To ensure the Town continues towards sustainability as a Green Community, a number of residents created the Sustainable Weston Action Group (SWAG), dedicated to achieving a sustainable, healthy Town of Weston. SWAG seeks to amplify discussion and inspire effective action on sustainability issues through awareness, education, and community-based pragmatic action. Its website can be found at www.SustainableWestonMA.org
Sustainability in Weston
Representatives from SWAG were invited to present to the Select Board, who expressed an interest in seeing a comparative analysis across sustainability issues between Weston and neighboring towns, as well as suggestions for any steps Weston should take.
The presentation from the April 3, 2018 meeting sets out an overview of Weston’s sustainability status, progress, and governance, as compared to a diverse group of MetroWest communities, and identifies a path toward a more sustainable future for our town.
One of the requests made by SWAG representation was for the Select Board to form the Sustainability Committee to carry the mission of developing a more sustainable Weston.
Gas Infrastructure Audit
To advance the goal of reducing the town’s carbon footprint, members of SWAG presented to the Select Board an opportunity to identify all natural gas leaks in town. Natural gas leaks are an environmental and health hazard and SWAG members wanted to take advantage of recent state legislature to get the high number of leaks in town repaired faster.
A two-phased study was conducted. The background and final report can be found under the Town Projects section of the website.