Massachusetts Beautification Bulletin | April 2023
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No plans for Earth Day tomorrow? Consider joining a Great Massachusetts Cleanup event or donate to our 2023 Earth Day Fundraising Campaign. Scroll down for event information, to donate, or to learn more about our crusade to clean up and green up Massachusetts.
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Join a cleanup this Saturday!
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This Earth Day, Take Action to Clean Up Your Community
Earth Day is this Saturday, and if you’re looking to do something positive for the planet, join one of the many Great Massachusetts Cleanup events taking place in towns and cities across Massachusetts. This is a great opportunity to get out and make a positive difference in your community!
If you are a cleanup event organizer, please remember to report your cleanup results to us so we can compile state-wide data.
While you’re at it, keep the positive momentum from your spring cleanup going by launching a local Keep Massachusetts Beautiful chapter. Our 40 local chapters deliver meaningful long-term benefits to their communities, including reduced litter, effective waste reduction and recycling programs, and beautification projects.
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Contribute Some Green to Our Earth Day Fundraiser!
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Dell Technologies volunteers in action
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Dell Technologies Volunteers Give Marathon Route a Spring Cleaning
On April 5, 75 Dell volunteers filled 113 thirty-gallon trash bags of litter and removed several other large items (tires, signs, bikes) from 6.5 miles of the Boston Marathon route in Hopkinton and Ashland. That's an estimated 2,250 pounds of trash and debris! We were happy to provide our cleanup tools and supplies to our partners at Dell.
The Dell Technologies Planet New England employee resource group has been partnering with Keep Massachusetts Beautiful for several years. As a silver-level business partner, we appreciate Dell’s ongoing financial support.
Discussions are already underway for spring 2024, when we hope to give the entire 26.2-mile marathon route from Hopkinton to Copley Square a pre-race cleanup.
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Avoid ticks and mosquitoes
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Avoid Ticks and Mosquitoes with Ranger Ready Products
Ranger Ready Repellents recently donated supplies of its DEET-free insect repellents to Keep Massachusetts Beautiful to help protect volunteers from ticks and mosquitoes.
Ranger Ready offers safe, effective repellents that are EPA registered and proven to work. All of Ranger Ready’s products are made in the U.S.A. using recyclable packaging.
You can use discount code KMB10 at checkout to save 10% off your order. In addition, 10% of your sale will be donated to Keep Massachusetts Beautiful!
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Support Legislation to Clean Up the Mess Along Massachusetts Highways
It’s been said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over, while expecting a different outcome. It's clear for anyone to see that the current processes in place for keeping Massachusetts’ major highways litter-free are not succeeding.
If you travel on any Massachusetts major highway this spring, you will undoubtedly see vast amounts of litter along our roadsides. MassDOT crews do what they can to keep up, but more resources and a fresh approach are clearly needed.
This is a problem that Keep Massachusetts Beautiful has been trying to solve since 2014. Regretfully, we have made little progress in terms of persuading our state leaders to take meaningful action to solve this challenge.
Thankfully, State Senator Paul Feeney has filed a petition (S 2234) that would create a Roadside Litter Prevention & Cleanup Task Force. The Task Force would create a consistent, memorable, Massachusetts-themed anti-littering campaign, examine current litter enforcement and fine policies, and issue recommendations in a report that would then be filed with the Governor and State Legislature. Hopefully, we would soon see some real changes and cleaner highways.
Please contact your senator, representative, Governor Healey, and the co-chairs of the Transportation subcommittee (Senator Brendan Crighton and Representative William Straus) and urge them to support this petition (S. 2234).
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A beautiful pollinator at work
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Apply Now for a Plant Something Bee-eautiful Grant
The deadline for our Plant Something Bee-eautiful grants is July 31. This program supports the planting of pollinator-friendly plants and trees in public spaces.
Thanks to generous support from our sponsor Noble Oak Whiskey, we will be able to award eight grants as follows:
- Three $2,500 grants that are reserved exclusively for communities that support a certified local KMB chapter
- Five $500 grants that are available to communities with a KMB chapter, as well as other nonprofit entities
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Zero Waste Zone:
Make Every Day Earth Day
While Earth Day is a great time to get involved in projects to protect and clean up our environment, there are many other actions you can take all year long:
Compost your food scraps. At-home composting helps create rich, nutritious soil for your plants and garden. Reducing the amount of food waste sent to landfills also helps reduce methane gas emissions—a leading cause of climate change! Learn more about composting.
Go reusable! Reusable water bottles, straws, tote bags, food containers, etc. protect the environment AND keep disposables out of landfills and incinerators. The more items you reuse the better!
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. Or, explore the benefits of converting to an electric vehicle.
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.
Recycle Smart. Make sure you’re recycling as much as possible, but just as importantly, recycling correctly. When in doubt, find out if an item is recyclable at RecycleSmartMA.org.
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Enviro-Newsworthy Developments...
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Thank you for reading our newsletter and please contact me if I can answer any questions you may have about our programs, launching a local KMB chapter in your community, or sponsorship opportunities. If you're interested in learning more, listen to this recent 25-minute podcast.
Sincerely,
Neil Rhein, Founder & Executive Director
Keep Massachusetts Beautiful
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