Sustainable Finger Lakes is accepting applications for our October 2026 round of Neighborhood Mini-Grants, now available in Cayuga, Cortland, and Tompkins Counties. Local residents often know best what projects would improve quality of life for their neighborhoods, but need a little help covering the costs, and we hope to support those who seek to improve…
(Tompkins Weekly, 8-12-26, by Elizabeth Keokosky) As early as 1972 American law professor Christopher Stone wrote a detailed, 52-page, seminal article, “Should trees have standing – toward legal rights for natural objects.” Stone writes, “Throughout legal history, each successive extension of rights to some new entity has been, theretofore, a bit unthinkable.” The article acknowledges…
Sustainable Finger Lakes is accepting applications for our first-ever round of Neighborhood Mini-Grants in Steuben, Chemung, and Tioga Counties. Local residents often know best what projects would improve quality of life for their neighborhoods, but need a little help covering the costs, and we hope to support those who seek to improve the resilience, equity, and…
(Tompkins Weekly, 7-7-26, by Charles McKenzie) When federal food benefits were cut over the past year, the impact didn’t fall evenly — it landed hardest on children in households already stretched thin by low wages and the rising cost of living. Families who were already walking a tightrope soon found themselves balancing over a canyon.…
In May 2026, the Keuka and Seneca Watersheds Chapter of the Sustainable Finger Lakes Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program awarded $2,821 in five grants to locally-run initiatives connecting community voices, sharing resources, and reducing waste in rural villages in Yates and Seneca Counties. Dundee Central School is launching a school-based pantry of essential supplies, food, and clothing…
This spring, the Tompkins County chapter of the Sustainable Finger Lakes Neighborhood Mini-Grant program expanded to include Cortland and Cayuga counties, becoming the Cayuga and Owasco Watersheds chapter. The April 2026 round of grants to simple projects by local residents will build community resilience and environmental stewardship through food gardens, wild plant management, and waste reduction…
Tompkins Weekly, 5-13-26, by Patrice Lockert Anthony Let’s start with something uncomfortable: sustainability doesn’t begin with government laws. Consent of the governed doesn’t begin at the ballot box. It begins with self-governance. One person. Then that person-in-community. Therein lies the dilemma. Until individuals—and the communities they build—actually behave as holders of power, politicians (whose moral…
Sustainable Finger Lakes is accepting applications for our Spring 2026 round of Neighborhood Mini-Grants in Schuyler, Seneca, and Yates Counties, for local residents who seek to improve quality of life in their neighborhoods and need a little help covering the costs. The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program was designed to stimulate resident-based, grassroots initiatives that improve quality…
(Tompkins Weekly, 3-11-26, by Joey Diana Gates) In the efforts to reduce waste the mantra, “Refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle,” is very familiar. This hierarchy of actions offers the best ways to keep food packaging out of landfills. While efforts to encourage Refuse/Reduce such as Bring Your Own containers, and Reuse, such as the provision…
Do you have an idea for a project to make our community more sustainable, resilient, or inclusive? Need a little help in covering the costs? Sustainable Finger Lakes is accepting applications for our Spring 2026 round of Neighborhood Mini-Grants in Tompkins County. An application deadline for Schuyler, Seneca, and Yates Counties will be announced after…
(Tompkins Weekly, 2-18-26, by concerned Danby community members) We acknowledge that Water is Life and that we are living on land continuously inhabited by Indigenous GayogohÓ:no people. There is a book of Iroquois teachings written by Tom Porter (Sakokweniónkwas), titled And Grandma Said…It’s interesting that Porter’s book notes that the Iroquois recognized that white people…
(Tompkins Weekly, 1-14-26, by Elizabeth Karabinakis) Healthy Food For All (HFFA) was founded in 2006 to help low-income households gain reliable access to locally grown produce while supporting nearby farms via Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). What started with just a few farms feeding 18 households has grown into a nationwide best-practice model helping to nourish…
Tompkins Weekly, 12-10-25, by The Danby Resilience Community Prompted by community concerns with our collective well-being, Danby Food and Drink (DF&D) proprietor, Kartik Sribarra, invited folks to meet at his store to explore opportunities to engage in mutual cooperation and to discuss local resilience. “There was no specific agenda or target audience,” shared Sribarra. “I…
This fall, the Sustainable Finger Lakes Neighborhood Mini-Grant program expanded into Schuyler, Seneca, and Yates Counties for the first time, and separately awarded a 60th round of grants in Tompkins County. From forestry and first aid to food sharing, pollinator gardens, and region-wide sustainability education, these grants to simple projects by local residents will build…
(Tompkins Weekly, 11-12-25, by Joey Diana Gates) Since its beginnings back in 1991, the folks organizing the GrassRoots Festival have partnered with local volunteers to help divert as much waste as possible from neighboring landfills. This includes what has become robust compost and recycling systems that can be seen all over the festival. The waste…