Greenovate Boston is a community-driven movement to get all Bostonians involved in reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, as outlined in Mayor Menino’s Climate Action Plan.
By laying out the necessary steps to reduce the causes of and to prepare for climate change, the Climate Action Plan gives Greenovate Boston a framework for building a greener, healthier, and more prosperous city.
As Boston follows the route set forth by the Climate Action Plan, progress will largely be determined by the collective actions of the people who live, work and play in Boston. Reaching the Mayor’s 25% reduction goal could be accomplished with progressive policy-making. However, an 80% reduction in carbon emissions requires the transformation of the entire city – both forward-looking policies and the adoption of environmentally-friendly habits and attitudes. Along with the continued development of energy-efficiency and sustainability programs and the leadership of the Green Ribbon Commission, the underlying aim is to motivate individuals and businesses towards sustainable, healthier decisions and to empower them to create their own climate plans.
If every person in the City of Boston committed to five small, new actions – Boston could reach the 2020 climate goal by 2015. These actions don’t require a whole lifestyle change: it’s as simple as switching to cold water when doing the laundry or dishes. Or making a car-free commute every other Friday. Or turning your computer off at night.
Even just one of the actions listed above could reduce your emissions by over 400 pounds a year. Across Boston’s roughly 600,000 people, that’s 240 million pounds less carbon pollution in the air, or the equivalent work done by 20,000 cars taken off the road over the next ten years.
And if it was just a single person taking one action, like unplugging a TV at night, you still would have done the equivalent work of one car driven 600 miles. Now imagine if everyone in Boston slightly changed his or her daily habit to do five of these actions. We can collectively make a difference.
Beyond these simple actions, you can make an even bigger difference a number of different ways. For example, weatherizing your home, i.e. insulating and air sealing the walls, will prevent you from losing money on bills while potentially reducing your emissions by around 3,000 pounds per year, or the equivalent of roughly five smaller actions.
You can also make a difference at work. For example, have you ever noticed that the lights in your building stay on throughout the weekend? You can explore ways to talk to your employer about keeping the lights off when the building is unoccupied. Even just one of the actions listed above could reduce your emissions by over 400 pounds a year.
Best of all, you can make a difference just by talking to others about what you’ve done. Share an existing Greenovate tip or story on Facebook or Twitter, submit your own story, or just tell others about the website.
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