You Can Help Make Us A Star in Westchester! Give Us Less Than 1 Minute. DEADLINE: March 5, 2024
If you appreciate what we do, can you take less than one minute to give us a thumbs-up, by voting for us as a Best of Westchester Sustainability Committee? But we’re not just going to ask you to vote for us without reminding you why you should!
Why Vote for Green Ossining as a Best of Westchester Sustainability Committee?
Green Ossining annually stages the largest Earth Day celebration in Westchester County at Louis Engel waterfront park in Ossining. In 2024, the Earth Day celebration in its 14th year, will take place on Saturday, April 2oth.
In its history, Green Ossining has created a number of efforts to educate and engage the community. Here is a sampling of engagement efforts:
Launched:
- Westchester County’s first Repair Café (June 2017)
- The Ossining Documentary & Discussion Series (June 2013)
- Semi-annual community-wide Tag Sales (May 2014, enticing the community to meet their neighbors, keep unwanted items out of waste stream, and to reduce paper waste from hard copy promotion)
- Community E-Waste Drives
- Ossining’s Green Food Scene (2017): highlighting local purveyors and their green practices
- Ossining100 – a Chapter of C.U.R.E. 100 – (September 2021, focused on reducing Ossining’s Carbon Footprint incrementally by 100% by 2040 through education, a personal carbon tracker app, and advocacy)
- Green Drinks Ossining –in partnership with Sing Sing Kill Brewery – part of an international monthly program intended to inspire people who are interested in the environmental field to meet up at informal sessions known as Green Drinks
- Green Ossining Sustainability Partnership (2018): acknowledging and networking local business leaders who have taken action toward reducing their carbon footprint.
Community Outreach Liaisons for environmental programs/organizations:
- Solarize Ossining (a program of Sustainable Westchester)
- Energize Ossining (a program of Sustainable Westchester)
- EnergySmart Homes (a program of Sustainable Westchester)
- GridRewards and Community Solar (programs of Sustainable Westchester)
- The Town and Village of Ossining’s Climate Smart Communities Task Force
- Riverkeeper
- Ossining Composts (since 2021, partnered with the Town of Ossining and Teatown to launch a municipal food scraps recycling program. We are “Saturdays at the Farmers Market”)
Promotion and Advocacy of:
- The Great Healthy Yard Project (pesticide-free lawns/gardens)
- Leave-Leaves Alone
- Leaf Blower Ban
- Pollinator Pathways
- lobbying efforts to support NYS environmental legislation (2021/2022, 2022/2023) including the passage and spearheading of Westchester County’s efforts to pass the Clean Water, Clean Air & Green Jobs Bond Act
Campaigns Launched/co-partnered:
- Successful Single Use Plastic Bag Reduction Effort (2015) at the Ossining Farmers Market (Partnering with Riverkeeper, Down to Earth Markets, ECOBAGS)
- Reusable Bag Initiative (2018)
- Textile Recovery: helped bring textile waste recovery to Ossining and the Ossining Farmers Market
- Brought attention to Municipal Use of Toxic Round-Up (2018, use is now discontinued)
- Storm Drain Stenciling (since 2018, Partnering with the Village of Ossining and Riverkeeper)
- Green Ossining Sustainability Partnership (since 2018, GOSP–recognizes businesses in the community who are following a broad range of sustainable and environmentally sound business practices in their daily operation.)
- Car-Free Day (since 2018, brought award-winning recognition, ideas and options to our community on this international day of recognition through 511NYRideshare
If you agree we deserve a mention, vote here by March 5th: https://bestof.