Green Streets Initiative

Whole Foods Teams Up for a May Sweepstakes!

All three Cambridge Whole Foods locations teamed up with Green Streets for a May Walk/Ride Day Sweepstakes. Any Walk/Ride Day participant that visited the store on May's Walk/Ride Day could enter a raffled for a reusable shopping bag filled with eco-friendly cleaning products. The bag and it's contents were valued at $50. Whole Foods made some wonderful displays to help spread the word. We hope we can look forward to other Walk/Ride Day specials from Whole Foods! 

May 2008 Newsletter

Click here for the May 2008 Newsletter!

Green Streets Director Featured on BostonMamas.com

Green Streets Director, Janie Katz-Christy, is currently being featured on BostonMamas.com as part of the "Boston Mamas Rock!" series. You can see the entire story by clicking here but some highlights are pasted below. Make sure to read the whole thing - you may learn some interesting things about Janie!

Boston Mamas: Tell us a little bit about yourself Janie. Have you always been a green advocate? Did you have an alternate path before launching Green Streets Initiative? Or is this a side venture in addition to parenting and other pursuits?

Janie: I've been interested in bicycling since I was a teenager, after my mother (a New Jersey mama!) encouraged me to go on a six-week bike trip throughout New England when I was 13. I then did the same kind of hostelling trip in France and Switzerland at 15, and loved traveling by bike. In college in Ann Arbor, MI, it was a convenient and fun way to get around. Luckily, when I met my husband, Sam Christy, we discovered that we both loved biking as a form of everyday transportation as well as travel. When we had our second child, we had the tricycle pictured below built. I had found it frustrating that I was driving to take them to their exercise classes! The trike has been through many incarnations, from carrying a newborn in a click-in baby seat to having each of the kids on the trailer bike on back, to now being used for gardening. We've had it now for about 8 years, and it’s now our “car” since we gave up our one car last fall. And I should say that although I felt a bit deprived at first – ironically I was the holdout in our family – it’s been very liberating to be car-free.

Boston Mamas: What's your favorite thing about being a Boston mama?

Janie: Boston is a wonderful city to live in. I love it every time I cross or go along the Charles River, I love that rural areas like Lincoln and Concord are so nearby - and MBTA accessible! I love the mass transit options here, and I love that it feels like a big small town.

Unlike bicycling where, as long as there is a road you can ride, pedestrian safety is reliant on sidewalks. If you know of or live in an area that does not have adequate sidewalks and ramps, you can contact your city counselor or alderman and let them know. Or you can go to the city planning/development office and offer your suggestions.

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To read the full article, click here!

Medford's Mayor McGlynn Participates In May Walk/Ride Day

Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn took part in May's Walk/Ride Day by walking to work.  He then attended the River Day celebration at the Andrews Middle School. Many organizations led activities. Among them were Historic New England, New England Wildflower Society, "e" Action, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), EPA, and a Recycle Relay Race.

Many students at the Andrews School participated in the May Walk/Ride Day by wearing green and going green to school. When asked by a show of hands how many students participated in Walk/Ride Day by going green, nearly every hand went up!

Cambridge Schools Go Green for May Walk/Ride Day

Bike Train

 In celebration of the May Walk/Ride Day, two schools in Cambridge participated in a "Bike Train" From North Cambridge to East Cambridge. With the help of the Cambridge Police Department, riders were escorted from North Cambridge to the Baldwin School, and from there to King Open School in East Cambridge. 

Riders met at 7:55am at the intersection of Columbus Ave. and Mass. Ave. to start the "train." People
joined the train throughout the ride at various points on the route. The "train" was quite the presence on roads during their commute that morning! Green Streets distributed Iggy's bread to the train as they passed by. Special thanks to the Cambridge Police Dept. and Iggy's Bread for their support and donations!

   

Cambridge Ellis Nursery School

Kids traveled from all over to get their hands stamped on their way into school. The bike racks were full for May Walk/Ride Day!

Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

May's Walk/Ride Day was a big event at BB & N in Cambridge. The entire fourth grade class celebrated by wearing Green Streets t-shirts. One fourth grader, Nora McNamara, biked with her Mom all the way from Beacon Hill. Below is an interview with Nora about her Walk/Ride Day experience:

 GS: What motivated you to bike today? Was it the glorious weather?

Nora : We've been wanting to bike to school for W/R Day ever since Mrs. Weymouth got us involved in the Green Streets movement.

 Nora's Mom : Yes and I also got our bikes fixed which helped!

 GS: How long did it take you from Beacon Hill?

 Nora: About 1/2 hour

 Nora's Mom: the same time it can take me in  car!

 GS: Did you see anything fun or interesting on your ride?

 Nora: Yes, we saw an amazing looking bird on the river which looked a bit like a penguin! We're going to have a look in our bird book and see what it is!

Cambridge Montessori School

The Cambridge Montessori School celebrated Walk Ride Day with a parade around St. Peters Field that was followed by a festival. Popsicles were handed out to all festival goers and the Dutch Bicycle Co. provided rides on a conference bike. There was everything from bikes and trikes to kids walking on stilts!