• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • 2023 Town Election
  • Events
  • About us
  • Natick Report
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley sustainability update: National Grid’s enticing offer; Another successful EV showcase; Wellesley High plastics display

October 27, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., sustainability news:

National Grid’s enticing offer

The Boston Globe reports  (“Wellesley teed up a bold move on climate action. Then came an offer it couldn’t refuse.” You may need a subscription to access) about the dilemma recently faced by Wellesley by possibly accepting about $1.5M in incentives from National Grid if the town agreed on the installation of gas lines to its two new elementary schools and a renovated Town Hall, which were designed to be all-electric (net-zero ready).

The article in part reads: The offer was a small fraction of the $105 million price tag on the projects, but it quickly sowed doubt, dividing town leaders and undercutting the community’s resolve to break with fossil fuel.

As the Globe details, National Grid did backed off its requirement for the gas lines, but not before much discussion among town officials (we heard the issue referred to as something along the lines of “the you know what” during a Permanent Building Committee meeting months ago), and a Globe call to National Grid.

The article goes on to point out the complexities of utility business interests and efforts by municipalities and others to address climate change.

Wellesley rolled out its Climate Action Plan early this year.

hunnewell school in progress
Wellesley’s electrifying new Hunnewell Elementary School building in progress

Another successful EV showcase

More than 150 attendees took part in the recent Wellesley EV Test Drive & Owner Showcase at the MassBay Community College parking lot. The event featured a variety of dealers allowing test drives, and local owners showing off their vehicles and answering questions. Vehicles on hand includes cars as well as e-bikes.

“The conversations went beyond EVs (solar, energy efficiency, etc.) and there were so many new faces, which was great to see,” said Sustainable Wellesley’s Phyllis Theermann.

Sustainable Wellesley joined the town’s Municipal Light Plant and the Climate Action Committee to host the event.

ev showcase1 ev showcase1

Wellesley High plastics display

Wellesley High School’s Climate Action Club has been helping the community visualize just how much plastic is used and discarded throughout the school via some big “WHS”-shaped containers outside the building. Student Vaani Kapoor says “The idea is to create a visual of how much plastic we use each day as a school and to highlight how the school’s recycling doesn’t get recycled because it’s too contaminated, so all this plastic that we create is dumped into the trash.”

The Climate Action Club is working on measurable successes. It has tried to convince the school’s food service provider to convert from plastic utensils and bottles to greener alternatives. The club is also attempting to re-start the composting program piloted last school year.

The display went up during STEM Week.

WHS bottles enviro


swellesley green ad

print

Filed Under: Environment, Government

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
EXPLO, Wellesley
Wellesley Hills Junior Women's Club

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Letters to the editor on The Swellesley Report
  • Voting rights expert to give talk at Wellesley College
  • Wellesley business buzz: La Toscana's, Express Gourmet to serve alcohol; Where the town banks (not SVB!)
  • Wellesley Public Schools news: Union issues vote of no confidence as negotiations continue; DE&I director ditches 'interim' tag; 'Emotional Lives of Teens' program

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

Mar 21
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

World of Wellesley 2023 Community Book Read event

Mar 23
9:00 am - 10:30 pm

Select Board office hours

Mar 23
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Wellesley Neighbors information session

Mar 23
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Babson Arts presents “The Forgotten Kingdom”

Mar 25
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 2023 Boston Marathon charity runners
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • J covino on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • LADY WELLESLEY on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • Michali Lerner on Wellesley High School hosting standards-based grading discussion
  • Bob Brown on Wellesley Business Buzz: New version of E.A. Davis about to open; Faherty to nestle in next to Lululemon; Changing cast of characters in Lower Falls
  • Trudy Riley on Wellesley Business Buzz: New version of E.A. Davis about to open; Faherty to nestle in next to Lululemon; Changing cast of characters in Lower Falls

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (13)
  • Animals (428)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (596)
  • Beyond Wellesley (53)
  • Books (380)
  • Business (1,568)
  • Camp (12)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (240)
  • Construction (301)
  • Dump (131)
  • Education (3,218)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (37)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (48)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (47)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (615)
    • Wellesley High School (1,008)
    • Wellesley Middle School (208)
  • Embracing diversity (97)
  • Entertainment (823)
  • Environment (778)
  • Fashion (145)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (174)
  • Food (360)
  • Fundraising (649)
  • Gardens (165)
  • Government (624)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (870)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (403)
  • Holidays (442)
  • Houses (164)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (869)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (89)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (584)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (282)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (657)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (786)
    • Crime (398)
  • Politics (560)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (7)
  • Real estate (348)
  • Religion (139)
  • Restaurants (345)
  • Safety (156)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (128)
  • Shopping (164)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,024)
    • Athlete of the Week (14)
  • STEM (109)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (26)
  • Transportation (242)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,245)
  • Volunteering (351)
  • Weather (180)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (282)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login