The City of Cambridge offers curbside food scrap collection to 30,000 households. Learn how the program developed, and how anaerobic digesters process our food scraps. Find out more about our community’s efforts to meet our zero waste goals.

*** Attendees should provide their own lunch. ***

Together, we will learn about the environmental, social, and economic benefits of green roofs; green roof system types and FAQs; and why waterproofing, proper design, and maintenance are some of the most important aspects of a green roof. Learn about some of our exciting local green roofs, such as Fenway Farms at Fenway Park, the Boston Medical Center Rooftop Farm, Community Architecture Landscape Art (CALA) in Somerville, and many more.

*** Attendees should provide their own lunch. ***

MIT Sea Grant Marine Biology and Robotics Labs will be hosting tours of our facilities and hands-on activities, including driving a Sea Perch ROV as well as microscopes with local marine life and a touch tank with live animals to interact with!

The recent discovery of a marbled salamander larva by EwA volunteers in the Middlesex Fells illustrates the importance of participatory science to conservation research. In addition to collecting critical data, these science programs can foster a robust research community of scientists, field leaders, and local experts.

We invite you to attend EwA’s dynamic presentation and experience the power of conservation-action communities. Let us capture your attention and make you realize that you can help protect urban natural systems effectively.

Join MIT professor Benedetto Marelli and Dr. Muchun Liu as they use biodegradable silk to replace microplastics in agriculture. With a live presentation and demos, discover how silk polymers can be micro-engineered to enhance productivity and reduce environmental impact.

*** Attendees should provide their own lunch. ***

Join the local mycologist Lawrence Millman for an educational walking tour of Fresh Pond Reservation. Millman is the author of Fascinating Fungi of New England, the first guidebook dedicated to understanding New England mushrooms. Together we will learn about existing species, the history of different species, and their role in our ecosystem.

Registration is mandatory.

Bring yourself, plant clippings (if you have them), and lots of excitement to the new home of Sasaki & the Sasaki Foundation in downtown Boston. Meet some new friends, learn about the science of propagation, have a drink, and celebrate Cambridge Science Festival. Never propagated plants before? No worries. Here is a useful guide for propagating common houseplants in water. Don’t have any houseplants? That’s okay, too! You can still participate, hang out, and go home with a new plant.

To ensure we have enough soil, planters, and snacks, please RSVP if you plan on attending.

Find out how the City of Cambridge is preparing to enter a new era of sustainable development! Come learn about our methods and strategies, and what our ambitious goal of fossil-fuel free construction means for our city’s residents.

Join us for a relaxing walk of Fresh Pond with Park Ranger Tim Puopolo! No two weeks are the same in nature, and Tim will share his insights about what’s growing, changing, and blooming in the neighborhood.

We will meet in the courtyard of the Collins Branch Library (64 Aberdeen Ave.) and leave together towards the pond. Registration is required. To register, call 617-349-4021.

Join the Charles River Conservancy for a lunchtime kayak adventure on the river. Visit the Charles River’s first floating wetland and hear about the development of the project from idea to installation, and from engagement through envisioned expansion.

Please reserve your ticket by September 21st to guarantee participation.

*** Attendees should provide their own lunch. ***

This is a quick introduction to offshore wind covering the fundamentals of wind energy, main components of the offshore wind farm, how it works, and an overview of the US offshore wind development.

The Charles River Floating Wetland was installed in 2020 to enable important research on artificial wetland technology. The pilot project met both climate resilience goals and created connections to the Charles River. Learn about the success of this pilot from the Charles River Conservancy and help design a look into the future by creating a vision for additional wetlands in the Charles.

Youth should be the centerpiece of climate education since they are the key stakeholders. It’s time to ensure that youth feel included, represented and invited to engage in curriculum and conferences as well as in the classroom. Hear from a young person about what their demands look like, how youth would like to plug in, and what institutions can do to support them.

*** Attendees should provide their own lunch. ***

Bring your excess clothing, shoes & home textiles to be reused & recycled!

