Greetings Sustainable Scituate! Our June meeting (the last meeting for the season) is next Wednesday, June 10th at 7pm. And we're going to end the season in a fun way! This meeting will be a "working field trip" of sorts. We will be meeting at the Organic Farm Garden run by Jon Belber that provides the Scituate Food Pantry with fresh organic produce! He needs our help to expand the garden and make it a success. So, we will be discussing how we can help out. The garden is behind the Little Red Schoolhouse on Cudworth Street (which is now home to the Scituate Historical Society). Directions: http://www.scituatehistoricalsociety.org/sites_schoolhouse.html Be prepared to get your hands dirty (or wear gloves :-)! Jon will bring tools and plants and seeds and we can turn some soil, heel in some plants, take a tour of the farm pantry space and talk about care and maintenance for the coming months. Jon will also talk about how he is trying to make it organic and how to support sustainable practices and use local resources. If we have other business to discuss as well, we can easily set out some benches and discuss any additional business at the farm garden, before, during or after the working visit. If it is raining on June 10th (say it ain't so!), we will meet at the Scituate Library at 7pm. But, keep your fingers crossed for good weather, so that we can enjoy our field trip! Again, this is the last meeting of the season. We will start up again on Wednesday, September 16th. Hope to see you on June 10th at 7pm behind the Little Red Schoolhouse! Kathy PS. And a shout out for Sustainable Scituate member Lisa Thomas who will be presenting the recycling bin sponsorship check at next Tuesday's June 9th Selectmen's meeting. If you are so inclined, feel free to stop by the Selectmen's meeting at 7pm to clap as Lisa hands over the check and says a few words. It should be quick (10 mins) and she is first on the 7pm agenda. ************************************************************************ Find a group in your community at www.sustainablesouthshore.org or join us for an event. When we talk about “cutting our energy costs,” we are talking about something absolutely crucial to the survival of life on our planet. Consider this report from NASA: Warming of the oceans is slowing the growth rates of the phytoplankton that absorb more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide every day, thus allowing carbon dioxide to accumulate in the atmosphere more rapidly. Healthy phytoplankton are also the foundation of the ocean food chain. http://www.localharvest.org At home and work, joining together is a key to cutting carbon and energy costs. City of Cambridge Employees Reduce Electricity Usage 10% in Three Months · The Dept. of Public Works complex cut electricity use by 17% · The Cambridge Fire Department lowered its use by 14% · Cambridge City Hall cut its electricity use by 13% Ellen Katz, DPW Fiscal Director, reports that the key to building awareness among employees was empowering “Champions” within each department. “We have a team of 70 Energy Champions who volunteered to be GreenSense ambassadors,’” said Katz. “They held meetings with their co-workers to spread the word about turning off lights and equipment; they hung posters and placed ‘Turn it Off’ stickers throughout their buildings. Now it’s on to Energy Tip 2 - Power Down, which focuses on turning off computers, printers, and peripherals at the end of each day.” This story was highlighted in the Mass Climate Action Network e-newsletter. Join MCAN www.massclimateaction.net to keep up with news beyond the South Shore. Federal stimulus energy funds for Massachusetts Congressman Bill Delahunt announced that Massachusetts will receive over $176,000,000 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including: · $54,911,000 in State Energy Program funding for municipalities, individuals, and businesses. Find out more in webinars at www.mass.gov/doer. For small towns, the stimulus funds will be used to provide competitive grants for renewable energy, create easy monitoring of municipal utility bills, offer training to town building inspectors, and pay for “owner’s agents” to help towns enter into energy saving wisely. · $122,077,457 in Weatherization Assistance Program funding, which will support weatherization of homes for low-income families, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment. Low and Mid-Speed Vehicle law goes into effect Aug. 1 Thanks to the efforts Sen. Bob Hedlund, as of Aug. 1 you will be able to drive street-legal vehicles that go up to 25 mph on up to 30 mph roads in MA. You will also be able to drive vehicles that go up to 40 mph on any MA roads except expressways or posted roads. The Club Car headquarters in Wareham has applied for car dealership certification to sell Club Car electric utility vehicles. More electric car info is at http://www.massclimateaction.net/
Sustainable South Shore:
Living sustainably is crucial to life on Earth
In October 2008, the City of Cambridge launched an aggressive internal program called Cambridge GreenSense to encourage employees to reduce energy use at work by just adopting same basic conservation practices. The results from the first three months are in! From October through December 2008, city employees helped reduce electric usage in 36 municipal buildings by 10% compared with the same period last year! The total amount of electricity saved during these first three months would be enough to power 14 homes or five Cambridge fire stations for a year.
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