Thank you to all who attended the Coordinator's meeting.As
we
move ahead to 2010, I think what I got from the meeting was the
commitment to celebrate Walk/Ride Day in our schools in its simple and
replicable form: Wearing Green, Going Green and Giving Green Hand
Stamps to all children regardless as to how they arrived at school.

Part of the reason the Walk/Ride Days program remains so fresh and
fun is all the additional programs that coordinators have are doing at
their schools.Hope Kelley gave a great explanation of how she
has managed to collect monthly data at the Baldwin School in
Cambridge.  I have since spoken to the coordinator at the King Open
School where they are at an earlier stage of a similar data collection.  At
both the Baldwin and the King Open Schools, staff has been open to
collecting the information as part of daily attendance.

Hope also mentioned the great success of events like Cambridge's Police-Escorted "Bicycle Trains" in which many participate who do not normally cycle to school! There have been rides to individual schools and to a couple of schools. Though these events do take place on Walk/Ride Days, they've been arranged by parents other than the schools' Walk/Ride Day coordinators.

Darleen Matthews and Jen Capuano have been working at the Healey School in
Somerville.  With no district busing, they have focused on supporting
walkers/riders – including walking school buses –  and in developing
strategies to help families use city buses.  The have done raffles and
other fun activities at the school and made Walk/Ride part of the
fabric of life at their school.

Jen Rapaport has worked on Walk/Ride Days at the Friends School for several years
and has been able to get support from teachers and administration for
various aspects of the program.  We talked about using teachers who are
interested and motivated by program as assistants.  A school librarian
or gym teacher could do transportation survey.  Other staff/families
can take photographs which we can put on the Green Streets website.

Sally Watermulder has been running the program at the Cambridgeport
School, which has many kids arriving by bus. We talked about supporting
the bus students at
all schools.Erin is going to take over as coordinator at Morse School–thank you!

Discussion Regarding Upcoming EventsWe have spoken to Cambridge Schools
and will be sending home flyer in early January to kick off 2010
Walk/Ride Day year and refresh people's understanding of the program.  We
will make flyer available on the web site to others who want to use it
in their schools
January 11th, 4pm-6pm–Cambridge City Hall–culminating 9 in 09 Event. 
Cambridge Mayor had challenged Cambridge residents to do 9 Walk/Ride
Days in 09.  At this event there will be a special proclamation made at
the City Council meeting–refreshments, raffle etc.
Please plan to attend and support Walk/Ride Day Program and please talk
to me about how we can get students/families from your school to
attend.  Passports are not necessary but we do want students who have
risen to this challenge to attend, as well as people coming individually to this
event. We are trying get some school groups to walk over together with
parents/school staff.
Please feel free to add to these notes and let me know if you need ink pads, stamps, maps, assistance with program/recruiting volunteers.

And thanks to Iggy's Breads of the World and Clif Bar for great snacks!

Sarah Fresco

sarah.cambridge.walk.ride.days@gmail.com

Cambridge Coordinator, Walk/Ride Program

Millennium Pharmaceuticals celebrated their employees' involvement in Walk/Ride Days with an Ice Cream Social, a drawing for gift certificates from $50 to $200, a brief talk by Green Streets Director, Janie Katz-Christy and Cambridge City-Wide Coordinator, Sarah Fresco. Walk/Ride Days were introduced at Millennium in the spring of 2009 by the firm's in-house Evergreen Team. They've been very popular, and Millennium's staff had the hightest number of September '09 Walk/Riders signing in on the Green Streets website.

Millennium's Evergreen Team Organizers Christian Tolentino and Kristen Hamman

Here are some of Millennium's statistics:

• 682 survey entries were completed during this year’s program
• 71 entries (>10%) indicated they normally drive in alone
• Over 300 employees participated at least once! Over half participated more than once.
• >16,000 “green” miles were traveled (round trip in 6 days)*
• If all had driven a car alone, approximately 733 gallons of fuel would have been used,1 with 7 tons of CO2 emissions or
• the average annual emissions of 1.2 vehicles!**

Three lucky raffle winners got more than ice cream as American Express gift cards were awarded at the event. Throughout the program, several other participants won cafeteria vouchers during monthly raffle drawings. 

