Library
Select a TopicSearch
Farm Fresh Foods: What to Know About Growing and Selling Produce in Buffalo
Colleen Roberts — Aug 1, 2018
It details local regulations on market and community gardens as well as rules for selling produce. It includes tips to find the right locations to plant food gardens and opportunities for education on growing and selling. It addresses topics such as plant selection and soil safety.
View Resource
Starting a School Recycling Program
Buffalo Recycling Alliance — Oct 20, 2017
The Buffalo Recycling Alliance compiled a list of foundational aspects and resources to start a school recycling program.
View .PDF
Composting Food and Yard Waste: A Guide for Individuals, Non-Profits, and the City of Buffalo
Rebecca Mize — Oct 11, 2012
In 2010, the United States added 68 million tons of food and yard waste to landfills, accounting for roughly 34% of all municipal solid waste. Lowering the amount of this waste in a city’s garbage saves the taxpayers money and protects the environment. Composting is an easy and inexpensive solution. Instead of throwing out food and yard waste, homeowners, not-for-profits, businesses and local government can reuse it to create compost, a useful product that can be …
View .PDF
How to Recycle Special Items in Buffalo-Niagara
Catholic Care for Creation Committee of Buffalo — Sep 27, 2012
Alphabetized special product listing and where you can recycling it in Buffalo-Niagara.
View .PDF
Massachusetts Avenue Project: Urban Farming and Job Skills for Youth
Rebecca Mize — Apr 1, 2012
Massachusetts Avenue Project (“MAP”) seeks to make food systems more local and inclusive. MAP nurtures the growth of a diverse and equitable community food system to promote local economic opportunities, access to affordable and nutritious food, and social-change education. MAP grows fresh produce on its urban farm on the West Side of Buffalo. Annually, MAP employs roughly 50 at-risk youth to transform the community’s food system. The programs reflect …
View .PDF
Localization in Buffalo
Kathleen Moriarty — Dec 31, 2011
Generally speaking, localization is the idea of keeping as much of a region’s resources and energy as local as possible - business, employment, agricultural yields, and economic goods. Localization also includes an effort to reduce the distance that goods travel between production and consumption.
View .PDF
Front Park's Past and Future
Lawrence Bice — Oct 30, 2011
Front Park is a 26-acre urban park in Buffalo, New York. The park entrance is located on Porter Avenue. The park is bounded on the west by interstate 190, on the north by the Peace Bridge truck plaza and on the north by Busti Avenue and the adjacent Columbus Park-Prospect Hill neighborhood. Front Park is part of Buffalo’s Olmsted park system. The park system takes its name from its most prominent original designer, Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., a nationally renowned …
View .PDF
Monitoring Pollution in our Communities: The Clean Air Coalition of Western New York
Kathleen Gabel — Oct 30, 2011
The Clean Air Coalition of Western New York (CACWNY) is a community health and advocacy group working to ensure local residents’ right to a healthy environment. The group organizes media campaigns, provides resources, and designs programs to help reduce pollution in local communities.
View .PDF
Vacant Lot Greening Options in Buffalo
Robert Grimaldi — Oct 30, 2011
The main goals of PUSH (People United for Sustainable Housing) and its development subsidiary, the Buffalo Neighborhood Stabilization Corporation (BNSC), are to mobilize residents to create strong neighborhoods with quality affordable housing, to expand local hiring opportunities, and to advance economic justice in Buffalo.
View .PDF
Urban Farming in Buffalo: Economic Development and Climate Change Strategy
Michael Raleigh — Oct 27, 2010
Our food system is heavily industrialized, which means it consumes an incredible amount of resources, including energy derived from burning fossil fuels. By one estimate, the food system takes 10 calories of energy to produce one calorie of food. The phrase “eating oil” refers to our use of oil to power the machines that plant seeds, spray pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, spread fertilizer, operate irrigation pumps, till the soil, harvest and process crops, and …
View .PDF
Environmental Data for Buffalo
Michael Raleigh Sep 7, 2010
Environmental fact sheet outlining environmental data in Buffalo. This includes: land use; vehicles; global warming; sprawl; water quality; parks, trees, lots; air quality; energy; garbage and recycling.
