The town of North Hempstead will be hosting a three-part series of home sustainability workshops throughout the month of March to garner resident support and involvement for the town’s efforts to combat climate change.
The three workshops will approach three different topics of home sustainability: sustainable yard care March 1, native plant gardening March 15 and rain gardens March 29. All three will be held via Zoom and begin at 6:30 p,m. Registration is required beforehand through the town’s website.
The workshops will be hosted by the town’s Climate Smart Community Task Force Coordinator Meagan Fastuca and include informative presentations and opportunities for attendees to ask questions and have discussions about the workshop’s topic. The second workshop will include a presentation from the president of the Long Island Native Plant Initiative, Rusty Schmidt.
Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey said the first workshop covering sustainable yard care will inform residents about methods such as composting, rain barrels, saving water, pesticide alternatives and much more.
North Hempstead is working towards becoming a Climate Smart Community, Lurvey said, and these workshops will contribute to those efforts. Climate Smart Communities are a New York State program to help local governments address climate change.
“It’s really important for us to be environmentally progressive and environmentally active to do the right thing for future generations,” Lurvey said.
She said that she hopes these workshops will bring individual residents to take sustainable actions that result in a chain effect until the majority of the town is involved in those efforts.
“We want these actions to exponentially grow throughout the entire town,” Lurvey said. “The only way to really combat certain types of climate change consequences is by taking action in your own yard and hoping that that action becomes community action.”
Lurvey said these workshops are incredibly important for the town’s environment and its water.
“We need to keep our water safe,” Lurvey said. “And by taking sustainable steps in how we garden and how we live our lives, we keep our water clean and we keep ourselves healthy.”
Something that the town as a suburban space is working to combat through these workshops is theprevalence of the green, grassy front lawn. Lurvey said they are trying to change the cultural concept of what the suburbs should look like and to embrace the beauty of natural and native lawns that are better for the environment.
While there are no workshops scheduled beyond the three planned, Lurvey said the town will surely be working on additional workshops in the future.
Residents can also purchase rain barrels and composters through the city at a discounted price to be picked up from the Clark Botanic Garden on a first-come, first-serve basis. The next sale will be held on March 24. Residents can get more information through the town’s website.
For additional information about sustainability in North Hempstead, residents can visit the town’s sustainability page or call 311.
