Environmental News

Earth Day 2024 Events:

Saturday, April 20, 2024, 9am to 1pm – Textile Recycling, Secure Shredding, and Composting Event, Mashpee Senior Center, 26 Frank E Hicks Drive.  This FREE event is co-sponsored by the Mashpee Environmental Coalition and Mashpee Department of Public Works.  Since it is now illegal to discard any clothing or textiles in the trash, residents can drop off for recycling bags of unwanted, torn, ripped and stained items including bedding, footwear, tablecloths, towels, and even stuffed animals — for both people and pets — as long as they are clean and dry.  For a full list of textile items that must now be recycled, click here.  A secure shredding company will also be onsite to safely destroy documents with confidential information, at no cost.  And, for those who wish to learn more about composting, information and a free kitchen scrap bucket will be distributed to attendees, with home composting bins also on sale.  For additional information, click here (event flyer coming soon) or email us at [email protected].

Additional Recent and Upcoming Events:

March 6, 2024, 6:30pm – Joint Meeting between Mashpee Select Board and Sewer Commission, Waquoit Meeting Room, Mashpee Town Hall, and TV Channel 8.  The following two topics were discussed at this special joint meeting:  Wastewater Warrant Article for the May 6, 2024 Annual Town Meeting; and Wastewater Ballot Question for the May 11, 2024 Town Election.  The meeting recording may be viewed at:  https://www.mashpeema.gov/channel-8/pages/select-board.

Guided Nature Tours in Mashpee throughout March 2024 will take place as follows:  Saturday, March 2, 2024, 9:00am, Santuit Pond Preserve Park; Saturday, March 9, 2024, 9:00am, Mashpee River Woodlands – Cottontail Trail; Saturday, March 16, 2024, 9:00am, Mashpee River Woodlands – South; Saturday, March 23, 2024, 9:00am, Santuit Pond Preserve Park; Saturday, March 30, 2024, 9:00am, Mashpee River Woodlands – West.  These guided walking tours, sponsored by the Mashpee Conservation Department, are offered free-of-charge, and are weather dependent.  Additional information and directions may be found at:  https://www.mashpeema.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3426/f/uploads/0324_nature_tour_press_release.pdf.

Save these dates:  May 6, 2024 – Mashpee Annual Town Meeting and May 11, 2024 – Mashpee Town Election

Articles and Information Items:

Waterways in the News – Waquoit Bay.   At its board meeting on February 12, 2024, the Mashpee Select Board unanimously passed the Waquoit Bay Nitrogen Load Allocation Intermunicipal Agreement between the Towns of Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich – thus enabling the three towns to jointly file for a watershed permit with the state.  This is indeed good news for Waquoit Bay.

A Special “Shout Out” to the Waquoit Bay Reserve for their incredible 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/

Satellites to Assist with Water Quality Monitoring on Cape Cod – The Cape Cod Commission recently received a grant to enhance freshwater quality monitoring with satellite imagery.  As posted on their website, partnering with other organizations “. . . the Cape Cod Commission will lead an effort to expand satellite-derived water quality data collection and analysis and enhance existing pond monitoring efforts, funded by a $298,527 Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Priority Research Grant.”  The full announcement and program description may be found at: https://www.capecod.gov/2023/11/01/cape-cod-commission-receives-grant-to-enhance-water-quality-monitoring-with-satellite-imagery/

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 hopes to hold 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/

Two Sad Losses for Mashpee
With deep sadness and regret, we learned about the unexpected loss of Raymond (Ray) Jack, who passed away on June 17, 2023.  This was just six months after hearing about the passing of Dr. Brian Howes on December 13, 2022.  The expertise and dedication of both men in helping Mashpee with its water quality issues will be sorely missed.

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-2021Thank you for helping to keep Mashpee’s waterways clean!

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 below.  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.

MEC’s Textile Recycling Drive a Success!

MEC’s Textile Recycling Drive on Saturday, August 19th was a success, thanks to all who donated!  Between 9am and 1pm on Saturday, August 19th, while cars and trucks continuously streamed through the parking lot at Mashpee Middle-High School to drop off their household hazardous waste products with the Barnstable County staff, close to 60 residents stopped by the MEC-sponsored Bay State Textile trailer and dropped off 2,250 lbs of unwanted textiles.

Our thanks to Mashpee DPW for supporting our efforts — and to everyone who participated by keeping their hazardous waste products out of our waters, and their textiles out of our trash!

Textile Recycling Initiative

The Mashpee Environmental Coalition (MEC) has joined forces with the Mashpee Department of Public Works in an effort to promote textile recycling.  Several MEC board members met recently with Catherine Laurent of the Mashpee DPW to discuss how best to get information to residents regarding the now-mandatory recycling of all types of clothing and textiles.  An information sheet as well as a new sandwich board sign at the Transfer Station both outline items that, as of November 1, 2022, must now be recycled and not discarded.  A Textile Drive, sponsored by MEC, has also been scheduled for Saturday, August 19, 2023, between 9:00am and 1:00pm at the Mashpee Middle/High School in conjunction with the Barnstable County Upper Cape Household Hazardous Waste Collection event.

Clean Water Forum – Recording Now Available

The Mashpee Environmental Coalition partnered with Mashpee Clean Waters, Mashpee Ponds Coalition, and Save Mashpee-Wakeby Pond Alliance to present an online Clean Water Forum on March 30, 2023.  At this forum, Paul Colombo, chair of the Mashpee Conservation Commission and Dan Kent, Assistant Conservation Agent, participated in a live Q&A event on the town’s proposed wetlands buffer zone changes.  The recording may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKe7BJ3Ze90

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