The Team

BUYING LOCAL, SMALL BUSINESS & PACKAGING

Sabrina has been a Beverly resident since 2017 and is the owner of the only Zero Waste Store in town, Unpacked Living. A Colombia native with a big love for the planet and a Digital Marketing Background.

Her experience as a sustainable business owner and plastic-free advocate gives her the knowledge necessary to guide our residents and businesses on the path to a greener experience.

Sabrina educated hersef about the local recycling programs, compostig and waste diversion and management to be able to understand the need for waste prevention.

COMPOSTING HOW-TO

Jim Bauer has been a homeowner in Beverly since 1989. With his wife Ruth he raised two children here, both of whom are now living locally as well, with three grandchildren now adding to the clan.

An original founder of Green Beverly, he has been motivated by "municipalism", or the ability to bring lasting change through local action - the power of thinking globally, acting locally. He has dedicated his remaining years to making the world a better place for those that follow.

He founded Clean Power & Light, LLC in 2017, a renewable energy consulting and project development firm. He helped reestablish the Beverly Clean Energy Advisory Committee (CEAC) in 2018 and as co-Chair of the Beverly Waste Reduction Committee (BWRC) from 2016-18, led the effort to expand a pilot curbside compost program into a citywide program that at the time was the largest of its kind in the state.

He is dedicated to the practice of composting, with all of its broad environmental and financial benefits, and looks forward to helping the program expand in Beverly through his role as a "Compost Coach" with Green Beverly.

POLLINATORS

Rosemary Malfi (pronouns: she/her) works for the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA/Mass) as the Coordinator of the Massachusetts Pollinator Network (masspollinatornetwork.org), an initiative to expand pollinator habitat and reduce pesticide use across the Commonwealth through creation of a statewide network of citizens, communities, organizations, and research groups working to protect pollinators. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia and served in postdoctoral research positions in Entomology and Biology at the University of California, Davis and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Rosemary has worked as a research ecologist in the field of pollinator health for over a decade. She is dedicated to increasing awareness and adoption of ecological gardening and land management practices that sustain wildlife, reduce chemical inputs, and improve soil health. As a member of the NOFA/Mass Policy Department, Rosemary is also engaged in advocating for improved local and state-level environmental policies. Rosemary lives in Salem with her two children and partner, Lewis, who grew up in Salem/Beverly.

GREEN REAL ESTATE

Nathan Seavey has lived on the North Shore his whole life and is a resident of Beverly with his wife and two young boys. He has developed a love of nature through leading hiking trips, teaching rock climbing, as a kayak guide and as an educator. He believes the best way to protect the planet is developing a love for the Earth through education and shared experience. As a real estate agent, Nathan understands that buildings have a significant impact on the climate! Educating home owners about the benefits of Mass Saves and other programs to reduce emissions is a pathway forward- as well as changing out of date building codes!

When he is not advising on real estate transactions, or working to save the planet- you can find him packing his electric car with music equipment and playing at local restaurants, or photographing landscapes at Obear Park.

PLANT BASED DIET

Sarah is a new Beverly resident, but was born and raised on the North Shore and is excited to raise her 14-month-old son in the same ocean-side setting she grew up in. She is a seven-time marathoner, and also enjoys experimenting in the kitchen and cooking for her family and friends. Sarah currently works as a regulatory economist for the MA Department of Public Utilities, and sees her career as helping to change the local energy system from the top-down. Her prior career was in energy & environmental consulting. Sarah’s coaching expertise, however, is in how to transition to a lower-impact diet. She became a vegetarian in 2005 in an effort to reduce her own carbon footprint, and has learned about nutrition through fueling a decade of marathon and triathlon training, and now a husband and growing toddler, on a plant-based diet. She believes that there are numerous practical, healthy pathways to reducing the environmental footprint of our food choices. Sarah holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and Environmental Studies from College of the Holy Cross and a joint Master of Environmental Science/MBA from Yale School of the Environment and Yale School of Management.

