In Winter, Some Things Stay Green
Take a look at what Mamaroneck's Committee for the Environment is doing in the cold months.
While the Federal Government spends time debating environmental legislation, there is plenty that our local municipalities are doing to create a "greener" environment.
(This piece will focus mainly on the Village of Mamaroneck, but Patch will run another environmental story next week on what Larchmont is up to.)
Sustainability Expo
Elsa Puerto-Rubin, co-chair of the Committee for the Environment in the Village of Mamaroneck, says that the committee's focus right now is planning and finding volunteers and exhibitors for the upcoming Sustainability Expo at Mamaroneck High School in April.
Mamaroneck was invited to co-sponsor the all-day environmental summit with Larchmont's Committee on the Environment. The date is April 24 and the time is TBA. There will be speakers, including county officials, experts on environmental issues facing our communities today and many exhibits and vendors focused on green living.
Anti-idling and Leaf Blower Laws
Other initiatives that many municipalities have adopted are anti-idling and leaf blower laws. Westchester County recently passed a strong vehicle anti-idling law that went into effect on February 10th, 2009. The law prohibits cars, SUVs, trucks and even buses from idling for more than three minutes in temperatures higher than 32 degrees.
While members of Puerto-Rubin's committee have talked about asking that the Village adopt a similar law, the Village Code already has its own, although weaker, anti-idling law. Accessible through the Village of Mamaroneck Web site (click on "code" - Article III, §326-19), the law prohibits idling on "Village-owned property" for more than three minutes (no temperature restrictions). Buses may not idle in temperatures above 40 degrees.
If the Village adopts a law that is more compatible with county regulations, then "local police can be more active in enforcing it," says Puerto-Rubin.
Last year, the committee asked the Village to install "No Idling" signs at the Village camp pick-up locations in the Harbor Island Park parking lot, and provide a police presence to warn residents to shut off their engines while waiting for their children.
In a New York Times article dated March 12, 2009, Lt. James Gaffney, of the Village of Mamaroneck Police Department, was quoted as saying, "We first have to educate these people and then provide a solution. The key is to educate and get compliance, not write tickets."
Mamaroneck also joined many other Westchester communities and passed a new leaf blower law in 2008, which has gotten off to a rocky start. The use of leaf blowers is prohibited between May 15 and September 30th. Puerto-Rubin said there have been "mixed reviews" in the Village because of random compliance and little enforcement. She is drafting a letter outlining the new law, which she hopes to get out (in English and Spanish) to area landscapers and homeowners before April 30th.
The responsibility has to be a "combination between homeowners and their landscapers," says Puerto-Rubin, for the law to work. The previous Village administration, led by former Mayor Kathy Savolt, conducted an extensive study to research the harmful effects of leaf blower exhaust to people and the environment. They found the pollution so carcinogenic that the Board of Trustees passed the seasonal ban in a unanimous vote.
Local Governments for Sustainability
Following the lead of surrounding municipalities like Larchmont, Savolt's administration also voted to join ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. According to ICLEI's website, the "basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national and global sustainability objectives."
The first step on the road to energy efficiency, according to ICLEI, is an energy audit of all the municipal buildings, property and vehicles - basically anything the government owns that expends energy. This entails going back approximately five years and gathering all utility and energy expenditures for the Village.
After all this data is input into software provided by ICLEI, they will assist the Village in calculating its carbon footprint. From there, a plan can be created to reduce municipal greenhouse gases, lower emissions and save the Village money.
The Board of Trustees in Larchmont has agreed to reduce their Village's carbon footprint 20 percent by the year 2015.
Brand New Bike Racks
For those who prefer not to emit any greenhouse gases, the Village of Mamaroneck has six brand new bike racks ready to be installed all around the downtown area. Village Manager Richard Slingerland says they are just waiting for warmer weather after March because the racks have to be cemented in.
This will be good news for residents like Patricia DiLustro. She informed the Board of Trustees at a regular meeting last year that her lock had been cut and bicycle impounded while she was attending a library event. There was no bike rack for her to lock her bike to, so she locked it to a sign post in front of the temporary library building, she said.
In addition to the bike racks, the Village, along with the Downtown Task Force, will designate specific bicycle parking locations where bikes can be locked to signs or posts for added convenience.
Shop Locally, BYO Bags
In other green news, Saturday, January 9th, 2010 was the grand opening of the new Winter Farmers Market at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church at 168 W. Boston Post Rd. in Mamaroneck. According to John Zeltsman of Community Markets, the company that has developed many local farmers markets in the Tri-State area, including this one, there have been approximately 500 shoppers per weekend since the opening.
Zeltsman and his wife, Miriam Haas, started their business simply because "we wanted good food...that was less 'travel weary'." The markets support local farming and businesses and it builds a more regionalized food system.
To make it more green inside the market, Puerto-Rubin would like to see the sale of reusable shopping bags instead of vendors providing plastic grocery bags. She is in the process of finding a "green" bag that will be cheap enough to make it worthwhile for the shopper to buy and reuse.
The indoor market is open every Saturday through May 22nd (closed Feb. 27th) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information on activities and events at the market, go to www.communitymarkets.biz and click on "Mamaroneck."
Coming Soon: A Tri-Municipal Coalition?
Although the Town of Mamaroneck does not have a committee for the environment as yet, Councilwoman Nancy Seligson says that with resident volunteers they might be able to create one in the future. It makes sense to Puerto-Rubin to seek a collaboration between the Town and Village of Mamaroneck and the Village of Larchmont, but a tri-municipal coalition might have to wait until the Village of Mamaroneck's ICLEI audit is finished and its carbon footprint is calculated. For now, all three municipalities will be working together to bring the Sustainability Expo to the Sound Shore.
The Village of Mamaroneck Committee for the Environment meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 8 p.m. in the Courtroom at Village Hall.
