Citizen's Toolkit

Our mission is to educate New Yorkers and help them become engaged and empowered advocates for the environment. The resources listed here can help you learn about environmental issues across the state and take advantage of the ways you can protect environment in your personal life and by getting involved in policy and political processes at the local and state levels. From contacting your representatives to the appropriate avenues to report environmental hazards to how to register to vote, these pages can help you protect the interests that are most important to you. As part of the Citizen’s Toolkit, we also provide weekly “Green Tips” so that you can make sustainable lifestyle choices. In the fight against climate change, every little effort can help to reduce carbon emissions and protect our planet from the worst.

The updated Lead and Copper Rules issued by the EPA also requires increased communication about the risks families face as well as more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold for communities to take action. The EPA also announced $2.6 billion in newly available drinking water infrastructure funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

National Drive Electric Week comes at an important time in our effort to drastically increase the number of electric vehicles on the road. We hope that the annual event, running from September 27 to October 6, with scores of events planned nationwide, in every state except Georgia and North Dakota, will spark plug everyone’s interest in going electric.

By Peter Aronson Providing clean drinking water for New York State’s 19 million residents is of paramount concern for New York state officials. It is a complex process, given that 95 percent of all New Yorkers receive their drinking water from almost 9,000 different public water systems in the state. This ranges from the smallest…

Here is our list of important and obtainable sustainability goals for your own life – goals the average person can strive for in our collective effort to reduce our carbon footprints. While you may be thinking I am only one person, the truth is, if we act together, it will make a difference. 

The area encompasses Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and the Great Lakes region and has a population of a little more than 3.5 million people. Our overall environmental goals for the region are to increase renewable energy, decarbonize buildings, clean up toxic waste, provide safe drinking water for all residents, and reduce waste going to landfills. 

It is essential that we learn to cut back and eliminate unnecessary plastic use. This week, our Green Tips will help you begin your plastic-free journey.

As the primary election season kicks into gear, the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (NYLCVEF) continues their mission of educating voters through environmental candidate forums, conducting two in recent weeks, one in southern Westchester County for New York’s 16th Congressional District, and one in Albany for New York’s 109th Assembly District.  

Buying locally produced food and dining at farm-to-table restaurants is one way we can all work together to fight climate change. You can start out by visiting one of the many urban farms in New York City or elsewhere in the state, and then you can dine at one of the many farm-to-table restaurants.

Approval of multiple new projects, new multi-state leases and agreements, and the nation’s first commercial scale offshore wind project coming online with the completion of South Fork wind, mark the success of President Biden’s Clean Energy Agenda. 

June is National Pollinator Month! This week’s Green Tips will help you support pollinator populations that are on the decline due to climate change, pesticides, habitat loss, and disease.

Green infrastructure (GI) helps protect our waterways, reduces flooding, and beautifies our public spaces. Communities use green infrastructure to manage stormwater that flows from impervious surfaces like roads and roofs. 

Setting up a garden can be hard work. Don’t let your effort go to waste by not properly maintaining what you’ve created! This week’s Green Gardening Tips will help you manage your garden throughout the spring and summer months.

Beyond providing food and beautifying spaces, gardens can serve many purposes, including  supporting natural processes and pollinators. This week, our Green Gardening Tips focuses on speciality gardens that help protect our waterways.  Rain gardens help capture, absorb, and filter rainwater. They are a type of green infrastructure, or a natural technique for managing rainwater runoff….

Watch our program coordinator Lisa Darrigo, also a master composter with the NYC Compost Project, show how you can start a worm bin for composting at home.

According to the National Gardening Association, more than one-third of American households grow their own food. Give those seedlings a new home with our tips for establishing a garden inside and outside of your home.

As we find ourselves in unprecedented times, the ways we once celebrated spring may look very different this year. To help you stay connected to nature at home, we are kicking off our Green Gardening Tips series.

The Delaware River has fittingly received the award for “River of the Year” 2020 because of the many restoration and stewardship efforts led by nonprofit organizations across the four states. The story of the Delaware River is a good example of environmental progress that can happen when we all work together to protect our precious natural resources.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Check out our tips for celebrating earth day in quarantine.

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