FINANCIAL INVESTING & DIVESTING

I am a resident of Beverly, concerned about climate change. From solar panels on our house and our electric car to decarbonizing our finances, we are doing what we can to reduce our carbon footprint.

COMPOSTING & BACKYARD GARDENING

A Virginia native, Amy grew up in Maine, was educated at Georgetown University and the University of Virginia School of Law. She moved to Beverly in 1999 after telling her husband “There is no way we are raising children in a big city.”

A lifelong recycler (her mother helped to start the recycling program in their town in the early 1980s), Amy started and coordinated the Brookwood Sustainability Fair for several years when her kids were young. An early adopter of the Beverly Curbside Compost program, Amy “closed the loop” during the early months of the pandemic by installing raised garden beds in her back yard.

Amy comes to Green Beverly after working and volunteering in local libraries and working for EBSCO Publishing writing reports on topics of environmental sustainability. Amy has also volunteered with the Center for Women & Enterprise and with the Mothers Out Front Healthy Soil, Livable Future team and the Mothers Out Front Massachusetts Leadership Team. She is an advocate for composting and hopes, one day, that Beverly will achieve composting rates to rival Hamilton.

When not gardening, cooking, or walking with friends, Amy walks to work at The Book Shop of Beverly Farms and tries to support as many local businesses as possible.

SOLAR & NET-ZERO HOME DESIGN

SOLAR:

Current projections have demand for electricity tripling with the electrification of the heating and cooling of structures, EV demand for cars and trucks and indoor grow spaces. Bottom line, electrical rates will rise substantially to add clean production and enhancements to the grid to deliver the power.

With tax credits expiring for residents at the end of 2023, there is a tremendous economic incentive to install solar now.

Solar installers are overwhelmed with demand, the grid has bottle necks in capacity and many residences and businesses are poor candidates for solar.

But, any size solar array will be a great hedge against future energy price increases.

Since 2008, my wife and I have added 10 solar arrays to residential and commercial buildings with 4 different solar installers and 6 DIY installations.

Please feel free to send us any of your questions large or small.

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NetZero Home Design:

With all the challenges and demands on the electrical grid, any retrofits to the insulation, efficiency of heating and cooling systems, windows, and doors of your residence or building will have a positive economic payback.

Recently, we completed a new construction Net Zero in Hamilton. There was room on the site for an economical 7 ton horizontal geothermal system, 14kw solar array, well insulated space and a passive solar setting of the structure.

There are many different avenues to create a very energy efficient renovation or new construction of a structure. Anything close to a Net Zero design would be a good goal.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

I have lived in Beverly for 8 years, and have been an active member of the community. Currently serve on the Clean Energy Advisory Committee, Cable Commission, and Broadband Task Force.

I have more than 20 years in technology and IT, with the past six years spent in clean energy consulting, EV charging infrastructure, and now school bus electrification.

I love technology, and helping people embrace it to make a positive impact in their daily life. Cars and motorcycles are a huge passion of mine, and EVs are the perfect marriage of technology and transportation. Helping people go electric is something I enjoy immensely. I also have a fair bit of knowledge in the solar world, and have had solar on my roof at home for a number of years.

In addition to the above, helped expand Beverly's curbside compost enrollment from around 100 people to more than 700.

CHILD-ORIENTED SUSTAINABILITY

Maddi McKenna is a 23 year old recent college graduate who has lived in Danvers, MA her entire life. She received her B.S. in Environmental Conservation and Sustainability from the University of New Hampshire in May of 2020. Her passion for the environment stems from her love and respect for the beach and ocean as it is her favorite place to be, no matter what time of year. Maddi worked at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary for two years as a field teacher. She loved being able to explore the sanctuary with children and teach them about various natural history and ecology topics. Maddi now works at Change is Simple as a lead educator teaching young students about climate change, sustainability, and environmental science through various hands-on lessons. Working for Change is Simple gives Maddi hope and optimism for the future in regards to climate change. She is passionate that education is a catalyst for positive impact and is one of the most important components in combating climate change. Maddi is so excited to be working with Green Beverly and to help contribute to their mission to help educate people about sustainability through conversation and making real life changes.

