Today, I am launching Greenovate Boston, the catalyst that will again demonstrate Boston’s leadership in the fight against climate change. This new movement, based on the collective actions of all of Boston’s residents and businesses, will help progress us towards meeting our greenhouse gas reduction goals of 25% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, which I originally set out in my 2011 Climate Action Plan, A Climate of Progress.
These goals originated from the community–they were recommended to me by my Climate Action Leadership Committee–and it’ll take our entire community to reach these goals.
Greenovate Boston is, as the community-led movement to reaching my goals, three things: An umbrella brand, shared by all the sustainability initiatives and programs in City Hall and Boston’s businesses, institutions and groups, that will be kicked off, starting today, with an advertising campaign produced by Mullen and supported by the leaders on my Green Ribbon Commission. It is also a one-stop-shop for streamlining and delivering green resources to all Bostonians through existing outreach methods and new, innovative tools and programs. And lastly, Greenovate is a citizen-driven movement for raising our City’s environmental consciousness in order to transform our city and reach our long-term greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Earlier today, I awarded 18 exemplary businesses, residents and sustainable food leaders with Greenovate Boston Awards. These leaders show us that this movement exists and that the trail has been blazed. City Hall has also been driving Boston forward with new policies such as the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance, planning programs like Boston Bikes and Complete Streets, and outreach programs like Renew Boston.
And now we are looking forward. We want to make the work of our City’s trailblazers the norm, and to do this we must engage everyone. We have to make the sustainability issue understandable to everyone – what I call turning climate change and environmental issues from “science talk” into “sidewalk talk.”
Therefore, over the next two years, I want all Boston residents and employees to understand how sustainability affects them and the larger community. I want our school kids to bring the single-stream recycling they do at school back home; I want our small businesses to know that being energy-efficient will help put money back in their wallets; and I want even more people to commute by bike, the T or walking. Greenovate Boston will help us get there. When we help people understand what they can do in their own lives, and the actions they take based on that knowledge, we will make Boston the greenest city in the world.
Recent Comments