S U S T A I N A B L Y

Elaine Strunk, director of green

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Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind’s footprint on the planet. To recap, they're "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match. Please, no counting.

ELAINE STRUNK, Cambridge
Director of green, The Lenox


David Barclay: "Dramatically more enthusiasm" for sustainability

Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind’s footprint on the planet. To recap, they're "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match. (Please, no counting.) David Barclay, executive director, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
DAVID BARCLAY, 53, Northampton
Executive director, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
NESEA formed in 1974 as the New England Solar Energy Association, but joined with similar groups in the Northeast in 1985 to form an organization stretching from Washington, D.C. to the Canadian border. (In an impressive rejiggering that no doubt saved money on stationery — not to mention the monogrammed towels — they kept the acronym while changing some of the words.) Barclay said NESEA "encourages, demonstrates, and teaches proven sustainable-energy solutions." Its 1,600 members are mostly professionals in the field.


Get out of the house

gwc-flyer.jpg

On Saturday, Nov. 1, a trio of Medford community groups are hosting a "global warming cafe," described as "a community gathering to share what global warming means to each of us. By exchanging views, feelings and ideas, we will begin personal action to stop global warming and learn to make better choices about our own energy use."


Global climate change on "Frontline"

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This is a three-minute-plus teaser for a "Frontline" inquiry into global climate change politics. The show looks good, and I'll definitely be tuning in. But even if you're not excited by the prospect, check out the video anyway. It begins with the Talking Heads song "Burning Down the House," which, in this context, appears to have been written as the climate-change anthem: "Watch out, you might get what your after..." and "We might be in for nasty weather..." and, of course, "Burning down the house." Brilliant.


Building on each other

In about a month, the greatest one-city, one-year confluence of green-building events ever (ever!) will culminate when GreenBuild, the annual trade show of the US Green Building Council, comes to Boston.

As if to underscore the confluence, highlighted by the American Institute of Architects' national convention in May and the annual NESEA show in March, the three-day show will overlap with BuildBoston, a regional show put on annually by the Boston Society of Architects.


Andrea Atkinson: Sustainability isn't only about the environment

Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind’s footprint on the planet. To recap, they're "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match. Please, no counting.


CO2 = fuel? Really?

I'm not a scientist, so I have no standing to question scientific assertions. But still.

Carbon Sciences, based in Santa Barbara and Cambridge, England, says it is developing "... a breakthrough technology to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the basic fuel building blocks required to produce gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other portable fuels."


Gabriel Erde-Cohen: "It's like having a personal CSA"

Another in a series of miniprofiles of sustainability-minded people who are working to reduce humankind’s footprint on the planet. To recap, they're "mini" not only because they're short, but because all the questions are 10 words or less, and the answers are requested to match. Please, no counting.
 
gabriel-erde-cohen.JPGGABRIEL ERDE-COHEN, 24, Jamaica Plain Green City Growers

I usually synopsize what the subject does, but this time, I thought Gabriel said it so well, I'd just let him speak: "We build and maintain backyard farms on people’s private land for the benefit of them and their family. It’s like having a personal CSA. [CSA, as in "community supported agriculture." Generally, farms sell shares of their output before the growing season to lessen their market risk.] "We also acquire and do bioremediation on brownfields [land tainted by past industrial activity] in the city of Boston for the purpose of turning them into city farms and educational centers. "Our newest program is consulting, designing, and building urban homesteads, which are completely sustainable homes and communities within the city. That’s the dream."


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