Sen. Mike Barrett DISCUSSES current status of MA climate legislation

Learn about current climate legislation from Sen. Mike Barrett and explore initiatives that are successful in engaging people in action during a Zoom event hosted by Sustainable Middlesex on Saturday March 26th 9.30am-11.30.  Register here. 

Be inspired and learn about local initiatives that successfully "reach beyond the choir" during break out sessions:

• Big Tent Community Environmental Events, Green Newton Learn about Green Newton's successful Earth Day Festival and Lexington comprehensive Sustainability Fair. These events are successful at engaging hundreds of community members including families, residents, and businesses.
• Eco Week: Week-long Community Engagement Arlington EcoWeek is a time of learning, reflection, and action. Community and student groups and Town Departments offer presentations, tours, and interactive events to inspire connection to and celebration of our natural world. Organized by Town and School staff and volunteer groups, this annual event started in 2019. Stretching events over the course of 10 days and providing outdoor gatherings helps highlight existing Town programs and priorities, spurring community engagement and appealing to a variety of resident interests.
• Community Drive Electric Event, Belmont Energy Committee Learn about strategies used to reach out to neighbors to encourage them to consider electric vehicles. At our events, residents could drive electric cars, speak with neighbors who already owned an electric car, hear about pricing directly from car dealers, and learn about incentives from our municipal utility, Belmont Light.
• Cool Rules for a Cool Planet: Passing Clean Heat , Lexington Climate Action Network Learn about how to mount a successful campaign for a Town Meeting article that led to a 175-4 positive vote through community engagement and one-on-one outreach to Town Meeting.
• Tools and Networking for Community Leaders to Boost Sustainable Action, MassEnergize MassEnergize is a nonprofit organization that works with community leaders to boost climate actions, providing them with tools to amplify their impact and track progress and access to a network of peers to learn and collaborate. Their community web platform is now used by over 20 Massachusetts communities to help residents take actions. MassEnergize strives to support a just transition to a clean, green and regenerative economy by ensuring that their tools and resources are accessible and affordable to all communities.
• Engaging School Students and Parents in Sustainability through Curriculum and Community Events, Cooler Communities, Concord Schools are a fertile ground of learners! Hear about effective and successful methods to reach school populations through climate change curriculum development (Cooler Communities) and Zero Waste initiatives (LPSGreen Teams).
• Engaging Neighbors, Cool Winchester and Cool Petaluma Alan Field and Natasha Juliana will describe two similar programs. In these programs, members of 5-8 households meet multiple times in order to take climate related actions and improve their resiliency to climate change. There will be time for some questions.
• Coaching for Residential Decarbonization, Heat Smart Alliance and Abode Energy Transitioning homes to heat pumps is a major part of reducing emissions to reach our climate goals, presenting many challenges to homeowners.

All are welcome to this free event.