DALTON, Mass. — The Green Committee selected its logo for its Climate Action Plan during its meeting on Wednesday. 

 

The committee is developing a climate action plan with Blue Strike to achieve net zero by 2050 by seeking strategies to decrease the town's dependence on fossil fuels for homes, businesses, municipal facilities, and vehicles. 

 

Part of this process is community engagement, which involves informing residents about the climate action plan, gathering community input for its development, and answering people's questions. 

 

A picture is worth 1,000 words, committee member Antonio Pagliarulo. 

 

The logo helps reflect Dalton's past, present, and future environmental climate status. The committee called for logo submissions out to Wahconah Regional High School students and received 24 logo submissions. 

 

Blue Strike's graphic designer narrowed the submission to the three most compatible options that could be turned into a logo. 

 

During a meeting in November, the committee selected its preferred design for the CAP consultant, Blue Strike graphic designer, to convert into a usable logo for the town. 

 

The committee said It was a tough decision because of how well each student did, but selected Ashlyn Roch's design. 

 

The Green Committee will be giving each of the three students awards for their designs. 

 

During Wednesday's meeting, Cisco Tomasino, BlueStrike's climate and events manager, presented the committee with three conversions of Roch's logo that the company's graphic designer made. 

 

The committee liked the winning design because it was simple and included the text "Est. 2024," which is when the climate action plan was established. 

 

"I'd like that because it gives people a reference point in terms of our committee," Pagliarulo said. 

 

Committee member Todd Logan agreed, adding that it scales "really well." 

 

The committee requested that the graphic designer change the font used in the "Est. 2024" text to a bolder and taller one because the selected font is barely legible. 

 

"We don't want [the font] to be larger because then it would be wider. The way that your graphic designer did it aligns with the circle that the other font is in. So, we don't want to destroy that nice alignment. We just want it to be taller," Logan said. 

 

The committee's second favorite was described as having good composition and colors, but when scaled down, you can read the text, but the graphic gets lost. 

 

"I've solicited opinions from people that are on our advisory group, and there was a strong feeling that [the green committee's second favorite] was the one of preference," Committee member Thomas Irwin said. 

 

Irwin said that Kira Smith, the town manager's Office Assistant, is a graphic designer and prefers the green committee's second favorite but also likes the design that the committee selected. 

 

Smith said that it could be worth considering having both and, depending on the background, switching between them, Irwin said. 

 

"She thought that would be a great idea, and on reflection, I think that's an excellent suggestion," Irwin said. 

 

Committee member Laurie Martinelli said having two different logos would be confusing. 

 

Irwin said if he had to select a preferred option, he would choose the logo the Green Committee decided against – the second favorite.