CRWA in the News

Charles River cleanup planned for Earth Day

By Jesika Giron/Daily News correspondent

Milford Daily News, Sunday, April 1, 2007

Later this month, volunteers will get together to help spiff up one of Massachusetts' most cherished natural resources, the Charles River.

``(The Charles River) is an asset,'' said Linda Konvalinka, who is leading cleanup efforts in Milford. ``There are a lot of things that people don't realize. They dump litter (into the water) and they don't think about how manmade materials don't break down in a natural environment.``People just don't realize their impact at the time.''

With the eighth annual cleanup taking place Saturday, April 21, the Charles River Watershed Association's Charles River Cleanup is looking for volunteers from towns all along the river's shores.

The project began with an Earth Day cleanup in celebration of the Millennium in 2000, said Rebecca Scibek, a volunteer coordinator for the association. With 800 volunteers participating throughout the watershed the first year of the cleanup, ``we had a lot of interest and decided to make in an annual event,'' said Scibek.

Milford volunteers don't just have bottles and cans to fish out of Milford Pond - a refrigerator sits near the shore. Bicycles, shopping carts and tires litter other bodies of water and shores in the area.

``If (tires) get thrown into the woods, it's even worse because they fill up with water and become the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes, which can cause a health issue for the town,'' said Konvalinka.

With Milford area cleanup starting at 9 a.m., volunteers will meet at Louisa Lake, where gloves and bags will be provided. To get involved in the cleanup effort in Milford, contact Linda Konvalinka at 508-377-9040, or e-mail lkonvalinka@comcast.net.

Locals who have participated in the cleanup in past years confirm how much the cleanup effort is needed to help keep the Charles River clean.

``The Charles River is the greatest resource in the town of Millis,'' said Nancy Sitta, president of the Millis Garden Club, who is leading the cleanup efforts in Millis and Medfield this year. ``It was devastating to see how much had been thrown out of the windows of cars.''

Last year, two people alone filled nine 35-gallon trash bags with litter picked up from the river along Rte. 109, she said.

``It was disgusting,'' said Sitta of Styrofoam take-out containers and other trash they found. ``All of that was going to end up in the river, and in the stomachs of fish and turtles.''

This year, the Millis/Medfield cleanup effort will take place between three boat launch sites along Rte. 109 and 115. Cleanup efforts in Millis will begin on April 14 with Millis Beautification Day and will continue the following week with the Charles River Cleanup, she said.

To participate in this year's land or water cleanup projects in the Millis/Medfield area, contact Nancy Sitta at 508-376-2676.

``We have a long history (of helping out with the cleanup),'' said Bonnie Frechette of the Whole Foods Market, one of the groups involved in the cleanup in Bellingham. ``This is the fifth year we've been involved.''

With groups meeting at Whole Foods in Bellingham to pick up supplies and be assigned to cleanup sites, volunteers will clean along the river on Rte. 126 at both the Medway/Bellingham and the Bellingham/Hopedale town lines.

``The amount of trash we've collected over the years is just phenomenal,'' said Frechette, who said people have picked up everything from stage lighting to the hoods of cars during past cleanups. ``I'm sure you can see (the litter) just driving down the streets.''
With a ``green mission,'' all 10 Whole Foods stores along the watershed are participating in the Charles River Cleanup, and the market is accepting coupon donations to benefit the watershed during the month of April, said Frechette.

To help clean up in Bellingham, contact Frechette at Whole Foods at 508-966-3331, or e-mail bonnie.frechette@wholefoods.com.

``We have been working on the cleanup for many years,'' said Debbie Ferullo of the Box Pond Association, a grassroots environmental group in Bellingham, whose members participated in Earth Day efforts to clean the river even before the Charles River Cleanup.
``We usually end up with quite an assortment of things people have thrown in the water,'' said Ferullo, whose cleanup group meets at the curve on Box Pond Road and cleans along Depot Street. For more information on this cleanup group, visit www.boxpond.net.

Fourth-graders at the Stallbrook Elementary School in Bellingham will also participate in the cleanup on the school's grounds as part of the class' family project, said Principal Helen Chamides.

In Natick, clean up efforts are being organized by Candy Hulton of the Natick Environmental Coalition, and volunteers are encouraged to meet at the Charles River Dam in South Natick with rakes and gloves, starting at 9 a.m.

Volunteers will clean up on both sides of the dam, as well as other areas of downtown South Natick.

The Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup is organized by a collaborative of groups interested in environmental and river issues: Charles River Watershed Association, MASSPIRG, Environment Masschusetts, Charles River Stream Team, Senator Steven Tolman's Office, Charles River Conservancy, The Esplanade Association, and the City of Newton, said the Charles River Watershed Association website at www.crwa.org.
Clean up efforts are also taking place in Wellesley, Dedham, Needham, Dover, and Norfolk. For more information, contact the Charles River Watershed Association at 781-788-0007 ext. 303, or go to www.crwa.org.