* The Federal Highway Administration’s gives average values of 22.1 mpg for passenger cars as a fleet wide average in for the year 2001 (http://www.epa.gov/OMS/climate/420f05004.htm)** The EPA calculates that 19.4 pounds of CO2 is generated per gallon of gasoline (http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/420f05001.htm)   Ice cream with all the toppings!

Raffle winners who regularly use green transport, including riding the train, running, and biking (and some combinations thereof!) to work!

The Healey School in Somerville, MA kicked off Walk/Ride Days last month with Walking School Buses and now plan on making these a monthly installation. The Healey Waking School Bus was featured in the Somerville Journal. You can read the full article about all the great work the Healey School is doing here!

After years of a unwritten but uncontested ban on kids biking to
school, the Hardy School in Arlington, MA launched a pilot that would
allow and support children arriving on two-wheels….. This unwritten
policy apparently was initiated years ago by a previous superintendent
on no grounds other than the fact they did not want kids biking to
school. Over the past nine months, I and several other energetic
cycling advocates have met numerous times with the school committee and
the superintendent to discuss this ban and to ask for another chance to
get kids biking to school again.

PLEASE!!  We would love and need your comments and support; your support will help the “movement” towards getting town-wide support for cycling to schoolClick here to read and learn more:

http://www.laurenhefferon.com/
-Lauren Hefferon is the Founder and Director of the Italian bicycle tour company Ciclismo Classico

Dear Green Streets supporters:

The state Senate has sent to the House of Representatives draft
legislation to restructure the state’s transportation system.  As
Director of Green Streets Initiative, I am writing to urge each of you
to get in touch with your Representative and with the leadership of the
House Transportation Committee (see details below) to urge support for a couple of particular components of the proposed bill. Please contact them as soon as possible, as the vote could be as early as next Monday, April 6.

1) Increasing the Gas Tax: 

While the governor’s proposal to raise the
gas tax by 19 cents has generated lots of controversy, it is an
absolute necessity.  First, it is needed to cover previous
Administration’s decades of neglected repairs and upgrading.  Second,
it is needed to prevent the total collapse of our state’s public
transit system which, whatever criticisms of its performance we may
have, was hobbled with totally inadequate funding even to maintain its
current service levels.  Third, it is needed to pay for finally pushing
our transportation system to give walking and bicycling more emphasis. 
(For more details about why it will be cheaper to raise the gas tax
than let all these problems – and others – fester, see
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/0…
.

2) Institutionalizing a connection between transportation and health:

The Healthy Transportation Compact (section
13 in the Governor’s original proposal and included in the Senate’s
version) creates a way for the public health and medical world to
provide on-going feedback to top-level transportation decision-makers,
and requires Health Impact Analyses for all major transportation
projects.  This is absolutely unprecedented in the United States and
will be a major step forward.

Transportation is not only about how we move people and
things, it is also one of the major ways that we impact both the
environment and our health.  In the past, our state and nation have
given so much priority to designing our roads, residential areas,
commercial centers, and even our recreation areas around the needs of
automobiles that we’ve made getting it difficult to get anywhere in any
other way.  

The inevitable result of our car-centric transportation
system has been pollution, noise, personal immobility, and reduced
safety – leading to diseases (such as asthma, heart disease, several
types of cancer, stress, skin irritations, and more) as well as
sedentary lifestyles and accidents.

It is time that our transportation system
be restructured, from its design to its operation, to prioritize public
transit, bicycling, and walking.  This will do as much as almost any
other public action to reduce our carbon emissions, lower pollution,
make our neighborhoods safer, and protect our health.  We believe,
based on national research and our own experiences, that such a
restructuring of our transportation system will also foster economic
growth, create jobs, and facilitate social connections within our
communities.

However, there are a couple ways that the transportation-health
connection could be made even stronger in the House version of the bill.

1)      A “Walking and Cycling” division
should be established at the same level as Highways, Transit, and
Airports/Waterways in order to institutionalize those modes as having
equal importance.

2)      The Bike Advisory Group inserted in the Senate
deals solely with recreational cycling on paths.  Its purview should be
expanded to include on-road use of bikes by commuters, kids going to
and from school and after-school activity, and people using bikes for
short-trips doing every-day errands and visits – as well as those who
use the roads for recreational riding where no off-road paths exist. 
(An expanded and strengthened Bike Advisory Group should be included in
the bill even if the unwise attempt to transfer DCR parkways and
bridges to Mass Highway is dropped by the House.)

