Making changes to our businesses and homes can save energy and money. Check out these resources for clean energy, building efficiency, and electrification information:

• Electrify Arlington: join the movement to transition Arlington’s buildings to clean electricity, featuring resources for residents and businesses.
• Arlington Community Electricity (ACE): Want to support clean energy? ACE is a program offered by the Town to provide more electricity supply options and more renewable energy to residents and businesses than what is required by the State.
• Check out clean energy resources and rebates!
  • MassSave: An initiative sponsored by Massachusetts utilities to provide energy efficiency opportunities and savings to ratepayers.
  • Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (CEC): Resources to make the clean energy transition.
    • Find an installer using the MassCEC Find a Clean Energy Professional search tool.
• Solar electricity resources for residents and for businesses.

Improve the quality of life in Arlington for plants, animals, and people alike—no experience needed! Taking care of our ecosystems beautifies homes, neighborhoods, and businesses while enhancing habitat, ecological integrity, and climate resilience.

• Arlington Garden Club: A group of Arlington gardeners interested in conserving natural resources and the environment through educational programs and public works.
• Arlington Land Trust: Local nonprofit with a mission to permanently protect open spaces in Arlington and Massachusetts.
• Conservation Land Stewards: A Town-organized group of resident volunteers who take an active role in the protection of public land through litter clean-ups and ecological restoration work.
• Friends of Spy Pond Park (FSPP): Local nonprofit that supports the preservation, enhancement, and enjoyment of Spy Pond Park and Spy Pond.
• Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways: A coalition of gardeners and native plant and pollinator enthusiasts who have come together to promote nature-based solutions for the environment.
• Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA): MyRWA’s vision is a vibrant, healthy and resilient Mystic River watershed for the benefit of all our community members. Help protect water quality, restore important habitat, build climate resilience, transform parks and paths, and inspire youth and community members.
• Native Plant Trust:  The nation’s first plant conservation organization and the only one solely focused on New England’s native plants. 
• Save the Alewife Brook: A grassroots group working to address flooding and water quality problems in the Alewife Brook, particularly around the discharge of sewage water into the brook.
• Stormwater Awareness Series: An archive of the Town of Arlington Engineering Division’s presentations to educate businesses and residents about the impacts of stormwater runoff, including water quality, flood control and prevention, and erosion.

Scientists predict that climate change will make existing storms and temperature swings even more extreme in coming years. Learn what to do leading up to and in the event of an extreme weather event.

• Fact sheet on extreme weather response: Handout that describes ways community members can prepare for and respond to extreme weather events, including heat, cold, and flooding. 
• Mass.gov: Storm preparedness and emergency response resources from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
• Ready.gov: U.S. government website with resources to prepare for severe weather.

How we get around can make a big difference for the climate. Try taking fewer trips in your car by walking, biking, or taking public transportation.

Biking:

• BLUEbikes Bike Share: Rent a bike that you can pick up and drop off at convenient locations around Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville, Boston, and several other communities in the greater Boston region.
• MassBike: Check out educational resources, bike laws, and opportunities to get involved. 
• Arlington Community Education: Sign up for classes on bike safety, skills, and repair.
• Minuteman Bikeway: Check out the central website for this multi-use path that connects communities in the region. 
• Traffic Safety while Biking from Arlington Police Department: Read up on safety tips and learn about laws that apply while you’re biking around town.
• Arlington Bicycle Parking Guidelines: Learn more about Arlington’s bicycle parking requirements and how they apply around town.   

Transit:

• Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA): There are several options for public transportation here in Arlington. Look up schedules for the following nearby rail and bus lines:
  • MBTA Subway Lines: Red Line (Alewife Station)
  • Bus Lines: 67, 77, 350, 80, 95

Electric vehicles (EVs):

• EV Resources: An introduction to EV basics, available rebates, and how to go about purchasing/leasing an EV from Green Energy Consumers Alliance.
• PlugShare: A map of all electric vehicle charging stations in Arlington.

By using and reusing valuable resources more wisely, you can help prevent pollution and waste, and even save some money along the way!

• Food Scrap Diversion programs: Help divert the heaviest 30% of Arlington’s trash.
• Reuse & Recycling Center: There’s a lot of swapping, donating, fixing, and giving away going on in Town! Drop off harder-to-recycle materials such as electronics and scrap metal. Weekday and weekend appointments available, plus special events for secure document shredding, bike donations, and medical sharps collection.
• Swap Shed: Arlington’s newest waste diversion activity for exchanging items like books, kitchenware, tools, and other select items.
• Household Hazardous Waste: Help keep hazardous materials out of our environment and away from your family. Eight drop off events annually, free to Arlington residents, registration required.

Are you a student or parent of a student in the Arlington Public Schools? Check out all the great work happening already and get involved:

• Arlington Green Teams: Student-led groups that participate in sustainability activities and education at the Arlington Public Schools.
• Arlington High School Building Project: The Town’s new high school building has many notable sustainability components that will reduce energy usage and costs over time, including all-electric heating and rooftop solar power with onsite battery storage.
• Climate Futures Arlington: A collaborative art project that helps to educate people on how climate change will affect them personally by looking at future, climate-related challenges and achievements.
• Public Schools Sustainability Programs Webpage: The Town’s central hub for information on sustainability initiatives in the Arlington Public Schools, including textile recycling, composting, and green teams.

Attend Town Board, Committee, Commission or Community Meetings

There are lots of folks in town who are working on sustainability! Get more involved in our community by participating in a public meeting of one of the following groups:

• Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee (ABAC): A Town committee that promotes all forms of safe bicycling on town roadways and the Minuteman Bikeway. 
• Clean Energy Future Committee (CEFC): A Town committee tasked with guiding Arlington to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
• Conservation Commission: A Town commission that protects and manages Arlington’s wetlands and conservation land.
• Gas Leaks Task Force: A task force established by the Town Manager to evaluate the impact of gas leaks on street trees.
• Mothers Out Front Arlington: Local volunteers who have supported efforts such as the Arlington Community Electricity opt-up and HeatSmart campaigns. 
• Open Space Committee: A volunteer committee responsible for preparing and monitoring the Town’s Open Space and Recreation Plan.
• Public Land Management Plan Working Group: A Town working group tasked with developing a management plan for all open space, recreational land, and other natural resources. 
• Reservoir Committee: A working group of the Envision Arlington Environmental Task Group working to help sustain the Arlington Reservoir and surrounding recreational area.
• Spy Pond Committee: A working group of the Envision Arlington Environmental Task Group charged with addressing and helping to solve the problems and challenges faced by Spy Pond.
• Sustainable Arlington: A task group of Envision Arlington dedicated to acting on a local level to achieve climate stabilization and other important environmental goals.
• Transportation Advisory Committee: A Town committee that develops more sustainable solutions to parking, traffic and transportation challenges in Arlington. 
• Tree Committee: A Town committee whose mission is to promote the protection, planting, and care of trees in Arlington and support Arlington's Tree Division.
• Zero Waste Arlington: A Town committee that works to help the Town reduce generation of waste overall, while increasing the options for, and quality of, recycling.