"The Greenest Village in the Country"—A Collective Objective

For many years, the Village of Ossining has been a leader in sustainability. We are fortunate to have several resident groups and community organizations who focus on the health and well-being of not just our environment, but who consider how the planet’s health influences the quality of life for humans and animals who live here.

When Mayor Levin says she wants to have the greenest village in the country she means business. In late 2020, the Village, along with the Town of Ossining, the Village of Briarcliff, Green Ossining and Briarcliff Sustainability applied to be part of the NYSERDA Energy Smart Homes Program, and worked with Sustainable Westchester to develop three “Community Campaigns”. Whether homeowners or renters, community members who attended webinars and online events were provided with comprehensive and user-friendly information about changes they could make to improve energy conservation in their homes, ranging from free to low-cost measures like LED lightbulbs, to converting their home’s heating/ cooling system to geothermal. The Ossining/Briarcliff team also worked to spread the word about Community Solar and “Grid Rewards”, a demand response program where any Con Edison customer could earn cash for reducing their energy consumption on summer’s hottest days. Every community should do its share to contribute to the overall health of our environment.

As a result of the success of this program, the Village earned their first 200 Clean Energy Community points—Clean Energy Communities is a program under NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) whereby communities who demonstrate leadership in energy reduction can earn not just bragging rights but also grant funding to implement innovative ideas. As a result of this first 200 points, the Village was awarded an “Action Grant” of $5000, which is currently pending approval by NYSERDA. However, in the meanwhile, we have documented our past actions through this program, and have now reached 2800 points! We are well on our way to catching up with our greenest neighbors throughout the State. Keep track of our progress here: Scorecard - NYSERDA

Of course, this is just the beginning. We have several infrastructure projects and grant applications in the works that will continue to boost our “green cred”, while also helping Ossining reduce noise and air pollution, enhance our parks, thicken our tree canopy, protect our pollinators, make our open spaces more accessible, and improve the lived experience of those who live in and visit Ossining.  Please come back to this page regularly to hear more about our progress.