The document outlines the agenda for a workshop on business opportunities in advancing sustainable lifestyles in Greater Boston. The agenda includes: welcome and introductory remarks from 9:00-9:20; short presentations on innovative initiatives from 10:05-10:30; working in subgroups from 10:30-11:45 and 12:30-12:55; and a final discussion and next steps from 12:55-13:30. The workshop goals are to raise awareness about consumption's role in climate change, bring together organizations working in specific areas like housing and food, support sustainable business models, and identify high impact areas for action in Greater Boston.

1. Agenda
8:30-9:00 Coffee and breakfast, registration, networking
9:00-9:20 Welcome and brief introductions
9:20-9:40 Philip Vergragt and Halina Brown, SCORAI co-founders
9:40-9:55 Carl Spector, Commissioner for the Environment, City
of Boston
9:55-10:05 Brooke Nash, Branch Chief, Municipal Waste Reduction
Program, MA DEP
10:05-10:20 Short presentations about innovative initiatives:
Sasha Purpura (Food for Free), Paul Eldrenkamp
(Byggmeister Builders), and Sanchali Pal (Joro)
10:20-10:30 Q&A; initial discussion; assignments for subgroups;
coffee
10:30-11:45 Subgroups work
11:45 -12:30 Lunch, networking, subgroup work (if needed)
12:30-12:55 Report back from 5 groups (facilitator: Philip Vergragt)
12:55-13:30 Final discussion, and next steps (Philip Vergragt &
Vesela Veleva)

2. Business Opportunities in Advancing Sustainable
Lifestyles
in Greater Boston
SERC-SCORAI Workshop
May 16, 2019, 8:30 am-1:30 pm
UMass Boston, University Hall 2nd
floor, Room 2330

3. Workshop Goals
 Raise awareness among variety of stakeholders about the role of
consumption in addressing climate change
 Bring together a variety of organizations and people already working in
specific areas (e.g., housing, mobility, food, consumer goods, leisure)
 Support and promote innovative business models and practices aiming
to reduce consumption while improving wellbeing
 Identify high impact areas, actions and indicators for Greater Boston
area

4. Business Opportunities in Advancing Sustainable Lifestyles in Greater Boston
Workshop UMass SERC and SCORAI:
May 16, 2019
Philip Vergragt and Halina Brown

5. Background and Context
• Paris Agreement on Climate Change (2016)
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDG12: Responsible
Consumption and Production)
• C40 (Sustainable Cities) report on Consumption-based
inventories (2018) and follow-up
• In US: Green New Deal (2019): climate, jobs, and equity)
• Globally: climate youth movement; in US Sunrise movement
(2019)

6. Cities and Urban areas
• In big cities many problems conflate
• Cities are also engines for innovation
• Business has pivotal role

7. Three-prong strategy to address consumption
• Business: innovation of new sustainable products and services;
create sustainable livelihoods and work-life balance for workers
• Governance and policy: create conditions, infrastructures, and
incentives to innovate and to change to less material lifestyles
• Individual consumers: educate, inform, experiment with
alternative lifestyles, change social norms towards immaterial
well-being

8. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC
To avoid the worst consequences of global warming, by 2050
almost all uses of fossil fuels and GHG emissions must be
eliminated

9. In Newton, MA
Newton Citizens Climate Action Plan:
Acting Now to Secure Our Sustainable Future
Newton Citizens Commission on Energy
May 2019
Is it feasible for Newton to achieve the IPCC
goal?

10. Newton GHG Emission Inventory

11. Reduction of GHG emissions in residential sector

12. Impact of Electric Vehicle Adoption Rate on GHG Emissions

13. BUT Newton Inventory does not count indirect emissions from
making goods
Embodied energy in building materials and house content 
GHG emissions
– Manufacturing cement, bricks, plastics, countertops, fixtures, foam
insulation……
– Manufacturing appliances, furniture, curtains,
– Processing wood
– Mining -- smelting metals
– Transport
– Etc.

