The Village’s Climate Smart Task Force will be tabling at Rhinebeck At Home’s signature event, Thriving in Rhinebeck, on November 2, from 9:30am to 12:30pm. We’ll be talking up ways to make your home more efficient, get your feedback on climate resiliency, and sign village residents up for the new compost program!

Here’s more about this FREE event hosted at the Rhinebeck High School:

THRIVING IN RHINEBECK SHOWCASE RETURNS TO RHINEBECK HIGH SCHOOL RHINEBECK, NY, November 2, 2024 Thriving in Rhinebeck: a Showcase of Services and Resources to Support our Multigenerational Community will be held on Saturday, November 2, 2024 from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Rhinebeck High School. Approximately 40 organizations are expected to participate, ranging from health care / home care organizations to cultural / educational resources, transportation services, advocacy groups, and an array of civic organizations with programs benefiting older adults. Rhinebeck High School students from the Interact Club will be on hand to greet attendees and help them navigate the school spaces.

“Our target audience is Rhinebeck and our neighboring communities, and we hope to attract a wide range of interested people – not just older adults, but their families, their caregivers, and others who will at some point really need to know how and where to reach out,” said Nina Lynch, President of Rhinebeck at Home and a member of the organizing team. “We are trying to help build an age-friendly, resourceful community.” Informational tables will fill the lobby and gym of Rhinebeck High School. Breakout sessions on Financial Literacy and Nutrition Tips will be offered in classrooms. Printed programs for attendees with the schedule and names of all participating organizations will be available. In addition to Rhinebeck at Home, the organizing team includes Archcare at Ferncliff, Rhinebeck Central School District, Rhinebeck Rotary Club and Education Network for Teachers and Artists (ENTA). Event locale: Rhinebeck High School, 45 North Park Rd., Rhinebeck, NY 12572. For more information, call Rhinebeck at Home at 845-379-1114 or email office@rhinebeckathome.org.

Beyond Zero tells a powerful and hugely hopeful story of Ray Anderson and his company, Interface Carpets, and how they successfully built a business around restoring the Earth. The film will be followed by a short Q&A with architect Bob Fox, who knew and worked with Ray Anderson and Interface. Hosted by Bard Office of Sustainability, the Bard Environmental Studies Department, Sustainable Hudson Valley, Climate Smart Rhinebeck & Red Hook, & The O Zone.

RSVP. Non-Bard affiliated folks are encouraged to come.
Thursday, September 26, 6:30 - 8:30pm 
Bard's Weis Theater in the Bertelsmann campus center

Join us to learn about what we all contribute to the Village’s carbon footprint and ideas for how to shrink it, step-by-step!

We will give a presentation with highlights of inspiring projects already underway by fellow community members, businesses, and organizations. We will share resources and information that will help you prioritize—and afford—projects in your own homes. Most of all, we want to hear your feedback on how we can galvanize Village residents to take action by 2030!

This is a public event hosted by the Village government’s Climate Smart Communities Task Force led Trustee Vanessa Bertozzi.

Starr Library has kindly offered to host the event in their downstairs space.

Please RSVP so we can anticipate headcount.

More background info on this project can be found here.

This ground-breaking doc investigates our addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics on human health. A post-screening discussion, moderated by environmental filmmaker John Bowermaster, will include Megan Wolff of Beyond Plastics and Shannon Roback of Riverkeeper. (dirs. Ben Addelman, Ziya Tong, 2024, Canada, 80 min.) Hosted by Upstate Films, Beyond Plastics, Riverkeeper, Third Act Upstate NY, Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability, and Sustainable Hudson Valley
Tickets are free, but RSVPing in advance is encouraged.
Tuesday, September 17, 6:30 - 8:30pm 

Sustainable Hudson Valley invited Bill McKibben, acclaimed climate change scholar and founder of 350.org and Third Act, to speak in Rhinebeck, and he said yes! As part of Climate Solutions Week +plus, Bill will be at Upstate Films giving a talk on the critical importance of the environment in this year's election.
Tickets are free, but RSVPing in advance is encouraged.
Tuesday, September 17, 12-1pm

Repair Cafe is back!

Save stuff from the trash heap and connect with an awesome community of repairers!
At Brookmeade 10am - 2pm
Saturday, August 10 

Learn more

The Village and Town of Rhinebeck are hosting this focus group as part of our "Climate Adaptation Planning” work to understand impacts of climate change here in Rhinebeck. During this research phase, we want to be particularly mindful of the needs of vulnerable groups. We've identified older adults as a large segment of our population who may have particular concerns. 

The purpose of this focus group is to hear about the experiences of older adults in the face of climate change and its firsthand impacts on your lives here in Rhinebeck. 

The format will be a roundtable of about 15 participants. Facilitators will prompt conversation, keep us focused, and take notes. This is an exercise where there are no "right or wrong answers".  We are looking for folks who care about the community and are willing to share their perspective and listen actively to others as well. Results of the focus group will be anonymized. 

 Contact Trustee Bertozzi if you’d like to be involved as a participant or volunteer facilitator: trusteebertozzi@villageofrhinebeckny.gov

Get ready for an afternoon of fun and activities geared toward exploring and supporting the natural world! The Town of Rhinebeck is offering this free event at the Thompson-Mazzarella Town Park on April 27, 12-3pm. The Village’s Climate Smart Rhinebeck Task Force is partnering with local nonprofit Dirty Gaia and the Town Recreation Department to organize many special guests and activities.

