Government
Tomorrow Saturday October 24th is International Climate Action Day!
The D2E blog is BACK!
Down:2:Earth is coming off a month of diverse environmental events throughout Boston, but we’re looking forward to one this weekend that takes the cake!
As many people already know, this Saturday October 24th is International Day of Climate Action, organized by the 350 Organization. Founded by Bill McKibben, who kicked off Down:2:Earth in 2008, 350 is dedicated to encouraging social and political change to secure the future of our environment. The number 350 stands for 350 parts per million (PPM), or the scientist-suggested safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
In December 2009, a meeting of world leaders in Copenhagen will discuss creating a new treaty concerning emission cuts. However, the currently crafted treaty does not require that emissions be lowered to the recommended level of 350PPM. In order to ensure that our voices are heard and that our leaders are held accountable, 350 has organized this grassroots campaign.
So what exactly IS the International Day of Climate Action? The event is made up of thousands of “actions” in thousands of locations around the globe. Actions are whatever you chose them to be from demonstrations to tree planting. 350’s goal is to raise awareness by having this actions take place simultaneously in iconic locations internationally, like the Taj Mahal and Times Square.
This picture was sent to 350.org recently from Korengal Otpost in the Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Eastern Afghanistan:
Here are a few of the actions taking place in the Boston area tomorrow!
350 on Marsh Plaza, Boston University
Students are invited to take part in forming the number “350” for a photograph.
BYOMug and Drink Coffee!, Boston Common Coffee Co.
Bring in your own mug from 7-9AM and receive half-price coffee!
Mission Hill Energy Fair and Climate Justice Rally
Featuring music, food, vendor and organizational displays, workshops on how to save money by conserving energy, and speakers calling for government and corporate action on energy efficiency and global warming.
Boston “Under Water” 350 Festival
3:00 – 5:30 pm, Saturday, October 24, 2009. Photo at 3:50 pm
Taking place at Christopher Columbus Park by the Aquarium T stop and waterfront, the festival will feature:
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A race to build a wall of sandbags to protect Boston from rising sea leveland stronger storms!
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A massive group photo in front of the sandbag wall!
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Beach and water games!
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Participatory Climate Theater!
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Relay racing!
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Flooding Station: learn about what sea level rise and higher storm surges will mean for Boston.
- Plus blue face-painting, bike-flag making, and more!
For those of you Twittering about the event, the suggested hashtag for this event is #350ppm!
For more information about these and other actions taking place globally visit www.350.org. Find an action in your area and get out there!
Boston is on a carbon diet
We just heard that Boston will receive $6.5 million in federal stimulus funds to help get “Renew Boston” off the ground. This is an effort to reduce the city’s carbon footprint, while creating jobs at the same time. See report from the Herald this morning.
Former Vice President Al Gore will team up with Mayor Thomas M. Menino today to announce that the city is receiving $6.5 million in federal stimulus funds to help kick-start “Renew Boston,” a program aimed at reducing the Hub’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The money will help create a program that will reduce energy consumption by weatherizing homes and retrofitting city-owned buildings. The money also will be used to spur the development of “shovel ready” municipal solar-electric, solar-thermal and wind-energy projects, according to the city.
Boston seems to be a very active town with engaged citizens and city workers. While organizing Pitch the City this year we were able to get an inside view and it was inspirational. Not only was the City of Boston open to the idea of gathering ideas from the public, they encouraged us to conduct the contest and help them make it happen. On top of that, we received over 100 ideas from citizens! We are looking forward to hearing the four finalists on Sunday at D2E and hope you can join us.
Don’t forget to come by the Hynes this weekend. We have a lot of great events going on. Check out our EVENTS page for details.
Pitch the City finalists announced!
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the City of Boston, in partnership with Down:2:Earth (D2E), have announced the Four Finalists in Pitch the City, an open contest seeking the public’s input on making Boston a greener city. The Four Finalists will give a 10-minute live pitch to a jury and Mayor Menino will be there to congratulate the winner.
When & Where: Down:2:Earth on April 5, 2009 at 2pm at the Hynes Convention Center. Main stage.
The four finalists and their ideas are:
Alexander Lee, Concord, NH: Get more people to hang out (their laundry). Lee, founder and executive director of Project Laundry List, proposes to make air-drying laundry acceptable and desirable as a simple and effective way to save energy. If everyone washed their clothes in cold water and hung them out to dry – you could save up to 15% of your monthly electricity bill. So, how can we get more people to hang out?
