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.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, we are offering tips on how best to shop for family and friends, while also giving back to the environment. A good way to do this, as we move collectively towards a more sustainable and equitable future, is to consider the carbon footprint of whatever you are thinking of buying.

Following the historic announcement by the federal Environmental Protection Agency of the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, a member of the NYC Coalition to End Lead Poisoning, released an interactive map and a comprehensive report to help New York City residents determine if the building they…

At the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (NYLCVEF), we believe in the power of voting. Voting is more than just casting a ballot; it’s an act of hope and a commitment to shaping the world around us. During the 2024 election, through our largest voter awareness campaign yet, Our Vote is Our…

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Check out our tips below to find out how to make this holiday season more eco-friendly. Travel smart  Not surprising, Thanksgiving travel has a larger carbon footprint than the dinner itself. If you have to travel for Thanksgiving, try to avoid using your gas-powered car for long trips: try…

New York City, trying to tackle its significant lead pipe problem, has announced it is expanding an existing program to replace lead service lines at no cost in targeted low-income and environmental justice areas of the city. Last month, Mayor Eric Adams announced a $48 million effort to replace privately-owned lead service lines in the…

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. 

It’s called greening the grid, and New York State is racing to do this by 2040. New York has committed to achieving 100 percent clean energy within 17 years from now (and we’re counting!) and the state is pushing forward on multiple fronts to reach that goal.

As we head into the final weeks of winter, New York City weather continues to alternate between cool February drafts and warmer, above-average temperatures. Instead of spending the next few weeks holed up inside, spend a day or two outside with all these activities that the city has to offer.

In New Jersey and New York, efforts to increase offshore wind capacity have been met with opposition from groups like Clean Ocean Action and Protect Our Coast New Jersey, who have blamed wind farms’ early-stage geotechnical surveys for the death of nine whales in the past two months. These groups are joined by a dozen New Jersey mayors and a congressman in calling for a moratorium on all offshore wind activity.

Lead service lines pose a threat to drinking water quality. These pipes, which connect water mains to the internal plumbing in homes and other buildings, can expose people to a dangerous neurotoxin when they turn on the tap.

The growth of offshore wind infrastructure, an affordable renewable energy source which harnesses power from ocean winds, is leading the path towards a future of green electricity in New York. This energy generation method provides locally produced power that will create significant progress towards the development of a clean economy by reducing emissions and creating thousands of family sustaining union jobs in the process. 

This winter, New York City and much of the Northeast has experienced not only a troubling snow drought, but also a January heat wave.January 2023 was the warmest January in the city’s recorded history, as it was in Newark, Islip, and Bridgeport, CT; Worster, MA; and Montpelier, VT, and other places, according to The Washington Post.

The world seems to be talking about sustainability. If you Google “Sustainable habits for the new year 2023,” you’ll get more hits than you can possibly read, and more suggestions than you can possibly follow. So we did the work for you.

by Peter Aronson There are several ways to think about composting your food scraps. One way is to realize that by doing so, you are actually – honestly, truly – reducing your carbon footprint and helping fight climate change.  Another angle is that it’s a fun family project that can include the kids and also…

With the first snows of the season already here, it’s time to talk about eco-friendly snow removal. The most environmentally-sound way to clear snow is to do it the old fashioned way: grab a shovel (or a broom or an ice pick) and get to work.

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