Boston Flora

Category: Volunteer Opportunity

  • Saturday, April 24, 8:30 – noon – Alley Rally

    What’s a good way to get to know your neighbors and work in a little exercise as well? The Back Bay Alley Rally! This annual neighborhood cleanup will take place on Saturday, April 24th, in conjunction with Mayor Menino’s Boston Shines. Volunteers of all ages gather with Chairs Ellen Rooney, Chris Mitchell and Roseann Colot at the Clarendon Street Playground at 8:30 am to fortify themselves with juice, coffee and doughnuts provided by our local stores. We then divide into teams and — using the rakes, shovels and brooms provided by the City of Boston — volunteers fan out to clean the alleys and side streets. Your labors will end at noon, when everyone returns to the playground for a picnic lunch, with food donated by our local businesses.  Bring your own fashionable gloves, of course.

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  • Saturday, April 10, 12:30 pm – Bog Rebuild

    New England Carnivorous Plant Society members will be rebuilding the two carnivorous plant bogs in the greenhouse at Roger Williams Park Botanical Center (www.providenceri.com/botanical-center/ on Saturday, April 10, beginning at 12:30 pm.  Visitors are most welcome – find out how simple and fun it is to set up and maintain a carnivorous plant bog.  The workshop will run for approximately three hours, and is free and open to the public.

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  • Sunday, April 11, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Tower Hill Botanic Garden Spring Open House

    On Sunday, April 11, from 10 – 5, enjoy free admission to Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts all day.  This is a perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the Garden, while browsing the newly renovated Gift Shop and having a delightful lunch at Twigs Cafe.  See the newly renovated Reception Hall and gift shop, the first part of Phase IV development to be completed at Tower Hill, and acquire information on classes, volunteering, membership and rentals.  Learn about upcoming special events and activities.  For more information, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

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  • Saturday, April 3, 10:00 am – Spring Celebration with the Friends of Clarendon Street Playground

    Join the Friends of Clarendon Street Playground (corner of Clarendon Street and Commonwealth Avenue) on Saturday, April 3, beginning at 10:00 am, for an egg hunt, coffee and doughnuts, and a visit from the Easter Bunny!  Volunteers are needed to hide eggs at 8:00 am – if you are able to help with the event, contact playground@nabbonline.com, or call The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay at 617-247-3961.

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  • Tuesday, April 6, and Wednesday, April 7, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm – 10th Annual Organics Recycling Summit

    This year, MassRecycle, www.massrecycle.org is excited to partner with MassDEP to combine the 5th Annual University of Resource Management Conference and the 10th Annual Organics Recycling Summit, “Local Energy Takes Root,” into two full days in early April dedicated to examining recycling and composting from garbage to revenues.The Organics Recycling Summit is the largest conference dedicated to food waste and organics recycling in New England.

    The conference will teach participants how recycling and composting of solid food wastes can add to revenue streams and reduce waste at curbside. Just as recycling turns trash into revenues, composting also turns trash into a commodity worth cash.

    On April 6 the conference will take place at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westborough from 8 am to 4 pm. Topics of workshops include “Collecting Food Waste at Public Events,” “Commercial Food Waste Composting Technology,” and “Anaerobic Digestion.”  The April 7th program will be held at the New England Small Farm Institute in Belchertown, Massachusetts.  You may register on line, or call Jessica at 617-338-0244, or email director@massrecycle.org.

    http://www.djc.com/stories/images/20060803/Conservation_CrownePlazawaste.jpg

  • Saturday, March 27, 8:30 pm – Earth Hour

    On Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 pm Eastern Time, plan to participate in Earth Hour. On Earth Hour, hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple – turning off their lights for one hour.  The movement symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in this fight, protecting our future and that of future generations.   Since its inception three years ago, Earth Hour’s non-partisan approach has captured the world’s imagination and become a global phenomenon.  Nearly one billion people turned out their lights for Earth Hour 2009, involving 4,100 cities in 87 countries on seven continents.  Earth Hour will once again cascade around the globe, from New Zealand to Hawaii. To learn more, and to see videos of what Earth Hour looks like, log on to www.myearthhour.org.  The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway will participate, as well as over 300 US cities.

