It’s been another exciting year of climate action in the Town of Shrewsbury!

As the Town celebrates our first full year of the All In Shrewsbury Municipal Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, we want to look back and highlight the most interesting and important blogs we released on this dashboard throughout the year.

The Town is committed to sharing municipal climate action with the community and connecting community members to actions they can take at home, and these blogs are a big way that we follow through on that commitment.

Take a look through three of our 2024 Blog Series blogs and the climate actions you can take today:

(Scroll to the bottom to see the full list of blogs and their topics)

Summary:

In our first blog of the Blog Series, we discussed the importance of energy efficiency in the wintertime, and how simple decisions like how you set your thermostat can affect your contribution to climate change.

Actions you can take at home:

Interested in making your home or business more energy efficient? It’s a win-win: you can save money on your energy bills while helping the Town meet our All In Shrewsbury climate goals. Take the first step with a FREE Home Energy Audit from SELCO. When you sign up for an audit, a specialist will come to your house and:

Analyze your current energy use

Walk through your home to point out specific steps you can take to reduce your energy bills

Provide you with publications containing dozens of energy-saving tips & ideas

Summary:

In August, we celebrated the sunny weather by diving deep into home solar and created a list of 4 practical steps Shrewsbury residents can take to start their solar journey.

Actions you can take at home:

Check your home’s solar potential. Make sure your home is well positioned to host solar panels and generate energy. Your home’s solar potential measures how the sun covers your area and how much energy you can generate as a result.

Use the Project Sunroof solar potential tool.

Calculate your solar savings. After you’ve checked your solar potential, calculate how much money you could save on your energy bill by switching to solar.

Use the EnergySage solar savings calculator.

Explore incentives and rebates. There are many, many resources out there to encourage and support homeowners interested in acquiring solar for their home.

Take advantage of SELCO incentives, including a 0% home solar loan!

Find local contractors. Get connected with the right company and professionals to install your solar project.

Use the Mass Clean Energy Center search tool.

Can’t pursue home solar?

Check out SELCO’s Community Solar Program instead to support solar and go renewable.

Summary:

October’s blog featured three ways Shrewsbury homeowners can begin their home electrification process to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and harmful indoor air pollutants.

Actions you can take at home:

Switch to a heat pump home heating and cooling system.

Electric heat pumps allow you to heat and cool specific areas in your home, meaning you use energy only where you need to. They are also energy efficient, meaning you can save more money on your energy bills compared to traditional oil and gas systems. Read up on heat pumps in Rewiring America’s Heat Pump Guide.

Take advantage of SELCO’s rebates and save up to $10,000 on your heat pump project.

Upgrade your gas home cooking system by going electric.

Traditional gas-powered stovetops are often considered superior to electric systems, but the opposite is true. Not only do electric systems emit far less plant-warming greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), but they also cook more evenly, cost far less to use, and produce none of the dangerous indoor air pollutants that gas stovetops do.

Use Rewiring America’s electric stove guide to identify upfront costs and earn up to $250 in rebates from SELCO for your induction new range.

Replace your old home appliances with electric, high-efficiency models.

Outdated appliances like washers, dryers, and refrigerators are often energy wasteful, meaning they use more energy to do the same job that newer, energy-efficient models would need. These appliances not only emit more GHGs due to their lack of efficiency, but they also rack up higher energy bills every month.

Use SELCO’s rebates and save on your next purchase of electric, energy efficient appliances.

Thank you for reading! Make sure to check out the rest of our All In Shrewsbury Blog Series:

Full blog list, February-November

February: Energy Efficiency This Winter

March: Smart Waste Management

April: Earth Day & Arbor Day 2024

May: 3 Ways We Lead on Climate Action

June: Preparing for Extreme Heat

July: Sustainable Transportation

August: Quick Start Home Solar Guide

September: Tree Canopy 101

October: 3 Ways to Electrify Your Home

November: Sustainable Holidays 2024