By Ellen Edwards, Member, Bronxville Green Committee

Oct. 31, 2018:  For those of you want to take action after reading about the recent report of the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change, which describes dire consequences if we don’t drastically reduce our use of fossil fuels within the next ten years, here’s what you can do in your home now. At the end of this list are more ambitious projects that would affect all of Bronxville. They would require a few brave souls to take the first steps.  

-Earth care is a mindset to be cultivated: consider the full lifecycle of items you bring into your home. What was the environmental impact when they were made? What will it be when they “die”? Can you choose earth-friendly items instead or lighten their impact through longer use and recycling? See environment.westchester.com for more info and tips. 

-Consider adopting earth-friendly landscaping practices. Help keep chemicals and leaves out of our streams and storm sewer system and make your property more resistant to drought and flooding while enhancing the micro-biotic health of your plants, soil, and the birds, bees, and butterflies that find refuge there.   

-Help keep plastic out of oceans by carrying a tote for small purchases. Bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store.

-Check out environment.westchester.com for updates on what food and beverage containers can be recycled. Don’t “contaminate” recycling bins by including items that aren’t clean or don’t meet the criteria.

-To recycle junk mail, you must remove tape, plastic linings, and “windows” (yes, alas, all those cellophane windows should be torn out and trashed). Place paper loose in recycle bins. 

-Many kinds of plastic bags can be recycled at grocery stores—plastic grocery bags, dry cleaning bags, bread and thin vegetable bags, newspaper sleeves, and some packing material. These cannot be recycled: cling wrap and prepackaged food bags, including those for frozen food and pre-washed salad. Read the instructions on packaging. Check out earth911.com for details.

-Add clean aluminum foil and trays and empty aerosol cans to the recycle bin for glass, metals, and plastics. Return wire coat hangers to dry cleaners. 

-Consider saving clean Styrofoam (and other clean foam) containers and alkaline batteries for when they can be recycled. Earth911.com lists local places that will accept them now.

-Dispose of contact lenses in the trash, never down the drain where they clog the sanitary sewer system.

-Americans waste 40% of all food produced. Can you purchase more carefully and use up the leftovers, the already-opened, and older stuff before buying more? You can safely consume products past their sell-by dates. Sometimes a half-empty refrigerator is not a bad thing.

-Would you consider encouraging your family to live more lightly on the land by eating less meat and fish? It’s a choice with a big impact.

-Have you considered putting solar panels on your roof? When it comes to lowering your carbon footprint, nothing beats them. Sustainablewestchester.org can help you find subsidies.

-Traveling by air and cruise ship releases enormous amounts of planet-warming gases. Do you really need to take that business trip? Have you ever considered a vacation destination closer to home? Or investigated traveling by train? You may be surprised by what you discover!

-Sustainablewestchester.org is a terrific resource with a user-friendly website—check it out! 

Projects that would affect all of Bronxville: 

-Have you considered getting together with a few concerned parents to lobby for a vigorous recycling program at the school that includes composting? This would require the proper bins and signage—and a separate waste hauler—along with a thoughtful education program for all grade levels about the impact of waste on our environment and our role in reducing that impact through the choices we make. You’d be changing minds as well as behavior and raising a new generation of environmentally conscious, responsible citizens. Scarsdale is already leading the way.

-Can Bronxville gain “Climate Smart Communities Certification”? In this state-sponsored program, municipalities achieve a certain number of objectives to acquire certification at the bronze and silver levels. Mamaroneck has already achieved bronze certification. Learn more at climatesmart.ny.gov/.

-Can your church, business, or apartment complex go green? Why not take the first steps: form a team and make a plan. Churches can find a blueprint for action at greenfaith.org/. 

Fighting climate change is a worldwide problem best fought on the most local level, in the communities where we live, in the places we love. Each of us has a role to play. What’s yours?

Editor's note: As a public service, MyhometownBronxville publishes articles from local institutions, officeholders, and individuals. MyhometownBronxville does not fact-check statements therein, and any opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the thinking of its staff.