Meet the Rye Sustainability Committee and its Chair Hilary Garland
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Meet the Rye Sustainability Committee and its Chair Hilary Garland.
Your Name: Hilary Garland
Board or Commission you chair: Rye Sustainability Committee
Your role: Chair
MyRye.com: What is the charter for your Committee?
Garland: The Rye Sustainability Committee’s mission is to draft and assist in the implementation of a sustainability plan for the City of Rye while addressing significant environmental issues in the community.
- Climate Smart Communities: a New York State program that provides a framework for municipalities to address climate change. RSC helped the City become certified in 2024, after completing several actions that save energy, reduce waste and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
- Healthy Yard Program: promotes best practices for yard care, encouraging Rye residents to eliminate the use of pesticides and herbicides and plant native pollinators.
- Residential Food Scrap Recycling program to reduce waste and create a soil additive in the form of compost that enriches our soil. There are two food scrap drop-off sites: Disbrow Park and Highland Street Parking Lot, and compost is provided to residents once a year in spring.
Looking at 2025, what will be your top initiatives?
Garland:
- Working with the City through the Climate Smart Communities Task Force, to implement more actions that decrease energy use, adopt clean renewable energy, protect our natural resources and build resilience from climate hazards like flooding, severe storms, excessive heat and sea level rise. Our goal is to apply for Silver Certification in 2026.
- Promoting our new Pollinator Pathway/Healthy Yard Program that is supported by the Rye CCAC, Rye Nature Center, Little Garden Club of Rye and the Rye Garden Club. Participants pledge not to use chemical fertilizers or pesticides and plant native trees, shrubs or flowers to create a welcoming habitat for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. In exchange for implementing healthy yard practices that support our ecosystems, they will receive a Pollinator Pathway sign for their yard.
- Rye100 is helping Rye residents navigate the energy transition with tips for home electrification and a new solarize program from Sustainable Westchester to promote residential rooftop solar. We also plan to develop an EV Charging Plan with the Chamber of Commerce and New York Power Authority.
Who is the City Council liaison to your Committee for 2025?
Garland: Bill Henderson was our liaison in 2024, and the liaison for 2025 [is James Ward, former RSC chair].
Tell us about the residents or others you interact with at your Committee.
Garland: Residents mostly reach out to the Committee if they have an environmental concern and want to learn what the city is planning, or they are interested in finding out more about our programs. We also interact with residents through our educational outreach programs and events.
When was your Committee chartered by the City of Rye?
Garland: In 2010, the Rye City Council directed three members of the City’s Conservation Commission Advisory Council (CC/AC) to study the feasibility of establishing a municipal sustainability committee. At a September 27, 2010 City Council workshop, CC/AC members presented their findings and stressed the need for a sustainability committee to draft and implement a Rye Sustainability Plan that would incorporate the City’s sustainability goals and initiatives. On October 10, 2010, the City Council passed a resolution forming the Rye Sustainability Committee (RSC) with nine volunteer members from the community.
Looking back across 2024, what were your Committee’s top achievements?
Garland:
- Governor Hochul announced on April 25, 2024, that the City of Rye was awarded Bronze Certification in the Climate Smart Communities program. This New York State program provides a framework for municipalities to address climate change. Since registering for the program in 2015, Rye has implemented 18 of the recommended actions that promote sustainability, save energy, reduce waste and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Our Climate Smart Task Force, created in August 2023, identified the policies and initiatives that qualified for Bronze certification and prepared the documentation.
- Clean Energy Communities Campaigns for Electric Vehicle adoption, and Clean Heating & Cooling installations (heat pumps, geothermal and energy efficiency upgrades) led to NYSERDA grant awards of over $100K issued to the city for a new municipal EV, a new EV Charger and additional electric landscaping equipment.
- Forming Rye100, a chapter of CURE100 that stands for Communities United to Reduce Emissions by 100%. We created a checklist for homeowners on how to electrify their homes, yards and vehicles and promoted the program at the Food Truck Festival and Farmers Market in the fall.
Tell us about you:
How long have you been in your current role?
Garland: I have been a member of the Rye Sustainability Committee since 2022, and was appointed Chair in January 2025.
Who appointed you to this position, and when?
The City Council at the beginning of 2025.
Is the role full time or part time? Paid or volunteer?
Part-time volunteer.
What is your day job?
Garland: Having left a career in marketing to focus on raising our children, I spent the last 20 years as a volunteer in various leadership roles in Rye and Port Chester, including at SPRYE and Open Door.
How much time does your role require in a typical month?
Garland: The position is new to me, but I estimate I will spend between 15-20 hours a month, perhaps more if we are planning an event or applying for certification in the Climate Smart Communities program.
How would your friends and family describe you in one word?
Garland: Planner.
Where did you grow up?
Garland: I grew up overseas in Puerto Rico, Mexico City, Paris and Sydney. My father worked in the international division of a multinational company, which meant moving every 3-4 years. I was fortunate to experience different cultures at an early age, but I am also grateful to experience the powerful sense of community in Rye where we have lived for 25 years, the longest stretch in a single town, by a factor of four.
What is your favorite unimportant thing about you?
Garland: I’m part of a puzzle exchange with friends and family that love puzzles as much as I do – especially ones with vibrant colors and unusually shaped pieces.
If the next five years is a chapter in your life, what is this chapter about?
Garland: Continued learning, engaging with others and doing what I can to expedite the energy transition at home and in Rye.
Where do you live in Rye and how many years have you lived in the City?
Garland: We live on Kirby Lane and have lived in Rye for 25 years.
Are written agendas and written meeting minutes available?
Garland: Yes.
Thanks Hilary!
Learn More:
Are meetings recorded?: No.
Are written agendas and meeting minutes available?: Yes.
Main Rye Sustainability Committee page on City website
Members of Board:
Hilary Garland, Chair N/A (term expires)
Suzanne Clary N/A
Chris Cohan N/A
DJ (Deron) Haley N/A
Gretchen Kaye-Crowley N/A
Linda Mackay N/A
Jeff Prosserman N/A
Donna Providenti N/A
Amanda Sackey N/A
I;m a resident of the Osborn