NYLCVEF’s weekly Citizen Toolkit writer, Peter Aronson, will return next week. We hope you enjoy this article from our guest author, Hazel Russo Aronson, with an introduction by Peter: [This the first article written by Hazel Russo Aronson, sometimes referred to as Princess Hazel, or, sorry, just plain old Baby, or Baby Girl. She knows…

New York City, like many cities around the country, is preparing to replace lead service lines that deliver drinking water to their constituents, an initiative proposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in their revisions to the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule. Understanding the history of how these lead pipes got here in the first place is critical as the New York City Council contemplates a program to remove all lead service lines. A drinking water service line is the pipe that delivers water from the water main in the middle of a street to a property. In New York City, lead service lines were permitted to be used until 1961, and as far back as 1858 until about 1936, the city not only permitted the use of lead pipes, but encouraged or specifically required it.

Like last year, the summer of 2024 has posted day after day of scorching heat, breaking record after record in swift succession. With summer heat waves now imposing on late spring and early autumn, it’s important to understand that the impacts of climate change extend to the classroom. 

“Without air conditioning, a 1°F hotter school year reduces that year’s learning by 1 percent,” according to UCLA research, adding that “hot school days disproportionately impact minority students, accounting for roughly 5 percent of the racial achievement gap.”

Although the solution is bigger than any single individual, each one of us can do our part to fight climate change and leave a healthier planet to future generations. With back-to-school right around the corner, we hope parents, guardians and students will take advantage of this new beginning to instill these eco-friendly practices into your school routine. 

We invite you to download our “Tips for Conserving Water” flyer here. Water conservation is an essential component of environmental protection. From cars to lawns to hoses to laundry, and more, here are a series of simple steps each of us can take to help conserve our most precious resource.  Limit your showers to eight…

The greenhouse gasses that we all emit into the air by driving our gas-powered cars, flying to vacations, using non-renewable energy in our homes, etc., etc., is warming the air and water around us and propelling us to the hottest temperatures in recorded history (2024 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record, surpassing 2023), increasing droughts, increasing extreme precipitation and the number of hurricanes (causing increased flooding), and increasing the number of wildfires.

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. 

The program was launched in 2009 to encourage local governments to commit to agreeing on a 10-step climate change pledge by passing a local resolution. The certification component was added five years later, on Earth Day in 2014, to further encourage local municipalities to go beyond the pledge by completing certain municipal actions. Applications are due on July 31.

By Peter Aronson They were called War Gardens during World War I and Victory Gardens during WWII. Americans were encouraged to create gardens and grow their own fruits and vegetables to make up for food shortages caused by the war effort.   Millions of Americans created millions of gardens all across America during these two national…