Events like Boston Pride serve some extremely important functions – building community, highlighting political issues, and celebrating advancements in rights, visibility, and acceptance.  However, these events can also carry an added burden – an environmental one.

By bringing thousands of people together for one week of events such as festivals, parades, and parties – a lot of waste can be created.  But there is something we can do to minimize waste while still enjoying all of the wonderful aspects. This year, Boston Pride will be taking a close look at its environmental impacts, and will be working toward improving in the coming years. Already, we offer recycling at our events, provide a discount for hybrid vehicles in the parade, and strive to use “greener” options whenever possible.

But we can do better.

And we will!

David Havelick, a new committee member, will be working with other committee members and vendors to find greener options, to minimize waste, and to make sure Pride Week has a positive impact on the community AND the environment. If you have any ideas on how to make our events greener, please feel free to contact David at green@bostonpride.org

 

*David Havelick is a Program Coordinator in the Epidemiology Department at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has been working at HSPH for 5 years, and is organizing public health studies in Scandinavia and Africa.  He is also getting a masters degree at Harvard in Sustainability and Environmental Management and has experience starting a company that  specializes in green event planning. David is working with the Pride Committee to help build on some of the green initiatives they’ve implemented in recent years and to implement new techniques so that Pride can continue to move in a greener direction.