In recent years, Westchester County has taken critical steps to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy infrastructure that will lower costs for residents and protect our planet from the disastrous effects of climate change.
The majority of the energy used by the County for daily operations is derived from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity.
In order to help achieve the ambitious goal of zero net emissions, Westchester County has launched a comprehensive solar campaign composed of two phases, supporting many other residential and local campaigns.
Solar:
- Phase 1 – 8MW - Rooftop solar on large buildings. Construction expected for Summer 2021
- Yonkers Bus Depot
- Valhalla Bus
- Westchester County Court House
- Parks Administration Building
- County Archives Building
- Phase 2 – 25-30MW – Parks parking lots, County buildings that didn’t make it into Phase 1, and including 35 municipal and school district sites.
- Community Solar – support and advocate for various solarize campaigns presented by New York State and Sustainable Westchester. Community Solar allows almost all utility customers, homeowners, renters, religious institutions, some businesses and nonprofits, to easily benefit from solar. Residents can register for solar power, and municipalities can get in on the action too.
Energy Conservation:
- $60MM worth of energy efficiency capital projects that had languished for years have been recently taken up by the Departments of Environmental Facilities, Public Works-Transportation, Planning, and Parks, Recreation, and Conservancy. LED indoor lighting, boiler and steam pipe replacements, and energy efficient window replacement are a few of the projects.
- Demand Response Programs – Since 2019 the County has signed onto three demand response programs in which the County receives payments for being on stand-by to lower our energy usage when the power grid is stressed and at risk of failure. Power grid operators are constantly looking for new ways to ensure the stability of the power grid and shave off peak power spikes. Smart Grid programs like this allow end users to meet electrical demand, thus avoiding new power plant construction. Depending on the type of program, clients may be dispatched simply once or twice a year for a few hours. There are opportunities for municipalities, businesses, learning institutions, and even residents through a Grid Rewards program.
Food Waste Management
Effective food waste management can reduce carbon emissions, combat food insecurity, and save taxpayer money for local municipalities. Former County Executive George Latimer made food waste management a priority for his administration, launching several innovative programs to help reduce what ends up in the waste-to-energy facility. County Executive Ken Jenkins is continuing and building on these efforts.
Food Recovery
Through the nonprofit Feeding Westchester, the County sponsors a food recovery program that annually saves millions of pounds of food to be redistributed to economically disadvantaged residents. The program saves more than 10 million pounds annually for consumption across the County.
Composting at Home
Home composting is an integral part of Westchester County’s plan to reduce food waste and promote sustainable living. Since 2018, Westchester has provided compost bins and rain barrels at a discounted cost to residents, sold in conjunction with Compost Giveback Days.
Municipal Transportation and Disposal
As of 2025, 27 municipalities in Westchester County have a volunteer food scrap drop-off or curb-side collection program, many of which utilize the Department of Environmental Facilities Residential Food Scrap Transportation and Disposal (RFSTAD) Program which greatly lowers the cost for municipalities to maintain food scrap collection.
CompostED
CompostED is a small-scale food scrap composting demonstration and education site in Valhalla. The site opened in November, 2021 and provides educational opportunities for County residents, students, and municipal officials on the process of composting, its environmental benefits and the ability of local municipalities to incorporate food scraps into existing organic yard waste composting sites. Municipalities in the County have used this as a model for their own operation; White Plains was the first to do so.
Textile Recycling
The County’s Department of Environmental Facilities offers a free curbside textile recycling program which helps reduce the flow of waste into landfills. Some, though not all Westchester municipalities have chosen to participate in the program. As of 2025, the municipalities participating are: the Cities of New Rochelle, White Plains, and Yonkers; the Towns of Cortlandt and Mamaroneck; and the Villages of Ardsley, Briarcliff Manor, Bronxville, Croton-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Irvington, Hastings, Rye Brook, Scarsdale, and Sleepy Hollow. Residents of these municipalities who wish to participate can find more information here: https://environment.westchestergov.com/residents/recycling-guidelines/textiles
Recycle Coach App
Westchester County’s Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) partnered with Recycle Coach to launch a free mobile app to help make recycling and solid waste information more accessible to County residents.
‘Recycle Coach’ connects residents with their municipal collection schedules, shares local disposal and recycling information and supplies educational tools to help make it easier to recycle products. Users can access Recycle Coach from their desktop computers and mobile devices.
For more information, please visit: https://environment.westchestergov.com/recycle-coach-app
Confronting Climate Change
Climate change poses a direct and immediate threat to Westchester County residents, especially those in our most vulnerable communities. Increased flooding, extreme heat, and rising sea levels would significantly degrade the Hudson River Valley and Long Island Sound area and could drastically reduce the quality of life in Westchester by the end of the century.
The County recently completed an Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions attributable to the operations of the the County government. Based on the Inventory, a Climate Action Plan for reducing those emissions in accordance with the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act was developed and finalized in 2024.
The County is currently developing a Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan that identifies potential areas where the County is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and recommends steps to address those vulnerabilities.
Additionally, by reducing our carbon emissions and building sustainable infrastructure, we can mitigate the effects of climate change and create more resilient communities. Find out how you can help combat the climate crisis.
To bring in additional voices to advise the County on ways to combat climate change, Westchester has created a Climate Crisis Taskforce comprised of local volunteers with interest and experience in advocating for environmental issues. The group meets several times a year with the Office of Energy Conservation & Sustainability to discuss strategies for addressing climate change and review important documents such as the Climate Action Plan. As of 2025, the members of the Climate Crisis Taskforce are: Jason Baker, Lisa Copeland, Janet Harckham, Gwen Jones, Suzie Ross, Leo Wiegman, and Ellen Weininger.
