About 60 people turned out for the town's first "Carbon Cafe" last night, discussing their fears and hopes about global warming, and how they can reduce Dedham's contributions to it.
For Fred Civian, the gathering was a reminder of how far the environmental movement has come since 1970, when he participated in the first Earth Day.
"Recycling has gone from an odd activity only engaged in by sort of fringe people to a normal part of everyday life," he said.
Now, recycling is one of the prime ways people can reduce their carbon emissions, thus moderating the effects of global warming.
At last night's educational event, held at Cafe Video Paradiso, Environmental Coordinator Virginia LeClair explained the Low Carbon Diet, a 30-day team program through which people can, by making lifestyle changes, move toward lowering their carbon emissions by 5,000 pounds a year. The average American family generates about 55,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.
Participants were given a handout listing how they can lower their carbon footprint. Reducing household trash by 30 gallons a week leads to a 3,000-pound carbon reduction, for example, and using cold water instead of hot for just one load of laundry per week saves 275 carbon pounds.
Six audience members agreed to lead "eco-teams," each of is to consist of about eight households. The teams will meet four times to spur on each other's efforts. The hope is that by the end of the month the teams will take the carbon reduction message and spread it, LeClair said.
"We hope you'll be so excited about this with your neighbors, with your coworkers, and that that, again, will create a more sustainable Dedham," she said.
Last night, residents began by discussing their global warming fears in small groups. Jill DeVirgilio said she came to the cafe because she was worried about future generations' quality of life.
"What kind of life will they have with the environment?" she said of her future grandchildren.
People then shared their climate change hopes. "People will end up eventually maybe doing the right thing" was the first hope Civian's group wrote down, followed by "more community-mindedness these days" and less federal government obstruction of efforts to stop global warming.
"It'd be great to have the federal government actually helping, not hindering," Civian said.
At the end of the evening, about half of the crowd said they would be interested in joining an eco-team, and six people volunteered to lead one.
Selectman Paul Reynolds said he will lead a team focused on kids, while Chris Minor, 18, will lead a team that will meet at the Starbucks by the Dedham Mall, where he works as a barista.
Minor said climate change is a very important issue for him because it ties into poverty, hunger and war. "I think it's at the epicenter of the problems in the country," he said.
The Low Carbon Diet is based on a book by the same name from the Empowerment Institute, a consulting and training group. The book is available at the Blue Bunny bookstore and at the Dedham Public Library.
Daily News staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
