Opinion

Mayor Walsh: Here’s How You Can Take Part In Boston’s Community Choice Electricity Program

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Boston is a leader on climate action. We’re preparing our communities for climate impacts like coastal flooding and heat waves, and we’re cutting the emissions that cause climate change to begin with. We’ve committed to becoming carbon neutral by the year 2050, and we’ve developed a Climate Action Plan to get us there. An important part of this work is bringing more clean, renewable energy into our city. And now, we’re taking another big step in this work with the rollout of our Community Choice Electricity program.

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Environment

Eversource Customers Automatically Enrolled in City’s Community Choice Electricity Program

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Boston's  Community Choice Electricity (CCE) program, which enables the city to leverage collective buying power of Boston to secure more stable and affordable electricity rates, and more clean power, will officially launch Feb. 1, 2021. CCE is an opt-out program that offers customers electricity choices without any change in delivery or any contractual commitments. The city will begin sending notices to residents on Eversource Basic Service on Dec. 4.  Those residents will be automatically enrolled in the program unless they actively choose opt out.

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Environment

Boston Adding Textile Recycling Drop Off Boxes to Neighborhoods, Expanding Yard Waste Options

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You don't have to throw out those old clothes, sneakers, or stuffed animals because the city is adding textile recycling drop off boxes across Boston neighborhoods. Not throwing away textiles is better for the environment by not filling up trash dumps, but also it can be reused in many ways. Once sorted, 95 percent of textiles such as old bedding, hats, and jackets are reused (75 percent), upcycled, or recycled (20 percent), according to a press release. The higher grades of recycled textiles are resold to thrift stores throughout North America, and other second hand markets across the globe. The lower grades of textiles are turned into rags for industrial use or other functions like stuffing or insulation.

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Environment

Emerald Necklace Conservancy Honoring Mayor Walsh with 2020 Olmsted Award of Excellence

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The Emerald Necklace Conservancy will host its biennial fundraiser virtually and honor Mayor Marty Walsh with its 2020 Olmsted Award of Excellence. The award will be honoring the Walsh administration’s significant capital investments in the Emerald Necklace, representing historic funding for parks according to a press release. The fundraiser is being hosted tonight (October 14). “Mayor Walsh’s tenure has seen unprecedented capital commitments to Boston’s parks – $114 million has been spent by the Boston Parks Department on 170 construction projects and $60 million allocated to the 1,100 acre Emerald Necklace, the largest-ever capital funding for Boston Parks. These projects include Improvements to Jamaica Pond Pathways and Perimeter, Liff Park restoration, Olmsted Park enhancements, projects funded by the Community Preservation Act and many more.

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Environment

JP Has Highest Tree Canopy, According to City

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Jamaica Plain and surrounding neighborhoods in southwestern Boston have the highest tree canopies in the city. Generally speaking, the tree canopy is the part of the city shaded by trees. The city recently released a tree canopy assessment for 2014-2019. This year's worth of analysis is from high-quality, high resolution LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) images captured during airplane flyovers of Boston, according to a press release. Boston's Parks and Recreation Department commissioned the report to understand which areas have the most potential for increased tree cover, and analyze how the city's canopy cover has changed.

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