Op-Ed: Planet Earth Needs Our Help. Here’s One Way to Take Action Now! 

“We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children” Native American Proverb 

Are you troubled by the climate crisis but not sure where to begin? If you feel that the problem is too vast, and the national political landscape too divisive to provide solutions, then you are not alone—and that is where the answer lies. An individual can have a far greater effect than most people think, and when you band together with others in the community, you can have a system-wide impact. Here at Mothers Out Front, we’re channeling individual concern into collective action to preserve a livable climate for all children, and would love to see YOU get involved. 

Mothers Out Front is a national grassroots movement working to support the environment during this critical time. We work in community teams to engage individuals and influence local officials to adopt policies that transition us away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.  

Our Westchester Rivertowns Mothers Out Front community team is working on the following campaigns:   

• Advocating to phase out diesel school buses in favor of greener and healthier electric school buses. Traditional diesel buses are major polluters and can also cause health issues in children such as asthma. We’re holding meetings with school district officials and exploring financing options. 
• Pursuing clean heat technologies in new construction. We speak at village board meetings and public hearings advocating for stronger green building policies. 
• Increasing access to, and awareness of, community composting. We successfully advocated for Sleepy Hollow to share Tarrytown’s food scraps drop-off site and are reaching out to local schools and religious institutions to educate on the importance of this topic. We helped start a compost program at Children’s Garden Center. The school has dramatically cut back on waste by switching to reusable items and composting their food scraps. We also led a sign-on letter to the County Executive on a policy issue to support a county-wide compost program.  

Here are some actions you can start with TODAY! 

• Sign our electric school bus postcard to show support to local school district officials. ny.mothersoutfront.org/we_want_clean_electric_school_buses_for_our_children 
• Email your local officials, or speak at village meetings, to let them know that clean energy and reducing greenhouse gases are priorities for you. 
• Gather your food scraps for composting at your local drop-off site, and ask local officials to implement curbside pick-up of food scraps. 
• Encourage your schools to use environmentally-friendly practices (such as compostable cafeteria plates/utensils instead of Styrofoam and plastic). 

• Participate in NY State’s free home energy assessment. 
• Shop local and BYO (reusable) Bag. Shop the many local farmers markets and visit the wonderful local consignment shops instead of purchasing new items. 
• Plant native plants to support our wildlife and pollinators, and avoid using pesticides.  

Everyone is welcome in Mothers Out Front! Participation at any level is appreciated, whether that means coming out to events, or volunteering from home, or taking on a team leadership role. If you are interested in getting involved, please email us at 

info.ny.rivertowns@mothersoutfront.org, follow us on Facebook at Westchester Rivertowns Mothers Out Front or check out the national website mothersoutfront.org. 

We hope to see you at our next team meeting!