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Earth Day in Franklin(Photograph provided by David Rittenhouse)
The month of May was busy for MassEnergize! Between supporting our member communities with promoting sustainability events, sharing new resources with our Community of Practice, and developing our online toolkits for more effective community engagement, it has been all hands on deck!
As always, please reach out to let us know what else we can be doing to support you or your community on the road to a healthier planet for all!
A panel of five Lexington residents share insights at Earth Day in May
(Image credit: LexCAN)
Energize Lexington, a part of Lexington Climate Action Network (LexCAN), is striving to promote climate solutions, climate justice, and a sustainable future. They recently were granted official non-profit status allowing them to write grants and raise funds to support their work more directly and easily - Congratulations!
LexCAN, and the residents of Lexington, are extremely active when it comes to fighting climate change. "We're always looking for opportunities to get people to listen to a new idea and / or own some responsibility for what they can do individually” says Ricki Pappo, Chair of LexCAN.On May 11, in collaboration with Lexington’s Sustainability and Resilience office and the local library, they hosted an Earth Day in May event. They held a learning session where a panel of five Lexington residents, who had recently participated in sustainable practices, talked and shared resources. Ricki notes that, “When you hear it from an individual who says, 'In my house, this is what we went through,' it’s more fun and you can picture yourself going through the same process.” Mary Yardley, Chair, Communications adds, “There’s a lot of power in one person asking another person about their experience - it spurs them on.”
Residents of all ages in Lexington are passionate about reducing the impact of climate change for our future planet. At a recent town meeting where the installation of solar panels at a local police station was discussed, a fourth-grader spoke up about climate change and how it is impacting her and the future of all young people. Listen to her powerful speech here.
LexCAN has recently been awarded a Mass Save Community Education Grant and as a result has been able to appoint a Clean Heat Outreach Specialist. With this new role, they aim to reach homeowners and families in low-income housing, and influence landlords on how to decarbonize their homes - reaching new residents and engaging them in climate conversations. Follow LexCAN for more details on all their upcoming initiatives and events!
A big CONGRATULATIONS to EcoNatick for being the most engaged community in April! They stole the show with their community site being visited over 1,300 times, adding up to 9% of all visits throughout all the MassEnergize websites.
EcoNatick had an engagement increase of almost 375%! Talk about making some noise!
We want to acknowledge and celebrate EcoNatick's exceptional efforts for Earth Day, despite the deluge of rain! They had over 30 events, which played a significant role in driving this remarkable community engagement. You can see all the Earth Day events they held under 'past events' on their site.
At the May Community of Practice meeting we had an open forum where community members shared experiences from some of their recent event campaigns. Highlights included hearing from Green Newton about their yard sign campaign, from EcoNatick about their Earth Day weekend where the Repair Cafe was a huge success, from Energize Acton who hosted aClean Energy Homes Tour where residents could tour 9 houses, and from Medfield Environment Action who hosted a climate week with over 25 activities!
It was great to hear what has been successful in these recent campaigns and ignite ideas for other communities to try out and implement! We also had the pleasure of introducing our friends from the Climate Culture program of the global sustainability non-profit Rare, whose mission is to "inspire change so people and nature thrive." Watch the recording of our Community of Practice meeting here.
Join us on June 12th for our next Community of Practice meeting where we will share in more detail our new resource center and also showcase data analytics from our community platforms, and best practices on data entry! Register here to join us.
Join MassCEC to celebrate the kickoff of Go Energize 2023, a Greentown Go startup-corporate partnerships accelerator program focused on decarbonizing our energy system, in partnership with Vineyard Wind and Greentown Labs. At this event, attendees will hear lightning pitches from finalists hoping to accelerate environmental and digital solutions for responsible development in offshore wind industry. Learn more about the event here.
Executive Producer and host of NPR’s “Living on Earth" Steve Curwood will converse with Boston Public Library President David Leonard as part of their 2023 Lowell Lecture Series You are Here: Climate Change and What’s Next. Their 60-75 minute conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A from both the in-person and virtual audiences. Learn more about the event here.
Join the members of the Boston Green New Deal Coalition — a broad grassroots coalition of over 50 organizations and numerous individuals representing environmental, advocacy and community-based groups with a shared mission to advance a just transition to a Green New Deal in Boston that centers the needs and rights of frontline and marginalized communities. All are welcome, even if you haven't been to a meeting before. Email boston.gnd.coalition@gmail.com with any questions and for the meeting Zoom link. Click here for more information.
Green Energy Consumers Alliance (GECA) are spotlighting women in the electric vehicle community. This is a chance for people who are underrepresented in the industry to tell you about their experiences and what drove them to make the switch to an EV. Come and hear their stories and join the conversation about all things electric cars. Register here.
(June 14th, 7PM - 8:30PM - Newburyport Community/Senior Center, 331 High Street, Newburyport MA / Online)
Storm Surge Speaker Series Event - Historical agricultural practices dating back to the colonial era have compromised the health of the Great Marsh, leaving it vulnerable to flooding. The goal of the Salt Marsh Restoration project is to restore and strengthen the marsh so that it continues to serve as a natural habitat and barrier against climate change. Russ Hopping, the Lead Coastal Ecologist for the Trustees of Reservations, will share details on innovative nature-based methods used in the Salt Marsh Restoration project to rebuild and heal the marsh. Register for the event here.
MassEnergize needs your expertise!
MassEnergize is growing quickly and in order to scale our operations and support our growth, we need to increase our fundraising. We are looking for some advisors / volunteers who can help us with this effort including grant writing. If you have expertise to share, we'd love to have a conversation with you. Please contact us here.
Interested in living sustainably? Engaging an energy coach may be the right place to start if you want to lower your carbon footprint and implement clean alternatives into your household or lifestyle. Read our blog post here to learn more about how a local energy coach can get you on the right track to decarbonization.
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