Over the last few years, the push to get food waste out of landfills and incinerators has become the new kale. Or cupcakes. Or bone broth. You get the picture. And rightfully so! As a nation, we waste a staggering amount of food every year: about 40 percent of what we produce. That’s more than…
2019
2019
Redesigning the Way We Shop
The owner of a new, low-waste, personal and home care store in Cambridge, MA, Sarah Levy has re-envisioned the way we shop while helping our community to reduce its waste. For as long as I can remember, I’ve tried to use resources efficiently (i.e., not waste stuff), which is likely a result of growing up…
2019
A Roadmap for Combatting Climate Change
(This article originally appeared in Commonwealth Magazine.)
2019
Our Recycling System is Broken
Our recycling system is in a crisis. Up until last year, recyclables collected for the U.S. were shipped to China for processing. But then, China stopped accepting our recycling, setting off a chain reaction of problems. In New England and across the country, the cost of recycling for towns and cities is skyrocketing, forcing local…
2019
Municipal Solid Waste: What is It and Why is It a Problem?
Think for a moment about the trash you produce every day, either directly or indirectly. First, there’s what you throw out at your home or your job; then there’s the trash that restaurants, laundromats, doctors’ offices, and other businesses you frequent throw out after you leave. Next, add the waste from the farms that produce…
2019
Latest Trump Administration Rollback Threatens Environmental Justice
The Trump administration government is rolling back a key way to prove discrimination in court, but a set of bills in Massachusetts would make sure those protections remain at the state level. The bills would provide legal safeguards for communities of color and refugee and immigrant communities to ensure that policies addressing the intense heat, dangerous flooding, and extreme weather events of climate change do not discriminate.
2019
Revived Bill Threatens Waterfront Public Access in Massachusetts
Last year, you took action to oppose a proposed bill that would have threatened public access to Boston’s waterfront and set a dangerous precedent for waterfront areas statewide. That bill died in the legislature last session but has since been revived and is up for debate by a key legislative committee next week. So now…
2019
Is Massachusetts Opening the Door to Dirty Energy?
Biomass developers are pushing for state policy changes that would allow their plants to emit more air pollution, underreport their climate impacts, and take families’ and businesses’ money while harming the health of our communities. CLF is joining Springfield residents and other local groups in fighting back.
2019
Rhode Island Communities Step Up to Stop Plastic Pollution
With action to stem plastic pollution stalled at the state level, communities across the Ocean State continue to pick up the slack and take on this important work.
2019
A North Atlantic Right Whale Family Tree
This summer, 10 right whales died, including Wolverine, the great-grandson of famous right whale matriarch Kleenex. Each whale death this year means families lost mothers, fathers, siblings, and grandchildren — a family tree that’s losing branches. Calving mothers like Kleenex are crucial to the right whales’ survival.