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Charles River Conservancy |
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CoastSweep Cleanup
2021 CoastSweep Cleanup Results
Last month, community members joined us for three cleanups in Riverbend Park, Herter Park, and parks along Charles River Road as part of the statewide and international CoastSweep initiative organized by the Ocean Conservancy. For this annual cleanup event, volunteers not only removed trash, but also collected data on the types of materials found to help discover waterway debris sources and find solutions to the problem. This year, over 50 volunteers joined us and removed 7,441 pieces of trash totaling 235 pounds! Thank you to all of our wonderful community volunteers who helped out. Here are some of our impressive and shocking numbers:
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Plastic Pieces - 1352
Cigarette Butts - 1174
Food Wrappers - 823
Foam Pieces - 593
Glass Pieces - 532
Bottle Caps - 492
Plastic Bottles - 415
PPE - 238
Cans - 239
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Conservancy Volunteers
September Recap
September is a beautiful month in Massachusetts, and a wonderful time of year to be working outside in the Charles River parks. In addition to our CoastSweep participants, thank you to our wonderful partners and community members who volunteered with us in September!
- MIT students removed 57 pounds of litter from the Memorial Drive parks.
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Boston Consulting Group worked in Herter Park painting benches, planting annuals and perennials in garden beds, and removing litter.
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Accent Therapeutics worked in the eastern area of Herter Park, weeding and caring for the Eliot Bridge gardens, painting benches, and removing litter.
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Vertex Pharmaceuticals worked along the Cambridge Parkway removing litter, painting railings, and planting bulbs.
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The Watertown Boys and Girls Club removed litter in and around Watertown Square.
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Infinity Pharmaceuticals worked in Magazine Beach, preparing the park for the winter months.
Schedule a Volunteer Event
Looking for a way to see friends and colleagues and do some good for the community? Consider scheduling a Conservancy Volunteers event for your company or group! Reserve your day and learn more about our event safety protocols by contacting Rachel at rchu@thecharles.org.
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The Watertown Boys and Girls Club helps gather litter along the Charles River Road. Photo: CRC staff |
Floating Wetland
Virtual Event Recap
We are so grateful to everyone who joined us on Thursday, September 23rd to learn more about the Charles River Floating Wetland and what we've learned after a year of weekly data collection. Missed the event? Watch the full presentation below.
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Advocacy
I-90 Allston Multimodal Project
Last week, MassDOT announced Massachusetts Turnpike and Soldiers Field Road will be rebuilt at-grade, rather than building an elevated structure. This is a huge win for our coalition of Allston community members, advocates, and stakeholders! Thanks to CRC board member and Perkins&Will principal Gautam Sundaram for his leadership in creating at-grade analysis and design with community members and designers from CBT. There's still plenty of work to do, but we are celebrating the latest victory for the Allston Multimodal Project and the CRC's advocacy.
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Herter Park Master Plan
The Department of Conservation and Recreation is developing a new master plan for Christian A. Herter Park. The public meeting and presentation that took place on September 29th are available for viewing at DCR's website. If you use the park, plan to visit it in the future, or want to give input on the park's plan, submit public comments by using the button below. The final master plan will be released in December.
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Explore the MathTrail!
Turn your weekday afternoons and weekends into a staycation filled with local adventures. Visit the Magazine Beach Footbridge in Cambridge and take a stroll across the MathTrail designed in partnership with MathTalk, a Cambridge-based organization. The MathTrail introduces playful math activities that interact with the environment. Enjoy a gigantic numberline, find animal footprints, and explore the free learning app, Measure! Everything!
Now through October 26th, visit the Footbridge for a last chance to meet with CRC and MathTalk team members to explore the bridge, try out the app, and of course visit the water!
Visit on Tuesday, October 19th and 26th from 3 - 4 PM and Saturday, October 16th from 10 - 11 AM.
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Rachel Chu (she/her) is our new Communications and Outreach Coordinator. She has a B.A. in Environment & Sustainability and Women’s & Gender Studies from Sewanee: The University of the South, where her environmental thesis focused on using GIS to map environmental justice concerns. She most recently worked at the Southern Environmental Law Center where she helped keep power companies accountable for their impacts on water pollution, air pollution, and violations of environmental justice. In her down time, you’ll find Rachel camping in state and national parks, baking hours-long recipes, honing in her meditation practice, and reading in the parks.
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Austin Miles (he/him) is our new Land Stewardship/Community Engagement Coordinator. He grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians, in Athens, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. in Biology and recently received his M.S. in Environmental Sciences from Ohio State University. Prior to his master’s program, he also worked with a nonprofit urban farm and did research on marine protected areas in Spain. He’s excited to support the Charles River Conservancy’s work stewarding the Charles River and maintaining it as a meaningful part of the social life of Bostonians. He’s a new arrival to Boston and is looking forward to exploring the city, the Charles, and the mountains and coasts of New England.
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A river runs through it: The Charles River and the Conservancy
The CRC's Executive Director Laura Jasinski talks with Sam Seidel about the history of the Charles River Conservancy and its work to support the river and its parks. Watch the video podcast below to see Laura and Sam visit Magazine Beach Park and tour the MathTrail.
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Looking for more ways to stay connected to the CRC? Follow us on Instagram @CharlesRiverCRC for event updates, beauty shots on the Charles (taken by you!), and more.
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for the generous leadership gift given in September
Cambridge Trust Company
to the visionary supporters who gave in our most recent full fiscal year
(Oct. 2019 -
Sept. 2020)
Heather and Robert Keane Family Foundation
Anonymous
Boston Foundation
Dr. Richard Miner and Ms. Corinne Nagy
Renata von Tscharner
Carol and Paul Fremont-Smith
InterSystems Corporation
Evergreen Foundation & Patsy Cherney
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To see a full list of foundations,
business partners, and leadership corporate sponsors, please visit our website.
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Please visit our website for more news and happenings along the Charles River.
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43 Thorndike Street, Suite S3-3 | Cambridge, MA 02141 | 617-608-1410
Working in partnership with MassDCR to make the urban Charles River parks more active, attractive, and accessible for all.
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