So,
please – write your own letter and send it (as soon as possible) to
your own Representative, or make a quick call to her/his office.  (To
find out who is your Representative, and his or her contact
information, see http://www.mass.gov/legis/)

If you have time, it would be very useful if you also sent copies of your letter to the House Leadership:

Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo
State House, Room 356
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: 617-722-2500
Facsimile: 617-722-2008  
E-Mail: Robert.DeLeo@state.ma.us

Rep. Joseph Wagner 
House Co-Chair, Joint Committee on Transportation
State House, Room 134
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: 617-722-2400

E-Mail: Rep.JosephWagner@hou.state.ma.us

Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez
House Co-Chair, Joint Committee on Public Health
State House, Room 42
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: 617-722-2370
Email: Rep.JeffreySanchez@hou.state.ma.us

Rep. Harriett L. Stanley
House Co-Chair, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
State House, Room 236
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: 617- 722-2430
E-Mail: Rep.HarriettStanley@hou.state.ma.us

Thanks for your help on this important effort. (I
apologize if you are getting this from another part of the world. Our
Green Streets email list is not differentiated. In any case, I think
these issues are more than just local.)

All my best,

Janie

Janie Katz-Christy
Founder & Director
Green Streets Initiative

Click here.

Ariel Yoffie is a student at Newton North High School. She is working with Safe Routes to School and Newton Green Streets to transform the way students and others travel in Newton.

Walk/Ride
Days

By:
Ariel Yoffie

Introduction

Every
morning I wake up at six, drag myself out of bed, lounge around until
my mother and sister are ready to go, and my mother drives my sister
and me to school. This has been my routine, and I am certain many of
my peers share this monotonous practice. However, driving a car to
school every day is not only harmful to our environment, but also our
health. Car pollution contributes to global warming, and produces
particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, and other toxic
air pollutants.1
What’s worse, driving to school has become not only a habit,
but also a necessity. Children’s ability to walk or bicycle in
their neighborhood has been limited by unsafe street crossings,
speeding motorists, and a lack of sidewalks.2
It is no longer safe to walk or bike to school. However, that will
change with the help of Safe Routes to School, an international
organization designed to help local communities look at the problems
and dangers along children’s routes to school and fund walk and
bike to school events.3
This organization has been successful in the US since 1997, when it
cosponsored the first “National Walk Your Child to School Day”
with Walkable America in Chicago.4
Now, all fifty United States are participating in various Safe Routes
to School events.5
I believe this organization will also be successful in Newton because
there are many students, including myself, who say they would be more
apt to walk to school every day if the sidewalks were cleared and
there were safer street crossings, such as crossing Walnut St to Hull
St. Safe Routes to School in Newton is currently cooperating with the
Newton Green Street Program to lobby for the ratification of a city
ordinance which would mandate that all sidewalks along school routes
be shoveled after snowfall and sanded for ice. Walking and biking to
school, and not driving a car, are necessary for communities to
reduce their destructive impact on the environment and their own
health.

Car
Pollution and Its Effects

As
I peer out my window onto Waverley Ave, all I see are passing cars.
Even at night, I can hear the swish of traffic as one car passes
another going in the opposite direction. The car traffic is endless,
day and night. Every day, these cars spew out more and more
greenhouse gases and toxic air pollutants into the atmosphere. White
fumes pour from the cars’ exhaust pipe releasing carbon
dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, s
nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, benzene, formaldehyde, and
polycyclic hydrocarbons.
6,7
All of these gases are detrimental to the environment and human
wellbeing.8,9
Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and carbon monoxide are greenhouse
gases that contribute to global warming and aggravate the effects it
has on the environment. Particulate matter comes in the form of
either inhalable “course particles,” such as dust and
road debris that are larger than 2.5 micrometers and smaller than 10
micrometers in diameter, or “fine particle,” like smog
and haze that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller.10
These particles can damage the respiratory system, aggravate asthma,
and cause chronic illnesses, such as bronchitis, an irregular
heartbeat, and heart or lung disease.11
Nitrogen dioxide is toxic to the human body, and can contribute to
acid rain and eutrophication in coastal waters.12
Sulfur dioxide causes pulmonary and respiratory pain and the
acidification of water.13
Benzene is a carcinogen in humans, the long term effects of exposure
defat the skin, affects bone marrow and immune system, and decreases
red blood cell count. 14
A study showed that aquatic plant and fish life would die from
exposure to benzene, and that it is a reactant of smog.
15
Formaldehyde, which only lasts between 1-10 days, is a carcinogen to
humans, animals, and birds.
16
Polycyclic hydrocarbons have been suspected of being carcinogens in
humans and animals because of their effects on the skin and
auto-immune system. Polycyclic hydrocarbons are also believed to
cause lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.
17
Still not convinced that walking or biking to school is important?
Studies show that car exhaust also hurts the body’s immune
system, neurological system, reproductive system (e.g., reduced
fertility), developmental capacity (especially in young children),
and respiratory system.18

