Boston GreenScene

Boston Falling Short on 2020 Goal?

"I'm not sure a story on the problems would be positive." 

These words come straight from the mouth of Jeremy Dick, the man in charge of a program put forth by Boston's Mayor Menino in 2007, which promised to plant 100,000 trees in Boston by 2020. This was an aspiring plan in its nascence. Increasing the verdance of Boston's landscape would underscore the beauty that is already alive in the city's old architecture, naturally amplifying its aesthetic. However, this only the icing on the cake when it comes to the benefits that Bostonians will enjoy if this project proves successful. Planting trees is a fantastic way to increase air quality by reducing the content of carbon dioxide in the air, as well as by providing cooling shade to buildings and side walks, and control the flow of stormwater runoff.

When you lay the plan out in terms of the benefits that abound from something as simple and wholesome as planting a tree, there's no question that Menino's initiative sounds like a smart goal for the city. But, is it SMART? 

That is, is this tree planting program Spefic? Is it Measurable? Attainable? Is it Realistic and can it be completed in the amount of Time that is allowed for it? In the planning stages, the goal seems to satisfy those general requirements. Menino's plan called for 100,000 trees (Measurable) to be planted in the Boston metropolitan area (Specific) by 2020. He allowed some thirteen years for the plan to come to fruition and set a person in charge of the project. This could reasonably be expected to satisfy the final three requirements that the goal be realistic, achievable, and timely.

2nd Annual Hyper-Local Craft Brew Fest June 14th

Friday and Saturday, June 14th and 15th

:00 PM-9:00 PM

$35.00 to Register

21 and Up

The Armory

Somerville, MA

This is an exciting opportunity to celebrate beverage producers who pull together local ingredients to make ciders, mead, artisan beverages, and brews. This event is a huge fundraiser for the Sustainable Business Network and all of New England is encouraged to join in the fun. In addition to unlimited 2 ounce tastes tests of the locally brewed and cultivated beverages, people are welcome to taste tests of locally produced food from local companies such as Taza Chocolates and Valicenti Organico. Local ingredients from cranberries to hops will be presented by experts in the beverage industry. Moreover, for the first time ever, there will be a presentation of a hyper-local home brew showcase that will celebrate home brewing and brewing with locally grown ingredients, an experience that will encourage local brewers in the New England region by showing them the resources that are available to them. This event runs in three different sessions that can be mixed and matched at will during registration. Any over the age of 21 is encouraged to register for what is sure to be an exciting and enlightening experience. 

An Overview of the Sessions

Session I: Hyper-Local Home Brew Showcase Night & Brewfest

Friday, June 14, 2013, 6:30 - 9:30pm

Session II: Hyper-Local Brewfest

Saturday, June 15, 2013, 3:00 - 6:00pm

Session III: Hyper-Local Brewfest

Saturday, June 15, 2013, 7:00 - 10:00pm

 

To register for the event and learn more information on the different sessions: http://hyperlocalbrew.eventbrite.com/

VERGE Boston, May 13th-14th

VERGE Boston

May 13-14

7:30 AM 14th-6:30 PM 14th

Renaissance Waterfront Boston

Boston, MA

Registration Required

VERGE Boston (May 13-14) will connect business innovators, entrepreneurs, and leading public officials to illuminate the business opportunities created by radical efficiencies in energy, building, and transportation technologies.  Connect with other thought leaders and practitioners working across the diverse VERGE program tracks, including executives in energy, building management, sustainability, fleets, logistics, government, corporate financing and more.  It’s a great opportunity to get out of your silo and see what happens when people, technologies, and ideas converge. Learn more and register here.

