The digital extension of our newsletter — workshops, current-issue commentary, and stories from the watchdog beat.
Early September through mid-October is the strongest planting window of the year for native perennials. Here's how to prep a bed, what to plant, how to leave the leaves, and the verified Hudson Valley resources we recommend.
Read Fall is the best time to plant a pollinator garden in the Hudson Valley
PFAS — the 'forever chemicals' — are now in drinking water, soil, food, house dust, and almost everyone's blood. Here's a plain-language guide to where they come from in the Hudson Valley, what the health evidence actually shows, and the five things municipalities can do now.
Read Forever chemicals in the Hudson Valley: what PFAS are, where they come from, and what we can do
Home composting turns kitchen scraps and yard waste into free garden fertilizer while keeping food waste out of landfills, where it releases methane. Here are the best composter types, a simple starter recipe, and what Orange County residents should know.
Read How to compost at home: a beginner's guide for Orange County residents
Governor Hochul's executive order pauses state approvals for data centers drawing 50 MW or more. The Legislature's one-year moratorium goes further — and Orange County needs it to, because a 50 MW threshold is a loophole, not a limit.
Read Grid realities and the AI surge: why New York needs the tighter data center moratorium
A University of Florida–FDOT partnership is turning 10,200 acres of highway right-of-way into a monarch corridor. Orange County has miles of the same kind of unused roadside — and every reason to follow suit.
Read Florida is planting 15,000 milkweeds along its highways — the Hudson Valley should do the same
New York State has permitted a garbage transfer station on Dolsontown Road — 950 tons of trash a day, up to 248 diesel truck trips starting at 4 a.m., right next to the Heritage Trail in the Monhagen Brook Watershed. The Town of Wawayanda still controls the final approvals. Here is what Orange County residents can do this week.
Read Stop the Marangi waste dump: 950 tons of NYC trash a day next to the Heritage Trail
Air conditioners, refrigerators, and old washers can't go on the curb — the refrigerants, compressors, and steel need real recycling. Here's how to do it right in Orange County and the wider Hudson Valley.
Read Hudson Valley appliance recycling guide: where to drop off ACs, fridges, and bulky appliances
Biodiversity starts at home. This guide shows how to organize your life — food, water, plants, politics — around the living boundaries of the Hudson Valley bioregion you actually inhabit.
Read A Hudson Valley biodiversity guide: how to read the place you live
Hyperscale warehouses and data centers are landing across Orange County under zoning built for a very different era. Here's what OE is pushing local boards to require before the next approval.
Read Warehouses and data centers are reshaping Orange County — and our land-use rules haven't caught up
The Quassaick Creek drains one of Orange County's most rapidly developing corridors before emptying into the Hudson. OE is tracking the pollution, sedimentation, and land-use pressure the watershed is absorbing.
Read Protecting the Quassaick Creek watershed in Newburgh and New Windsor
OE and volunteer watershed stewards have begun a systematic outfall inventory and land-cover analysis of the Quassaick — the first step toward a defensible, board-ready restoration plan.
Read Mapping the Quassaick: our watershed profile takes shapeA 50–100 foot band of trees and shrubs along the Quassaick and its tributaries would do more for water quality than any single treatment upgrade. Here is what OE is asking towns to adopt.
Read Riparian buffers on the Quassaick: the cheapest water-quality tool we have
Volunteer stewards documented sediment plumes at four separate points along the Quassaick after a single June storm. It is a case study in why minimum-compliance stormwater programs are no longer enough.
Read After the storm: what a single Quassaick rain event tells us about our stormwater program
OE is training a volunteer stream-monitoring corps for the Quassaick — simple, standardized observations that build a long-term record no one else is keeping.
Read Help us watch the Quassaick: volunteer monitoring launches this season
Hyperscale data centers are quietly becoming the region's largest new consumers of electricity, water, and open land. Orange Environment is calling for a countywide pause until real safeguards are in place.
Read Why the Hudson Valley needs a moratorium on new data centers
Our ever-popular backyard mushroom workshop returns to Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery on April 18, 2026.
Read "Growing Mushrooms In Your Own Backyard" returns 4/18/26
DHS is advancing plans for a detention center in our region. Here is OE's response and the environmental concerns we're tracking.
Read OE vs. DHS Detention Center
OE board member Dr. Joe Grizzanti and the Hudson Valley Pollinator Project are converting turf lawns into habitat for monarchs, bees, and birds.
Read Turning lawns into lifelines
A brand-new OE workshop pairing home gardening with cooking — a hands-on session connecting soil to plate.
Read New OE workshop on home garden to table cooking!