Our Past Projects & Advocacy Efforts
Urban Forest Master Plan
The result of a community effort beginning in 2017, the Urban Forest Master Plan is a framework designed to maintain and expand Cambridge’s urban canopy. The plan outlines the benefits of urban tree coverage in areas of energy efficiency, cleaner air and water, improved quality of life, and many more. Canopy distribution is mapped across the city revealing which neighborhoods need the greatest increase in urban tree cover while analyzing how equity plays a role in the historical placement of plantings. The urban forest master plan helps residents understand our current predicament and how we got here while setting goals for the future of Cambridge.
Cambridge Food Action Plan
2022
The Cambridge Food Action Plan assesses a range of features and efforts of the Cambridge food system and identifies how work might advance healthy and more equitable food systems. It covers the neighborhood food environment, the emergency food system, food programs for youth and those for older adults. Working with the Cambridge Department of Public Health, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and many other stakeholders, Green Cambridge helped shape a path forward toward a more sustainable food system for our community!
Memorial Drive Alliance
2019-2022
Green Cambridge partnered with this diverse group of individuals and community organizations working to improve the Memorial Drive parkway. The Memorial drive alliance represents people of all ages who care deeply about the natural beauty and health of the Charles River and the ability of people to walk, run, and ride bicycles along Memorial Drive safely. We have a shared goal of making the Memorial Drive Parkway a beautiful, safe, vibrant, and climate resilient green corridor for all, for many generations to come.
In 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the agency that manages the Memorial Drive Parkway, initiated a “Phase III” planning process for Memorial Drive. Public outreach efforts came to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our growing coalition is now urging DCR to resume the community process, and encouraging the City of Cambridge and the State of Massachusetts to take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve Memorial Drive.
Our Two Asks:
Replace two motor vehicle travel lanes on Memorial Drive with protected multi-use paths along the full length of Memorial Drive.
This will allow sidewalks on both sides of Memorial Drive to be designated for pedestrian use only. Those paths should be widened and repaved so that they are safe and comfortable.
Plant new trees wherever there are gaps and restore the iconic "sycamore allée".
New landscape design and construction should maximize canopy cover to shade walkways and bicycle lanes. A comprehensive landscape plan should include protection and ongoing care for existing trees, establish numerous additional tree plantings that are carefully selected and maintained and provide for optimal soil conditions throughout the length of Memorial Drive.
Tree Canopy Project
2016 - 2018
Using Google Maps and satellite imagery the Tree Canopy Project measures Cambridge’s tree canopy health. With this Data, we can better inform development projects around the city as well as Cambridge’s goals for Tree Coverage! This effort aided in the creation of the Urban Forest Master Plan.
Open Space Report
2015
Open space per capita in Cambridge is shrinking as our population grows and development does not include enough addition of open space. Green Cambridge has prepared a brief, detailed report that compares our open space to other cities here. If you are concerned about preserving and increasing open space in the city, join us in advocating to the City during the Open Space and Recreation Plan process currently underway!
Solar Power in Cambridge
2016-2018
Through a partnership with Sunbug and Neighborhood Solar, Green Cambridge went door-to-door to promote solar panel installations for residents throughout the city. Through a group purchase agreement, we helped triple the average total kilowatt installed between 2016 and 2018. Due partly to this success, the city integrated solar into their climate work., and now offers two programs: Solar Assistance and Electrify Cambridge.
Rain Barrel Installations
2014-2017
Green Cambridge, in partnership with Cambridge Department of Public Works, helped to install 161 60-gallon rain barrels throughout the city, reducing demand on our stormwater system. These barrels harvested rainwater so that residents could reuse the water in their landscaping and to water street trees near their property to assist in the long-term survival and health of our urban canopy.
Banning Plastic Bags
2014-2016
Green Cambridge has supported a ban on plastic bags since its inception, and worked directly with the city council to ensure that banning plastic bags would not result in increased consumption of paper bags. Although paper bags can be recycled, and theoretically can be manufactured in a sustainable manner, the increased weight and volume of paper bags causes additional greenhouse gas emissions during transport and manufacture of the bags that make them a worse alternative.
The “bring your own bag ordinance” therefore bans the thin plastic bags currently used and imposes a mandatory fee on any bags distributed at the point of sale, as a direct result of our advocacy. The fees are kept by the merchant and serve as a simple deterrent to shoppers requesting paper or thicker plastic bags.
The correct alternative to distributing free plastic bags is the widespread use of reusable shopping bags, which are now cheaply available. Green Cambridge is actively working to promote adoption of reusable shopping bags, including free shopping bag repair by board member Susan Ringler.
On May 30, 2015, Cambridge City Council adopted the Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance, with the ban on distributing plastic bags and the mandatory collection of fees for paper bags taking effect on March 31st, 2016.
Advocating for Net Zero Buildings
2013-2015
Starting with our annual meeting in 2013, Green Cambridge advocated for net-zero fossil fuel energy buildings by introducing a zoning petition.
As a result of community advocacy, in 2013 the city of Cambridge created the “Getting to Net Zero Task Force” to guide the city towards carbon neutrality by 2050. The Net Zero Action plan is the result of the Task Force’s efforts and was adopted by the City Council in July 2015. The plan includes detailed strategies to address greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment, energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy generation, and climate change education. Cambridge’s progress to meet these goals is measured by continuously monitoring greenhouse gas emission reductions in the City’s architecture, allowing us to adapt and plan for the future ahead. In 2020, the city conducted a 5-year review of the Net Zero Action Plan led by a new Net Zero Taskforce to address the progress made since 2015 and the further revisions that still need to be made.
Puppetry Project
2012-2018
The Cambridge Wildlife Puppetry Project (CWPP) connects people of all ages to the urban wildlife and habitats of Cambridge. Through participatory experiences in parades, puppetry, and other visual and performing arts. Learn about them here!
Our artistic collaborators have included the Puppeteer’s Cooperative, Cambridge sculptor Michelle Lougee, Puppeteer Deborah Costine, Puppet Showplace Theater, and the Beautiful Stuff Project. Community partners have included the Cambridge Center for Families, the Martin Luther King Jr. Community School, Tobin Community School, Cambridge Camping Association, Magazine Beach Partners and the Pathways for Family Success program. We have received three Cambridge Arts Council/Massachusetts Cultural Council grants.
