Last week, some of Sustainable Wellesley's Leadership Team members, including Dr. Regina LaRocque, Phyllis Theermann, Mary Gard, Quentin Prideaux and Trish Glass thanked The Charles River District Medical Society for a recent grant donation.   

“Thank you Dr. Leonard Finn and the Charles River District Medical Society for providing this generous grant to Sustainable Wellesley,” said Phyllis Theermann, President, Sustainable Wellesley. “We are honored to have been chosen among many deserving nonprofits in the 5 town catchment area where the Charles River Medical Society donates.  The $3000 will go to furthering our work and amplifying our voices to lower our communities’ carbon footprint through education and inspiration for residents of all ages. The funds will support our operational costs enabling us to work on these health and other related topics: 

• A Sustainable Building Practices Initiative (reducing building impacts on human health);
• Clean energy and electrification programs (gas = respiratory issues);
• A mental health webinar for area youth on Climate Anxiety and Eco despair; 
• A webinar on the  Economics of Climate Change;
• Supporting the Town's Climate Action Plan; and 
• Environmental justice programs
     

Many thanks to the committee for choosing Sustainable Wellesley and to Linda Howard for all of her efforts as well,” Theermann said.
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Any members of the Charles River District Medical Society that are interested in working with Sustainable Wellesley on the above initiatives or others, please feel free to contact them at info@sustainablewellesley.com.

Join Wellesley students and residents and people around the world who are participating in a Global Climate Action Day this Friday, September 25th. Meet on the lawn in front of Wellesley's Town Hall wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart and bring signs.
  
"The coming months and years are crucial to ensure a safe pathway below 1.5°C increase in global mean temperature," said students in a press release from Fridays for Future in regards to the target stated in the Paris Agreement. "If we are to minimize the risks of triggering irreversible chain reactions beyond human control, we need to act now. It is therefore vital that the climate crisis doesn’t get forgotten in the shadow of the coronavirus but is regarded as the utmost priority," the press release said. 

Message Wellesley's Fridays for Future folks on FaceBook for more information.

This week is the annual Climate Preparedness Week: dedicated to learning, service, and actions that better prepare our communities for extreme weather events. There are many great events which you can browse and register for below.

One we would  like to draw special attention to is on Wednesday, Sept 23 at 10 AM on Facebook Live called “The Climate Reality & How to Talk to Your Kids About it,” featuring virtual presentations by Keith Bergman and Harriet Shugarman. Both speakers are strong and influential leaders in the climate movement. They are long term mentors in The Climate Reality Project, founded by former Vice President Al Gore.
Keith Bergman lives in Concord and is the retired Town Manager for the Town of Littleton. He will talk about the climate crisis and its solutions. Author Harriet Shugarman will speak about how to talk with your children about climate change. She is the Executive Director of “Climate Mama,” the Chair of Climate Reality’s New York City Metro Chapter, and the recipient of Climate Reality’s 2017 Green Ring Award.
 Join on Facebook Live on September 23 at 10 AM.

Palaces for the People: A Community Discussion with Eric Klinenberg 

• A virtual discussion with acclaimed writer Eric Klinenberg with CREW Founder Craig Altemose and librarian Clayton Cheever on the role of social infrastructure in building climate resilience.  Eric Klinenberg is an internationally renowned scholar known for his novel Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago and his more recent book Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life.
• September 23th at 7pm - Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PjqyASu7Tre02T3l6zSEEA
  
  

Resilient Agriculture: Climate Impacts on Our Foods Systems and How We Can Respond: Lessons from the frontlines in Zimbabwe

• A panel discussion led by Enet Mukurazita and hosted by Rachel Sperling, Librarian for Environmental Studies at Yale University's Marx Science and Social Science Library, with women farmers in Zimbabwe on their experiences dealing with climate impacts
• September 24th at 1pm - Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JN23Rk8sRHaLpjCWydb7Mg
  
  

