1. Make sure your voice is heard! We need policies and incentives for reducing carbon and protecting the environment.
- Reach out to your local Select Board and Town Meeting Members to let them know you want clean energy and environmentally friendly bylaws.
- Email or call your State Legislators and U.S. Representative and Senators to ask them to take action on behalf of the environment.
- Sample letters are available from:
- Tell the Governor that reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment is a top priority.
- Vote, and encourage others to vote, for the environment:
- Environmental Voter Project
- League of Conservation Voters
- Reach out to friends in red or “battleground” states before November.
2. Choose cleaner electricity
Lexington residents are fortunate to live in a town that has chosen to group together to purchase renewable energy for our electricity at less than the cost of Eversource basic electricity. We are all automatically enrolled. In addition, there are even greener options available through Lexington’s Community Choice Program.
3. Capture the power of the sun: solar electricity, battery storage and solar hot water.
4. Drive electric vehicles; save with rebates and tax credits.
5. Choose public transportation, walk or ride a bike!
6. Get a Home Energy Audit.
Earn credits for insulation, receive free LED lightbulbs, save on energy strips and programmable thermostats.
7. Use electric heating/cooling with energy-efficient heat pumps.
8. Use less water.
9. Wash clothes in cold water and line dry when feasible.
10. Choose to eat less meat and dairy.
- David Suzuki Foundation: Food and Climate Change
- The New York Times: “The Meat-Lover’s Guide to Eating Less Meat”
- The New York Times: “Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered”
- Project Drawdown: Eating a plant-rich diet is ranked #4 on Project Drawdown’s list of the top 100 solutions to global warming.
11. Reduce food waste.
- Project Drawdown: Reduced food waste is ranked #3 on Project Drawdown’s list of the top 100 solutions to global warming.
- EPA: “Reducing Wasted Food At Home”
- Too Good To Go: Food Waste Knowledge Hub
12. Buy local food grown using organic/regenerative principals.
13. Compost your food waste!
- BlackEarth Compost
- Other composting tips from Lexington’s Environmental Services
14. Protect trees; plant native species.
15. Green your yard and garden.
- LexGWAC: “Planting New Ideas”
- Plant an organically managed vegetable garden and grow some of your own food.
- Plant pollinator-friendly native flowers, bushes and trees in your yard.
- Manage the grass you keep with all-natural solutions for fertilizing and, when needed, pest management.
- Avoid use of pesticides/herbicides that are dangerous to our health and to the health of pollinators.
16. Reduce overall consumption: buy less, buy local and enjoy more.
17. Use less plastic and learn to recycle the right way.
18. Ask companies to manufacture responsibly:
Use less plastic, build with a circular economy in mind and reduce their carbon footprint.