Waste Reduction/Recycling
Rye Sustainability Committee Head
Rye Students Get Scrappy!
Rye Students Get Scrappy!
Water/Land Use
Rye Sustainability Committee Head
Invasive Vines No Match for Rye Volunteers
Invasive Vines No Match for Rye Volunteers
Community Aware/Outreach
Rye Sustainability Committee Head
The Winners of the 2019 Environmental ...
The Winners of the 2019 Environmental Leadership Awards
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Five Healthy Yard Lessons by Taro Ietaka of Rye Nature Center

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Taro Ietaka, Director of Conservation & Land Stewardship at Rye Nature Center, shares insights and tips about maintaining a healthy yard.

Five Lessons from an Organic Farmer and a Naturalist

By Taro Ietaka

Friends of Rye Nature Center teamed up with the Rye Sustainability Committee’s Healthy Yards Project (RHYP) this spring to help spread the word on home landscaping without chemical herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. The kickoff event, “What’s Under Your Lawn: The Secret to Healthy Soil” featured Max Apton, former field manager at Stone Barns and now owner of the Farmer’s Garden. During our discussions leading up to the Healthy Yards event, it became apparent that Max and I had arrived at many of the same conclusions when it comes to what makes a yard healthy.

Lessons from the forest and organic farm for a healthy yard:

Let this be your pesticide! (Photo of ladybug by charlesjsharp on commons.wikimedia.org)

Let this be your pesticide! (Photo of ladybug by charlesjsharp on commons.wikimedia.org)

  • Nature provides for its own. A big goal of the RHYP is to wean properties off of chemical-dependence. Synthetic pesticides and herbicides kill beneficial soil micro-organisms that are helping your plants.The trees and shrubs in our forest grow just fine without the addition of any fertilizer other than decomposing plants and what animals leave behind. Be like nature: amend your soil with compost and manure, and leave shredded leaves and grass clippings in place to decompose.

  • Bare ground is bad. Aristotle may have said it first: “Nature abhors a vacuum.” In our case, that “vacuum” is bare, exposed soil which quickly dries out and gets washed away with a heavy rain, or gets colonized by weeds. So remember to mulch between your plants or, even better, plant close together to cover the ground in green.

  • Diversity is desirable. Our Eastern forests have been hit by chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, and many other pathogens over the years, and yet, they have survived. Forests are resilient because of their diversity: if the chestnuts go down, the maples step up. A monoculture, such as a tree plantation or a lawn of Kentucky bluegrass, has no backup plan and is an easier target for marauding insects or fungal invasion.

  • Insects are good (for the most part). Pesticides are poison. They are designed to kill insects and they don’t discriminate between unwanted potato bugs and desirable honeybees. A healthy, diverse ecosystem (see above) will have checks and balances that keep insect infestations under control: let birds, spiders and beneficial bugs be your natural pesticides.

  • Go native. – Don’t give in to the temptation to plant that new beautiful Asian shrub that just arrived at your nursery! We have many examples of gardeners who inadvertently started an invasion after succumbing to the tempting flowers of Chinese wisteria, fruit of wineberry, or one of the many other plants that have run amok in our region. An extra benefit of using native plants is the increase in birds and butterflies you’ll see. Our wildlife generally prefers local cuisine over the exotic.

Did you miss the Wainwright House kickoff event? You can watch Max and Taro's presentation on Rye TV.

Visit our Rye Healthy Yard and Resources Section to learn more. And ...

Take the RHYP Pledge!

Turn the Lights Off and the Savings On!

Here's a simple way for Rye businesses to participate in a global campaign - Daylight Hour - to promote the use of daylight in lieu of electric lighting in office spaces.

Daylight Hour is an annual social media campaign, organized by the Building Energy Exchange. Launched in 2014, this simple and engaging campaign asks participating offices to turn off their lights in day-lit spaces for one hour on the Friday before the summer solstice. Leading up to and during this hour, offices around the world share their involvement on social media, engaging their communities and showcasing their environmental commitment. Last year, 300 offices in more than a dozen countries participated, demonstrating that daylight can light our workspaces, save money, and reduce our environmental impact. 

