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Green Needham Update: January 2011
Green Tip: Keeping Warm This Winter
Simple steps like installing a programmable thermostat and performing regular maintenance on your heating furnace will help conserve resources and save you money.
Read more green tips on our blog
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Grant opportunities exist for several Green Needham projects and we need someone to assist in researching and writing grants. If interested, please contact Eleanor Rosellini.

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About Green Needham
The Green Needham Collaborative is a community-based group bringing together people and organizations to build a more sustainable community through collaborative efforts on energy and the environment.
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Greetings!

Happy New Year!  With gas prices up and the cold weather settling in, we're off to a fast start to help save energy and money.  See below for an update on Needham 1,000 and recycling in our schools and town buildings.  Later this month, the Green Communities Stretch Code work group being appointed by the Selectmen will get underway so that we can be ready to become a Green Community later this spring.
Needham 1,000 Update
With over 500 families having so far taken the 10% Energy Challenge, Needham has pledged a set of energy-saving actions that would keep over 4 million pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere!

We're now looking to double the number of families to 1,000 (about 10% of the Town's population), working with civic organizations, service groups, local merchants and businesses.

To learn about the program, and how you and your group could be publicly recognized for your energy-saving (and cost-saving) initiative, read about the Needham 1,000 program on our blog.
School and Town Recycling Results
In May of 2009, Annual Town Meeting approved a capital request to acquire a "packer truck" to allow the collection of both recycling and waste from all the Town's buildings, including the schools. Green Needham members had been supporting this effort.

The truck was acquired and pickup began in the summer of 2009. All buildings went to a single-stream recycling system, allowing all recyclables - paper, cardboard, plastic and metal cans - to be placed in one recycling container.

The first year's results (July 2009 - June 2010) are in. You can see the results here.
Green Kids Take Action
This year's Green Kids Needham theme is "Endangered Habitats." Throughout the year, students at each elementary school will participate in a variety of activities intended to increase their knowledge about endangered habitats and encourage their involvement in solutions.

Programs will include adopting endangered animals through the World Wildlife Fund, promoting the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe drive (saving a few rubber trees in the forests of Southeast Asia), and mounting Catalog/Junk Mail Reduction campaigns. Earth Day activities will also be based on this year's theme.


Read more on our blog.
Partner Project Updates
Green Needham is an umbrella organization that supports and collaborates with a wide variety of groups that are working to improve our environment. Our blog has updates from groups such as: Read some recent updates on our blog.
To paraphrase a former mayor of New York - "how're we doing?" Send us your thoughts and suggestions via e-mail or on our blog.

Sincerely,


Michael Greis
Green Needham Collaborative
Sponsored by: