Sustainable Marblehead, a community organization that supports initiatives which reduce carbon emissions and improve quality of life, has rolled out a number of initiatives in the month of November to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and to help find more efficient ways to use energy.
Most recently, Sustainable Marblehead held a Zoom presentation on Wednesday that discussed how people can increase their home’s energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint this winter. The presenters — Stephan Shinopoulos from HomeWorks Energy, Inc., Joe Coles from the Marblehead Municipal Light Department and Steve Wolf from Sustainable Marblehead — talked about sources of heat loss and simple solutions to address them. They also discussed newer “green” technology for heating homes and available rebates to make energy efficiency more affordable.
Sustainable Marblehead is also continuing a “No-Idling” campaign from last winter, urging people to avoid idling their cars to help do their part in reducing harmful emissions.
Last winter, Marblehead’s National Green Schools Society students held a series of “No-Idling” rallies to raise awareness about idling on health and the environment. Sustainable Marblehead is expanding that campaign this year to increase awareness throughout town. Car and truck exhaust from idling vehicles contributes greenhouse gases to the warming planet and impacts the people who breathe them — particularly children. Idling harms vehicles, causing damage to cylinders, spark plugs and exhaust systems. And, it is against the law for a vehicle to idle for more than five minutes. The first infraction is subject to a $100 fine with $500 fines for subsequent infractions.
Just in the past year, Sustainable Marblehead has accomplished a number of goals, including educating Marblehead residents at a series of events throughout the year. The organization also helped Marblehead establish the Green Marblehead Committee, which will create a vision and action plan to guide the town in its carbon emission reduction, clean energy and sustainability efforts.
And soon, Sustainable Marblehead plans to unveil its newest framework — “Carbon-Free Marblehead 2040” — which plans to guide Marblehead to 100 percent renewable energy. The framework follows the 2018 release of the organization’s “Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report,” which documented Marblehead’s carbon emissions.
To learn more about these and other initiatives, or to become a 2020 member of Sustainable Marblehead, visit https://www.sustainablemarblehead.org/.