scarsdale’s composting activists to haul away the food scraps, since Pelham Manor does not have its own community food composting program. “What everyone realized throughout the night was nothing was going in the garbage,” Bolton said.

As we enter this month of gifts, galas — and garbage, you might give some thought to planning your own zero-waste gatherings.

The Environmental Protection Agency says Americans create 25 percent more waste during the holiday season than they do the rest of the year. While it’s hard to completely eliminate wrapping paper, boxes, and holiday cards, at least they’re recyclable.

EcoPel has culled a few handy tips to get you close to achieving that zero-waste goal:

  1. Use e-vites instead of paper invitations.
  2. Hang LED Christmas lights instead of incandescent lights, which use ten times more energy. Also consider reusable or natural decorations. Those pinecones littering your lawn could make the perfect centerpiece.
  3. Set the table with cloth napkins, china, and regular silverware – nothing plastic or paper.
  4. Serve hot beverages in ceramic mugs, rather than paper hot cups that actually aren’t recyclable because they are lined with a thin plastic coating.
  5. Turn down the heat. Once the guests arrive, they’ll warm up the house for you.
  6. Let your guests in on the zero-waste theme early. If they are bringing food, they, too, can use eco-friendly containers.
  7. Give the leftovers to your guests or to someone in need. Before tossing out those picked-over poultry carcasses and ham bones, squeeze out more nourishment by making soup stocks.
  8. Compost, if possible. If you have a bin in the backyard or other eco-solution for disposing of food scraps, paper towels, and coffee grinds, you have a much better chance of hitting the zero-waste mark.
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EcoWise: The Case Against Plastic Straws

When it comes to pollution, the plastic straw is an afterthought. But it shouldn’t be.

In fact, the humble straw creates big environmental problems. As the students involved with Pelham Eliminates Plastics noted at their October launch event at The Picture House, people in the U.S. alone use 500 million straws per day. (Source: Be Straw Free.) If such plastic habits don’t change soon, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

Straws are one of the plastic products PEP is targeting in Pelham. “They’re bad for the environment, and they hurt all the wildlife,” said Russ Eustace, a sixth grader at Pelham Middle School who is a member of PEP.

Several local businesses have attempted to tackle the plastic straw problem by testing out paper versions. Unfortunately, that’s not yet a great solution.

Clay Bushong, an owner of Cantina Lobos on Wolfs Lane, said his restaurant has tried three different types of paper straws. In addition to costing more than the plastic variety, paper straws were not a big hit with customers, as they tended to disintegrate in the drinks.

Lisa Neubardt, owner of the Bakery at Four Corners, said she, too, has not found a viable alternative. “If there was a product that was economically feasible and sustainable, I would use it,” she said. The bakery does try to conserve in other ways, such as by not handing out too many napkins, she added.

If you must have a straw and want to avoid plastic, you could always carry around your own, made of a recyclable material such as bamboo, glass, or metal. But the easiest thing to do, whether ordering a drink from a restaurant or takeout counter, is to just say no to the plastic straw. As Russ Eustace said, “They’re really unnecessary.” Think about it.

 

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PEP Rally: Introducing Pelham Eliminates Plastics

Journalist Lauren Paige Kennedy and editor Tracey Minkin of Coastal Living magazine introduce a teen-led initiative to stop the use of throwaway plastics in Pelham.

We’d like to introduce you to PEP (Pelham Eliminates Plastics), which aims to school parents, teachers, neighbors, merchants, and friends about the FACTS on plastic waste and what it’s doing to our threatened oceans.

The group takes its inspiration, in part, from Melati and Isabel Wijsen, sisters from Bali who organized a kids’ crusade that shamed the governor into phasing out all plastic bags on the island by 2018.

Please take the #PEPpledge: Stop using SINGLE-USE PLASTICS, including plastic bags, water bottles, straws, and takeout coffee lids, TODAY. For our kids’ sakes, and their futures!

You’ll learn why in Lauren Paige Kennedy’s COASTAL LIVING Magazine feature, Meet 13 Ocean Heroes Fighting to Save our Seas. For this story she met with musician and ocean conservationist Jack Johnson and a global tribe of scientists, citizen activists, and sea legends, who together crunch the numbers on what plastic waste is doing to our planet—and who also share what we must together do: save our waters one person, one town, one state, one country, and one nation at a time.