Roll up your sleeves (help spruce up the pollinator garden!)

Get crafty (make button pins with Starr Library or join the Town Rec Department’s arts table)

Bring your bike for a Bike Rodeo, brought to you by the Rhinebeck Village Police and the Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board.

Watch in wonder (Milo’s Menagerie & a raptor show!)

Learn how to foster Monarch caterpillars and make seed balls (Morton Memorial Library)

Drop off your compost and find out where you can recycle all sorts of stuff.

We’ll have walks too, one with Winnakee Land Trust to ID invasive species, another with a middle school herpetologist who’s already an expert in local amphibians and reptiles. 

Wonder how you’ll keep up? Coffee will be on hand (BYO mug) and we’ll have donuts (while supplies last)!

Below is a full schedule of events—but no need to memorize it. We’ll have a list of everything that’s going on when you get to the park. You’ll see signage and activity as you drive down past Starr Library to the main parking lot. Just show up and choose your adventures!

12pm Renew the Pollinator Meadow: Join the gardeners preparing the pollinator-friendly meadow by the tennis courts, readying it for its second season. If you have gardening gloves, all the better!

12 — 2pm Spring Crafts with Rhinebeck Town Recreation Department: Meet in the two pavilions by the playgound and get crafty! There will be a seed-potting activity as well.

12 — 3pm Fostering Caterpillars and Making Seed Balls: Join Sandy Bartlett of Morton Memorial Library in Rhinecliff and learn how easy it is to feed and care for Monarch and Swallowtail caterpillars before releasing them. Make seed balls that you can plant in your home garden—or check out seeds from the Library’s Seed collection.

12 — 3pm Operation Zero Waste: There’s not much that can’t be re- or upcycled these days. 

The latest news on the Village Compost site will be on hand, as will  Dorna Schroeter’s Biomimicry Display, showing how much we depend on nature’s genius for our artistic and industrial designs.

12 — 3pm Rethink Your Yard & Home: Check out the electric alternatives to snow blowers, leaf blowers and string trimmers and learn all the steps you can take to make your home more efficient, sustainable and resilient. Lots of info on reimagining your lawn, too!

12 — 3pm Speaking of bikes…Starr’s Book Bike will be on hand, loaded with eco books waiting to be checked out.

12:30pm Herpetology Walk with BMS student Milo—Meet the amphibians and reptiles who call the Town Park home.

1:30pm Birds of Prey Show with Brian Robinson. Brian, an acclaimed falconer who has worked on stage and screen, will bring a selection of his birds and demonstrate their remarkable traits and capabilities.

2pm Invasive Species ID Walk with Winnakee Land Trust.  Learn to identify the plants that may be robbing native species of their traditional habitat and how to remove them.

Chancellor Livingston Elementary School families are invited to walk to school together en masse to celebrate the first day of spring.

All are welcome to join us upstairs at Village Hall for a “watch party” for the DEC Amphibian Migrations and Road Crossings Training.

The training will last two hours. We will watch the training video and do some tabletop activities. There will be Q&A with more experienced folks who have participated in years past.

Free and open to all!

Find out more about Rhinebeck’s Big Night efforts.

Join us at the Rhinebeck Repair Cafe at the Pavilion at Brookmeade. Bring any beloved items to be fixed and let’s save stuff from the landfill. Items are fixed for free by volunteers.

Just when you thought the Walking School Bus couldn't get any cuter, this one will feature kids dressed up! Yes, Chancellor Livingston Elementary School students get to wear their costumes to class on October 31st! 

Join the school community for a BBQ at Lions Mini Park to kick off the school year!

Climate Smart Rhinebeck will be tabling to get folks pumped for Climate Solutions Week!

Come clean your River! We welcome you to take part in the 12th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep, the annual day of service for the Hudson River and its tributaries.

Rhinecliff Dock/Rhinecliff Landing

Join Morton Memorial Library & Community House, The Pollinator Patrol, Rhinebeck Grange, Dirty Gaia, Climate Smart Rhinebeck, and Riverkeeper for a cleanup, native vegetation planting, invasive species removal project at Rhinecliff Dock/Rhinecliff Landing for the 12th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep.

Volunteers will meet at Rhinecliff Dock: 95 Shatzell Avenue, Rhinecliff, NY 12574. Street parking available.

We ask all Sweep volunteers to also bring a hat, sunscreen, a full reusable water bottle, and a face mask, work gloves and hand sanitizer. 

This site is suitable for elementary-aged children with adult supervision.

Questions? Contact Riverkeeper at sweep@riverkeeper.org or Sandy at sandy@mortonrhinecliff.org.

*IMPORTANT! To ensure the safety of volunteers, Sweep Site Leaders, park staff, and our communities, we ask that volunteers adhere to the following guidelines:

• Volunteers are required to pre-register for Sweep, and bring their own masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and water.

• Volunteers should not participate if they have ANY signs of illness or if they have potentially been exposed to COVID-19 within the previous two weeks.

We will return to pursue our application to construct a municipal composting facility at the Village Highway Department property. Because the property is located in the town (not the village), we are before the Town Planning Board. The public is welcome to attend at this Town Hall meeting.

We will be tabling at Terrapin to talk up the Rhinebeck restaurants taking part in composting!