| Give Charlesgate Park a Vote With This Boston Survey! The City of Boston is conducting a survey to identify parts of the city that could use improved green space. You can vote for Charlesgate Park here. Simply state Charlesgate East or West and your favorite intersection (Commonwealth Avenue, Marlborough Street, or Beacon Street) in the “Find Address Or Place” field. |
And face it, you have nothing better to do right now.
Over the next 18 months, the City of Boston is partnering with a team of landscape architects, planners, ecologists, and community engagement experts to create a master plan for an engaging and diverse Franklin Park. Help shape the future of the park and connections to the surrounding neighborhoods. This first meeting will take place January 28 from 6 – 8 at the William J. Devine Golf Course Clubhouse (and if you haven’t been, it’s worth the trip.) William J. Devine Golf Course at Franklin Park was established October 26, 1896 and is the second oldest public golf course in the nation behind Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx borough of New York City. Snow date: Thursday, January 30 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Did you know that there are farmers in the City of Boston?
Join Youth Engagement and Employment and Food Access at 9 am on May 18 to help provide healthy food options for your community by planting fruits and vegetables to be harvested and shared with your neighbors this summer. Come learn about urban farming and plant healthy food for your community! The event is Citywide: Allston, Back Bay, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, Brighton, Charlestown, Chinatown, Leather District, Downtown, East Boston, Fenway, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill, North End, Roslindale, South Boston, South End, West End, and West Roxbury.
Free breakfast and lunch, and free swag. These are volunteer hours. RSVP at https://www.boston.gov/calendar/plant-city-1
Here we go for 2019. Beginning May 6 and continuing through December 6, the City of Boston will be picking up Leaf and Yard Waste. If you have two recycling days per week, collection is on the FIRST recycling day of the week. Collection is every other week, and leaf and yard waste left curbside on alternate weeks will not be collected. If you want to compost, you may buy backyard compost bins and kitchen scrap buckets at Boston Building Resources, 100 Terrace Street in Mission Hill, but remember, if you are in an area with a high rat density, composting may not be a good option.
Use large paper bags or open barrels labeled “yard waste” but do not use plastic bags. Tie branches (3 foot maximum length, 1 inch maximum width) with string. Do not put branches in barrels. And please, no dirt!
For more information visit http://boston.gov/trash
The City of Boston’s Environment Department and Parks and Recreation Department are organizing a clean-up at the Bussey Brook Meadow Urban Wild in Jamaica Plain. The cleanup will take place on Saturday, November 10, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at 407 South Street, Jamaica Plain 02130.
A major component of the cleanup will be the picking up and disposing of trash in the surrounding area. Another component will involve the physical removal and disposal of invasive species. Invasive species are a group of organisms that are not native to a specific area and are harmful to the native organisms. This is due to the competition for resources that they create among the native organisms.
Sign up at https://www.boston.gov/calendar/bussey-brook-urban-wild-cleanup or email greenovate@boston.gov
Let’s fill the room at this City of Boston budget hearing at 11:30 on May 24 in the City Hall Council Chamber to demonstrate our support for parks and trees across all of our beautiful and diverse neighborhoods. Prepare testimony if you can, and lend your voice to the chorus of people asking for more resources to keep our green spaces and trees safe, attractive and available to all.
Boston residents can safely dispose of hazardous waste and shred unwanted documents free. Come to the West Roxbury DPW at 315 Gardner Street in West Roxbury on Saturday, August 19 from 9 – 2. You will need to show proof of residency, and no waste from businesses will be accepted. Latex and acrylic paints are NOT hazardous – just let the paint dry out in the can and put it out on your trash day. You may shred up to ten copy-paper size boxes or containers of personal documents. You may also recycle electronics at this event.
Additionally, at the same time and place, recycle your clothing and textiles. Broken zippers? Missing buttons? Stained? As long as it’s dry and not moldy, the City wants it. Did you know that about six percent of solid waste is textiles? At this recycling event, pants, coats, hats, suits, blankets, pillows curtains, table linens. belt. ties , dresses, purses, comforters, shoes, scarves, stuffed animals, backpacks, and clothing are accepted. Carpets, rugs, oil rags and mattresses are, unfortunately, not appropriate. For more information email publicworks@boston.gov or call 617-635-4900.
For one spectacular day each year, the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the City of Boston is transformed into the nation’s largest local & sustainable food hub! Boston Local Food Festival is a free outdoor festival that showcases farmers, local restaurants, food trucks, specialty food producers, fisher folks, and organizations focusing on healthy food and fitness from New England. The festival also features lively chef & DIY demos, a seafood throwdown competition, diverse music and performances, family fun zone and more.
Festival goers learn about the benefits of sustainably grown and produced food, shop the market, eat delicious local food, participate in fun, educational activities and exhibits, engage with top local chefs and enjoy local music. Themed “Healthy Local Food for All”, the festival connects Massachusetts and New England eaters of all backgrounds with the abundance of fresh, nutritious local food choices available close to home.
The festival is a zero-waste event, meaning we divert over 91% of our waste each year and we offset 100% of our energy use! All perishable items sold are made from locally sourced products. Best of all, we bring this annual event to the community free of charge. So grab your reusable water bottles and bags and enjoy New England’s largest one day farmers market, while celebrating “Healthy Local Food for All.” The event takes place this year on Sunday, September 18 from 11 – 5. For complete details visit http://bostonlocalfoodfestival.com/
The 4th Annual Massachusetts Water Forum, hosted by the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. in honor of World Water Day, will rethink water management as the Commonwealth prepares for a changing climate.
The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) will present a game-changing plan to transform the way we manage water in our urban and suburban spaces. The forum will encourage all participants to pose questions, add their insights, and think about new designs, systems and resource uses.
Participants may join us for one or more segment of this program on Tuesday, March 22 at the BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston. The 4th Annual Massachusetts Water Forum is brought to you thanks to our partners:
The Office of Representative Chris Walsh
Boston Society of Architects
Charles River Watershed Association
City of Boston
MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority)
Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC)
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
Green Schools
We have the privilege of welcoming the Commonwealth’s Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Matthew Beaton, and
GUEST KEYNOTE SPEAKER from Washington,DC Wenonah Hauter (pictured below), Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, author of Frackopoly. For more information visit http://foundationforagreenfuture.org/blue/4th_annual_mass_water_forum.
The Greenovate Boston Community Summit is a day-long gathering that brings together residents, businesses, and organizations to help Boston reach its climate goals by sharing best practices and connecting them to each other, to the City, and to other resources and information. Presented by the City of Boston, the Summit will take place Saturday, June 6, from 10 – 4 at the Curry Student Center at Northeastern University. Free and open to the public. For more information visit www.greenovateboston.org. Perhaps the potential impacts from the City’s Olympic bid, or the proposed zoning changes for Newbury and Boylston Streets, may be addressed.
