AKaufman
I am a volunteer with Cambridge Energy Alliance. I began volunteering with them in January 2011.
Related Posts
Local community groups part of International Day of Climate Action
The Cambridge Energy Alliance donated the efficiency lighting supplies—bulbs initially provided by TCP, Inc.—and resources for the Area 4 exchange. In addition, Whole Foods donated food for the community volunteers and EFI provided discounts for the purchase of efficiency materials used in the community barnraisings.
The communities of Reading, Boston, Waltham, Arlington, and Maynard will continue the spirit of the International Day of Action with weatherization barnraisings scheduled for the next 30 days. The buildings included homes for mentally disabled adults and a church.
In addition, many houses of worship around the world and in Cambridge rang their bells 350 times on Saturday in a call for climate action. “We’re ringing our church bell because climate justice is a religious issue,” explained Rev. Fred Small, Senior Minister of First Parish in Cambridge (Unitarian Universalist). “The eighth commandment says, 'Thou shall not steal,’ and global warming steals from our own children and grandchildren. It harms most the poorest and most vulnerable people on earth, who are least responsible for causing it.”
Many of the eastern Massachusetts community events ended the day by joining the Boston 350 Under Water Festival. Hundreds of citizens gathered en masse in downtown Boston's Christopher Columbus Park and engaged in positive attention-getting and imagination-catching activities. The Boston 350 event used the iconic image of sea level rise to draw attention to the threat of global climate change.
Community Center Gets Weatherization Facelift
The Cambridge Community Center will receive a major energy efficiency upgrade this Sunday when
community members and experts gather to reduce the building’s energy consumption. The community
“barn raising” project is a combined effort of the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the
Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) that aims to improve the comfort and efficiency of the Cambridge
Community Center while teaching volunteers energy efficiency and conservation skills.
Volunteers are gathering at the Cambridge Community Center, 5 Callender St, Cambridge, MA from
12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on June 28th. The project is expected to draw approximately 60 community
volunteers, primarily from the Riverside neighborhood in Cambridge. A team of eight volunteers from
Mass Climate Summer will also be joining this neighborhood effort as part of their broader campaign to
educate residents on efficiency solutions in partnership with the Cambridge Energy Alliance. Mass
Climate Summer volunteers are spending their summer bicycling across Massachusetts to promote
climate change solutions in collaboration with community groups in the commonwealth.
Community volunteers will learn how to make doors and windows less drafty, seal air leaks in the
building, install interior storm windows, and save on electricity through simple changes. They will also
receive energy efficiency kits that contain materials to make their own homes more energy efficient and
information on community environmental resources and programs. The volunteers will apply these
valuable skills and conservation tools to start saving energy and money in their own homes.
These community-style energy efficiency barn raisings have garnered remarkable popular support since
HEET’s launch in August of 2008. Coming together with neighbors and local energy experts to
improve the efficiency of the Cambridge Community Center will have benefits for both individuals and
the community. It is a chance to meet neighbors, try out a green job, cut energy bills at the Community
Center, and get a free energy savings kit, while learning to save energy and money at home.