If you are interested in being considered for membership on the Climate Crisis Taskforce, please email .
Climate Action Plan
In 2023, for the first time in 11 years, Westchester County assembled a comprehensive climate action plan to address the threat climate change poses to our communities and create a roadmap for sustainable, environmentally conscious solutions.
View the County’s 2024 Climate Action Plan here.
The Climate Action Plan lays out a series of goals and objectives for Westchester County government. Fully implementing the goals and objectives in the Climate Action Plan is forecast to reduce greenhouse gas emissions attributable to County Government to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% below 1990 levels by 2050. Both of these goals are aligned with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York State’s landmark climate law, passed in 2019.
With a $100K grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Westchester County Climate Action Planning Institute (Westchester CAPI) completed individualized local government operations Greenhouse Gas Inventories (GHGI) and Climate Action Plans (CAP) for each of the nine participating local governments: Westchester County; the Villages of Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington, Ossining, Pelham, Tarrytown; the Town of Ossining; and the Cities of Peekskill and White Plains. As lead applicant and project participant, Westchester County’s project team includes County staff and appointed members of its Climate Smart Communities Task Force. Each partner municipality contributed a similar team. Upon Westchester CAPI’s completion, the County and partner municipalities presented their GHGIs and CAPs at a final working group meeting and to their respective environmental committees and elected officials. The Hudson Valley Regional Council as primary project partner, in conjunction with ICLEI staff, guided participants in the development of their GHGIs and CAPs.
In late 2024, the County was awarded a second NYS Department of Environmental Conservation grant to help coordinate with several additional municipalities and offer support for their efforts to produce Climate Action Plans. These efforts are expected to begin in the second half of 2025. The municipalities expected to participate in this effort are: the Cities of Mount Vernon and New Rochelle; the Towns of Greenburgh, Lewisboro, Pelham, and Somers; and the Villages of Briarcliff Manor, Rye Brook, and Scarsdale.
Climate Action Plan: Inventory of Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In October, 2023, Westchester County completed the first major phase of the county government climate action plan, an Inventory of Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Emissions. This inventory is a comprehensive evaluation of the estimated greenhouse gas emissions produced by the operations of Westchester County Government. Read the Greenhouse Gas Inventory to learn more.
Westchester CAPI Goals
- Inform and educate Westchester CAPI participants on the purpose and benefits of GHGIs and CAPs
- Ensure that long-term capacity is developed at the staff and appointed volunteer level through a collaborative group learning structure
- Build long-term partnerships across municipalities and their staff/appointed volunteers
- Complete locally specific GHGIs and CAPs for each participating local government
- Facilitate implementation of near- and long-term high-impact GHG emissions reductions measures
Desired Outcomes
- Complete nine individual local government operations GHG Emissions Inventories and Climate Action Plans incorporating GHG emissions reductions plans.
- Develop successful climate change mitigation strategies.
Feedback
To offer feedback on the Climate Action Plan, please email Peter McCartt, Director of Energy Conservation & Sustainability at .
Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan
The County is in the process of developing a Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan. This plan will assess the County’s vulnerability to a variety of climate-related threats including sea-level rise, increasing heat, and more unpredictable weather. The plan will also include upcoming projects which the County is planning in order to address these vulnerabilities. The plan focuses on assets owned and operated by County Government.
As part of this planning process the County welcomes input from residents. If you would like to share feedback on climate-related threats and suggested adaptation strategies, please email Peter McCartt, Director of Energy Conservation & Sustainability at
Westchester County is committed to maintaining a network of infrastructure that serves our community’s transportation needs while fulfilling our promise to conserve the environment for future generations.
Reducing carbon emissions associated with vehicle usage is key to curbing the effects of the global climate crisis. Studies show that transportation alone makes up 40 percent of the County’s total greenhouse gas emissions: the largest percentage of any sector. By utilizing more efficient vehicles, promoting our top rate public transit options, and building infrastructure for the 21st century, Westchester County is taking major steps to build a green transportation system that will protect the planet and get residents where they need to go.
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
Electric vehicles are the future of transportation and Westchester County is getting a head-start on building the public infrastructure to accommodate their widespread use. The County has deployed a number of publically available charging hubs as well as charging for the assortment of County fleet vehicles.
Additionally, the County passed legislation in January of 2020 to insure that charging stations are made available in all of its parking garages and open parking lots, whenever there is construction work being done.
Sustainable Fleet
Westchester County employs a sizable fleet of buses, compact sedans, public safety vehicles, and other utility vehicles. In order to curb emissions and reduce fuel costs, Westchester has converted large portions of its fleet to electric and hybrid vehicles. The entire fleet of the County’s Bee-Line buses are now electric-hybrid vehicles and in June of 2020 Westchester received the delivery of the first six of twelve full electric buses ordered. The County currently has over 100 Prius Prime and Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and nearly 100 Chevy Bolt full electric vehicles in addition to hundreds of hybrid cars and SUVs.
This Climate Smart Communities story map gives an in-depth look at the data shaping the climate crisis in Westchester County. It includes town-by-town, greenhouse gas emissions, and introduces residents to the Climate Smart Communities Task Force, a County board working to make Westchester a more sustainable and resilient place to live.