ELECTRIC BIKES & ROAD BIKES

Lyndall has been living and working in Beverly since 2015, after moving here to hand build bicycles. She is an experienced industrial designer and leads a team of workers through the process of building bikes out of carbon fiber. Second to bikes, Lyndall loves fly fishing and her cat!

Lyndall’s sustainable practice comes in the form of transportation. She ditched cars long ago in favor of electric bikes and road bikes. She and her girlfriend also use green earth compost for the garden that flourished during the pandemic.

FAST FASHION

Ella Speidel was born and raised in Beverly, MA and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Geography and Sustainability at Salem State University. She is focusing her concentration on environmental sustainability and minoring in psychology. Her passion for sustainability stems from her connection to the ocean and coastal environment being raised on the Northshore. This led Ella to participating in various beach clean ups and wanting to explore new ways to get involved in environmentalism. She volunteered for Salem State’s MASSPIRG program during the Spring 2021 semester on their Fighting Climate Change Campaign and became a Green Beverly intern in June of 2021.

She is passionate about taking action against the detrimental fast fashion industry and educating others on small changes that can collectively make society more sustainable. Green Beverly has already given Ella the opportunity to get involved with various departments like marketing, coaching, community outreach, and more. She is inspired by the variety of backgrounds, interests, and expertise Green Beverly has accrued to be a resource for others wanting to live more sustainably.

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Terry Steimer is a Master Gardener and NYBG certified Landscape Designer currently living in Beverly where she owns a small Landscape Design company named 🐝 ‘BUZZ’ 🐝.

When she is not working beautifying area homes you can find her hiking local open land spaces or racing sailboats.

WILD EDIBLES, HERBS & PLANTS

Iris Weaver was introduced to edible plants as a young child. In her teens, it became a passion, along with learning uses of wild plants and herbs, from crafts, to food, to medicine. She has been foraging wild edible plants and using herbal medicines for years, making many of her own herbal medicines and products, and has taught classes on these and other topics in the Boston and North Shore areas for over 35 years.

Being largely self-taught, Iris has also studied with other herbalists, giving her a unique perspective on teaching the foundations of foraging and herbal medicine. Iris has a small consulting and teaching business, Soul Gardens. Her focus is on locally grown wild and cultivated plants, often plants that can be found in your backyard or garden--for food, medicine, and crafts--and how to use them in sustainable and affordable ways.

She has led a number of plant walks in downtown Beverly, highlighting the useful plants that grow even in the heart of the city. To learn more about Iris and Soul Gardens, visit irisweaver.com.

WASTE REDUCTION, COMPOST, RECYCLING & TRASH

The Beverly Waste Reduction Committee is a nine-member municipal committee that serves in an advisory and consulting capacity to the Mayor, City Council, other interested City departments/boards, and the citizens of Beverly in matters related to waste reduction, recycling and composting. Key responsibilities of the Committee include identifying and exploring options to reduce waste generation and increase recycling and composting, assisting the City in establishing policies that are oriented towards decreasing waste disposal, and serving as a resource for outreach and education.

Committee members are all Beverly residents that share a common interest in fostering sustainable waste management, exploring innovative and beneficial policies and practices, taking personal steps to make a difference in our community, and advocating for action on a municipal level. As a group, the Committee monitors initiatives on a local and state level, and collaborates regionally, when appropriate, to pursue common goals. Committee members serve on a volunteer basis, and are actively engaged in work and other community activities.

Susan Higgins is currently Chair of the Waste Reduction Committee. Sue holds a B.S. in Engineering Physics from the University of Maine and a M.S. in Civil Engineering/Hazardous Materials Management from Tufts University. She worked for many years in consulting engineering, advising and serving municipalities on waste management matters. She is currently the Associate Director of Materials and Recycling at Northeastern University, where she manages the University’s waste disposal, recycling and composting activities and collaborates for increasingly sustainable waste management practices.