Local efforts, cleanup opportunities for Earth Day
Apr. 21—NEWBURYPORT — With the 51st anniversary of Earth Day on Thursday, there are plenty of opportunities to take action locally and reconsider one's own impact on the environment.
In Newburyport, food composting is encouraged over the use of kitchen garbage disposal to help save the city money, support healthy waterways, help the wastewater treatment plant function more efficiently and reduce solid waste tonnage by 25 to 40%.
There are two curbside collection options for residents, Black Earth (https://blackearthcompost.com) and MONA Environmental (www.monaenvironmental.com).
Meat, fat, dairy, bones and shells are accepted. The city is offering free starter kits with a bin and liner bags for the first 150 households that sign up on either of these providers' websites Thursday.
Backyard composting bins, which are good for garden soil, are available for $25 at the Newburyport Yard Waste Facility on Colby Farm Lane. Meat, bones, fat and dairy should not be put in these bins.
More information on the city's efforts can be found at www.cityofnewburyport.com/recycling-energy-resiliency-sustainability.
Upcoming events
GroundSwell Surf Cafe at 25 Broadway in Salisbury will host its annual beach cleanup Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Anyone who fills a bucket with trash that has been picked up may receive a free coffee or muffin.
Extinction Rebellion will host a virtual showing of "The Hottest August," a 2019 documentary about growing anxiety in wake of climate change, on Thursday at 8 p.m. Register at https://xrmass.org/action/xr-movie-night-the-hottest-august.
Mass Audubon's Climate Change Program will sponsor a free online climate café, "The Value of Nature: Our Climate Reality," exploring nature-based climate solutions on Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The Women in Action Huddle of Greater Newburyport invites gardeners and friends to join an Earth Day cleanup of its "Indigenous Edible Avenue" at the March's Hill section of the Clipper City Rail Trail on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Bring a mask, gloves, something to drink and a rake.
The Amesbury Recreation Department will host a cleanup of Camp Kent Nature Center on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Small groups will work to tidy up the Eagle Trail, the butterfly garden, the adventure course and other commonly used places.
Volunteers are asked to wear masks and meet at Battis Farm, 76 South Hampton Road, near the Amesbury Community Gardens. Rakes and work gloves will be available for use. Register at www.amesburyrec.com.
Toward Zero Waste Newburyport welcomes new members to join its ShareBank, a loaning library where residents can reserve and borrow not-often-used household items for free. More information can be found at www.sbnbpt.com.
The organization recently launched a petition calling on Misfit Market to address its packaging problems, claimed to be "curbside recyclable," but are not in most states, including Massachusetts. Learn more at www.change.org/p/misfit-market-must-change-their-dangerous-packaging.
On May 15, Toward Zero Waste Newburyport will host a Habitat for Humanity ReStore event for people to drop off household goods and construction materials at the Newburyport Recycling Center, 23 Colby Farm Lane. The event starts at 9 a.m. and will end at noon or earlier if the truck is full.
For more details or to see the list of acceptable items, visit https://towardzerowastenbpt.wordpress.com/habitat-restore-drop-off-day-spring-2021.
Other resources for the community
The Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards, or ACES, is a Newburyport-based network of organizations and people working to create a more sustainable world through local action. Learn more at www.aces-alliance.org.
Green Energy Times is a free, bimonthly publication distributed in Vermont, New Hampshire, regions of New York and soon to be expanding into Maine. Visit https://greenenergytimes.org.
House Factory is a Newbury-based nonprofit working to educate others about ecobricks and other sustainable solutions for recycling plastic waste. An ecobrick can be made by stuffing a 16- to 20-ounce plastic water bottle with clean, soft plastics that can easily be cut with scissors and compacted into the bottle. It should weigh at least five ounces when completed, so that it can be used for building.
There are ecobrick drop-off locations at Unpacked Living, 156 Cabot St., Beverly; House Factory School, 21 Cottage Road, Newbury; Lynn Department of Public Works, 250 Commercial St., Lynn; and Salem High School, 77 Wilson St., Salem.
A drop-off bin is coming to the Newburyport Recycling Station, but details are still in the works. For more information on these efforts, visit https://homefactory.us.