Neighborhood by Neighborhood: Mapping Our Resilience 

• Which neighborhoods of Boston are most vulnerable to climate change? How do we leverage social infrastructure in these neighborhoods to enhance their resilience? Join to hear an overview of a mapping project between the Conservation Law Foundation, the city of Boston, and CREW to explore the community assets that exist within the city of Boston and how they can be leveraged to create a more climate-resilient future, with a particular focus on how we can serve communities of color and other marginalized neighborhoods.
• September 25th at 10am - Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fPfn2qrUSKa3aN2ehUz1EA
  
  

The Economics of Climate Change with Madhavi Venkatesan, PhD

• Our economic system has fostered individualism over community and competition over collaboration, because simply, these are the channels that promote economic growth as we measure it in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We sell more when everyone has to have their own. But, individualism and competition results in unequal distribution that mimics the inequitable distribution of access to resources in our country. In many cases, inequity is a moral issue because the basis of it is exploitation of the vulnerable in a myriad of forms across historical time. In our discussion we will focus on the relationship between economics and sustainability: social justice, environmental justice and economic equity and also how our focus on economic growth has facilitated the speed of global Climate Change and exacerbated social justice issues along with the other two components of sustainability.
• September 26th at 7pm  Register in advance for this webinar: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYlf-ysqzwuH9KR_7dA234paGe1sR9WIpvV
  
  

 How Repair Events Can Transform Our Throwaway Culture

• A conversation on How Repair Events Can Transform Our Throwaway Culture with Elizabeth Knight and John Wackman, authors of Repair Revolution. This event will look at how repair events in libraries and other spaces are helping bring people together around common goals of sustainability, stewardship, community resilience, as well as social and climate justice. This conversation will be led by Blue Marble Librarian, Gabrielle Griffis. 
• September 29 at 6:30pm - Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UHRz2-VHTn27KnTNyy_G_Q
  
  

The Linked Fight for Racial Justice and Climate Justice 

• Join us for a conversation with CREW Program Manager Reverend Vernon K. Walker as he speaks to Reverends Karlene Griffiths Sekou and Hajar Logan of Alternatives for Community and Environment about how there is no climate justice without racial justice and how the fight for equality has to be led by those who have been most impacted. 
• September 30 at 6:30pm - Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NeSN-Ym7Rv-KzNDWePu4OQ
  
  

   

These days our health, and the health of our loved ones, is at the top of our minds. But continued reliance on natural gas comes with risks that cannot be fixed by hand-washing and standing six feet apart from one another. Examine what we do and don’t know about the natural gas supply chain with Jonathan Buonocore from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, including consequences on our health and the health of our environment. Thank you to HEET for organizing this important discussion.
Tuesday, Sept. 29th, 7:30-8:30 pm
Sign up here.

The 2020 NATIONAL SOLAR TOUR is about to begin.
Get information straight from solar owners and supporters. Connect, ask questions, and participate in a nationwide virtual solar experience.

Monday, September 28th: Electric Vehicles
Tuesday, September 29th: Solar Homeowner Day
Wednesday, September 30th: Solar Businesses
Thursday, October 1st: Solar Schools
Friday, October 2nd: Community Building through Solar
Saturday & Sunday, October 3 &4: Virtual Solar Tours

If you have solar and or an electric car and want to share the excitement and insight, please consider being part of the conversation as well.
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​More details here!
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Check out the programming schedule and Virtual Local Tour locations!

A no-cost virtual home energy assessment can reduce your carbon footprint while helping you save on monthly energy costs.

​Get an assessment  from HomeWorks Energy (a Mass Save® partner). Wellesley residents may qualify for 100% off the cost of an approved home insulation project as well as:

• Air-sealing selected areas of your home
• Rebates of up to $2,750 on qualifying energy-efficient equipment upgrades
• No-cost energy-saving LED light bulbs, shower heads, and power strips (sent to your home) if the assessment identifies those needs in your home
  
  

This Mass Save program has been around, but due to COVID-19 the state is offering the no cost insulation to eligible single family homes. Plus, the virtual assessments are more flexible.  Sustainable Wellesley will also receive a small donation from HomeWorks for every energy assessment generated from this link so please sign up here.

