Online Presentations for Earth Day 2020
On April 7th 2020, the Board of Trustees issued a proclamation declaring April 22, 2020 Earth Day in the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, and urged all citizens to support environmental initiatives in the Village, regionally and nationally. An extensive Earth Day celebration had been planned for the month of April to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Instead, due to the pandemic, the Village will be presenting online education for the community.
Click registration links to reserve your spot! View this info in calendar format here.
Each presentation will be 30 minutes max, plus Q&A.
Friday, April 17
Talking Trash: We answer all your questions!
Elisa Zazzera, Hastings’ ZWAT
✔ Recycling - what goes where? Hold up your question-mark items on our video call!
✔ Food Scraps - compost in your backyard or bring your scraps to our DPW. Curbside pickup may be coming to your neighborhood soon!
✔ Household Hazardous Waste - what to do with CFLs, batteries, chemicals, etc.
✔ Trash - our trash is incinerated in Peekskill. What is its impact? How does our waste stream impact climate change?
✔ Food Scraps - compost in your backyard or bring your scraps to our DPW. Curbside pickup may be coming to your neighborhood soon!
✔ Household Hazardous Waste - what to do with CFLs, batteries, chemicals, etc.
✔ Trash - our trash is incinerated in Peekskill. What is its impact? How does our waste stream impact climate change?
Monday, April 20
Community Solar: Renewable energy savings for everyone
Nina Orville, Sustainable Westchester
Support a community solar farm through your utility bill and save money at the same time!
✔ Reduce your electricity bill by up to 10%. No cost to join or cancel.
✔ Directly expand US renewable energy infrastructure.
✔ Flexible: your choice of energy supplier, including Westchester Power, Hastings' CCA provider (which amplifies your support for renewables).
✔ Takes less than 10 minutes. All you have to do is choose.
✔ Directly expand US renewable energy infrastructure.
✔ Flexible: your choice of energy supplier, including Westchester Power, Hastings' CCA provider (which amplifies your support for renewables).
✔ Takes less than 10 minutes. All you have to do is choose.
Wednesday, EARTH DAY, April 22
The Green New Deal: A Roadmap to a Caring Economy
Berenice Tompkins, Sunrise Movement
Join HHS grad and climate activist Berenice Tompkins for a 50th Earth Day community conversation on ecopolitics and the challenges and opportunities before us. It’s time to rally, folks!
✔ Why the GND is the stimulus we need to get out of the economic crisis and safeguard against future upheavals
✔ How the GND draws on the historical precedent of FDR’s New Deal
✔ How the COVID-19 and climate crises are connected
✔ How we can build a society that cares for its most vulnerable members
✔ Ways you can take action while social distancing
✔ An overview of the organizers working toward a GND, such as Sunrise Movement
We know we will come out of this pandemic a changed country, but how we change is up to us!
Friday, April 24
Be HeatSmart: All about home efficiency, heat pumps for HVAC, and why we need to electrify everything
Lauren Brois, Sustainable Westchester
Do your part to transition to a greener planet.
✔ Get heat pumps: air source and geothermal heat pumps bring many benefits:
• Heat and cool your home without fossil fuels
• Improve your indoor air quality
• Save money
✔ Don't heat and cool the outdoors! How to insulate and air-seal to stop drafts
• Get a free draft audit from NYSERDA
✔ NYSERDA and Sustainable Westchester have a vetted contractor list to make it easy
Monday, April 27
The Science of Climate Change: Past, present & future
Spencer Weart, Director Emeritus, Center for History of Physics, the American Institute of Physics
Learn where we stand from Spencer Weart, a physicist, historian and Hastings resident who has spent the past 30 years documenting the progress of climate science.
✔ What is the state of climate science today?
✔ What is the evidence that convinced the world’s scientists and the process brought them to issue this dire warning?
✔ What does it tell us about the decades to come?
The time of reckoning is here: decisions made in the coming decade will determine the fate of our civilization, and in fact of all life on the planet, for the next ten thousand years.
Wednesday, April 29
Hillside Woods Virtual Tour: Exploring our local flora and fauna
Celebrate your favorite local park with Patrick McKenzie: Conservation Commission member, plant evolution PhD student, and Hillside Woods enthusiast.
✔ “Visit” some favorite places in Hillside Woods for birding and botanizing
✔ Get familiar with the native species that make Hillside Woods special
✔ Understand some immediate threats to Hillside Woods
✔ Learn about ongoing efforts to remediate Hillside Woods
✔ Find resources for learning more about nature
Spring is the perfect time to get outside – at a safe distance from others – and familiarize yourself with your local flora and fauna
Thursday, April 30
Climate Change: Collaboration, international negotiations, and human rights
Joe Siegel, Pace University's Elisabeth Haub School of Law and Mediators Beyond Borders International
How the climate crisis sparks conflict, and how to facilitate our way through uncertain times.
✔ Why is the climate crisis a "threat multiplier" for conflict?
✔ How can the international community address the potential for climate-induced conflict?
✔ What role can mediators play in addressing climate-induced conflict?