Resources for Taking Action
Resources for Reducing Household Pollution.
Start by learning where you are currently creating pollution at home. The EPA offers a straightforward carbon footprint calculator that looks at household, transportation and waste.
WalkBike Andover is a resident-led advocacy group focused on making walking, biking, and rolling, safe and accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Check them out and get involved! Walking and biking are fabulous ways to personally reduce your pollution impact.
Download Rewiring America’s guide to the Inflation Reduction Act and then use Rewiring America’s IRA calculator to calculate how much money you can save as you electrify.
Look into greening your electric supply with Andover Community Power.
When you’re considering a heat pump, we are fortunate to have a HeatSmart Alliance volunteer coach right here in Andover. Mark can answer your questions on what’s available and help you understand what is best for your home. You can email Mark to get started.
Watch the Years Project video Electrify Everything— get energized and then Act!
The Mass Clean Energy Center has resources for reducing energy at home. At Green Energy Consumer Alliance you can sign up for Shave the Peak alerts, and become a member of a growing community committed to reducing electricity use at home on days when skyrocketing overall demand is met by the dirtiest and most expensive fossil fuels.
Check out the Q&A from Zero Carbon Home webinars where the presenter also publishes schedules for future webinars.
Resources for Renters to Lower Emissions.
Check out MassSave’s Energy Savings for Renters to learn what you can do on your own and how to work with your landlord for energy efficiency.
Resources for Sustainable Eating.
Check out 20 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste for tips from how to grocery shop and how to store food to making stock and what parts of the food you can eat that maybe you hadn’t considered!
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch can help you chose which seafood is the most sustainable when you’re grocery shopping. Seafood Watch is helping to transform how seafood is fished and farmed so people and the plant can thrive.
Learn about regenerative farming. If there’s a showing of Common Ground near you check it out! Read the Common Ground Take Action guide for healing the earth.
Resources for What’s in Andover.
The office of sustainability keeps residents up to date on current projects on the Town website.
Check out How Green is Andover to learn what your community is doing to reduce our climate impact.
You can opt-up to 100% renewable electricity with Andover Community Power.
Resources for Solar.
ReVision Energy is a New England based solar company who has attended Andover WECAN sustainability fairs. They are one of many companies that provide options for solar for your home.
Even if you can’t install solar panels where you live, you may be able to benefit from the power of the sun with community solar. Check out Mass Clean Energy Center’s guide to community solar which includes a list of community solar subscription managers. This is an option for renters too!
And you can opt-up to 100% renewable electricity with Andover Community Power.
Resources for Understanding Net Zero Building.
Check out MA Net Zero Building Coalition’s Myths vs Facts about net zero and fossil fuel-free buildings.
Resources for Understanding the Opt-in Stretch Code in Massachusetts.
The Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) created a Massachusetts Voters Guide to the Municipal Opt-In Specialized Code. It summarizes what’s in the code and why to adopt the code. It also has links to lots of additional resources from the state, NEEP and other organizations.
Resources for Understanding the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Environmental Benefits.
Download Rewiring America’s guide to the Inflation Reduction Act.
The White House guide to the IRA.
A guidebook for government leaders by C40 Knowledge.
Resources for Children.
Climate change kids guide from NPR.
Resources for Learning About The Power Grid.
Learn about the current state of the power grid and what needs to be done to upgrade and expand it from John Oliver and be entertained at the same time.
Upgrading the grid is a big challenge and will require engineering, policy changes, new technologies and more for us to get there. The Union of Concerned Scientist published Can the Electric Grid Handle EV Charging? to explain why it can handle the increased load and adds that “The best electric load is the avoided load, the load you don’t add to the grid in the first place."
Rewiring American offers one perspective on getting there in their article Electrification won’t break the grid, it will make it smarter.
We need to get to a place where the grid can support our electrification. Let’s figure out how we can get there together.
Resources for Reducing Waste.
Watch our Beyond The Bin webinar series, which talks about what happens to the waste you put out at the end of your driveway or in your parking lot dumpster and recycling bins.
Resources Beyond Emissions and Waste Reduction.
Learn from the Boston Museum of Science in their Change Climate Change program. With MOS as your guide, gain insight into the ways climate change is affecting us. Feel confident taking action.
Purchase items without PFAS, which have been connected to health concerns. Check out a list of PFAS-free products from Green Science Policy Institute.
Learn how to create a more sustainable yard and garden.
Read 6 Actions to fight climate change from Sustainability for All.
Watch Engaging the Climate Crisis presentation by Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, March 14, 2019 at Andover Memorial Hall Library.
Check out the Guide To Living Small from Mothers Out Front with ideas such as using bar soap wrapped in paper rather than liquid soap in a plastic container, cut up old T-shirts for rags rather than using paper towels.
Find your action among Top 10 things you can do from David Suzuki Foundation- a list from a Canadian’s perspective.