Cambridge volunteers recognize worldwide climate protest with 'barn raising,' other events

PUBLISHED by The Cambridge Chronicle

Cambridge volunteers celebrated the International Day of Climate Action with a “barn raising,” caulking holes, sealing fireplaces, resetting thermostats and replacing light bulbs to make The Women’s Center more energy efficient.

The worldwide movement advocates limiting carbon emissions to safe levels: 350 parts per million. Locally, 34 women helped weatherize the center with a project sponsored by the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the Cambridge Energy Alliance.


The all-female event focused on not only saving energy and money at the center’s aging building but also teaching women efficiency they can bring to their own homes, said Susan Noonan-Forster, co-chair of the center’s Board of Trustees.

Nine women who have participated in HEET’s barn raisings before led teams in tackling different energy leakages throughout the house, including drafty doors and loose windows.

Minka van Beuzekom, a Cambridge City Council candidate, was the “window magic” leader, helping to replace latches and seal shaky window frames. She has participated in all but the first of HEET’s 17 barn raisings in the past year and a half.

“We’re going to have to do a lot of magic!” said van Beuzekom, clad in ripped jeans, sneakers and her campaign sticker instead of a name tag as she examined a loose top floor window.

Ellie Kobeck, co-coordinated the location and pushed for the all-female aspect. She has found that men usually dominated the barn raisings she has attended, and women were discouraged from learning and using tools.

“We need to do the opposite of what capitalism makes us do,” said Kobeck. “The climate emergency is kind of because we’re an unhappy, industrial society that seeks comfort in material things, so we want to support each other.”

Some volunteers echoed Kobeck’s statement about male dominance. Newbie to the center Julia Golomb, 23, said she has done similar work in Greece building retreat centers according to energy efficient standards.

“It’s wonderful that it’s all women,” Golomb, of Somerville, said. “I’ve been in this situation with mostly men where women take the backseat and just change the thermostats.”

Carolyn Mikkal, 63, makes her own electricity from solar panels she installed in her Jamaica Plain home a year ago, and fixing up the Women’s Center has given her a chance to learn about treating her windows.

“It’s really nice not to have men doing their critical, macho put downs, asking ‘Can you run and get me this?’” said Mikkal as she installs a new latch on a third-floor window. “They treat you like you’ve got nothing between your ears.”

HEET and the Cambridge Energy Alliance also hosted a barn raising at the Wendell Street co-op the same day, where 39 co-ed volunteers performed similar tasks. Nine volunteers distributed energy-efficient compact florescent light bulbs to homes in Area 4, between the Central and Kendall T stops.

With all three projects, volunteers installed or exchanged 346 light bulbs, saving 29,000 pounds of carbon per year for ten years, HEET said. After the barn raising, some of the volunteers headed over to the Boston Under Water Rally, a gathering meant to pressure the government to take action this December at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

“Policy changes are the only way were going to save this planet, but we can start in the home,” said Audrey Schulman of HEET. “If people do things in the home and feel they can have an effect, perhaps they’ll be more likely to vote and demonstrate like they should.”