The Daylight Hour is a simple campaign that enhances the office environment, encourages more sustainable practices, and connects a broad population to the tangible ways our buildings use energy. The 2016 Daylight hour in on June 17, at Noon.

The Daylight Hour is a great way to engage your community and demonstrate your environmental commitment. Small steps, like Daylight Hour, can build awareness about how our buildings use energy.

Participation is easy - it only takes a couple of minutes to sign up, and all you have to do is turn off the lights in your day-lit spaces from Noon to 1pm on June 17. The Daylight Hour provides templates for internal and external communication, as well as social media tools - so make sure to showcase your involvement on your social media channels. The Daylight Hour heavily promotes participants and gives awards in both technical and creative categories. 

Visit www.daylighthour.org for more information. 

To register, sign up here: http://www.daylighthour.org/join

When: Friday, June 17, 2016 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM (EDT) 

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The Beauty of a Healthy Yard

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Sustainability in Our Community

Rye resident Sonja Bartlett has lived with her family in Rye for over sixteen years. A professional photographer who has an eye for capturing the beauty of her surroundings, Sonja is first and foremost a mother who cares deeply about the safety and health of her children and numerous pets. Sonja shares shares her experience with transforming her stunning 4-acre home into a pesticide-free environment. With the help of landscaper, Cosimo Ferraro, the Bartletts discovered not only how effortless the change could be, but how their yard transformed into an even more beautiful outdoor living space.

This is the first of an ongoing series covering Sustainability in Our Community. We hope you enjoy and learn from your fellow Rye residents!

Making the Switch to a Healthy Yard

By Sonja Bartlett

This is not the yellow we want in our yard!

This is not the yellow we want in our yard!

It started with those little yellow signs that pop up all over town every spring like dandelions. You know the ones that read: “PESTICIDE APPLICATION - DO NOT ENTER” and “DO NOT REMOVE SIGN FOR 24 HOURS.”

As I ran past these tiny, yellow dire warnings all around my neighborhood, it got me thinking. What product is so dangerous that my kids and dogs can’t go on my grass for 24 hours? And where do these toxins actually go after a day? Our air? Our groundwater? Do we really need these chemicals to have a beautiful yard?

Well, this was 2003 and the word “organic” was not exactly part of our daily conversation. So I called my landscaper, Cosimo Ferraro to see what he thought.   Cosimo had been working on our yard since 1975, when he first moved here from Italy.  He said not to worry. Going organic was easy.

“It’s the way we’ve been taking care of the land for centuries back in Italy.”

I would be his very first organic yard customer. Exciting.

Thirteen years later, I decided it would be fun to check in with Cosimo again. He now has 20 clients who want organic landscaping, but it’s still only about 20 percent of his work.

“This is the business that I am in. People tell me they want a green carpet. I tell them, carpets are for inside the house,” jokes Cosimo, shaking his head.

You do have to start with your definition of beautiful.  We have been conditioned to want that proverbial green carpet golf course look, for sure. But let’s reset that definition of beautiful to mean natural looking. In our organic yard we have yellow, purple and white wildflowers, wild raspberries, mushrooms and even tiny scallions, which my kids love to dig up and eat. By skipping pesticides and chemical fertilizers, you get gorgeous, tasty diversity in your grass.

Instead of using herbicides for weeds, you have to aerate the lawn aggressively in spring. My kids say that the bits of soil that are left behind after aerating look like goose poops. Cosimo then seeds aggressively as well, so that new grass will grow in the turned up soil and squeeze out the weeds. Next he checks the Ph balance of the soil and decides if we need to add lime to balance it. Then he uses organic compost as fertilizer.

When it’s time to mow, he never cuts shorter than two inches. Many folks want that very short grass like a golf course. Longer grass uses less water and creates shade for the blades, which keeps weeds down, naturally. The clippings go right back onto the lawn, which works much better when you have longer grass. The clippings are your next natural fertilizer.