Jess Lerner, Brookline, MA: Get a Little Greener! Boston’s public awareness and action campaign Jess Lerner runs Green on the Inside, a green living consulting business in Brookline. What’s her idea for the city to get greener? Make thinking and acting green easy! Her awareness campaign is directed at the public and aims to make it simple for everyone to “Green a little. Change a lot.” She even has plans to get the Red Sox wearing green socks and asking, “What will YOU do today?” to make Boston a greener city.
John McCavanagh, Boston, MA: Reduce city waste by using reusable water bottles instead of single serving bottled water. McCavanagh’s plan is to purchase reusable Nalgene water bottles through the company’s “Refill Not Landfill Community Sustainability Program,” distribute them throughout the city, and educate residents on the importance of using them instead of disposable plastic bottles. Is this the simple change we need to make a big difference?
Alexandra Reilinger and Mikayla Colson Leaning, Jamaica Plain, MA: Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Mural Project. Best friends and next-door neighbors, Alie (11) and Mimi (12) want to paint murals that will motivate people to practice the three R’s – reduce, reuse, and recycle – at T-stops, on Boston Public Schoolyard walls and on electrical boxes around Boston, with recycling bins placed nearby. They already have the support of Boston’s Youth Mural Crew. Can the power of public art change the way we act?
Back your favorite ideas for “PITCH THE CITY ONLINE” at changents.com.
D2E and the City of Boston invites the public to actively participate in “Pitch the City Online” through our partner changents.com, the storytelling and social networking platform that connects charismatic pioneers of social and environmental change – Change Agents – with a global network of “Backers” who want to help them in all kinds of ways. To engage with and throw your support behind Pitch the City participants visit www.changents.com/d2e.
Does government policy matter?
Alternative energy is alive in Massachusetts
We have been talking about Policy a lot these days at D2E. One of the many things we have learned in this exploration is how important our government policy is in moving us closer to a more sustainable world. The US is far behind Europe in this regard. So It is great to see the Patrick administration taking action. It looks like the economic climate might slow us down a bit, but with the right leadership, we can make great strides.
We spoke with NEEP, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership, yesterday. They have agreed to moderate a panel at D2E on policy. So now we are looking for some city, state and federal policy makers to sit on the panel and speak to the audience at D2E. What are they up to? What progress has been made? What plans are set for the future? How can citizens get involved? These are the questions that keep us up at night.
Check out today’s Globe to see a story about what’s going on here in Massachusettes.“Will the economy take the wind out of Patrick’s plan?” by Erin Ailworth.
“It’s pretty clear that we can meet every one of those goals if we have the will,” Rogers said. [John Rogers, a senior energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists] “And it’s pretty clear from what the science is telling us that we have to meet so many of these goals to get on the path that we need to be.”
Are you interested in what the governement is up to? What type of policy discussion would you like to see at D2E in April?
Save money if you can!
I just found some information on how to save tax money in 2009. These types of incentives are great – but I was bummed to realize that both Betty and I have made some home improvements in 2008 that will not qualify. Dang-it! Ted did a big insulation and roofing job this year, and Betty installed new windows. But since the work was done in 2008 we don’t qualify for the savings. When every dollar counts, this one hits hard.
I pulled this information from a blog called The Daily Green. Ted and I need to sit down and plan for 2009 so that we can maximize our efforts. We have many plans for solar, wind and green roofing. But all of these efforts require time and money. (Ted is in construction, so we usually handle our own home improvements.)
The information below is bitter sweet. Glad to see there are incentives, but really bummed that I can’t take advantage of them because I acted too soon.
- $500 for energy efficiency
If you can, wait until Jan. 1 to install new insulation, energy-efficient windows or an energy-efficient furnace, boiler or air conditioner.A tax credit of up to $500 that expired in 2007 has been renewed for 2009. It covers up to 10% of the cost of a range of projects that meet certain specifications. Do $5,000 worth of qualifying work, and you not only get a $500 rebate, but also savings on energy bills for years to come.
Why wait? Of course, the heating season begins before Jan. 1, giving homeowners facing a northern winter reason to invest now — but because Congress had let the tax credit lapse, work done in 2008 doesn’t qualify.