Safe
Routes to School Success Story

In
spite of the adverse impacts of driving to school, parents feel that
it is a necessity. Parents no longer trust their neighborhoods are
safe for children to walk to school because of unsafe street
crossings, speeding motorists, and a lack of sidewalks.
19
The role of Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is to galvanize communities
to improve children’s routes to school. The goals of SRTS are
to foster a citywide wide network for improving children’s
routes to schools, engage and encourage children to walk to school,
schedule a series of events, and help communities become healthier
and greener.20
One success story of SRTS was in Watertown. March 21, 2007,
Watertown’s Lowell Elementary School was the first to
participate in “Walking Wednesdays.”21
As children arrived at school, they were greeted by elected town
officials, the school superintendent, and numerous parent volunteers.
22
45% of the students at Lowell Elementary participated for the entire
thirteen week period of “Walking Wednesdays” at Lowell
Elementary, and as a prize SRTS handed out pedometers to all of the
children.
23
Before SRTS, a survey of parents showed that 72% of Lowell Elementary
students were driven to school, 9% carpooled, and 19% walked.
24
After “Walking Wednesdays” began, 50% of students walked
to school, 18% carpooled, 30% were driven, and the principal reported
that drop-off traffic had been drastically reduced.
25
This program was deemed so beneficial, that local program
coordinators propose a $6,100 grant for purchasing pedometers and
safety training vests.
26
In addition, “Walking Wednesdays” has been expanded to
all Watertown elementary schools, and the local program coordinators
hope to recruit “Walking School Bus” coordinators for all
elementary schools.
27
Watertown elementary schools are still walking and biking on “Walking
Wednesdays,” and registered to participate in national SRTS
events.
28

The
Newton Green Streets initiative is modeled on the success of
Cambridge Green Streets that originated in 2006 and is now replicated
in Somerville, Medford, Stoneham, Portland ME, and spreading to
Europe.
29
The Cambridge Green Streets Initiative is a local organization that
coined the idea of “Walk/Ride Days” on the last Friday of
every month. 30
Their goal is to ultimately have citywide, maybe even nationwide,
monthly events that celebrate alternative transportation.
31
Their catch phrase is “go, and wear green!” which has
encouraged schools, businesses, community organizations, and
universities to participate in the initiative by wearing green
Cambridge Green Streets t-shirts on the “Walk/Ride Days.”
32
The Cambridge Green Streets Initiative maintains enthusiasm for its
program by having online raffles that offer a chance to win discounts
at local retailers, which expands their community involvement even
further.
33
In 2007, the Cambridge Green Streets’ was one of six
organizations to receive the GoGreen Business Award. 34
The Cambridge Green Streets Initiative was also honored of with the
Golden Shoe Award for improving the
timing of traffic signals to minimize pedestrian waits,
encouraging pedestrian-friendly design of new developments, and
promotional activities that include Go Green Month and the
publication of “Getting Around in Cambridge.”
35
Newton aspires to have the same success with green initiative.

