Hastings
Zero Waste
NEWS & ALERTS
The TILI - Take It or Leave It - Garage is a free, volunteer-run initiative, in which you can drop off unwanted household items and/or take anything you like. This effort aims to reduce waste by diverting usable items from trash cans and helping them find new homes.
Please click here for accepted items, location, and to volunteer.
closed public holidays and in too wet/too hot/too cold weather
(check TiLi page for updates)
BookS & TEXTILES
The Discover Books Book Bin and Green Tree Textile Bin are in the back of the Zinsser Commuter parking lot (aka train station parking lot), under the bridge. Please use 'em!
Book Bin next to Textile bin under Warburton Bridge in MetroNorth parking lot
Books are not recyclable in curbside recycling, nor in the dumpsters at the DPW yard.
Donate useable books to your local library, school book fair or the Discover Books Bin—where you can also deposit unwanted books for recycling. Read more: what goes in the bin and where to find it.
Not all drop-off bins are the same! ZWAT members researched extensively to identify the most environmentally responsible textile recycler in the area, and worked with the Village to get this bin installed. By placing your textiles in the Green Tree Textiles bin, you can be confident that your items will be responsibly recycled. Read more: what goes in the bin and where to find it.
ZWAT members are eager to help others learn more about opportunities to trash responsibly. Check out the feed! And follow us: it's fun, fresh and functional!
In other media news, ZWAT is also on the hastingsgreen.org homepage. Hastings Green is a volunteer effort to make sustainability information and resources in Hastings-on-Hudson easy to find and access.
Kids all over Hastings can read the Story of Yu – about a grinchy ogre who uses up so much of the Village's resources, and throws the waste everywhere, that the fairies are drowning in garbage. Yu transforms the ogre into an Eco Elf, and they all live happily-ever-after. Sound corny? Kids can make up their own stories, perform them at an event we are planning for the summer, and make their own puppet show stages that we will display. Afterall, they have the imagination to dream of a future, greener world! Click for more info and for the script.
WHAT IS ZERO WASTE?
Zero Waste Alliance International
Zero Waste: The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.
Hastings' Zero Waste Advisory Taskforce
Hastings' ZWAT is a group of concerned Hastings-on-Hudson residents passionate about reducing our waste and helping raise awareness in our community. We are a subcommittee of the Hastings-on-Hudson Conservation Commission and work closely with Hastings' Climate Smart Communities Task Force. We research and implement community wide solutions to help diminish the tonnage that gets trucked to Peekskill to be burned.
Join us!
Get in touch at hastingszwat@gmail.com
ZWAT is a subcommittee of the Hastings-on-Hudson Conservation Commission
where should i start?
First, visit Hastings' Village website to make sure you're familiar with basic rules and schedules.
Next, get into the mindset of decreasing consumption. Use what you have, reduce purchases with excess packaging, and choose quality over quantity. With these simple shifts, you will begin to reduce your waste and its impact on our community and the communities around us.
Think: refuse, reduce, repair, compost, recycle—discarding should be a last resort. Do a trash audit and examine what your household is throwing out and recycling. Refuse what you don't need (especially freebies). Can you buy less? Can you do without? Can you find a reusable or a previously owned alternative? The less waste you create, the lighter your footprint.
Have you ever thought about where your trash, recycling and compost go once it is picked up? It doesn't just go "away." Understanding where it goes an important first step in reducing your waste. Learn all about it here!
"Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without"
Use what you have, shop locally, borrow, buy used, and avoid packaging. Learn how to acquire things more sustainably.
Repairing is one of the best ways to reduce consumption and waste. Learn how and where to repair your beloved items.
It's easy to put things out to the curb, but it's better to find ways to give things new life. These are our preferred methods and resources.
Food waste is a huge problem, but your scraps can be turned into compost in your backyard or you can bring them to Hastings commercial food scrap drop. There's even a local pickup service business!
Many Hastings' downtown businesses embrace low-waste efforts. Did you know a local dry cleaner offers a reusable garment bag? Support local and go low-waste at the same time.
Our favorite links to resources where you can learn about the issues and how you can help .