How do Rain Barrels help our community?

Rain barrels:


• Reduce stormwater runoff
• Improve residential storm management.
• Slow pollution from runoff
• Lower municipal water demands and save energy at treatment plants.
• Provide a chlorine-free water source for plants and gardens
• Offer a water supply to residents during periods of drought
• Are durable, and with proper care will virtually last forever.

The Natural Resources will have information regarding ordering them soon. Click here to learn more.

Got Problems with Invasive Shrubs?

Cricket Vlass, Wellesley Town Horticulturist and Landscape Planner, will share ways to identify, remove, and replace them on Tuesday, February 23 from 7-8PM via Zoom.

Register in advance here for this virtual educational event:

Invasive plants are not only a threat to conservation lands, they also pose a threat in your yard.  In this 1-hr Wellesley Conservation Land Trust webinar learn:

• WHY invasive shrubs are a threat not only to native plants but also to wildlife such as birds and butterflies
• WHAT are six types of local invasive shrubs: burning bush, oriental bittersweet, bush honeysuckle, Japanese barberry, glossy buckthorn, and multiflora rose  
• HOW to identify and remove these invasive shrubs
• WHAT are native plants that can be used to replace these invasives

This free event is part of the Wellesley Conservation Land Trust Educational Series and co-sponsored by the Wellesley Free Library, Natural Resources Commission and Sustainable Wellesley.

Wellesley has added an electric mower to the landscaping fleet!

Due to buy a replacement mower, Wellesley’s Custodial Services Manager Mike Santangelo said the Town opted for an electric model to replace a gas-powered mower after learning about the benefits at the fall Zoom workshops co-sponsored by Wellesley’s DPW and the Town of Lexington and organized with help from the nonprofits American Green Zone Alliance, Quiet Communities, Inc., and Sustainable Wellesley.

With research and pricing assistance through a vendor on State contract, Santangelo said shifting to electric seemed like the right choice.

An electric leaf blower and hedge trimmer have already been in use as part of a pilot program. Look for the nifty mower buzzing (quietly) around the Warren Recreation Center property once spring arrives.

In the meantime, learn more about the electric mower here.

The Role of Pesticides & Chemical Fertilizers in Changing the Climate 
A Talk by Ed Stockman 
Tuesday, November 10 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom 
Register here.

Ed Stockman is a biologist, 4th generation farmer, and cofounder and education director of Regeneration Massachusetts.  He is the former (retired) NOFA/Mass Organic Extension Educator and served in Ecuador as a volunteer and trainer. His on farm research -- Organic Agrosystems Research -- conducts applied agricultural research in Plainfield, Massachusetts. Ed cofounded Mass Right to Know GMOs and served as the education director. Ed is a grandfather concerned with a changing climate. 

This is the third in the Farms, Forests, and Food Systems Soil Speaker Series -- Beyond Stopping Emissions: How Healthy Soil and Plants Can Restore Climate Balance 
​Presented by Climate Action Now Western Mass.