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Politics & Government

Rye City Government Could Be Greener, Survey Shows

While the City of Rye has many green policies in place, the "How Green Is My Town?" survey shows there is still much work to be done.

The City of Rye received perfect scores for establishing protocol for ten environmentally relevant aspects of local government, according to a survey called "How Green Is My Town?" However, within those areas, the study noted many ways in which Rye's government could work to be greener.

Grassroots Environmental Education (GEE), a non-profit organization, and students from Pace University spent five months interviewing local officials and compiling data to evaluate environmental sustainability initiatives in 43 of the county's communities. The group released their findings late last month.

More than 100 Pace students gathered data for the study by systematically assessing the extent to which green policies exist in Westchester's local governments, schools, and businesses.

The "How Green is My Town" local government questionnaire was completed by Rye City Manager Frank Culross. The survey consisted of 65 questions for a total of 78 points. Rye City scored 36.5 total points, or slightly less than half.

Like many other business communities in Westchester, Rye business owners chose not to participate, so the scores were weighted between government, making up 66 percent, and the Rye City School District (RCSD), which consisted of just about one-third, or 34 percent.

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GEE gave the six municipalities with the highest scores--White Plains, Bronxville, Chappaqua, Katonah, Yorktown, and Larchmont--a "Green Star" award.

Grassroots Environmental Education Executive Director Patti Wood said that the survey is meant to be a starting point for local organizations to take steps toward environmental sustainability. As green initiatives are improved, Wood is encouraging participants to contact GEE to augment their scores where appropriate.

"The goal of our program is to help communities share ideas and resources, and to find ways to move ahead on a green agenda even during these tough economic times," Wood said.

Michelle Land, Director of the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies, said that the HGIMT study is meant to support collaboration between local governments, school districts, and businesses.

"Each sector of the community has a vital role to play in making a town truly green," she said. "When the local government, school system, and business community are working together in a cooperative effort, the results can be innovative and significant."

Here's a rundown of where Rye City, a member of Local Governments for Sustainability, did well and where it could use some work in implementing policies and tactics to make the city a bit greener:

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Energy

  • Excels: Rye City has performed energy audits on all city-owned facilities, uses only energy-efficient lightbulbs, and "encourages efficiency" in outdoor lighting at city facilities.
  • Could Be Better: While HGIMT gave the city a perfect score for investigating alternative energy sources, it received half credit for implementing "fast-track renewable energy installations." The city also hasn't yet mandated clear-cut energy consumption reduction tactics.

Green Procurement

  • Excels: Rye City received perfect credit for just one question in the category. The city does consider the health impacts of the products it purchases. However, it only received half credit for considering "lifetime energy costs" of products and belonging to a local purchasing network.
  • Could Be Better: The city doesn't have a green purchasing policy in place and doesn't consider the recyclability or sustainability of its purchased products and the materials of which they consist. Moreover, the city does not consider transportation and packaging costs when purchasing products.

Green Cleaning

  • Excels: The city didn't receive perfect credit for any of the green cleaning questions, though it got half credit for encouraging the use of green cleaning products and avoiding products containing triclosan, which has recently been linked by researchers to a myriad of health concerns.
  • Could Be Better: Rye doesn't prohibit the use of artificially-scented air fresheners and doesn't mandate the use of micro-fiber cloths, which can be reused.

Sustainable Building and Development

  • Excels: Local government uses mixed-zoning regulations and has policies in place to "preserve and protect open space."
  • Could Be Better: The city received half credit for encouraging the use of permeable pavement. While it does mandate/encourage construction of green buildings, the city doesn't provide incentives for such development. It also doesn't have a policy for encouraging "adaptive re-use" of buildings instead of new development.

Land Management

  • Excels: The city did well in this category. It purchases non-polluting, energy-efficent landscape equipment, has a municipal compost, tries to reduce soil erosion and runoff, plants trees, and has a tree-protection policy.
  • Could Be Better: Rye government doesn't provide space for a community garden and doesn't discourage "the installation of synthetic turf fields." It also doesn't discourage the use of turf pesticides on public lands, including parks.

Water Conservation

  • Excels: Rye City didn't score perfectly on any of the questions in this category, but it received half credit for replacing old pipes with fixtures that conserve water and allowing private construction of greywater and rainwater systems.
  • Could Be Better: The city hasn't yet instituted water conservation measures at city parks and facilities, nor has it mandated water conservation by residents.

Transportation

  • Excels: While at the time of the survey the city hadn't yet instituted a law against vehicle idling, it recently implemented such policies and already had laws in place prohibiting idling of city vehicles. The survey also shows that Rye encourages the purchase of hybrid city vehicles and has pollution-control devices on diesel vehicles. While parking in the downtown area can be problematic, the survey gave the city full-credit for providing ample parking.
  • Could Be Better: Rye doesn't encourage or provide public transportation and doesn't provide preferred parking areas for electric vehicles. The city received half-credit for having bicycle and walking paths. No credit was given for encouraging city employees to work from home via telephone.

Recycling

  • Excels: Rye received perfect credit on five out of six questions in this category. It mandates recycling of plastics, glass, cans, cardboard, and paper from town offices, provides curbside receptacles to residents for recycling such items, has battery and e-waste recycling programs, provides pickup of leaves and garden waste, and provides recycling receptacles "in commercial areas and parks."
  • Could Be Better: The city doesn't provide a facility for recycling "used goods."

Environmental Toxins

  • Excels: The city provides collection days for toxics. It also "removes or seals" city playground equipment made from treated wood.
  • Could Be Better: Rye received no credit for having a healthy carpeting policy in place, not regulating indoor pesticide use, and not restricting use of two-engine city-owned vehicles.  It received half-credit for using low-VOC paints and adhesives while not having a formal policy regarding such potentially-carcenogenic items.

Communications

  • Excels: Rye City received full credit for "effectively communicating its environmental policies to residents," including the use of its newly revamped website.
  • Could Be Better: Local government doesn't have an official Director of Environmental Affairs and doesn't require "the use of green printing techniques" for communications.
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