14. Consumption-based emissions are
41% greater than Sector-based emissions (Oregon 2015)

15. Oregon: Household consumption:
80% of GHG emissions

16. Income determines carbon footprint: Oregon (metric tons CO2e/household)

17. Two GHG Emission Inventories
Consumption-based and Sector-based
Oregon, 1990–2016

18. Understanding consumption
• Consumption is about lifestyles, aspirations, identifying with
certain social groups
• Pro-environmental behaviors have minor effect on carbon
footprint
• This is because key contributors to carbon footprint are:
type/size of house, its location, leisure time, diet
• Relentless expansion of idea of basic amenities

19. From The New York Times June 3, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/upshot/houses-keep-getting-bigger-even-as-families-get-smaller.html?_r=0
Based on the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of American Housing http://www.census.gov/construction/chars/completed.html
The Survey also shows that 31 % of new homes are 3000 square feet or larger

20. Manufactured

21. How can consumption be reduced?
What business opportunities are in it?

22. Halt growth in house sizes
Before
1900
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
0
500
1.000
1.500
2.000
2.500
3.000
3.500
4.000
4.500
5.000

23. Accessory Dwelling Units (up to 800 sq.ft)
Jordan Palmeri
Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality
palmeri.jordan@deq.state.or.us

24. Leisure Actitivies
The rise of “flying shame” points to a blind
spot in conscious consumerism
Quartz, April 18, 2019

25. Workshop Outcomes
• Concrete ideas how business can contribute to sustainable
lifestyles in housing, food, transportation, consumer products,
and leisure.
• Develop initiatives and metrics to measure progress

26. The Role of Business in Advancing
Sustainable Lifestyles
1. New business models and innovative products & services:
 Shift to plant-based diets (e.g., Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat)
 Addressing food waste and food insecurity (e.g., Food for Free)
 Shifting from selling products to selling services (e.g., car sharing, product leasing)
 Promoting product reuse and upcycling (e.g., The Furniture Trust, Seeding Labs, Project Repat)
 Eliminating single use packaging (e.g., refillable products, reusable containers)
Toxic products are sort-of green herring in this list. It is personal health issue, not sustainability
2. Enabling employees and customers to make lifestyle changes
 Eliminating bottled water, buying local/green products, donating/repurposing surplus products
 Promoting telecommuting, teleconferencing
 Supporting mobility options (e.g., bike programs)
Labeling is a form of feeding green consumerism, which does not reduce consumption and is
widely considered as greenwashing

27. …“the relationship between a good aesthetic education
and the maintenance of a healthy environment cannot
be overlooked”. By learning to see and appreciate
beauty, we learn to reject self-interested pragmatism. If
someone has not learned to stop and admire something
beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats
everything as an object to be used and abused without
scruple. If we want to bring about deep change, we need
to realize that certain mindsets really do influence our
behavior.

28. The State of Recycling
SCORAI Workshop
May 16, 2019
Brooke Nash
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

29. Global Market Disruption
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
 China’s National Sword Policy – January 1, 2018
 Warning signs in 2013 – “Operation Green Fence”
 U.S. recyclers highly dependent on Chinese markets
(mixed paper, mixed plastics)
 Contamination standard set at .05 percent
 Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) are designed to meet 2-
3% contamination at best

30. The Domino Effect
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
 Oversupply of mixed paper and mixed plastics
 Material moves from to other export markets accept but…
 It’s a buyer’s market
 2% contamination rate
 Much higher freight costs
 The value of a ton of recyclables drops 50-75% in 12 mos
MRF sorting costs increase to meet new specs
 Significant cost increase to municipalities and businesses

31. Solid Waste Master Plan Goals
Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection
 By 2020:
 Reduce disposal from 6.5 million tons (2008) to 4.5
millions tons (a 30% reduction).
 By 2030:
 Reduce disposal by 80% by 2050
 As of Dec 2017, 5.7 millions tons (~14% reduction)
 A lot of work still left!
 2020-2030 Plan – in development now

32. % MSW Disposal by Material Type
22 %
13 %
4 %
2 %31 %
15 %
4 %
1 %
8 %
2016 MSW Characterization
Paper
Plastic
Metal
Glass
Organic Materials
Construction and Demolition (in the MSW stream)
Household Hazardous Waste
Electronics
Other Materials

