How Are You Celebrating Earth Month?
“Every April 22 I think to myself, ‘I wish I had signed up for an Earth Day clean-up this year…’”
– Anonymous
If that sounds like you – or if you just like to plan ahead – this newsletter is for you. We’ve put together a list of activities from across the Commonwealth to make planning your Earth Month celebrations easy. So grab your friends, family, neighbors, pets, and get busy!
Litter Clean-ups 🗑️
Tired of seeing trash in your neighborhood streets and parks? Join a community clean-up! This Earth Month activity is very popular, and opportunities are everywhere. Remember, if you can’t find one near you, you can start your own.
If you want to get involved with a large community of clean-up crusaders, consider joining the Great Massachusetts Clean Up with Keep Massachusetts Beautiful. Their events webpage lists a number of local cleanups that you can register for. You can even put together your own group with KMB’s help.
For an even bigger feeling of connection, join the Great Global Clean-up to work “alongside” people from across the world who are cleaning up their environments. Check out their map for nearby events.
Or, sign up for one of these events:
10:00am – 12:00pm
Hosted by Worcester Green Corps
Join the Worcester Green Corps and other friends of the community as they work to clean up Beaver Brook and the surrounding neighborhood.
4/8 Clean Up Day in East Longmeadow
9:00am – 11:00am
Hosted by East Longmeadow Health Department & Other Sponsors
Join your neighbors this Earth Day to pick up trash dumped on the fields, tree belts, and roadsides. Prizes for most trash collected, best social post, and most bizarre trash find.
4/22 REC Earth Day Cleanups
8:00am – 12:00pm Worcester, MA
Hosted by the Regional Environmental Council
This Earth Day join over 1,000 folks across Worcester to clean up our neighborhoods, streets and parks!
4/22 Westfield Earth Day Cleanup
8:00am
Hosted by the City of Westfield Conservation Department
Teams will be assigned locations, in the downtown area, including Route 20, South Broad Street, Union Street, Southampton Road and many more locations in need of cleaning-up.
4/22 Clean Up West Springfield
9:00am
Hosted by West Springfield Environmental Committee
Don’t like seeing litter and bulk on West Springfield’s public areas? Volunteer your time to help clean-up a location of your choosing, helping to make the town a cleaner place.
4/22 Neponsit River Cleanup
9:00am – 12:00pm
Hosted by the Neponsit River Watershed Association
Join NepRWA staff and volunteers as they clean up the waterfronts and parklands along the Neponset River!
4/22 & 4/23 Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup
10:00am – 12:00pm
Hosted by the Charles River Conservancy
This annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup allows volunteers to give back to their community while enjoying the beauty and wildlife along the river.
4/23 Earth Day Clean-Up: Chelsea
9:00am – 1pm
Hosted by GreenRoots Chelsea
Take part in a citywide clean-up! Free lunch provided. Join this event as part of GreenRoots’ Earth Day Community Events. To register, contact IlianaP@greenrootschelsea.org.
Tree Planting 🌳
We can’t think of a better gift for Mother Nature than the gift of more trees. Trees provide the benefits of shade, beauty, habitat, carbon storage and oxygen, so why not take the time to plant a tree this Earth Month?
We found a couple of ideas for tree enthusiasts. First up, you might consider signing up with Tree Eastie to plant or adopt trees. Tree Eastie partners with local groups to plant more trees in urban locations.
There’s also the MA Urban Canopy Project. This program was created to increase the number of trees planted in urban residential areas of the Massachusetts Gateway Cities. The trees are planted by foresters from the Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) Urban & Community Forestry Program, with crews hired from local communities. Get in touch with someone at the Greening the Gateway Cities Program to learn how to plant trees in your yard or neighborhood.
If you’re in the Springfield area, get involved with ReGreen Springfield whose mission is to reforest Springfield, one tree at a time.
To learn more about the benefits of trees, check out the Arbor Day Foundation.
Festivals and Fun 🌟
If you’re in a social mood, you may enjoy some of these events and activities. Some of these organizations do month-long events, so be sure to check out their websites for more information.
10:00am – 12:00pm
Hosted by Worcester Green Corps
Join the Worcester Green Corps and other friends of the community as they work to clean up Beaver Brook and the surrounding neighborhood.
4/8 Clean Up Day in East Longmeadow
9:00am – 11:00am
Hosted by East Longmeadow Health Department & Other Sponsors
Join your neighbors this Earth Day to pick up trash dumped on the fields, tree belts, and roadsides. Prizes for most trash collected, best social post, and most bizarre trash find.
