Health & Fitness
Somerville Stock report #4, for July 1st, 2012
The Somerville Stock Exchange, or "SSE" for short, is a community forum. It's also a fundraiser—and a different take on what a stock market can be!
Hi there. Welcome to the fourth Somerville Stock report.
Twice a month, I’ll be writing about my community art project, the Somerville Stock Exchange (SSE). The project involves giving people “Somerville Stocks” based on what they’re doing to make Somerville’s community, creative life, and environment better. All of these things are included in the project’s printed and online forum. And all of these things affect the “worth” of the different types of Somerville Stocks.
Just like a regular stock market. And just like with a regular stock market, someone writes about why the stocks have changed in value. And that’s what this column is about.
Find out what's happening in Somervillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“Somerville Stocks”
So how did “Somerville stocks” do recently?
Community stocks stayed at the top of the pack, ending up 7% at $5.85.
Find out what's happening in Somervillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
There was a whole lot of volunteering, which was nice to hear about. Susan P. told us she volunteers at Union Square Main Street’s Swirl and Spice events on Thursday nights, which is a new, outdoor specialty foods market. Sara D. and Jenna S. both volunteer at Swirl and Spice too; they also told us that they volunteer at Union Square Main Street’s farmers market. In other community news, the Council on Aging held an open planning meeting, to discuss future intergenerational LGBT events, designed to strengthen the LGBT community. (To read more about Community Stocks, click here.)
Environment stocks shot up 21%, to finish at $5.53. This put them in second place again, this time leaving Creative stocks in their wake.
This surge was due to all of the amazing things people are doing for the city’s environment. Jenna S. wrote to say that she uses her bike as her primary form of transportation, which cuts down on emissions. Tim D., MJND and about 20 other volunteers helped remove the pavement from a driveway so the homeowner could plant a garden. This “depaving” was organized by Somerville Climate Action; in addition to creating more green space, depaving reduces water run-off and the risk of flooding. Steven N. told us that SCA had helped him depave his backyard a couple years ago; since then, he’s created a small, private community garden that he and his friends really enjoy. Mark W. said that he had planted some grass on a bare patch of land; he did this to create more green space, and to help reduce storm run-off as well.
The city of Somerville launched its new “Somerville Urban Ag” website. It features information and tips on urban agriculture, and is part of the city’s push to encourage more urban growing. Nationally, the US Court of Appeals upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules on greenhouse gases (emissions that pollute the air, and add to global heat levels). These new rules will affect the emissions created by factories, power plants and cars. They will limit how much carbon dioxide newly-built factories can produce, and lays the groundwork for new standards on car emissions. (To read more about Environment Stocks, click here.)
Creative stocks rose a little—6.5%, to end at $4.98. But, for the first time, they finished in last place, behind the other stocks.
But last or not, they did still see an increase. This was due to two events. First, the Somerville Arts Council held a fundraiser on June 16th at PA’s. It was a Modern Lovers tribute show, and a number of local bands played covers. Second, there was a talk on zines at the Armory, with was organized by the Arts Council. Two long-time zine-makers told a full house about their experiences with zines and the zine community. (To read more about Creative Stocks, click here.)
To read more about why Somerville Stocks are “worth” what they’re “worth,” take a look at our online forum.
Get invested in your community!
If you’d like to earn yourself some Stocks, get in touch! You can earn stocks by making a donation to one of our partner nonprofits (Somerville Homeless Coalition; Somerville Arts Council; Somerville Climate Action) and then letting us know about it. Or by sharing something that you’ve done for Somerville in our forum.
Hope to hear from you! To contact us, click here. We're also on Facebook.
And check back on July 15th for the next Somerville Stock Report.
News
We’ll be at the Union Square Farmer’s Market on Saturday, July 7th. Hope you’ll stop by out table and say hi—get some stocks!