While 95% of all clothing, shoes and other textiles could have a second life, 85% are dumped in the landfill or incinerator. Still, more than 84% of textiles end up in a landfill or an incinerator, according to the EPA.  The apparel industry produces 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of the world’s industrial water pollution. By recovering textiles from the trash, we can reduce global climate emissions, water consumption, and our waste in landfills.

Learn to mend your clothing and fix broken electronics, appliances, computers, toys, sewing machines, bicycles, etc. at the Fixit Clinic. Fixit Coaches will share their time, tools and expertise to consult with you on the disassembly, troubleshooting, and repair of your item. Gain the confidence and knowledge to make repairs and teach others to do the same. This event takes place at The Foundry, located at 101 Rogers St, Cambridge.

Open to all ages, registration is required.

This event is brought to you by The Foundry, The Cambridge Department of Public Works, and Fixit Clinic.

Whether you are a seasoned forager or a curious nature lover, this Mushroom Foray is an event not to be missed. Explore the fascinating world of fungi while we traverse the Middlesex Fells Reservation collecting mushrooms. Then, we will regroup to immerse ourselves in the art of mushroom identification.

Food and refreshments will be served.

Some people might think of scientific research to be something only related to textbook facts. While that is true to some extent, the great passion that you bring to the research can be even more powerful. My research in India about microplastics helped me bridge the gap between my research and cultural background. Through cultural identity or even interactions in daily life, scientific research can be something that brings out your true identity and passion.

Did you know that pollutants move across the globe in complex and even chaotic patterns? Utilizing a large-scale interactive globe, join MIT Professor Glenn Flierl to explore how the jet stream and the weather systems affect these movements in both ocean and the atmosphere.

With climate change increasing wildfire frequency and our wildland-urban interface (WUI) expanding, wildfire fuel management is more important than ever. Learn about the science and reality of wildfires and fuel reduction methods from Georgia Scarr – a young wildland firefighter, environmental non-profit co-founder, and wildfire researcher at the Stanford Bill Lane Center for the American West. This workshop includes hands-on demonstrations modeling wildfire behavior, first-hand accounts of fuel reduction case studies, and a chainsaw maintenance lesson.

Discover the history of the Charles River from the cockpit of a kayak and learn how to get involved with local restoration efforts. Observe wildlife living along the riverbank and explore your city with a new perspective. No paddling experience required.

Three tours available:

• • 1pm-2:30pm
  • 2:45pm-4:15pm
  • 4:30pm-6:00pm

Registration required. Participants will receive additional information including waivers that will need to be filled out electronically prior to the program.

Program meets at the Cartop Launch at Magazine Beach Park.

Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Parking is available but please avoid driving if possible.

There are many misconceptions about the energy industry. Many believe it to be slow moving and dominated by old, white men. However, this isn’t true. There are opportunities for young people of all backgrounds and interests, from policy to tech, to get involved in the clean energy transition. This event is all about educating young people on energy and how they can connect their passions to the topic. Energy doesn’t just come from a hole in the wall, there is a world of innovation and exciting opportunities to get involved with!

Join Call To Action® at The Foundry on September 30 for an electrifying event as the founders proudly present Boston Smart Fashion Week; Call To Action, “Science is Sexy”. This extraordinary showcase will feature Boston’s emerging company, Call To Action®, and some of the work that they are doing to move the needle for smart + sustainable solutions in fashion.

During the session, you will immerse yourself in ethereal imagery that reimagines traditional swimwear. Hear from the founders Jill Palese and Dan Rakauskas of the Boston based clothing brand as they present their own “calls to action” towards a greener and more sustainable future in the world of fashion. The interactive session allows an opportunity to meet the founders and ask questions about the work.

Mark your calendars, because this event promises to be a dazzling celebration of fashion, consciousness, and the irresistible allure of “Science is Sexy”!

Photography credit: Alyssa M Fortin Photography

Help sort the trash from the treasure – compost and recycling! Do you get confused about what can be recycled? Are you skeptical that items get made into new products? Find what we can give a second life to and discover what materials bring recycling sorting machines to a stop.

