RECORDING: Garden for Climate Resilience (Watch Anytime!)
2025-09-30 04:20 - 16:22 (America/New_York)
“A Part of Nature, Not Apart from Nature” Trevor Smith, Regenrative Land Expert
See Recording HERE.
From drought to overwhelming rain, the last two years have been tough on the New England region. Though we have not been hit as hard as some parts of the country and of the globe, the reality of our changing climate is evident in our own gardens and open spaces. Is there anything we can do to keep our home and local landscapes healthy and thriving? The answer is YES!
Join Trevor Smith for this talk about how to garden and manage landscapes for resilience. Trevor is the Design and Education Manager for Weston Nurseries, but he also has long experience in regenerative land care, from addressing urban heat islands with greening projects to designing rain gardens and managing stormwater runoff. A part of Trevor’s presentation will look at the key element of water extremes, i.e., what can we do about too much or too little rain? In addition, Trevor will address the living systems in our yards. How can we keep soils intact and vigorous? What plant species are most adaptable? And which species are key for maintaining the biodiversity on which our land depends?
Trevor’s joy in the natural world is as deep as his commitment to ecological principles. Please bring your questions as he shares his hope for gardeners in a warming world.
This event happened at the Acton Town Hall, 472 Main St., Acton, MA, Room 204, on Wed., April 24th at 7pm. EnergizeActon.org thanks our co-sponsors—the Acton Conservation Trust and the Acton Garden Club Shirley Towle Lecture Fund—for their generosity and their vision.
EnergizeActon.org is a joint project of the Town of Acton Sustainability Office and the Acton Climate Coalition.
We meet the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month. Interested in volunteering? Contact us HERE.

October Clean Energy Home Tour
2025-10-25 11:00 - 14:00 | North Acton neighborhood, Address sent upon registration., Acton, Massachusetts, US
Tour the Clean Energy Home of the Month
October Focus: Heat Pumps/Gas/Solar Multi-System House
Register HERE.

Concerned about the fossil fuels that heat your home? But not be sure how to incorporate unfamiliar renewable technologies? This month’s clean energy home is a great example of homeowners who have decided to address change one step at a time. They began by reviewing their home energy efficiency and doing a thorough project of insulation–with immediate results. Then, rather than redo their entire gas system, they decided the first step was a dual fuel combo of air source heat pump and natural gas furnace. Finally, a change in their tree canopy opened up space for their latest project, rooftop solar. Their experience has been so positive that one of the homeowners has become an Acton Clean Energy Coach!
Very few households have the resources to decarbonize their homes in one fell swoop. Come and talk with these Acton neighbors about creating a multi-year plan for transitioning to clean energy. Forward motion is the key. Perhaps year one is the affordable goal of an in-depth home energy audit and using the clothes dryer less in favor on drying racks. Year two might be another affordable goal of home insulation with great rebates from Mass Save. And so on, planning toward significant change. This home tour will give you good ideas about systems big and small, timeframes, and costs.
Register HERE.
The October Clean Energy Home’s Technologies

Mass Save Insulation Program
Ducted Bosch heat- pump and high efficiency gas furnace combo
Solar panels with majority of panels facing west due to trees on south side
Eco power lawn mower and leaf blower

When: Saturday, October 25, 11am and 1pm
Where: North Acton
There will be two 1-hour sessions to see the house at 11am and 1pm.
After registration you will receive an email with the house address and specific information about parking, etc.
Pumpkin give-away to celebrate the season! Along with cider, coffee, and munchies.

EnergizeActon.org is a joint effort of the Acton Climate Coalition and the Town of Acton Sustainability Office.
Interested in lending a skill? Contact us HERE. We meet the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.

Discover STEM
2025-11-07 18:00 - 20:30 | Acton Boxborough Regional High School, 36 Charter Rd, Acton, Massachusetts, US
Energize Acton Demos Energy Efficiency Technology

Join AB STEAM for the DiscoverSTEM 2025 event, exploring science, technology, engineering, and math career options. DiscoverSTEM is set up like a trade show where local STEM companies exhibit the latest technologies for students in grades 7 through 12 and for the community. Exhibitors are representatives from diverse fields who showcase about their products, services, ideas, and inventions and share the real-world usage of STEM.
EnergizeActon.org will be one of the exhibitors, highlighting the tools used to increase home energy efficiency, such as infrared cameras to pinpoint heating/cooling gaps in home/building envelopes.
DiscoverSTEM 2025 is sponsored by AB STEAM (Acton Boxborough Science/Technology/Engineering/Art/Math). AB STEAM is a non-profit community organization dedicated to 1) providing family-oriented math, science and art activities and events; 2) collaborating with parents, students, schools, community leaders and business partners; and 3) promoting resources that enrich Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) education in our community.

RECORDING -- The Trees Are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests
2025-12-31 00:05 - 23:55
The Trees Are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests
SEE THE RECORDING HERE.

“What we’re really talking about when we talk about forests isn’t only about the trees, and it certainly isn’t only about the lumber; it’s about the relationships.” Lynda V. Mapes

Registration for this event has closed, however we are pleased to provide the recording HERE.
Unfortunately, we have only the author’s slides and audio. Her initial slide is up for quite some time, which might seem like an error, but please presevere! Lynda’s talk is wonderful! And varied slides do come up.

This work focuses on the critical role of forests everywhere, but especially on both coasts of the U.S., and on the role of indigenous voices in advocating for ecosystem integrity.
Do you look at your own yard and see stressed trees? Spruces dying back? Fir trees struggling? The heart-wrenching loss of beautiful beeches to beech leaf disease? What is the connection between our local trees and the health of our forests? Increasingly, we recognize the importance of forests for key ecological functions, such as clean air, clean water, important pollinator/wildlife populations, carbon storage, and a balanced climate. So how are our forests doing? And how can we advocate for trees, near and far?
Lynda V. Mapes, award-winning environmental journalist for the Seattle Times, was inspired to write The Trees Are Speaking after exploring the richness of old growth forests in the Northwest U.S. and Canada. But she also came face to face with the widespread destruction of these forests. Mapes writes, “The book therefore became a witness not only to the incredible ecological and cultural values of these forests but to the connected history of their loss, beginning on the East Coast in Maine and repeated across the United States and continuing over the border into Canada, even today.”
But not all is gloom. Mapes also outlines the resilience of nature, the insights and perseverance of First Nations people who have raised their voices to protect and renew ecosystems, understandings of our inter-relatedness uncovered by scientists, and even new approaches to commercial forestry.
Please join us.

This talk is co-sponsored by the Acton Conservation Trust, the Acton Garden Club Shirley Towle Lecture Fund, the Silver Unicorn Bookstore, and EnergizeActon.org.

EnergizeActon.org is a joint effort of the Acton Climate Coalition and the Town of Acton Sustainability Office. Interested in lending a skill? Contact us HERE. We meet the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.