Conclusion

On
January 22, I read an article in the Boston Globe that said
scientists have recent studies that affirm the hypothesis that
Antarctica is experiencing the effects of global warming (whereas
before, Antarctica was observed to be an anomaly continent that was
exempt from the effects global climate change). Though
environmentalists have been standing on soup boxes for years, I never
expected to get caught up in their lecture. I had always been
moderately urgent about environmental conservation, but never
passionate. But now, not only is there a need for humans to change
their attitudes about the environment, but also an atmosphere for
change in a new era of hope to protect life on Earth. I quote
President Obama’s Inaugural Address, “each day brings
further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our
adversaries and threaten our planet… we
(cannot) consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For
the world has changed, and we must change with it.”
36
I
realize that car exhaust fumes have been poisoning my water, my town,
my garden, my family, and my body long before I knew the
consequences. At this moment I sheepishly change my priorities (from
sleeping in an extra 20 minutes) and make new habits with conviction
(to getting up early and walking to school). I will work alongside
Safe Routes to School and Newton Green Streets Organization so that
students can walk or bike to school safely and make healthy,
environmentally-friendly habits to improve everyone’s quality
of life. So, my fellow Americans: ask not what your environment can
do for you, but what you can do for your environment. “Go
Green, Wear Green!”

1
"Why
Walk or Bike." International
Walk to School in the USA. Safe Routes. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://www.walktoschool.org/about/index.cfm>

2
Safe
Routes to School, National Course. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/video/srts_overview.mov>.

3
Pedestrian
and Bicycle Information Center of the University of North Carolina
Highway Safety Research Center for the. Walk
to School Initiatives. Brochure. International: Author, 2008.
Safe Routes to School. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://www.walktoschool.org/downloads/WTSDbooklet.pdf>.

4
"About-
International Walk to School Day and Month." International
Walk to School in the USA. Safe Routes. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://www.walktoschool.org/about/index.cfm>.

5
"United
States Registered Participants." Who's
Walking. Jan. 2009. Safe Routes to School. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.walktoschool.org/who/index.cfm>.

6
"Car
exhaust chemicals." Green
living tips. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/269/1/Car-exhaust-chemicals.html>.

7
"Nitrogen
Oxides: Health and Environmental Impacts of NOx | Six Common
Pollutants | Air & Radiation | US EPA." Six
Common Air Pollutants. 2009. U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/nox/hlth.html>.

8
"Car
exhaust chemicals." Green
living tips. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/269/1/Car-exhaust-chemicals.html>.

9
"Nitrogen
Oxides: Health and Environmental Impacts of NOx | Six Common
Pollutants | Air & Radiation | US EPA." Six
Common Air Pollutants. 2009. U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/nox/hlth.html>.

10
"Health
& Environment | Particulate Matter | Air & Radiation | US
EPA." U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Protection
Agency. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://epa.gov/oar/particlepollution/health.html>.

11
"Health
& Environment | Particulate Matter | Air & Radiation | US
EPA." U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Protection
Agency. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://epa.gov/oar/particlepollution/health.html>.

12
"Car
exhaust chemicals." Green
living tips. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/269/1/Car-exhaust-chemicals.html>

13
"Car
exhaust chemicals." Green
living tips. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/269/1/Car-exhaust-chemicals.html>

14
"Benzene." Air
Pollution. 2008. Lenntech. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.lenntech.com/Air-purification/Air%20pollution/benzene.htm>.

15
"Car
exhaust chemicals." Green
living tips. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/269/1/Car-exhaust-chemicals.html>

16
"Car
exhaust chemicals." Green
living tips. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/269/1/Car-exhaust-chemicals.html>

17
"Car
exhaust chemicals." Green
living tips. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/269/1/Car-exhaust-chemicals.html>

18
"About
Air Toxics | Toxic Air Pollutants | Air and Radiation | US
EPA." U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://www.epa.gov/air/toxicair/newtoxics.html>.

19
Safe
Routes to School, National Course. 22 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/video/srts_overview.mov>.

20
Newton
Community Safe Routes to School, Department of Health and Human
Services, WalkBoston.Newton Green Streets Program. Brochure.
Newton: Author, 2009.

This
was obtained from Carol Bock, from PTO meeting with Jean Fulkerson,
the Newton community Safe Routes to School Coordinator, as the guest
speaker.

21
"Walking
Wednesdays in Watertown Massachusetts." National
Center for Safe Routes to School. 2007. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies/pdfs/MA.watertown.pdf>.

22
Mari, Ryan. "Walking
Wednesdays in Watertown Massachusetts." National
Center for Safe Routes to School. 2007. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies/pdfs/MA.watertown.pdf>.

23
Mari, Ryan. "Walking
Wednesdays in Watertown Massachusetts." National
Center for Safe Routes to School. 2007. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies/pdfs/MA.watertown.pdf>.