Change is Simple (CiS) and SCiLL – our Sustainability & Climate Innovation Learning Lab – bring hands-on STEM learning to elementary and middle school children in Massachusetts.

SCiLL is a 30-foot-long, mobile lab outfitted with cutting edge science and learning tools you’d expect to find in a professional laboratory setting. It offers lessons on important aspects of sustainability.

When it rains, where does all the water go? Come use a 3D interactive model to find out, and explore what’s happening both above and beneath the surface of our streets and homes.

Learn how the sun powers our world! In this activity, you’ll learn how sunlight gets transformed into energy that powers everything from our homes to our bikes!

Join the Peabody Essex Museum in exploring the superpowers of bats! Discover how designers and innovators are drawing inspiration from these amazing creatures, leading to new inventions and ways of understanding our world. Learn more about the museum’s current exhibition, Bats!, and create an art project that will put biomimicry into practice.

Students will have the opportunity to explore syGlass, a software platform for the visualization of real massive scientific datasets. A virtual reality narration recorded by a real scientist will take them through a lesson on different topics of their choice including neuroscience, anatomy, and environmental science.

Meet SeaPerch II, a DIY underwater robot than can also take data on water quality! Stop by the MIT Sea Grant booth for interactive demonstrations of the sensors and grippers, an illustration of the ways in which climate change is affecting the marine environment, and an underwater robotic challenge where you control the robots!

More information and build guides at seagrant.mit.edu/seaperch2

Stop by to learn how wind turbines work! Build a mini turbine of your own and see how the wind is affected from one turbine to the next. Finally, design and develop a floater for an offshore wind turbine and test it.

Get a chance to make a real difference for people and nature. Discover Earthwise Aware (EwA)’s work documenting nature in the Greater Boston Area, why it is critical, and how you can volunteer or intern with us.

The natural world starts right here where we live: in our cities, our streets, our gardens, our public green spaces, parks, and reservations. This means you can have an extraordinary, positive impact on our natural world, helping grassroots environmental organizations do the work that matters because the outcomes are concrete and empower communities. When you engage with EwA, you help protect urban biodiversity, including native species and pollinators, documenting invasives and monitoring habitats while mentoring our future environmental leaders and coaching our communities. By doing so, you contribute to a thriving, healthy planet.

Booth activity: Learn how to document species, their life cycles, and their interactions with their habitat.

A series of fun and educational hands-on activities involving synthetic biology, tissue engineering, biology, and biomedical engineering.

Simple demonstrations for complex scientific concepts! Demos include “weather in a tank”, “ocean acidification in a cup”, and “Earthquake on a table.” Come by to learn about our outreach activities and how to organize a visit by MIT scientists to your classroom!

Interactive, hands-on activities which make learning the laws of physics fun and accessible. Our demonstrations explore physics phenomena using everyday household materials and scientific equipment. We invite you to explore the fundamental properties of physics, and engage in conversations with Clark University Physics students and faculty.

Rare’s interactive exhibits are 5 impressive, mobile booths that travel around Greater Boston to engage a variety of audiences. So far, they have appeared at the Peabody Essex Museum, Savor the Square in Roxbury, Boston GreenFest, the South Boston Street Fest, the Boston Marathon Expo, and Brandeis University. In 2023 alone, they have garnered over 2 million impressions both in person and digitally.

Americans want to take action to prevent climate change. But can individuals really make a difference? Rare’s research shows that shifting your personal behavior can meaningfully reduce emissions, save you money and improve your health. Rare’s #ClimateCulture Pop-Up Exhibits highlight the most impactful actions you can take and why making these changes is easier than you think. By sharing your commitment, you can help shift social norms – the unwritten rules of what is acceptable within a society or culture – paving the way for the wide-spread change we need to stop climate change. Visitors can explore and interact with the exhibit to learn more about how Bostonians are shifting the climate culture.