Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN), of which Green Medford is a member group, is running a fun contest for October 10.
Some of you may remember the 350.org Day of Action last fall, where people around the world got together to form the number 350 and took photos of themselves calling for reducing carbon dioxide levels to 350 parts per million.
This year, 350.org is planning a “Global Work Party” on October 10 (10-10-10) to encourage climate action in communities and to influence local and national leaders to act on climate change. Groups around the world have come up with fun, easy, and creative ideas.
Several MCAN chapters are planning events already, including Winchester, Needham, Lexington, Weston, Acton, Maynard, Brookline, Carlisle, Wellesley, Duxbury, and Quincy. (Winchester is doing all sorts of things: cleanups on foot, bike, and canoe/kayak, clearing invasive species, asking everyone to go without fuel/electricity for 3.5 hours, and a climate concert.)
Let's get to work in Medford too! If we get the most people involved and take a photo of us all, we could win $250 for future action, or tickets to the MCAN Conference. (Disclosure: I work for MCAN, so I would not accept anything personally.)
Here are the first two great activities being planned:
- A Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) Barnraising, being planned by some Tufts students. (all the details are at the bottom of this message.)
- A plastic bottle turn-in event, which will involve kids in gathering bottles, a contest to guess how many bottles are in the big clear plastic bag, and figuring out how much carbon is saved by recycling those bottles, and by switching from bottles to tap water.
MCAN wants to encourage MCAN chapters and allies to get involved and is offering these prizes:
· A $250 Wolfe Rita Grant to the chapter that takes a photo of the most people showing up for the work party
· 4 (four) admissions to the MCAN Conference on October 24, for the “most creative” project (a totally subjective and whimsical judgment).
In addition to the offering prizes MCAN will help to publicize our events to regional media and elected officials before and after 10/10. Elected officials are very receptive to constituent activities and the climate issue and photos etc. provide excellent visual evidence and emotional impact that a letter alone just can’t.
Please comment about this event: What do you want to do for 10-10? Can you help organize something? What other people and groups would be interested? Can you tell them about this? There are hundreds of great ideas at
350.org if you want to draft off them.
This will be a fun day and an important statement too--that we are not waiting around for our national officials to fail to act!
Contest rules follow.
MCAN "GET TO WORK ON CLIMATE CHANGE" CONTEST RULES:
1. Plan a work party for 10/10 (or thereabouts) and register details about your event at www.350.org/oct10 . If you’re not getting together in person Print the attached MCAN Sign for each person who attends the work party.
3. Have each person pin the sign to their shirt or hold it up.
4. Take a photo of everyone together, or have everyone sign your attendance document/website.
5. Post your photo to our website or send your photo/attendance list to rob.garrity@massclimateaction.net .
6. Tell us how many people are in the photo or attended the event.
_________________________________________________________
Tufts HEET Party:
Do you like the environment? Do you hate climate change? Do you want to do something about it?
Here’s your chance! On Sunday, October 10th, 2010, Tufts will celebrate practical actions to cut carbon – in conjunction with thousands of other events around the world – with a Global Work Party. Climate change can seem scary and overwhelming, but there are things we can do to combat it; 10/10/10 is a day to celebrate climate solutions!
Imagine: bike repair workshoppers in San Francisco, tree planting teams in Japan, community garden harvesters in New Zealand, and solar panel installers in Kenya. And most importantly, YOU at TUFTS!
For Tufts’ Global Work Party we’re partnering with HEET to weatherize ATO (map), the Swimming/Diving and Sailing “Coternity” on the Medford campus. Tufts student, staff, and faculty volunteers alongside members of the Medford and Somerville communities will be making ATO more energy efficient, cutting carbon, and reducing water use. The event will take place from 12:30 to 5:30pm on Sunday, October 10th.
Where do you fit in?
There are lots of ways to get involved with Tufts’ Global Work Party: we need volunteers, team leaders, and enthusiastic energy efficiency advocates; there are different levels of involvement too – from leading a barnraising team to just showing up and getting trained on the day of the project. If you have experience in construction or weatherization, great (be a team leader)! If not, you'll learn (come on 10/10/10 ready for action)!
Here’s what to expect as a volunteer:
1) You’ll learn something! You’ll get training and experience in weatherization techniques, many of which you can use in your own home.
2) You might get dirty! Weatherization work includes using things like caulk and spray foam, which stain clothing; it also includes changing light bulbs, which, at worst, might get you a bit dusty.
3) You’ll get fed! Dinner will be provided after the weatherization is complete.
4) You’ll be entertained! There will be a presentation during dinner on Green Energy sponsored by the Tufts Energy Forum.
5) You’ll have a great time! Not only will you get to help make ATO more energy efficient, but you’ll be cutting carbon with friends, fellow Jumbos, and Medford and Somerville neighbors.
With your help, 10/10/10 is going to be the biggest day of practical action to cut carbon that the world has ever seen!
E-mail Get.to.work.Tufts@gmail.com for more information
or sign up at
http://www.350.org/barnraising-ato-tufts
or go to our FB event page at
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117204061660586&index=1
See you on 10/10/10!
Sponsored by:
Tufts Institute of the Environment
Tufts Office of Sustainability
Tufts Energy Forum
ECO
HEET
A group of us from Green Medford and Fletcher Green (a Tufts graduate student group) trolled the streets around the Columbus School last night--Halloween evening--handing out bags of treats to delighted and laughing residents at 84 addresses. People who answered their doors expecting to give out candy were instead handed a bag containing two new energy-efficient lights. Event participant “Sherlock Holmes” noted, “It was gratifying to see how surprised and happy this made people.”
