Climate Smart Communities
of Chemung County
Chemung County is located in the Southern Tier region of New York State and is made up of 16 municipalities. We are hoping to see our community become a leader in sustainability and resilience in our region.
What does it mean to be a Climate Smart Community?
To be designated a Certified Climate Smart Community, a municipality completes a suite of actions that mitigate and adapt to climate change at a local level.Each completed action is associated with a range of point values. In addition to points, each community must also complete a number of mandatory and priority actions at each level of certification.
we're certified bronze
We achieved the initial level of certification by taking the first steps to implement climate-smart policies and projects, and committing to climate action.
But we're not done yet!The next step is SILVER and we need your help to get there.
Sustainability Initiatives To Care About
What's on the agenda?
Community Repair
What is Community Repair?
Community Repair offers our community the opportunity to bring household items to be repaired free of charge by local skilled volunteers.
This is not a drop-off service. Instead, it provides a chance for community members to collaborate with their neighbors to keep broken or damaged items out of the landfill, and give them new life.What are the Benefits?
For the community, this program provides the opportunity to engage and collaborate with neighbors to extend the useful life of their items, and facilitate the sharing of knowledge.For the environment, this program can help divert useful items from landfills and decrease GHG emissions.How Do I Get Involved?
We are currently looking for skilled volunteers (professionals, hobbyists, retirees) to act as repair coaches. Examples of repair items needing coaches are clothing and textiles, jewelry, phones and tablets, computers and laptops, vacuums, furniture, and more!If you are interested in being a part of our Community Repair Team, please fill out our Interest Form.
Buy Green/Buy Local Campaign
What does it mean to Buy Green/Buy Local?
When you choose to buy local, you're attempting to meet your needs with independent businesses, rather than large retailers. This can look like buying seasonal fruits and veggies at the Farmers' Market, eating at Mom & Pop restaurants instead of chains, and utilizing local artisans when looking for furniture, jewelry, soap, candles, etc.When you choose to buy green, you're actively taking into account the environmental impacts of your purchase. Perhaps you avoid buying food in plastic packaging when possible, or make the switch from single-use items to reusables.What are the Benefits?
Buying from Green, Local businesses keeps our dollars circulating in our economy. You can support your neighbors while reducing GHG emissions and oil-dependent transportation costs.How Do I Get Involved?
If you're a green and/or local business, we want to work with you to develop this campaign!
Please email us with the subject line "Buy Green Buy Local With [Business Name]" and a brief summary of your business.