Category: Educational
Representatives of the Green Committee recently joined other residents to celebrate Upper Nyack’s 150th anniversary at the village block party. Due to the weather, the events moved largely indoors. The Green Committee table saw plenty of curious visitors, including many kids. The seeds we handed out and the New York orchard apples were big hits. The topics of highest interest among residents were: invasive plants and what to do about them; composting; learning about water conservation; lantern flies (several spottings in Nyack, some in Upper Nyack); and noise and air pollution from gas-powered lawn equipment.
Thanks to all who helped the Green Committee in its outreach!
Suzanne Buchauer of the Upper Nyack Green Committee asked students and youth in Upper Nyack about climate change.
What are your concerns about climate change?
What do you want your village to do about it?
Upper Nyack High School students from Mr. Perry’s classes responded:
Sam G., aged 14, writes: (I am concerned about) people not caring about global warming and not doing anything about it, making us go past the point of no return, when it’s too late and we can’t reverse most of what we’ve done.
Sam would like the village to: plant more trees instead of cutting so many down in Upper Nyack. He would like to see more support for people to get solar panels.
Chloe F., aged 15, writes: My concerns are that soon the world won’t be a comfortable place to live because of the extreme heat and cold. Also, that there won’t be enough materials/resources for all the growing number of people.
Chloe would like to see the schools actually putting the recycling into the recycling bins and not mixing it with the trash. Also, It would be great to see a ban on plastic utensils and plastic straws in the schools. Replacing them with biodegradable utensils would be a great start.
Gabe B., aged 16, writes: I am concerned about the indefinite aspects of climate change, how there really is no complete stop to it, just reduction. I am concerned about future generations and how they will have much more lung issues.
Gabe would like to see the village: plan some events where you can go with a group to spaces to help out. Either clean up groups or groups to go rebuild communities that have been destroyed by climate change, related events would be welcome in our community.
Lily A., aged 14, writes: One concern that I have is, climate change making more powerful storms. With warmer waters and more water vapour, in the atmosphere, it can cause much more powerful hurricanes and rain storms, which can lead to people loosing their homes and communities.
Lily would like to see: more clean energy sources available, like windmills and solar panels. I would also like to see more clean up projects in parts of town that are less population but more trash.
Other local teenagers wrote that were interviewed in Upper Nyack during the Arbor Day Celebration at the River Hook Preserve.
Teresa B., aged 19, writes: I am concerned about the Sixth Extinction of the human species due to deterioration of water and air, destruction of wildlife and the steady erosion of our ecosystem. (The Sixth Extinction is a book written by Elizabeth Colbert.)
Teresa would like the village to: raise more awareness about the problems of climate change and the individual responsibility of each person. Stopping the use of fossil fuels in homes and all lawn equipment would help significantly.
Lucy O., aged 19, writes: I think my main concern about climate change is the lack of news coverage. More people of all ages would need to be aware of their own personal impact on the climate.
Lucy would like to see: more people recycling and I think we should have days where everybody goes out to pick up trash around town and in our rivers and water sources.
Eli, aged 13, writes: I have a lot of concerns about climate change, but mostly, I’m worried about the animals; several species are dying because of global warming, which has an impact on food chain, which can cause serious damage to society as we see it today. This is a big issue out of a lot of issues in climate change and the issue I am most worried about. I don’t want polar bears to die and I don’t want other species to die. It’s not fair to the animals, because it is their habitat first.
Eli would like to see: less gas issues. I would like less gas to be used. Using electric cars and electric lawn equipment or hybrid cars and more sharing of transportation would be great.
Grace J., aged 15 said: Keeping climate in tact for future generations is my concern.
Grace would like to village to: educate more youths about the problem. Look at the biggest impact on climate change and stop it.
Benjamin, aged 14 said: What concerns me is the ice bergs melting.
Benjamin would like to see: more trees planted.
Jim, aged 15 said: I am most concerned about the future of my generation.
Jim would like the village to work on: a ban on plastics.
Younger voices also spoke out, when interviewed at River Hook during the Arbor Day celebration weekend 2022:
Amaya said: I don’t want the animals to die.
Amaya would like to see: more clean up days and more trees planted in the village.
Neave, aged 7, said: I am concerned about all the litter.
Neave would like to see the village: organise more community trash pick up days.
Thank you for your thoughtful responses and suggestions of what you would like to see happen in your community and the world.
We hope to see you at our next event in Upper Nyack, in person and outside:
September 25th, 2022, from 11:00-2:00 celebrating the 150th Anniversary of River Hook Preserve
611 N. Midland, Upper Nyack, New York (Free parking available at Marydell Faith and Life Center on Larchdale Avenue).
Suzanne Buchauer lives and works in Upper Nyack. She is a licensed Davis Dyslexia, Executive Functioning and Autism Facilitator. Visit: dyslexia-works.com
The Green Committee has put together this one-pager with a few brief and alarming facts about gas-powered leaf blowers. Feel free to share it with your neighbors and friends. Upper Nyack’s Sound Law is now in effect, limiting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers to two clean-up seasons (March 15-May 15, and September 15-December 15). Please speak to your landscapers to ensure that they are fully informed. We look forward to a less polluted and quieter summer for all!
Thanks to Green Committee member Kate Fitzpatrick for putting together this helpful flyer. Download the PDF version here.
Categories
Look Out for the Spotted Lantern Fly
The Cornell Cooperative Extension in Rockland County reminds us to keep an eye out for the invasive spotted lantern fly.
As Upper Nyack Green Committee member Suzanne Buchauer notes, you can go into your yard to find and eliminate eggs, or contact the Cornell Cooperative Extension, if you spot either eggs or the lantern fly. Eggs can be on trees or on other objects. Here is a link on how to rid yourself of the eggs, or if you don’t want to do that yourself, call for help and to report them.
You can fill your baggy with either hand sanitizer or alcohol as long as when you scrape these eggs into the bag, the eggs get in contact with that alcohol. That will make sure you kill them.
Here is more information from the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
“A 2020 study by Science Advances found that the United States generates more plastic waste than any other nation in the world, some 42 million metric tons each year — the equivalent of 287 pounds per person. Of that, less than nine percent of discarded plastic is recycled, according to the most recent statistics available from the Environmental Protection Agency…
Experts say a holistic approach that includes recycling, changing consumer behavior, advocacy, and government regulation is needed to reverse these trends.”
Check out this highly informative, 8-minute video from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory on how projected sea level rises will affect communities, such as ours, along the Hudson River. The field exploration shown in the video uses Piermont Pier and Alpine Boat Basin as examples.
Upper Nyack Green Committee 