Let’s build a more efficient & resilient

Rhinebeck Village together                 

Welcome to Climate Smart Rhinebeck, a task force of the Village Government. Explore what we are doing about climate change.

Find out what you can do too!

We participate in NY State's Climate Smart Communities Program, representing the Rhinebeck Village government in collaboration with volunteers. Village Trustee Vanessa Bertozzi is the task force coordinator.

EV Campaign

Thanks to community members who bought a new electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid between August 25 and December 31, 2023, the Village has earned a $5000 grant from NYSERDA!

The Village and Town governments partnered on this campaign as part of our Clean Energy Communities program under NYSERDA. Pictured here is our “EV-Curious?” event on Sept 30. Folks learned about EV ownership from Ruge’s, who came with 4 models, and volunteers who brought their own cars. And Mayor Bassett brought Evie, his appropriately named pooch!

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory: Village Government Operations

For our efforts to mitigate climate change, we need to have a data-driven approach to understanding the carbon footprint of municipal buildings and operations.

We are thrilled to be part of a 9-municipality CAPI grant to get group support for the process of gathering data on the local government’s emissions and then create a Climate Action Plan. The project uses the ICLEI Clearpath tool. in Summer 2023, we published our GHG emissions report. Next step is a Climate Action Plan. After that we will turn to a community wide process.

Energy Bills Piling Up?

Learn more about ways to reduce your bills and lower your household’s carbon footprint. We recommend a free consultation to give you the confidence to take your next step.

Public Reporting

The Village of Rhinebeck publishes benchmarking reports to show energy usage in municipal properties.

Each year we give a review of what we accomplished. This is our 4th Annual Climate Progress Report.

Trustee Bertozzi submits a monthly Climate Smart report, as a piece of the public Village Board Meeting materials. You can find them easily all in one place here.

Village Compost Pilot Ends But Food Scrap Collection Lives On

The Village of Rhinebeck ran a municipal compost pilot March through December 2022. We diverted about 2 tons of food scraps per month and reduced our CO2e by almost 4 tons per month. That’s equivalent to taking 10 cars off the road!

With the municipal pilot ending, participants are banding together to continue diverting their food scraps through “neighborhood coops.” Village restaurants are continuing their commercial contracts for composting as well, and the Village’s condo development, The Woods, has started their own collection through their HOA.

The Village will be working with a local farm as we develop a full municipal compost program. Good news: some of the grant money can still be used with a subcontractor

Our completed Natural Resources Inventory and your favorite nature photos of Rhinebeck

Photo by George Beckwith

Researching the Landsman Kill

Check out our ongoing collaboration with Marist College students. In fall 2021, Computer Science students created a browser-based dashboard to act as a flood warning mechanism for when to open the Asher Dam’s valves: https://mari.st/adas  (Disclaimer: this is a student prototype and it is still a work in progress!)

Previous projects include a Trees for Tribs Riparian Planting: On May 2, 2021, we planted over 100 trees and shrubs.

 

How We Are Getting to Silver

We are working on a whole host of actions, but getting to the 300 points necessary for silver certification is a steep climb!

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How We Earned Bronze

In March 2020, Rhinebeck Village achieved Bronze certification in the NY state Climate Smart Community program—one of only 47 municipalities at the time.

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Events

We create climate-related, public events and highlight worthy goings-on in our local area.

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Do Something

We believe that climate change is a huge catalyst for education, personal growth and community connection. We gather resources that will inspire you to take action and that make sense for our area.

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About the Climate Smart Community Task Force

Hello, nice to meet you. Won’t you join us?