- Windows: $200
- Exterior doors, roofing or insulation: $500
- Most heating, ventilation and air-conditioning improvements: $300
- Furnaces or hot water heaters: $150
Also note these important limits, which cap the amount you can claim for any particular project:
Policies for our future
Sometimes we have to be told what to do. As stated in earlier posts, we are learning how important policy is to our future. And though responsible businesses are taking the lead, we need policy to make everyone play nice in the sandbox.
Since it is difficult for the normal person, busy trying to make a living, to keep up with what is going on in our local governments, D2E is working to organize a panel discussion on policy. We want to create a forum for citizens to listen to and speak with their policy makers. The goal is to shed light on how our government can help us move faster towards a more sustainable world. Town, city, state, national and international policy makers have to step up to the plate and help us move forward. What have we done? What are we in the process of doing? And what should we do? Unfortunately the US is behind the game compared with other developed countries, but I have faith that we can catch up.
In today’s Globe I read an article by Erin Ailworth:
Under an ordinance set to be considered by Boston city councilors today, commercial waste haulers could lose their licenses if they don’t offer recycling services to customers. …. “If there’s an area that we can improve in, it would be recycling,” said City Councilor Michael P. Ross, who drafted the proposal.
Go Michael! I love hearing that elected officials are taking their responsibilities seriously. This is great news. Our cities have to make these rules, otherwise it might never happen.
Citizen Democracy; taking action
MY NEIGHBORHOOD – before taking action
(The trash bag is what I used to collect all of the trash)
The more I learn, the less I know. This is part of the curse of working on Down:2:Earth. I keep learning about more issues that inspire me to change. And change is something we humans don’t do so easily. As I have said on earlier posts, I have found that I am better off focusing on one change at a time. If I try to take on too many at once, I get overwhelmed.
So now I am finally reading Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe, who was one of our keynote speakers from D2E 2008. One of the topics she brings up is Citizen Democracy. At first, this sounded like a weight on my shoulders. I thought that she was going to convince me I have to get involved with a political campaign. But as I read on, I was relieved to learn that though she is talking about action, she encourages us all to find our own form of action. I have never been good at following directions, so when someone inspires me to find my own direction I am much more responsive.
I love that she outright said “stop complaining”. This inspired me to get up early and walk my neighborhood with a trash bag. For the past few weeks I had been complaining about the litter that was left behind from one of our local church festivals. After one morning of work the litter is gone, and I don’t get upset when I take Lucy for her walks. Of course, I am also thinking that though this was a great initial venture into Citizen Democracy, there is more in store for me.
LUCY JOINS ME AS WE FINISH UP OUR CLEANING MISSION
To LEED or not to LEED
We at D2E have been fans of the Forbes Loft project for a while now, so it was great to see this article in the Globe today by Erin Ailworth. Besides outlining all of the innovative features that will help Forbes be a great example of sustainable living, the article also bring up an interesting point about the LEED certification. Though this certification was created to avoid greenwashing and to help consumers identify a real green building from one that just markets itself to be one, Forbes is not going to seek LEED certification. They have decided that they would rather put that money and time into the building and let it speak for itself. Like any new venture in life, there are kinks to be worked out and it seems that LEED has some growing up to do.
“This is, in part, why LEED even exists today,” Hicks said. “If you look back in the early ’90s, there were all these buildings being built that were saying they were green and all they had were photovoltaics on the roof. And that’s not a green building. Green buildings are more comprehensive than that.” – Tom Hicks quoted in the Globe article
On the other hand…
Galinsky said the Forbes Park team is “not anti-LEED,” but he doesn’t believe the project needs the certification. The LEED process can be “slow, confusing, and frustrating,” he said, adding costs to a project’s bottom line. Galinsky said he would rather use that money on conservation and renewable-energy efforts.
Take a look at this article on Grist.org by Auden Schendler.
We’re concerned that LEED has become costly, slow, brutal, confusing, and unwieldy, a death march for applicants administered by a soviet-style bureaucracy that makes green building more difficult than it needs to be, yet has everyone genuflecting at the door to prove their credentials. The result: mediocre “green” buildings where certification, not environmental responsibility, is the primary goal; a few super-high-level eco-structures built by ultra-motivated (and wealthy) owners that stand like the Taj Mahal as beacons of impossibility; an explosion of LEED-accredited architects and engineers chasing lots of money but designing few buildings; and a discouraged cadre of professionals who want to build green, but can’t afford to certify their buildings. A growing number of LEED veterans have, or soon will, throw in the towel. LEED is broken. This article explores what went wrong, and begins a discussion of how to fix it.