4/22 REC Earth Day Cleanups
8:00am – 12:00pm Worcester, MA
Hosted by the Regional Environmental Council
This Earth Day join over 1,000 folks across Worcester to clean up our neighborhoods, streets and parks!
4/22 Westfield Earth Day Cleanup
8:00am
Hosted by the City of Westfield Conservation Department
Teams will be assigned locations, in the downtown area, including Route 20, South Broad Street, Union Street, Southampton Road and many more locations in need of cleaning-up.
4/22 Clean Up West Springfield
9:00am
Hosted by West Springfield Environmental Committee
Don’t like seeing litter and bulk on West Springfield’s public areas? Volunteer your time to help clean-up a location of your choosing, helping to make the town a cleaner place.
4/22 Neponsit River Cleanup
9:00am – 12:00pm
Hosted by the Neponsit River Watershed Association
Join NepRWA staff and volunteers as they clean up the waterfronts and parklands along the Neponset River!
4/22 & 4/23 Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup
10:00am – 12:00pm
Hosted by the Charles River Conservancy
This annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup allows volunteers to give back to their community while enjoying the beauty and wildlife along the river.
4/23 Earth Day Clean-Up: Chelsea
9:00am – 1pm
Hosted by GreenRoots Chelsea
Take part in a citywide clean-up! Free lunch provided. Join this event as part of GreenRoots’ Earth Day Community Events. To register, contact IlianaP@greenrootschelsea.org.
Make it an Earth Year!
While Earth Month is a great time to reflect and get involved with your community, your efforts shouldn’t stop there. For us, every day is Earth Day. Here are some other activities that we encourage all year long:
- Compost your food scraps. At-home composting helps create rich, nutritious soil for your plants and those trees you planted during Earth Month. It reduces food waste, too! Click here for more information on composting.
- Go reusable! Reusable water bottles, straws, tote bags, containers, etc. protect the environment AND keep disposables out of landfills and incinerators. The more items you reuse the better!
- Make incremental changes to reduce your carbon footprint. Set one day a week (or more) and commit to walking, biking, carpooling or taking public transit to work or around town.
- Be Water Smart! Check for leaks inside and outside your home and sign up for the WaterSmart portal if your city or town offers the program. Find interactive tools to help you learn more about water conservation here.
- Recycle Smart. You didn’t think we’d leave this one out, did you?
As you can see, there are lots of ways to celebrate the Earth, so don’t hesitate – plan your activities and get involved!
Have fun out there!
Partner Spotlight: The Town of Bourne
Where do we start when it comes to this recycling champion? The Town of Bourne takes being a Recycle Smart MA Partner to another level.
Recyclopedia widget on their website? ✅
Sharing our newsletters and linking to the website? ✅✅
But what really got our attention was some new, engaging content they created for their website, like this fantastic “Recycle Smart: Do Not Bag” PSA and this video that includes a demo on how to use the Recyclopedia. And who could forget this article, Can you recycle that pizza box? An empty paint can? Sneakers? Check the Recyclopedia. The title alone made our day! We love how Bourne makes it easy for residents to learn about waste reduction and access useful resources.
Bourne also runs some highly successful waste reduction programs. The Town has made textile recovery easy with drop-off bins located at all four of their schools and at the recycling center. When it comes to mattresses, Bourne was a trailblazer. The Town was among the first municipalities to start collecting mattresses for recycling. Other successful programs include their food waste collection bins at the recycling center (which have collected nearly one ton of food waste!), their boat shrink wrap recycling program, and the county-wide latex paint collection program. All of these programs give residents accessible alternatives to simply throwing things away and help the Town reduce trash. They’re a win – win!
Big shoutout to the dedicated folks making all of this happen in Bourne: The Integrated Solid Waste Management team, the DPW, the Recycling Committee, the Town Hall, elected leadership, and of course, the voters. The passion you all show is an inspiration to cities and towns across MA!
📚 What We're Reading
- What Exactly Goes Into The Recycling Bin and What Doesn’t? – CBS Boston
- One Piece of Litter At A Time – Daily Hampshire Gazette
- Will We Ever Be Able to Recycle Our Clothes Like an Aluminum Can? – Boston.com
- Bourne Food Waste Collection Nears One-Ton Mark – The Enterprise Bourne
- Can You Recycle That Pizza Box? An Empty Paint Can? Sneakers? Check The Recyclopedia. – Cape Cod Times
Happy Earth Month!
The Recycle Smart Team at MassDEP