Quieter, Economical & Healthier Ways to Maintain Our Landscapes
Two Free Workshops on Electrifying Lawn Care
Co-Sponsored by the Town of Lexington and Town of Wellesley Department of Public Works
 
The Town of Lexington and Town of Wellesley Department of Public Works are sponsoring two FREE upcoming Zoom workshops on making Massachusetts a leader in transitioning land care to low noise, zero emission equipment and people-powered tools. The workshops, organized by MA-based nonprofit, Quiet Communities, Inc. in collaboration with the American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA), cover the health and environmental impacts of gas equipment, the status of advanced technology, and the many exciting initiatives that are occurring in Massachusetts and around the country to improve health and environmental quality. 
 
Attendees at both events will have the chance to win a state-of-the-art electric landscaping tool. Early registration is encouraged. Space is limited to 200 participants for each of the two workshops: 
 

• It’s Electrifying! A Regional Workshop for Land Care Professionals -- is intended for land care professionals and sustainability leaders at businesses, schools, municipalities, and local agencies and organizations. It will include live demonstrations of state-of-the-art electric equipment and battery charging systems, and present on health and safety benefits, the economics of transitioning, and professional training and certification. The workshop will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, September 30, from 7-9 p.m. Registration can be accessed at here.
• Quiet, Healthy Yards: A Regional Residential Land Care Workshop -- is intended for residents and town officials. It will include live demonstrations of electric landscaping equipment and garden tools, discuss the health, environmental, and economic benefits of moving away from fossil fuels, including reducing carbon footprint while protecting the health of children and pets. The workshop will be held via Zoom on Thursday, October 1st, from 7-8:30 p.m. Registration can be accessed here.

 
“These workshops will offer residents and professionals the opportunity to learn more about impact issues related to fossil fuel-powered lawn care, and then the chance to consider some of the capable electric equipment, and operational solutions we provide,” said Dan Mabe of AGZA, who will lead the demonstrations. “Electric equipment has come a long way.”
 
“It’s time to really think about the way we want to live on our properties. As people spend more time at home during the pandemic, interest in cleaner, quieter landscaping has increased,” said Jamie Banks, health and environmental scientist and founder of the nonprofit Quiet Communities. 
 
“Lexington is demonstrating that a transition to electric equipment is not just possible but can also be economically sound,” said Dave Pinsonneault, Lexington DPW director. “Our strategy is to have the town lead by example in our own community in hopes that the approach will take off in the state and beyond.” Wellesley DPW Director Dave Cohen agrees: “We are excited to be a part of this effort. Different towns have different needs. We hope to show what is possible and share what we learn so other towns can benefit.” 
 
Dr. Regina LaRocque, an infectious disease specialist and  member of the Sustainable Wellesley leadership team, agrees that the time to transition is now. “Climate change is real. The health effects are real. We need to find solutions big and small that are going to be healthier for our families, communities and the planet. A shift to electric-powered landscaping equipment is a solid start made more urgent by the pandemic. When towns take steps like this, we can only hope that addressing pollution from transportation and other infrastructure choices will follow.”
 
These workshops are part of a holistic town-wide effort in Lexington to shift to quieter more environmentally friendly landscaping practices. Last month in Wellesley, the independent not-for-profit Sustainable Wellesley, and the Town of Wellesley’s Natural Resources Commission and Sustainable Energy Committee, offered a panel discussion focused on concerns about use of gas-powered leaf blowers for routine landscaping. 
 
Key concerns sparking the discussion: noise pollution that can lead to hearing loss; carbon emissions; dangerous exhaust and ground-sourced particulates from animal feces, bacteria, fungi, pollen and chemical lawn treatments; and damage to soil health and beneficial eco-systems.

REGISTER TODAY

 

Wellesley residents the Municipal Light Plant (MLP) wants to hear from you!
Please complete this 2-minute survey for a chance win a $50 gift card!

The MLP is looking towards the future and new technology and services. As technology changes, so do its customer needs, thus they would appreciate your input. Answering a few questions regarding your future plans to purchase a new or used vehicle will help to plan for the future. 

Thank you for completing this survey.