Mission

REC is a grassroots environmental justice organization located in Worcester, Massachusetts--New England's second largest city. Founded in 1971, REC has been dedicated to building healthy, sustainable and just communities in Worcester and beyond for almost 40 years.

Our members, staff, board and volunteers work together to accomplish this mission by:

• Developing and coordinating programs that bring community members together to address environmental justice issues in the places where we live, work, and play;
• Organizing neighborhood residents--including youth--and training community leaders to tackle environmental justice issues in our neighborhoods;
• Providing events and forums for environmental justice education, networking, visioning and problem-solving in Worcester and beyond;
• Advocating at local, state, and national levels for public policies that foster environmental and social justice, ensure ecological sustainability and equitable access to clean air and water, open space, local, organic and nutritious food, clean energy, green jobs, and healthy homes, schools, workplaces and neighborhoods.

Programs

Our Current Programs Include:

Environmental Health & Justice Program:
Worcester Lead Action Collaborative (WLAC), Worcester Diesel Pollution Solution, and Annual REC Earth Day Cleanups

Food Justice Program:
Urban Garden Resources of Worcester (UGROW), Youth Growing and Raising Organics in Worcester (YouthGROW), and REC Farmers Markets

Advocacy & Education Program:
REC members, board and staff work with local and statewide coalitions to improve public policy and to educate the public on a range of environmental justice issues

Membership

Our members are at the heart of what we do. To learn more about membership go to the membership page.

Get involved!

If you are interested in getting involved in our work, visit the Internship/Volunteer pages of this website.

Key Accomplishments

• Training over 70 teenagers to be environmental leaders from 2003 to the present through the YouthGROW summer program (Youth Growing and Raising Organics in Worcester).  
• Providing over 10,000 pounds of fresh, organic vegetables to local food pantries and families in need through the YouthGROW program from 2003 to the present.
• Organizing neighborhood activists to transform more than 40 inner-city spaces from abandoned, trashed lots into safe, public community gardens from 1995 to the present. 
• Organizing over 500 neighborhood residents annually to participate in Earth Day Cleanups from 1991 to the present.  Over the course of 20+ years, the amount of trash collected each year has gone down by 40 tons, while the number of sites continues to rise!
• Spearheading the Worcester Lead Action Collaborative, a coalition of dozens of public and private partners working together to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in Worcester , which has brought more than 6 million dollars in federal funds to our city to create more than 600 units of safe, affordable housing.
• Developing a Safer Cleaning workshop model that informs janitors on the health and environmental dangers of using toxic products for cleaning – and offers safer alternatives.  To date, over 130 janitors have been trained as part of this effort.
• Working with Worcester City Council through our Clean Energy program to pass a “20 by 2010” Clean Energy Resolution in March 2005, making Worcester the largest city in the country (at the time) to pledge to receive 20% of its municipal energy from renewable sources by 2010.
• Organized local residents to maintain strict mercury air emission standards for solid waste incinerators and passed a ban of the sale of mercury thermometers through Worcester City Council in 2003.
• Coordinating dozens of public forums from 1971 to educate the public about environmental issues and encourage public participation in decision-making.  Forums have been held on issues such as: brownfields, open space, toxics, street trees, water quality, health, transportation, and organic agriculture.