My gardner Cosimo is himself in a bind like many of us. As a professional landscaper, his own yard is his calling card. He admits to me that he still uses the occasional chemical in the front for that “perfect look.” But in the back, where his young grandson plays and he grows vegetables, he says there’s no debate. All organic.

Just something to think about the next time you take a walk through your neighborhood. Are you seeing lots of yellow? Let’s hope those bursts of yellow are dandelions and those scary little warning signs begin to disappear.

Visit our Rye Healthy Yard and Resources Section to learn more. And ...

Take the RHYP Pledge!

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Natural vs. Conventional Yard Care Systems: Find Out More!

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Natural vs. Conventional Yard Care Systems: Did you know that ...

Robust natural systems don’t need synthetic inputs.
 
Organic doesn’t come in a bag because a system doesn’t come in a bag—natural yard care is more than just something you buy instead of a more toxic spray or pellet.  While it’s true that some products, such as fertilizers, can be labeled organic, there’s no "silver bullet" input or even series of inputs that can replace a healthy community of micro-organisms living in your garden’s soil.  In a natural system, it’s these organisms that work together to produce the nutrients that your plants need to grow and thrive as well as protect themselves from disease and insects.

Natural yard care is very different from chemical yard care.

Many conventional landscapers use the same battle plan every season—laying down chemicals to kill unwanted plants and insects, then adding synthetic fertilizers to partially replace nutrients that are lost when good organisms are also destroyed.  Experienced organic or no-chem landscape professionals use a range of strategies to help you grow a healthy, beautiful yard depending on the specific needs of your garden.  For example, rather than using pesticides, they may use their own recipes to attract beneficial insects. Instead of using herbicides and synthetic fertilizers, they may apply corn gluten and compost.  Natural landscapers may also use bagged amendments but if they do, they’re usually certified organic products.
 
Even organic fertilizers and pesticides can have negative environmental impacts.
 
Misuse of even organic inputs can impact soil and watershed and all pesticides, even the least harmful, can still hurt non-target organisms.
 
Natural garden care doesn’t need to cost more.
 
Achieving a successful, affordable natural landscape comes down to the ability of the gardener/landscaper as well as the condition of the property itself, weather, climate and other challenges specific to that yard and that season.  Switching from conventional to natural systems will take some time and initial costs may be higher.  On the other hand, cost is relative.  Conventional care means frequent applications of chemicals (often on a regular schedule whether your property needs it or not) and since the soil under conventional maintenance is generally less healthy, the plants in that soil are more vulnerable to insect and disease which itself may raise maintenance or replacement costs.
 
Education is key.
 
Learn all you can about alternatives to synthetic lawn and garden care.  Ask your landscaper whether he or she can stop using chemicals and still get the results you want.  Let’s redefine what we mean by a beautiful and healthy yard.  The Rye Sustainability Committee is here to help make that happen!

Visit our Rye Healthy Yard and Resources Section to learn more. And ...

Take the RHYP Pledge!

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Worms and Dirt Featured at Composting Workshop

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A large group of brave souls ventured out into the rain storm on Friday to learn how to compost from Rye Nature Center experts, Taro Ietaka, Courtney Rothaus and Annette Hein.

The workshop was part informative introduction and part therapy session to ease the fears of those who might be intimidated by the process. Inspired by Midland school's new composting program, Taro said he decided to organize a workshop to share his knowledge of composting with others in Rye.

Taro began by explaining the mechanics of composting - what to include, what not to include, optimum carbon/nitrogen ratios - and how to avoid some of the pitfalls of composting, chief of which is smelly, decomposing waste. He showed us how he stores scraps in the freezer before transporting them outside. He also provided examples of different kitchen compost collectors and bins.

Annette showed us some of the outdoor compost bins, explaining the pros and cons of each. She recommends at least two bins to store waste in different stages of decomposition.

Courtney concluded by presenting an alternative composting option: vermicomposting (or worm composting, in layman's terms). She described how, with minimal fuss and attention, specialty worms (red wigglers) can be employed to decompose home waste, including paper. With vermicomposting, no sifting or turning is necessary. Homeowners can purchase vermicomposters and worms online to begin composting at home.

