Local environmental group to host GreenFest

Concerned about the growing climate crisis and determined to do its part and make a difference at the local level, the members of Canton Residents for a Sustainable, Equitable Future (CR4SEF), a grassroots, nonprofit environmental group, have teamed with area businesses, local nonprofits, and school and government groups to present Canton GreenFest: The Time is Now.

This free community event, scheduled for Saturday, November 16, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. at Canton High School, will feature a variety of exhibits, demonstrations, activities, and speakers — all designed to engage and educate residents about the threat of climate change and ways that they can “individually and collectively preserve and protect our town, surrounding neighbors, and our planet.”

​“Earth has just experienced the hottest temperatures on record for four years in a row; the time is now to cut greenhouse gases, embrace renewable energy, protect our forests and oceans, and to reduce, reuse, and recycle,” said Jen Wexler, president of CR4SEF, also called Sustainable Canton. “GreenFest is a wonderful opportunity for area students and other residents to better understand how human behaviors escalate climate change, along with many ways we can make a difference — today.”

Sponsored by Bank of Canton, Shaw’s Supermarket in Canton, and solar installer RevoluSun, the inaugural GreenFest will feature two major components: an Earth Expo, which will run from 1:30 to 2:20 p.m. and again from 4:30 to 5, and a speaking portion, which runs from 2:25 to 4:20 and includes a keynote, a student open mic session, a panel discussion, and an awards presentation for a student poster contest.

GreenFest’s Earth Expo will feature over 20 exhibitors, including the Mass. Climate Action Network, Mass SAVE (energy assessment program), Brookwood Community Farm, the Neponset River Watershed Association, Mass. Sierra Club, the Canton Conservation Commission, and many more. Gold sponsor Bank of Canton will have a digital photo booth and distribute reusable bags, and silver sponsor RevoluSun will have a display showcasing their solar products. Other highlights include an electric vehicle demonstration, a “wish-cycling” game presented by trash and recycling contractor Republic Services, a Canton Public Schools STEM showcase, and two school-sponsored collection fundraisers: an electronics recycling drive (laptops, tablets, etc.) to benefit the CHS Robotics Club and a used clothing and textile drive to help fund a CHS student trip to the Global Leadership Conference in Switzerland.

“We expect high school students in particular or maybe grades 5 and up will find the content useful, but it’s really an all-ages event,” said Sustainable Canton Vice President Liza Colburn. “There will be something for everybody.”

The speaking program will open with introductory remarks by Wexler, followed by the keynote address, “State of the Planet: Climate Change 101” by Nathan Phillips, Boston University professor of earth and environment. The program then continues with a student open mic opportunity and a panel presentation moderated by Emily Norton, former director of the Mass. Sierra Club. Other panelists include Alice Arena (Fore River Residents Against Weymouth Compressor Station), Saya Ameli Hajebi (Sunrise Movement), and Carol Oldham (Mass. Climate Action Network).

While the event was designed to be both educational and fun, the theme of GreenFest — The Time Is Now — is meant to deliver a clear message about the urgency of the climate crisis and the potentially disastrous effects of unchecked global warming.

In its promotional materials for GreenFest, Sustainable Canton points to the United Nations Climate Change Report of December 2018. “We have fewer than 10 years to take bold action to prevent worsening extreme storms, floods, droughts, fires, and other impacts from climate change,” the organization asserts.

More recently, in a new report published earlier this week in the journal Bioscience, a group of more than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries declared a full-blown “climate emergency,” marking the first time that a large body of scientific experts have used that label to characterize the problem. The report directly attributes the climate trends to recent human activities and lays out a series of broad policy goals that must be met in order to prevent “untold suffering” in the near future.

“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” the report states. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.”

According to Colburn, the members of Sustainable Canton not only share these concerns as well as the scientists’ collective sense of urgency; they are united by the belief that they can do something locally to effect real change.

“The big changes are going to happen at the regulatory level, but it doesn’t mean we have to feel helpless at the residential level,” said Colburn.

In the past two years alone, Sustainable Canton has scored a few big victories — teaming with other climate action groups to successfully oppose the Access Northeast gas pipeline project and helping to secure the passage of Canton’s new plastic bag reduction bylaw. And now they’re looking to build on that momentum with GreenFest, which Colburn said they hope to make into an annual event.

Early indicators, she said, suggests strong interest in the event, and they are conservatively expecting at least a few hundred people while hoping for many more. They are particularly encouraged by the responses they have seen on social media, as well as the interest shown in the poster contest, which already has more than 120 submissions.

While other local communities have hosted similar environmental and ‘green’-themed public expos, Wexler said Canton’s GreenFest will have a number of unique offerings, including the electronics recycling drive and the STEM showcase. “What makes Canton GreenFest unparalleled,” she said, “is that young people are at the center of this event, particularly with the speak-out and poster contest. We have partnered with Canton school organizations, including the Climate Club, performing arts for pop-up performances, arts department for climate posters, and the science department on the overall event.”

Colburn said GreenFest would not be possible without the generous support of its sponsors, although they have not quite covered all costs and are currently self-funding the difference. The event itself is free, but donations will gladly be accepted either at the event or via the yellow “donate” button at sustainablecanton.com.

Also at the event, the Bowl Boyz food truck will be selling acai bowls, and light refreshments and snacks will be available for purchase.

More information about the organization is also available on their website as well as on their Facebook page @CantonRESF.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=61823

Posted by Jay Turner on Nov 8 2019. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.