24
Mari, Ryan. "Walking
Wednesdays in Watertown Massachusetts." National
Center for Safe Routes to School. 2007. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies/pdfs/MA.watertown.pdf>.

25
Mari, Ryan. "Walking
Wednesdays in Watertown Massachusetts." National
Center for Safe Routes to School. 2007. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies/pdfs/MA.watertown.pdf>.

26
Mari, Ryan. "Walking
Wednesdays in Watertown Massachusetts." National
Center for Safe Routes to School. 2007. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies/pdfs/MA.watertown.pdf>.

27
Mari, Ryan. "Walking
Wednesdays in Watertown Massachusetts." National
Center for Safe Routes to School. 2007. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/case_studies/pdfs/MA.watertown.pdf>.

28
"United
States Registered Participants." Who's
Walking. Jan. 2009. Safe Routes to School. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.walktoschool.org/who/index.cfm>.

29
Newton
Community Safe Routes to School, Department of Health and Human
Services, WalkBoston.Newton Green Streets Program. Brochure.
Newton: Author, 2009.

This
was obtained from Carol Bock, from PTO meeting with Jean Fulkerson,
the Newton community Safe Routes to School Coordinator, as the guest
speaker.

30
"About
Green Streets." Green
Streets Initiative: About Green Streets. Jan. 2009. Safe Routes
to School. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://www.gogreenstreets.org/>.

31
"About
Green Streets." Green
Streets Initiative: About Green Streets. Jan. 2009. Safe Routes
to School. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://www.gogreenstreets.org/>.

32
"About
Green Streets." Green
Streets Initiative: About Green Streets. Jan. 2009. Safe Routes
to School. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://www.gogreenstreets.org/>.

33
"About
Green Streets." Green
Streets Initiative: About Green Streets. Jan. 2009. Safe Routes
to School. 23 Jan. 2009 <http://www.gogreenstreets.org/>.

34
"Green
Streets Receives 2007 GoGreen Business Award." Awards
and Accomplishments. 1 Oct. 2007. The Cambridge Green Streets
Iniative. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.gogreenstreets.org/awards_and_accomplishments/>.

35
"Green
Streets Receives 2007 GoGreen Business Award." Awards
and Accomplishments. 1 Oct. 2007. The Cambridge Green Streets
Iniative. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://www.gogreenstreets.org/awards_and_accomplishments/>.

36
"Text
of President Barack Obama's inaugural address - Yahoo! News." The
top news headlines on current events from Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News.
21 Jan. 2009. 23 Jan. 2009
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_obama_text>.

On February 6, 2009, the British
Consulate in Boston celebrated its first Walk/Ride Day.  Staff was asked to walk or take public
transit to work, and strive for the most carbon-free commute and morning routine.  The Consulate’s inspiration for the event
comes from The Green Streets Initiative, a Cambridge-based environmental
organization (which is opening a chapter in West Bridgford, UK in April) that
challenges the public to use alternative transportation. Given the British
Government’s own commitment to reducing climate change, Walk/Ride day seemed
like a natural fit for the Consulate. 

The day began with staff walking or
riding public transit to the office, and filling out a checklist of carbon
emissions-reducing practices ranging from turning off the water while brushing,
to recycling and home energy audits.  At
lunch, staff gathered to sample the best that Winter New England had to offer-
quiche with organic eggs, butternut squash, bruschetta, beansprout sushi, and
fresh vegetables- proving that locally and sustainably grown food can be both
diverse and delicious!

Kevin McCarthy of Boston’s UKTI clean energy
team reviewed green practices and explained how kill-a-watts (energy-use
monitors) can help reduce the electricity bill- both at home and in the
office.  For example, the kill-a-watt
revealed that the photocopier uses 25% of its total energy consumption simply
being on standby over the weekend!  The
event culminated in recognizing the staff member with the smallest carbon
footprint, and a discussion of how to reduce unnecessary energy use in the
Consulate.  At least we can do our part
to make our street (Memorial Drive) a little greener!

To visit the
British Consulate General in Boston, go to www.ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/boston

To visit Green Streets, go to www.GoGreenStreets.org

CCTV contributor Melissa Desjardins braved the bitter cold to come out for the January 30th, Walk/Ride Day Breakfast in Harvard Square and produced a piece to air on CCTV. If you were not able to make it to the breakfast (or even if you were), check out the video here!