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  • April 17 – April 18 – Global Days of Service, Earth Day 2010

    The Global Days of Service will feature Volunteer Actions by tens of thousands of global participants, from April 17 – 18, 2010. These projects in parks, beaches, schools and forests will focus on climate change solutions like tree planting, energy efficiency retrofits, water protection, urban gardens and forest restoration. Produced with the help of Earth Day Network, along with local community organizations and governments, the activities will address current challenges and will help cities and organizations streamline their energy needs, and ‘green up’ their communities. Suitable for individuals of all ages, including children and families, these activities encourage active lifestyles and healthful living, while also connecting volunteers with the green solutions.  This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, and you may find more information about local events at www.earthday.net/earthday2010.

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  • Sunday, March 28, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – Tower Hill Botanic Garden Spring Open House

    On Sunday, March 28, from 10 – 5, enjoy free admission to Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive, Boylston, Massachusetts all day.  This is a perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the Garden, while browsing the newly renovated Gift Shop and have a delightful lunch at Twigs Cafe.  See the new Reception Hall, acquire information on classes, volunteering, membership and rentals.  Learn about upcoming special events and activities.  For more information, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.

    http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/ProductImages/narcissus/IPS-%20Narcissus%20Daffodil%20Rijnveld%27s%20Early%20Sensation%201.jpg

  • Castle Hill Grand Allée Landscape Restoration Project

    The Trustees of Reservations announce the beginning of Phase One of the important Castle Hill Grand Allée Landscape Restoration Project. This iconic landscape of a National Historic Landmark will be restored to its original design and splendor, with a sustainable approach.

    The Crane Estate’s “Grand Allée” on Castle Hill in Ipswich combines a grand scale with beautiful decorative arts, making it unique in American landscape design. It is the only known landscape masterpiece of its kind still in existence in North America, and one of only a few remaining worldwide. The Allée is one of the largest landscape features created by renowned Boston landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff – best known for his design of Colonial Williamsburg and the Charles River Esplanade – who modeled the dramatic design after the beautiful Italian and French gardens of Renaissance Europe. Since 1949, when the Crane family gave Castle Hill to the Trustees, the Allée has become a beloved and impressive backdrop for open-air concerts, weddings, tours and events, a childrens summer camp, and other recreational activities held year-round on the Crane Estate.

    Nearly 100 years after its original installation, the plantings and architectural elements have begun to decline rapidly. The aging trees are prone to damage from harsh weather and storms. In addition, at their mature height, the trees have outgrown Shurcliff’s design and become overcrowded, obscuring his carefully planned views of natural features and the original sculptures bordering the hedgerows. To restore this rare and iconic landscape to its original splendor, The Trustees are embarking on a dynamic, three year, environmentally sustainable renovation project. The restoration will constitute a living laboratory – modeling cutting edge environmental stewardship with the diligent care of a National Historic Landmark.

    The Allée restoration project has been created in memory of David Crockett, former member of the Board of Governors, known as the “Impresario of Argilla Road,” on which the Estate is located. For more information, or to volunteer in this endeavor, log on to www.ttor.org, or email rmurray@ttor.org. You may also call Bob Murray at 978-356-4351, x. 4035.

  • Friday, February 12 – Monday, February 15 – The 13th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count

    The 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will be held from February 12 – 15th, 2010. The GBBC is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent and in Hawaii.

    Each checklist submitted by these “citizen scientists” helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how the birds are doing—and how to protect them and the environment we share. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent’s largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.

    Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.

    Bird populations are always shifting and changing. For example, 2009 GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops farther north caused the siskins to move south to find their favorite food.

    On the www.birdcount.org website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website’s photo gallery. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.

    For more information about the GBBC, visit www.birdcount.org. Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473 or (outside the U.S., call (607) 254-2473) or GBBC at Cornell University, or Audubon at Citizen Science at the Audubon Society or (202) 861-2242 ext 3050.

    The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by generous support from Wild Birds Unlimited.