So Much You Can Do | Sustainable Wellesle

What To Do?

Wondering what you can do to help the planet and support Wellesley's emissions reduction goals?
Small actions can offer a big impact!
Individual Actions Count!

Live Lighter

Buildings (homes, apartments, offices) are responsible for more than 56% of greenhouse gas emissions. Here are ways to reduce your impact and bills:

Schedule a no-cost energy audit here or here to identify energy saving opportunities in your home

Insulate to optimize comfort.

Electrify. Shift away from gas towards clean electricity for heating, cooking, and driving.

Heat & cool smarter with air source heat pumps. Replace air conditioners and/or furnace to increase home resale value, eliminate inefficient A/C units, improve air quality & comfort. Here are incentives.

Consider solar. Get an estimate from a solar installer for your home.

Switch to “off”/unplug. Idle appliances and lights use approximately ¼ of your energy.

Wash dishes & clothes in full loads. Line dry and wash clothes on cold to reduce water and energy usage.

Replace light bulbs with long-lasting LED bulbs. Pro tip: look for bulbs that say 2700K for a warm glow.

Set the thermostat to 68° by day and lower when you sleep.

Set water heater to 120°. Save your plumbing & pocketbook (6-10%/year).

Build better. Consider efficient, healthy, and sustainable building methods and materials.

Use energy efficient appliances.

Enjoy More

Renew your wardrobe. Shop secondhand; borrow from a friend as the fashion industry accounts for about 10% of all carbon emissions.

Eat well. Local produce is fresh, tasty and cuts down on transport costs. Eat meat-free once a week to conserve water, land resources and reduce methane.

Reduce food waste. Be creative, plan, share, compost; don’t trash 250 lbs. per year

Create Black Gold. Compost in your yard or bring food and yard waste to RDF

Get outdoors. Bird watch, hike, garden, canoe, bike, play, identify mushrooms, admire native plants, insects and trees.

Gift and share. Offer gently used items or get some from neighbors or on Facebook (“Buy Nothing Wellesley” and “Wellesley Give & Take”), at RDF, etc.

Theme events. Host a climate related book club, dinner party, or movie night.

Travel Smarter

Drive less. Take the train, bus, bike, walk, carpool or telecommute. Forego one trip a week, or a day, to take on the US’s largest source of carbon emissions

Go electric. The wait for affordable options is over and the amount of charging opportunities are growing. Look at state and federal incentives to save.

Inflate your tires. EPA says driving 12k miles on under-inflated tires uses about 144 extra gallons of gas ($300-500), + 20 lbs. of carbon per gallon of gas.

Fly less. Train/drive to your vacation spot. Try video chats for work meetings.

Spend Wiser

Bank your values. Switch from banks that support fossil fuel expansion to those that share similar values. Try local banks or credit unions.

Invest wisely. Look into Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) or Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) options

Reduce consumption of single-use plastics. Use reusable cutlery, straws, beverage containers (water/coffee), and bags.

Just buy less. Watch The Story of Stuff and learn why consumption-based emissions are a burden to the environment.

Stop paying for trash pickup. Recycle at our world-renowned RDF. Recycling revenues go to the Town General Fund.

Landscape and Garden Greener

Choose native plants. Add indigenous species, beneficial to bees, useful insects and birds, to your garden.

Swear off pesticides. Hazardous to pets, children, bees, birds and more, chemical pesticides also wash into the town water supply.

Grow your own. Fun, educational, rewarding and delicious. Share surplus veggies, fruits and herbs with friends, neighbors and food pantry.

Go quiet. Use gentler, electric lawn care equipment to eliminate fumes, ear-splitting noise.

Share More

Join in. Get Sustainable Wellesley‘s newsletter, follow on social media, go to an event, or volunteer.

Talk it up. Tell friends, family and neighbors about your efforts, about Wellesley’s Climate Action Plan and what Sustainable Wellesley is up to.

Talk to your elected representatives. Write to your Town, State and Federal leaders to encourage legislation that will help our planet.