Early Bird Price (Before April 19th): $1195.00

General Registration: $1495.00

For a Full Program of the Event: http://www.greenbiz.com/events/verge/2013/05/boston/program

To Register: http://www.greenbiz.com/events/verge/2013/05/boston/registration

6th Annual Global Environmental Sustainability Symposium: Transportation, Human Mobility, and Sustainability at CCSU

April 4th, 2013

 9:45 AM-7:15 PM 

FREE, Registration Required

Central Connecticut State University

New Britain, Connecticut

The CCSU Global Environmental Sustainability Action Coalition invites the public to learn and to teach one another about the actions that we, as human beings, must take to ensure that we live in such a way that we are able to satisfy our needs while ensuring that our children and grandchildren will be able to satisfy their own. The symposium will offer 3 classes, 2 performances, a panel discussion, a tour, and an optional attendance at the town meeting, as well as opening and closing notes from distinguished professionals in sustainability. This event is FREE: anyone can register online to show up. *Exhibitor tables are still open

Schedule

9:45-10:00 AM: Symposium opening and welcome with Dr. Charles Button and Dr. Jack Miller (tentative) at Alumni Hall

10:00-10:45: Transportation, Migration, and Sustainability in Four Worlds Alumni Hall

Dr. John Kelmelis expands upon a possibility raised by the United States National Intelligence Council when they published Global Trends 2030: Alternative World. This work explores four very possible future worlds. Dr. Kelmelis will explain what each of these worlds might mean for our future as well as what strategies we might use to make the most of each circumstance at the local, regional, national, and global levels. 

11:00-11:45: Panel Discussion: Electric Cars and Alternative Vehicles Alumni Hall

The president of the New England Electric Auto Association ( Dave Oliveria), an environmental writer and speaker (Jim Motavalli), the Senior Associates Autos Editor for Consumer Reports (Eric Evarts), and a natural gas car owner (Joe Booth) all come together in one place to talk about the real value that hybrid, extended hybrid, and electric vehicles hold. This is a special opportunity to discover what users and reviewers genuinely think about these alternative vehicles.

12:00-1:45 (*with second free registration): Water Wars Performance and Lunch Alumni Hall

While you enjoy your lunch, the Sonia Plumb Dance Company will be performing Water Wars. This is an emotionally charged piece of art that exposes the very important and very tenuous relationship that human beings have with one of our primary sources of life: water.

Event: Greening Government Center

 

What will Boston's Government Center look like in the next ten, twenty, or even fifty years?  The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) is partnering with private firms and local experts to ensure that Government Center and City Hall Plaza is green and accessible to all.  In December 2010, a three-day charrette was held on the re-design and now the BRA and several key stakeholders want to share these plans with the local community at a public event on Monday, February 7th.

Tim Love of Utile Inc. will be presenting the key recommendations and ideas from the charrette, and Tim Love and Gary Hilderbrand of Reed Hilderbrand will discuss their thoughts on the next steps for the green redesign of Government Center. Alex Krieger of Chan Krieger NBBJ and Ted Landsmark of the Boston Architectural College will be sitting on a panel to provide feedback on the design and recommendations. As in the last symposium, the event will provide a chance for the public to ask questions of the presenters and panel, as well as share their thoughts on the Greening of Government Center.  Should be a great event and we hope to see you there!

 

Who: You, open to the public

When: Monday, February 7th, 4:00-6:00 PM

Where: Modern Theatre, 523-525 Washington Street in Downtown Crossing, Boston

Contact: Boston Redevelopment Authority

Cost: Free 

 

Milking the corporate cow

By Ryan Parker

Ryan Parker is a former staff member of the United States House of Representatives. Currently, he runs a diversified, beyond organic, small family farm.

 A recent BDN article by Dr. Stephen Sears probably left readers wondering why it was relevant and what they should do about the deadly toxin raw milk. It might surprise the majority of Mainers that the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control have been spending lots of our tax dollars raiding small farms, sending FBI agents into stores with guns drawn, misleading consumers, shutting down family cheese artisans and issuing cease and desist orders to family farms (in Maine) that sell milk to their neighbors.

After Dr. Sears’ (Maine’s state epidemiologist) article, you’re probably breathing easy knowing these agencies are fighting such terrible threats as raw milk. Indeed, as the doctor wrote, according to the CDC, raw milk has been responsible for two deaths in the United States since 1998.

