Our Climate Team works to energize people to learn about and protect our environment in a multiplicity of innovative ways. We educate ourselves and reach out to our communities concerning local threats to ecosystems, facilitate the planting of native trees and bushes to cool and guard our environs against flooding, and sponsor celebrations of nature along with film and book discussions on environmental concerns in community centers around our area. If you have questions or ideas to share with us, or if you would like to join our team please reach out to us at climate@grassrootscentralmass.org.
Highlighting Our Accomplishments
Raising awareness about climate change and its impacts has been central to the work of our Climate Team since the founding of our group in 2019. In January of 2020 we brought people together for a fun evening at a local restaurant to brainstorm ways to address climate concerns in our local area. This Climate Change Café gathering was a great success and all sorts of excellent ideas were generated on ways to address issues such as reducing food waste, creating walkable towns, limiting the use of plastic, and advocating for more solar energy and electric car charging stations in our region.
Not long after, in April of 2020, we held our first in a series of events celebrating nature. The first one was virtual due to the Covid pandemic, but despite the challenges, it too was a success. Several members of the Climate Team planted trees around their homes and sent videos of the plantings for all to enjoy. We also shared music, poetry, and informational programming online as part of our first celebration of nature. The tradition of planting trees and honoring our earth has continued every year since through our Trees are Treasures events. Check out the post Hooray for our 6th Annual Trees are Treasures Celebration for lots of photos and descriptions of the great activities associated with this fun and family friendly day.
Another initiative, in keeping with our belief that educating people about important environmental issues is an effective way to promote positive change, was our Library Book Gifting project. We collected donations in order to purchase climate-oriented books to give to local libraries throughout our region. Librarians were excited to receive books on the environment for children, teens, and adults. This was a rewarding project for both Grassroots Central Mass and the libraries receiving the books. For more information on this project and lovely photos, visit the article Gifting Books to Local Libraries.
Looking Forward
Along with continuing our Trees are Treasures tradition, we are currently involved in sponsoring a series of films, to be shown in local libraries, highlighting both the fragility and resilience of our incredible planet and what we can do to keep it healthy. The formation of a book club is also a part of our planning. In addition, we continue to advocate for the protection of our earth by partnering with other environmental groups, supporting important climate related legislation on both the state and federal levels, and following developments, such as plans to build massive battery storage facilities in our rural towns.
Please join us and send your ideas and questions to us at climate@grassrootscentralmass.org
Online Climate Change Resources and Ideas for Action
Public Opinion Surveys
How worried is the public about climate change? Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2024. Yale University 2024 https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us/
How Americans View Climate Change and Policies to Address the Issue. Pew Research Center 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2024/12/09/how-americans-view-climate-change-and-policies-to-address-the-issue/
The world’s largest survey on climate change is out – here’s what the results show. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2024. https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/worlds-largest-survey-climate-change-out-heres-what-results-show
Climate Change in the American Mind. Yale University, 2025. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-politics-policy-spring-2025/
Is the Global Workforce Ready for the Energy Transition. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2024. https://www.csis.org/analysis/global-workforce-ready-energy-transition
Education and Individual How-To
Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Help Protect the Earth. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2024. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ocean/earthday.html
What can you do about climate change? United States Environmental Protection Agency 2025. https://www.epa.gov/climate-change/what-you-can-do-about-climate-change
Climate Teaching Materials and Climate Change Lesson Plans. OER Project (Open Educational Resources) 2025. https://www.oerproject.com/
Interactive features, educational games from NASA, Global Climate Change, 2025. https://climatekids.nasa.gov/
Talking to kids about climate. Natural Resources Defense Council, Dec 2019.
How to reduce your transportation footprint. (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions). https://www.c2es.org/content/reducing-your-transportation-footprint/
How to reduce air pollution. US Environmental Protection Agency, Oct 2024. https://www.epa.gov/AQNE/actions-you-can-take-reduce-air-pollution
How to cope with climate anxiety. New Scientist, Oct 2019. Eight tips for managing eco-anxiety
Global Climate
Timeline of climate change. American Institute of Physics, Apr 2025
Facts about climate change. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, Feb 2021
Myths about climate change. United Nations Environment Programme, June 2024. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/debunking-eight-common-myths-about-climate-change
Comprehensive assessment of climate change risks and impacts. United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 6th Report, 2023. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/
Viable climate solutions. Project Drawdown, 2025. https://drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions
Fossil Fuels
Global Warming – So What? A Library about Climate Change by GCM member and climate scientist Gene Fry
Banking on Climate Chaos: Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2024. Indigenous Environmental Network, 2024. https://www.ienearth.org/banking-on-climate-chaos/#
Fact Sheet: Climate, Environmental and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels (2021). Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2021 https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-environmental-and-health-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-2021
IMF Fossil Fuel Subsidies Data: 2023 Update. International Monetary Fund, 2023. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/08/22/IMF-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Data-2023-Update-537281
Recycling
50+ Interesting Recycling Facts and Statistics. Roma Dhanani, The Sustainable Agency, 2024. https://thesustainableagency.com/blog/recycling-facts-and-statistics/
Can the broken US glass recycling system be fixed? American Ceramics Society 2024. https://ceramics.org/ceramic-tech-today/can-the-broken-us-glass-recycling-system-be-fixed
US Plastic Recycling Economy. National Institute of Standards and Technology 2024. https://www.nist.gov/el/applied-economics-office/manufacturing/circular-economy/plastic-recycling
What Paper Products are Recyclable? American Forest and Paper Association, 2025. https://www.afandpa.org/priorities/recycling/whats-recyclable
Inspirational Climate Leaders
Laurene Allen, U.S. (New Hampshire), (Goldman Environmental Institute)
Al Gore, U.S. (Wikipedia)
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Chad (Wikipedia)
Vanessa Nakate, Uganda (Wikipedia)
Dr. Vandana Shiva, India. Navdanya, Earth Democracy
Greta Thunberg, Sweden (Wikipedia)
Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti Kenya (Wikipedia)
Summary of Grassroots Central Mass Climate Change Café, Jan 22, 2020