Green Streets Meeting Notes

January 10, 2009

Thanks to

• extremely generous donations from
  Pemberton
  Market, Iggy's
  Bakery, and and the new Zing
  Pizza for providing delicious food for the
  meeting!

• Cambridge Cohousing for opening
  your doors to Green Streets!

• generous raffle donors: Urban
  Adventours, EMS, Sam
  Davis, and Bonnie's Landscape!

• And to Nicole Rioles for these
  notes.

Attendees

Aviva ArgotePixie ChristyBob CowherdJohn CuetaraNicole RiolesHilary CelentanoLucy EdmondsonPaul ElwoodMark GottliebJames GrayTamar Haber-ShaimLauren Hefferon

Trish HoganJane IrwinJanie Katz-ChristyMolly Katz-ChristySam Katz-ChristyBruce KulikGeorge LyndeTrish MartiKatie MatthewsAlan MoorePatty NolanMadhvi PatilRob RimanLaura Smeaton

Amy TighePeter TraversyAnita Yip

Discussion

Green Streets is growing: new
activities in: West Bridgford, Nottingham, UK; Portland, ME; and in
regional cities in MA, including Stoneham and Newton. Many other
towns also quite interested.

Walk/Ride Day is growing in communities
tied to Safe Routes to School funding; Stoneham and Newton represent
2 of the 4 funded communities for this work.

Unofficially, there are members of
congress who are planning to start Walk/Ride Day participation in
Congress. Stay tuned!

Jan. 30th Walk/Ride Day celebrated in Harvard Sq. with a
hot breakfast from 7:30-9:00AM in Holyoke Center. Breakfast is
sponsored by the Harvard Sq. Small Business Association

Idea: host quarterly breakfasts that
can draw in commuters, shoppers, students into a dense square or
neighborhood hub for a nice grassroots collective. W/R participants
will feel part of an event or happening and local small business
owners can potentially glean new/future customers through the events.

Group recommended that the Jan. 30
Walk/Ride Harvard Sq breakfast be promoted through all the schools
with posters, flyers, and information. Janie promises to email flyer
and poster to the group for distribution and dissemination.

Group recommended advertising in the
Gazette and the Crimson- two locally circulated papers in Harvard Sq.

Janie showed the group the new decal
and card designs, which everyone loved. All were designed by Colin
Barr, who is fantastic to work with.

Green Streets buttons: 6 buttons have
been designed with active commuting themes. Suggestions ranged from
selling the 6 buttons as a group for $10 to selling the buttons
online through Green Streets page and/or other sites like Cafe Press
and others. They will be for sale at the January 30 breakfast.

Mayor of Cambridge has promised an
award for people who participate in all 12 Walk/Ride Days throughout
the calendar year. Any prizes are still undetermined, but the Mayor's
office has said she'd like to have a reception honoring those who do!
There was some talk about designing a t-shirts for people who
participate in all 12 Walk/Ride Days.

Pete said he could produce 15-20
posters at work that could be used/reused with the dates changed for
schools and others. He also said he would look into putting Green
Streets stuff, including pins, onto CafePress website.

George is making a game/quiz about
Cambridge's bike parking for this coming Walk/Ride Day. He made a
design for bike parking display / Ferris wheel design, that he wanted
to integrate with Walk/Ride Day. He was also in touch with architect
Keith Moskow who designed another one, estimated at $750K and remains
"theoretical." George was considering making a cardboard mock-up
of Keith's design.

George is contributing to an art show
(beginning April 9, 2009) at the City Hall Annex in Cambridge
(Broadway at Inman) George is designing a game/poster for both
events, which will look at Bike Parking.

Janie is looking for a Cambridge
coordinator to take on Green Streets Initiative work 10-15 hours per
week.

There will be bike parking events in
Davis Square in May to promote biking and Walk/Ride Day. Theme will
include prominent bike racks in key square areas, including a few on
street car park spaces.

Arlington would like to participate in
Walk/Ride Day with the schools but is facing challenges including the
fact that biking is not sanctioned by the administration and bikes
are not accommodated on school property. Arlington is looking to
built political support and goodwill towards biking.

Please
review these notes and let us know if you have anything to add or
change. Thank you.