Make the Invisible Costs Visible

by Aaron Hersum Smog: a cloud of dirty air from cars, factories, etc., that is usually found in cities. It’s brown, thick, and easy to see. Smog is a clear villain. I can point to it and say “See, that’s what why we need to reduce emissions.” Unfortunately, carcinogens and radiation from natural gas, ultra-fine particles, …

“I’ll have some of that Somerville please.” (Or, how you can make your community more sustainable.)

by Tilly Pick When was the last time you were truly in awe about sustainability progress? Last Tuesday, May 2, is my answer. I was one of 40-50 sustainability-minded people gathered at the Venture Café in Cambridge that had the opportunity to hear firsthand about a community here in the Boston area that is on …

The Unsuspecting Impact of Minimalism on Sustainability

by Aaron Hersum and Tilly Pick It may be one of the most fundamental questions environmentalists ask- maybe less of a question and more of a concern: Is all the “stuff” we make and consume each day destroying our environment? This month, the Boston Area Sustainability Group (BASG) invited Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at …

#IamaVoter

by Aaron Hersum Well, I understand the 2016 election now: data analytics. According to Nathaniel Stinnett, Founder and CEO of the Environmental Voter Project (EVP) and veteran of many political campaigns, Trump and Clinton ran by far the most sophisticated data analytics campaigns in political history. Their managers knew every individual likely to vote in …

Keep Shouting

by Aaron Hersum My takeaway from Tuesday’s Boston Area Sustainability Group (BASG) event, Invite to Ignite, can be summed up in one word: passion. The Venture Café here in Cambridge, MA, was packed full of people whose passion was palpable as one great organization after another spoke about its mission and the role it plays …

Make 2017 a Year of Action

by Tilly Pick As we move into 2017 and what may be a challenging journey ahead for the broader sustainability community, the Boston Area Sustainability Group (BASG) commits to be stronger and to deliver more powerfully on our mission. Still as a volunteer organizing team and affinity group of 1400+ sustainability professionals that cuts across a …

After November NAEM and Before the Flood

by Aaron Hersum This past Sunday evening, I tuned to National Geographic to watch Before the Flood, a documentary by Leonardo DiCaprio on climate change. I’m a big fan of Leo- he seems to genuinely care about climate change and understand the severity of its implications. Unlike many other celebrity endorsements, I find that his …

GMOs: More than a Just a Label

By Aaron Hersum After a long summer hiatus, I walked into the Boston Area Sustainability Group's recent GMO event looking forward to finally getting an answer to my burning GMO question: are they healthy? I left the event knowing that I would write about a topic I have particularly strong feelings towards: lobbying. Over the …

Educating the Next Generation: Learning by Doing

By Jess Halvorsen with contributions from Tilly Pick I am a child of the eighties. When I was young, recycling was too, and as I recall, the major environmental issues we were all concerned with were addressing the hole in the ozone layer and saving the whales. Happily, we’ve seen great strides on both topics …

Knowledge is Power

by Jessica Halvorsen According to the EPA, Environmental Justice can be defined as: “fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, national origin, or income with regard to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies[1].” What stood out to me, as I listened to several speakers present about …