Obviously, Dr. Sears simply stated numbers from agency press releases and e-mails rather than actually looking at the Foodborne Outbreak Online Database. There, he would have found that, indeed, in the decade between 1998 and 2008, in a country now home to a population of more than 300 million, raw milk caused two deaths. What he neglected to mention regarding “public health” was that in 2007, in Massachusetts alone, there were three deaths from pasteurized milk.

How could Dr. Sears miss this information when he is so concerned about public health? Presumably, the same way he could quote an oft-stated CDC figure of 1,614 reported illnesses from raw milk. Why the CDC uses this figure is unbeknownst to the population, since its own data reveals 1,254 reported illnesses for the decade in question.

So what is going on here?

This is part of a nationwide campaign to take away your right to eat and feed your children healthy, real food. Sound like a conspiracy theory? Don’t take my word for it. Take the FDA’s. The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund recently sued the FDA because its ban on interstate sales of raw milk is unconstitutional. In the motion to dismiss, the FDA stated the following: “There is no right to consume or feed children any particular food. There is no generalized right to bodily and physical health.”

Scared? It gets worse.

10/10/10

 

Frustrated about climate change legislation not getting off the ground in D.C.? Concerned about oil spills and the rising ocean levels?  Want to work with others in your community to increase awareness about environmental issues? Well, 350.org is inviting you to a party.  

On October 10th, the folks at 350.org are hosting what they are calling a Global Work Party, and they want you to come.  Or better yet, to throw your own party.  According to 350.org founder, Bill McKibben:  

"On 10/10/10 we'll show that we the people can do this--but we need bold energy policies from our political leaders to do it on a scale that truly matters.  The goal of the day is not to solve the climate crisis one project at a time, but to send a pointed political message: if we can get to work, you can get to work too--on the legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run.

It’s been a tough year—but it can be a beautiful day on the 10th Of October if we work together, and party together. And if we do it right, then we’ll take a big step towards the kind of political solutions we desperately need."

 

To sign up to host an event or to find one in your area, check out the 350.org Action Website. 

Let us know if you are planning on hosting an event in the Greater Boston Area and we will make sure the word gets out!

Boston Local Food Festival

 

Dear local food advocates, your dream festival has arrived. 

The first annual Boston Local Food Festival is being held on the waterfront at Fort Port Channel on Saturday, October 2nd.  Billed as an event of "Healthy Local Food for All", the free festival features dozens of local restaurants, farms, breweries, wineries, and non-profits dedicated to a sustainable, healthy, and delicious Boston.  Brought to you with support from the Massachsuetts Department of Agriculture, the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston, and several other local organizations -- including the folks that successfully campiagned for the Boston Public Market at Fort Point Channel -- this inaugural event will undoubtedly be the first of many festivals to come. 

The event runs from 11am to 5pm and our only complaint may be that this may not be enough time to take it all in.  For more details: www.bostonlocalfoodfestival.com.  

Event: Second Annual Urban Ag Fair

The Second Annual Urban Ag Fair is coming up in Harvard Square this weekend.  It should be a great day to celebrate fresh, local food in Cambridge -- we'll see you on the 19th!

Who: You

When: September 19th, 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Where: Winthrop Park, Harvard Square, Cambridge

Contact: www.harvardsquare.com

Cost: Free

EVENT: HEET WEATHERIZATION BARNRAISING: 9/11

Looking to take part in the 9/11 Day of Service?  Here's a perfect way to volunteer in a green way:

Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) is a grassroots nonprofit that organizes free weatherization parties to teach volunteers hands-on how to lower their energy bills and carbon emissions.  HEET consults with energy experts to pass on accurate information and aims to build community, create social marketing for energy efficiency and help facilitate exchanges of ideas.  Volunteer work includes weatherizing doors, sealing windows, caulking air leaks, and programing thermostats.  You can pitch in to help a neighbor, learn skills to help you save money at home, fight climate change, and meet other concerned Bay Staters!   No previous work experience required.

Who: Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) 

When: Saturday, September 11, 2010, from 12:30-5:00pm

Where: Tot-Lot DayCare and Home - 65 Chestnut Street, Cambridgeport, MA 02139

Contact: heet.cambridge@gmail.com, heetma.com

Cost: Free