View .PDF
Environmental Health and Racial Disparities in Buffalo
Sam Magavern, Partnership for the Public Good — Dec 31, 2009
View Resource
Buffalo Sewer Authority
Eric Vogan — May 3, 2009
The Buffalo Sewer Authority is a public benefit corporation created by the New York State legislature in 1935 to clean wastewater before it is released into the environment. The BSA also maintains the storm drains for the City of Buffalo. The BSA serves the residents and businesses of the Buffalo area as well as some neighboring communities. Currently, around 98,000 Buffalo residents and nearly 400 businesses in the City of Buffalo are served by the BSA.
View .PDF
Buffalo Water Authority
Amanda Schieber — May 3, 2009
The Buffalo Municipal Water Finance Authority Act governs the Water Board. In general, the Buffalo Water Authority is empowered to establish, fix, revise, change, collect, and enforce the payments of all fees, rates, rents, and other service charges for the use of the services furnished by the system. The Buffalo Water Authority is in charge of setting rates and of capital improvements to the system as a whole over $10,000. Some specific powers of the Water Board: terminate …
View .PDF
Erie County Sewer Division and Sewer Districts
Nathan Kerstein — May 3, 2009
Each district is a self-supporting entity with the power to assess fees and levy local charges. New York state law gives nearly complete autonomy to the county to run their agencies. The specific agencies are empowered to assemble data relating to the water resources available in the county, number and location of wells, contaminants that are present in the supply of the water in the county, sewage collection and related issues that may arise. Erie County has made the decision …
View .PDF
Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA)
Michelle Liberty — May 3, 2009
NFTA provides transportation services in the Buffalo-Niagara region. It oversees the Metro Bus and Rail System, the NFTA Boat Harbor, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, and the Niagara Falls International Airport. NFTA is governed by a state law, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Act which created the Authority to further and improve transportation services within the Niagara Frontier.
View .PDF
County Planning Boards
Nathan Kerstein — May 2, 2009
The main focus of the board should be to implement the Framework for Regional Growth and to combat sprawl in the region. From 1980 to 2000 the developed area grew thirty-eight percent, even though population fell nearly six percent. It has been estimated by the county that better planned development could save $800 million.
View .PDF
Sustainability Offices for Local Governments
Robert Coly — May 2, 2009
The most widely recognized definition of sustainability is found in the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. It says that sustainability means “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency also provides a definition of sustainability. The EPA says that sustainability is “a new way of thinking about an …
View .PDF
Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority
Robert Goodwin — Dec 8, 2008
The Authority is an international entity, created out of an agreement between the State of New York, with the consent of the United States Congress, and the Canadian Government. The Authority’s mission is to be known as the premier Canada/US international border crossing. The Authority strives to provide excellent customer service and be an effective channel for trade and tourism between the two nations. The Authority governs the Peace Bridge. The …
View .PDF
Brownfield Cleanup and Development in Buffalo, New York
Caitlin Connelly — Nov 8, 2008
Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties for which expansion, development, or reuse may be complicated by environmental contamination, such as the presence of a hazardous substance or pollutant. Examples of brownfields include the former sites of factories, mills, rail yards, gas stations, and dry cleaners.
View .PDF
NYSERDA: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Jenna Piasecki — Oct 3, 2008
There are four regional offices located in Albany, New York City, Buffalo, and West Valley. The major staff is broken into three subgroups. Energy Analysis has 21 staff members, most with the title of project manager. Energy Efficiency Services has 34 staff members at the main office, 5 in New York City, and 1 in Buffalo. The Residential Efficiency and Affordability Program staffs 29 employees at the main office, 4 in New York City, and 2 in Buffalo. The Research …
View .PDF
Easy Ways to Lower your Utility Bills
Sam Magavern Aug 7, 2008
The average home in Buffalo can expect energy bills of $2,267 per year. An energy-efficient home in Buffalo will have much lower bills – only $1,451 per year. That is a savings of $816. Here are some simple steps you can take to start saving money on your energy bills.