Rye Nature Center executive director Christine Siller ended the presentation by stressing the important point that as a by-product of composting, we're helping to achieve a critical goal of reducing waste from the general waste stream.

An enormous thank you to the Rye Nature Center, the presenters, and Christine Siller, for organizing this informative event!

Check out our Resources page for more information on composting. Let's all start composting!

 

Organic Gardening: How to Grow a Healthy Yard

A Presentation by Rye Nature Center and Rye Sustainability Committee

Learn how to grow a beautiful garden with natural strategies that can protect wildlife and reduce your family's exposure to synthetic chemicals. Presented by Taro Ietaka, Director of Conservation & Land Stewardship of the Rye Nature Center and Lori Fontanes, co-head, Rye Healthy Yard Program of the City of Rye Sustainability Committee.

Free and open to the public!

When: Saturday, April 30
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Where: Harrison Public Library, 2 Bruce Ave, Harrison, New York 10528

Bios:
Taro Ietaka (Director of Conservation and Land Stewardship, Rye Nature Center) graduated from SUNY Geneseo and has continued his education at the Eagle Hill Institute and New York Botanical Garden. He has worked as an educator for the last thirteen years at various nature centers throughout the County, teaching both children and adults about the natural world. He has managed hundreds of forested acres locally, creating and implementing habitat management plans, including at the Rye Nature Center. He is also a member of the City of Rye Sustainability Committee's Healthy Yard Program.

Lori Fontanes (co-head, Rye Healthy Yard Program, City of Rye Sustainability Committee, writer/photographer/backyard farmer) raises ducks, plants and a daughter at their home in Rye, NY. She grows more than twenty different kinds of fruits, vegetables and cover crops on land previously used for lawn. She writes a column for Backyard Poultry and has also contributed to Countryside and Grit. As a citizen scientist, she's been involved in a long-term case study involving lead contamination in suburban soils with Dr. Joshua Cheng at Brooklyn College. As a community advocate for public health and the environment, she's a member of the Rye Y Cross-District Wellness Committee and is co-head of the Rye Healthy Yard Program for the City of Rye Sustainability Committee.

Learn to Compost!

Everything You Wanted to Know About Compost
(But Didn't Know You Wanted to Ask!)

A workshop presented by Rye Nature Center and Rye Sustainability Committee

Got a composter?  Wonder what to do with it? Drop by the Rye Nature Center and we'll be happy to show you the what, why and how-to of composting.

In partnership with Rye Sustainability Committee's Healthy Yard Program, Rye Nature Center will present a user-friendly introduction to the art and science of residential composting. This family friendly workshop is aimed at those who've been intending to start composting but don't know where to begin or those who may have been unsuccessful in the past. RNC staff will start with the question ‘why’ and then proceed to explain the ‘how’ by showing examples of different kitchen compost collectors and compost bins. The program will analyze the RNC's composting area, including a worm compost bin, and will also show how compost is used in the garden. The event will conclude with a Q&A session. No registration required!


Free and open to the public--children welcome!

When: Friday, May 6th
Time: 9:15 am
Where: Rye Nature Center, 873 Boston Post Road

Further info: taroietaka@ryenaturecenter.org

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First Rye Healthy Yard Speaker Series Event at Wainwright House

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If you missed the first event in the Rye Sustainability Committee/Rye Nature Center speaker series about the secret of healthy soil, here's the Rye TV coverage of the event.  It was an incredible turnout! Please join us at Rye Nature Center on May 6 for the next event, where we'll be learning how easy it is to compost. More details to follow!

Rye Becomes a Climate Smart Community

On July 8, 2015, the Rye City Council passed a resolution making Rye a Climate Smart Community.

The Climate Smart Communities (CSC) program is a New York State initiative to help local communities reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, prepare for impacts of climate change and save taxpayer dollars. The program is designed to address 10 focus areas outlined in the CSC 10 Pledge Elements.

This CSC profile outlines Rye’s progress through the 10 pledge elements. Detailed information on actions completed, in progress, and identified for future action can be found in the CSC Profile.