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Environmental News
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, April 19, 2025 – 9am to 1pm, Textile Recycling, Media Storage Recycling, Secure Shredding, and Composting Containers – FREE Event Mashpee Senior Center, 26 Frank E. Hicks Drive, Mashpee – The Mashpee Environmental Coalition, in collaboration with Mashpee’s Department of Public Works, will hold our 2nd Annual Earth Day event, featuring Textile Recycling, Secure Shredding, Composting Containers and Information, and (new this year), Media Storage Recycling. Details are available by viewing our Earth Day 2025 Flyer, the Full List of Textiles that may be bagged and dropped off, and the List of Media Storage Items that can and cannot be recycled. Additional questions may be sent to [email protected].
Weekly Guided Nature Tours, Saturday Mornings – Each month, the Mashpee Conservation Department sponsors guided walking tours, which are free of charge and weather dependent. Details regarding these walks are posted along the left-hand margin at the department’s main website at www.mashpeema.gov/conservation. Walks have included Childs River, Lowell Holly Reservation, Mashpee River Woodlands, Pickerel Cove, Santuit Pond Preserve and many more. This is a great way to explore Mashpee’s wonderful array of conservation lands.
Information Items:
Cape-Wide “Perpetual” Conservation Calendar: The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts and its nonprofit members currently maintain a Regional Calendar of Events, that is updated on a continual basis. This Conservation Calendar includes programs from villages and towns across Cape Cod, encouraging both visitors and residents to take part in nature and environmental events. The wide list of current programs may be accessed at: www.blt.org/capeconservationcalendar.
Textile Recycling Reminder: As of November 2022, it is now illegal to discard any clothing or other textile items in the trash, even if stained, ripped, threadbare, or filled with holes. The full list of items that must now be recycled may be accessed at the link provided, courtesy of Bay State Textiles. MEC is currently planning textile drives twice each year — one in April as an Earth Day event, and one in August alongside the Hazardous Waste Dropoff. Exact dates and times each year will be posted above under “Upcoming Events”. More information may be found at: List of Clothing and Textiles that must now be Recycled
Like Ospreys? Thanks to the Friends of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge and Comcast, you can now watch – and listen to – the osprey nest of Rachel and Carson and their two new babies located at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. To access this live feed, click on the link below, then “Osprey Cam” at: https://www.friendsofmashpeenationalwildliferefuge.org/
Important Fertilizer Reminder: Mashpee regulates the application of fertilizer as follows:
- No application of nitrogen is permitted between October 30 and April 14 — or at any time within 100′ of specified waterways
- No application of phosphorus is permitted between December 1 and March 1 — or at any time within 20′ of specified waterways
Even during acceptable dates, no application is permitted before or during a heavy rainfall or when the ground is saturated. These regulations are detailed in the Nitrogen Control Bylaw, amended 2017, available at www.mashpeema.gov, under Town Clerk. However, please note that Mashpee Town Manager, Rodney C. Collins, issued a Special Water Quality Alert to all property owners asking them to discontinue the use of fertilizers on lawns and landscaped areas. This alert is available at https://www.mashpeema.gov/home/news/special-water-quality-alert-july-2021. Thank you for helping to keep Mashpee’s waterways clean!
In Case You Missed It:
Session Videos and Resources from the 2024 Cape Cod Coastal Conference – The June 18, 2024, full-day WBNERR conference entitled “Collaborating for Solutions: Practical Sessions to Achieve Watershed Plans” focused on ways that our Cape Cod communities can take action to restore water quality, reduce nutrients in our watersheds, and apply for funds to assist in implementing Watershed Plans. The full Conference Agenda, Session Videos, and a link to Grant Opportunities and Deadlines are available at: https://waquoitbayreserve.org/2024-cape-coastal-conference/.
Pond Oxygenation Workshop – A Special “Shout Out” to the Waquoit Bay Reserve for their informative, full-day workshop in November 2023 on how to manage healthy ponds by using oxygenation – and no chemicals. This technique has proven successful in lakes and ponds across the US, as well as right here on Cape Cod with Sarah’s Pond in Orleans – thanks to an initiative undertaken by the Orleans Pond Coalition. The full-day program, including agenda, presenter information, and PowerPoints may be found at the link below. For anyone interested in learning more about a fully natural way to help manage our freshwater ponds, this approach is well worth exploring: https://waquoitbayreserve.org/pond-oxygenation-workshop-learning-through-case-studies/
Monthly Board of Directors Meeting Schedule
Board meetings of the Mashpee Environmental Coalition (MEC) are held via Zoom the second Thursday of each month (January to November) starting at 4:00pm unless otherwise noted. There is no meeting in December. Please note that our Annual Meeting takes place the second Thursday in September at 4:00pm followed by the September board meeting.
All are welcome to attend. If you wish to attend one of our meetings, please contact [email protected] by 12:00 noon the day before the meeting so the Zoom link can be emailed to you.
Press Release – Environmental Scholarship to be Awarded
The Mashpee Environmental Coalition is pleased to announce that their scholarship will again be offered to one or more qualified Mashpee High School seniors. This scholarship aims to assist students who are dedicated to helping the environment and who plan to continue their education beyond high school. Past scholarship recipients have pursued degrees at Amherst College, Colby-Sawyer College, Northern Arizona University, Tufts University, and UMass-Amherst in programs such as environmental science and forestry.
Scholarship qualifications, applications, and deadlines are available through the Mashpee Middle High School scholarship website and the MMHS Guidance Department. All qualified seniors are encouraged to apply.
Successful Textile Recycling Drive
The August 17, 2024 Textile Recycling Drive sponsored by the Mashpee Environmental Coalition (MEC) was a great success, with 3,000 lbs. of textiles dropped off in a 4-hour period. As an added plus, the combined Household Hazardous Waste, Textile Recycling, and Shredding Event received front page coverage in the Mashpee Enterprise.
Since August 2023, MEC has held three textile drives – keeping 8,750 lbs. in total out of our landfills – with up to 95% reused or repurposed. Since it is now illegal in Massachusetts for textiles to be discarded in the trash, MEC plans to sponsor textile drives twice each year — in April for Earth Day, and in August combined with the county’s Household Hazardous Waste collection. Once the April 2025 date is confirmed, it will be widely advertised to members, throughout the Internet, and across town.
Earth Day 2024 Event – Textiles, Shredding, and Composting
For Earth Day 2024, the Mashpee Environmental Coalition is partnering with the Mashpee Department of Public Works on a combined effort to help reduce waste. A free event — Textile Recycling, Secure Shredding, and Composting — will take place on Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 9am to 1pm at the Mashpee Senior Center, 26 Frank E Hicks Drive. An information sheet can be accessed here.
Since it is now illegal to discard any clothing or textiles in the trash, residents can drop off bags of unwanted, torn, ripped, and stained items including bedding, footwear, handbags, tablecloths, towels, and even stuffed animals – as long as they are clean and dry.
A secure shredding company will also be onsite to safely destroy documents with personal and confidential information.
And given the fact that approximately 30% of household trash is food waste, FREE kitchen scrap buckets will be distributed by the Mashpee Department of Public Works along with information about the Town’s food waste collection at the Transfer Station and/or how to compost at home. Home compost bins (Earth Machine) will also be available for purchase.