We are not architects here at D2E. We are critical consumers trying to navigate this gray zone – looking for ways that we can live a more sustainable life. So the complications with LEED certification just make it harder for us. We’d like to think that if a building is deserving of a LEED stamp of approval, it would be easy to aquire. It is unfortunate that this is not the case and this is more reason for us to host D2E. We research each exhibitor and they have to pass our criteria before we allow them to participate. We do the homework for other critical consumers that are busy with their families and jobs, as they should be.
Boston Bikes & Builds Green
What a beautiful August morning in Boston! I met up with the Bike Friday convoy and biked with the crowd all the way to City Hall Plaza. The weather was perfect, I met lots of other bike enthusiasts and I enjoyed a free bagel, banana and coffee. My convoy started in Lexington and picked up people along the way. We were the largest convoy so we each won a T-shirt. What more could a girl ask for? Well, a photo with the Mayor of course.
Lorelei from D2E with Mayor Menino. I love this guy. Besides all the great work he is doing with Boston Bikes, he is working to make the urban affordable housing green as well. This guy is the real deal.
Erin Ailworth reports in today’s Globe:
“The mayor is the leading mayor in the country in the creation of affordable housing,” O’Connell said. “And now he has become the leading mayor in the country in the greening of affordable housing.”
A big congrats to Nicole Freedman who is heading up Boston Bikes. She organized the event and we had a great turnout this morning. I’m still all pumped up on adrenalin and ready to conquer the work day.
There’s good big business, and then not-so-good
Timberland
Yesterday I attended an Ad Club event that highlighted Timberland’s 2007 Earth Keeper campaign. This was a great example of a big company making a big difference. I had seen their billboards and posters all over town last year, but I did not know about what they did on the back end. Below is a short list to give you an idea of how a media company (Mullen – Media Hub) and a big retail company can put their heads together and come up with some great sustainable marketing ideas.
- All billboards were re-purposed and made into reusable tote bags, sold at Timberland stores. (They raffled two off, but I wasn’t so lucky.)
- The energy used to run their TV ads was offset, meaning that the money was invested into renewable energy.
- The Earth Keeper shoe was made with recycled materials (old tires and plastic bottles).
- Recycled materials and soy based inks were used in the packaging. (They put these requirements in their RFP’s when looking for vendors.)
It was refreshing to hear a big business talk about the environmental impact and the social impact that their company makes. Timberland was completely honest and upfront with the audience, making no claims to be perfect. They are doing their best to treat the world, the way they would want to be treated.
Dunkin Donuts
On the not-so-warm-and-fuzzy note – our office is in the same building as a Dunkin Donuts store. The store is currently being remodeled, so there is a lot of construction going on outside. Yesterday as I was walking to work, I saw that the crew was disassembling the signs. So I asked if they would be recycling them or just throwing them out. The answer was that they would be trashed. So, since I am a quirky graphic designer and I collect old signs, I offered to take them. I wanted to put the big “715″ sign on our office wall, since we are located at 715 Boylston Street and I love this sort of re-purposed/found art. How cool would that be? To have a big 715 sign on our wall? Pretty cool. And I figured I could take the old Dunkin Donuts sign and add it to my personal collection. I assured them that I would not have these signs in public, that they were for our office and my private collection. (I’m not yet able to begin an art collection, so I focus on old signs.)
Alas, I heard through the construction super that they feared there would be a liability issue. Does this seem like a knee jerk fear reaction from corporate America? The owner did not even call me to have a conversation. I think that is what bothered me the most. I had given my card to the construction crew supervisor and he passed it on to the owner with my request. I did not even get a courtesy call to say “Thanks for taking an interest in our brand, but…” And to boot – we have given them a key to our office so that they can access our utility closet during construction. We went out of our way to help them.
I should note that the construction crew and the store manager have been exceptionally nice throughout this whole process. I have not met or spoken with the owner, so I can’t speak for him/her.
As a designer, I can understand if this is a branding issue. They may fear that I would hang the sign on a public street or in an adult book store. But if the owner had called me it would have accomplished much more for the brand. I would have felt like a person, not just a number that adds to their bottom line. And there would have been a slight chance that we could have found a better home than the land fill for these signs. Perhaps this franchise owner could have put me in touch with corporate to see if there was a better solution.
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