33. Tons MSW Disposal by Material Type
990.694
596.744
175.499
74.515
1.426.944
681.013
175.735
49.115 364.126
Paper
Plastic
Metal
Glass
Organic Materials
Construction and Demolition (in the MSW stream)
Household Hazardous Waste
Electronics
Other Materials

34. What is MassDEP Doing to Help?
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
 Tools to help municipalities tackle contamination
 Recycling IQ (Increased Quality) Grants
 Consensus from Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs):
 What is recyclable, what’s not?
 Statewide education campaign – Recycle Smart
 Strategic inputs to improve local processing capacity and end-
market
 Municipal Glass Processing Grants
 Recycling Business Development Grants

35. Food For Free
COLLABORATIONS
1

36. School Programs
Home Delivery
Field of Greens
Food Rescue
Hunger Relief since 1981
Family Meals
Food Transportation for partners

37. 2014 – Begin Prepared
Food Rescue

38. 2015 – Launch Family
Meals

39. 2017 – Partner with
Harvard University

40. Carbon and
buildings
Paul Eldrenkamp
Byggmeister, Inc.
www.byggmeister.com

41. Costs to operate/year
Gas $ 2,349
Oil $ 3,379
Heat pumps $ 2,685
Electric
resistance $ 4,691
Assumed efficiency
Gas 80%
Oil 80%
Heat pump
(COP of 2.8) 280%
Resistance 100%gas
oil
heat pumps
electric resistance
-
1,00
2,00
3,00
4,00
5,00
6,00
7,00
8,00
9,00
Carbon footprint by fuel type (total household energy)
heating DWH a.c. cooking, clothes drying lighting, MEL

42. Solar panels
201.6 MMBtu, 54%
Siding and exterior trim
44.7 MMBtu, 12%
Insulation
36.4 MMBtu, 10%
Windows
27.2 MMBtu, 7%
Framing
21.4 MMBtu, 6%
Other
43.7 MMBtu, 11%
Embodied energy of materials by subcategory, major retrofit

43. Insulation materials selection impact
DER attic Cellulose in floor Spray foam in rafters
R-value 60 60
Embodied energy 3.8 MMBtu 46.4 MMBtu
Annual energy savings 24.7 MMBtu 24.7 MMBtu
Embodied energy simple payback 0.15 years 1.9 years

44. Source: Ace McCarleton, Jacob Racusin, Chris Magwood; Building Energy 19 conference
Carbon-storing strategies

45. 1
Sanchali Pal
Co-Founder & CEO
sanchali@joro.tech

46. 2
85% of people
don’t know their
carbon footprint
or how to lower it.
45% of Americans are
willing to change
behavior to improve
environmental impact.
Source: 1. Nielsen 2018 Report. 2. Grinstein, Amir and Ory Zik. “Carbon Innumeracy.” May 2018.

47. Joro is building an app and community that makes it
easy to track and improve our personal carbon footprints
3
SPENDING TRAVEL FOODELECTRICITY
Source: Unsplash.com photography..

48. We apply MIT research to make an important,
complex problem accessible
4
Monday, July 9
11:41
JORO
Skip meat at lunch this week to
reduce your carbon footprint by 5%.
Monday
JORO Wednesday
JORO Sunday
Last week, food and travel were the
main drivers of your carbon footprint.
Leave in 10 mins to take the T, saving
8kg CO2 and $4.00 vs. rideshare.
IMPROVETRACK DISCOVER
Automated sensing AI/ML applications Competition & community

49. 5
Work toward one simple goal: 12% improvement
Meaningful
12% is an achievable
goal for an engaged
user, for instance:
• Walk or bike <2 mi
• Take public transit
<10mi
• Limit meat to one
meal per day
• Turn the thermostat
down by 3 degrees
An engaged user will on
average take a car off
the road for 6 months.
The Joro community’s
projected impact with 1
million active users is
equivalent to taking
500,000 cars off the road.
Achievable
12% emissions
reduction corresponds
with the goal set in the
Paris Climate
Agreements to keep
global average
temperature rise <2°C
Tangible

50. Let’s take climate action
into our own hands.
Join our beta at www.joro.tech or by
scanning the QR code on your phone.
Email me at sanchali@joro.tech.