An Earth Day Celebration in Scarsdale

Emily Giovanni encourages food composting.Our environment is under attack in so many ways – climate change, flooding, the tree canopy, water pollution, gas emissions and the unsustainable use of plastic to name a few.

Here in Scarsdale, we’re taking steps to address these issues, though each of us can only make a tiny dent in stopping the damage. It takes a Village.

And lots is being done, as displayed at Scarsdale’s first Earth Day Expo at Scarsdale Library on Tuesday April 22, 2025. The event was organized by Richard Cantor who explained,  "The idea to form a new organization, the Environmental Coalition, grew out of my experiences as the Chairman of the Rotary Club's Environment Committee and as a member of the Forum's Sustainability Committee and my feeling that in light of the environmental challenges we face, we were not doing nearly enough. Moreover, as a resident, I realized that there were a number of other organizations in Scarsdale that were also focused on environmental issues, but they were not coordinating their efforts, they were not being nearly as effective as they could be, and that they were not substantially expanding their memberships due to a lack of marketing coupled with various restrictions on membership.

But since the earth is home to all of us, there should be an organization open to everyone without restrictions in order to coordinate and expand efforts to help protect life on our planet. That is why I founded the Environment Coalition. It welcomes everyone from the youngest to the oldest with the goals of educating everyone about environmental issues and teaching them what they can do individually and collectively to help protect it. It also welcomes participation of all environmentally focused organizations without them having to alter anything they are already doing.

It is out of this background that I decided to put together an Earth Day Expo whose message would be "Hope for the Future" and to invite as many exhibitors as possible within the capacity of the Library's Scott Room. The Expos purpose was to build bridges between organizations and between the private and public sectors, so citizens would work collectively and in partnership with their elected representatives. The intent was to be uplifting and empowering, inspiring and motivational, and welcoming to a far larger number of people who are not yet actively involved in environmental protection.

I was particularly pleased with how successful the event was with such little time to plan it. Of particular note was the wide range of exhibitors and attendees. There were 21 exhibitors and approximately 200 attendees of all ages. There were more than 20 high school students from four different high schools – Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, and Ursuline - all of whom had exhibits covering plastics, transportation, insects, electronic waste, electric vehicles, and legislation. And there were also many pre-school and elementary aged children who attended the Expo with their parents in tow.

Many political leaders and political action groups were there as well, including Congressman George Latimer, Mayor Justin Arest, Deputy Mayor Dara Gruenberg, Assistant Village Manager Emily Giovanni, Fire Chief Christopher Mytych, members of various Boards, and members of groups that have political engagement, such as the Citizens Climate Lobby, the Forum, the FOSP, the Vine Cutters, and the Weinberg Nature Center - not to mention State Senator Shelley Mayer, Assemblyperson Amy Paulin and Assemblyman Steve Otis would have attended the Expo had they not been called back to Albany on Tuesday to finish budget negotiations.

There were twenty exhibitors from around the county, all with valuable messaging. Here are just a few of them:

We chatted with Sam Weinstock from the Weinberg Nature Center who was giving out kale seeds and potting soil to sprout some kale in your garden.

A group of students from Mamaroneck High School was formed to analyze the economics of EV transportation. Though they contend that EV’s are better for the environment then gas powered vehicles, they argue that the disposal of batteries is problematic and have found that the best transportation solution is mass EV transit, or simpler means such as walking or riding a bike.Sam from the Weinberg Nature Center

Scarsdale Assistant Village Manager Emily Giovanni was on hand, to promote the Scarsdale food scrap program and to encourage people to get their own green pail and start collecting and composting food scraps.

Don't always believe food expiration dates.Lisa Owen set up a display about reducing food waste. She contends that the expiration dates on many food products do not reflect the products full shelf life and cause disposal of edible food. She encouraged people to look and smell food before throwing it away due to the expiration date.

Cynthia Roberts from the Friends of the Scarsdale Parks displayed the benefits of trees for air quality and water absorption. She highlighted the risks of spotted lantern flies that infest trees and invasive vines that choke trees.

The Girl Scouts advocated to minimize e-waste from products and batteries.

They suggest we do the following:
-Repair, don’t replace
-Take used electronics to a trustworthy recycler
-implement mindful spending habits
-Advocate for e-waste management legislation that take public health into consideration.
-Educate others.The spotted lantern fly and invasive vines pose risks to trees.

Darlene LeFrancois Haber highlighted a report from the Scarsdale Forum about the environmental and health risks of artificial turf.

Courtney Williams, founder of Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions was on hand to discuss their mission to move Westchester to Zero Waste and to close Peekskill’s Wheelabrator plant, a 37- year-old incinerator that spews toxins into the air.

Courtney Williams of WASSAlso on hand was County Executive George Latimer who remembered the first Earth Day in 1970 when he was a senior in high school. He said, “We have to change if we want to help the earth over the long haul.”