by

Join us April 8th at 6:30 via Zoom for our monthly meeting

Sign up for email updates and meeting notes at FriendsoftheMaldenRiver@gmail.com

April 8th 2024 6:30-8:00 via zoom. Write to the friendsoftheMaldenriver@gmail.com for the zoom link

Agenda: 

Our guest, Maggie Sullivan, had to postpone her presentation on Chapter 91 from 3/11 to this meeting of April 8th. 

Senior Attorney Maggie Sullivan of  Conservation Law Foundation will join us for the 4/8th Meeting.   Maggie Sullivan, “senior community resilience attorney who promotes meaningful public access and climate resilience on the Massachusetts waterfront”, will be speaking about our Mass General Law, Massachusetts Public Waterfront Act, Chapter 91 that provides public access to Massachusetts tidal and once tidal waters (Malden River was tidal before the Amelia Earhart Dam was built in 1966).

Bring your questions and ideas of how we can mobilize Malden River public access and improve our Malden River Walk using the Chapter 91 Law! 

Plastic Free Massachusetts is a coalition formed to support the Modernize our Bottle Bill   Stay tuned for more details.

Call your legislators  (you can write to them using this link)

Adopt A Storm Drain has launched in the City of Malden to join Medford and Everett!  From the front of their front yards, Malden and Everett Residents will actively keep our Malden River clean and help prevent flooding by signing up with Adopt a Drain!  You can Name Your Drain and interact with the website!

Adopt A Drain websites:

Malden:  https://malden.mysticdrains.org

Medford:  https://medford.mysticdrains.org

Everett:  https://everett.mysticdrains.org/

Save the Dates!

Malden River Cleanups:

Sunday, April 7th – River’s Edge, Medford at the Tufts U. Boathouse with Tisch College of Civic Life  and Gentle Giant Rowing Club

Sunday, May 12th 9:30 AM – Idle Hands Craft Ales – our second Mother’s Earth Day neighborhood and River Cleanup

Events:

April 5th: (10:00-11:00 AM – Rain Date 4/6) 

 Bike to Sea’s grand opening of the Bike Kitchen. Located on the Northern Strand Trail across from Cambridge Health Alliance 158 Canal Street, Malden.

April 13th (rain date: April 14th) 10:00 AM – Noon

The Malden River: Access, Advocacy, and Action is a 3.2 mile walk from Sacramone Park to Night Shift Brewery, and we will stop along the way to hear from local organizers, advocates, and community leaders. Walk the Malden River Greenway with the Sierra Club and our community  – Register here for information and to join the advocacy walk: 

April 13th – 2:00-4:00PM  

Learn about Rain Gardens! Replant the Beebe School Rain Garden with the Malden Community Gardeners

April 20th – 8:00-Noon

Everett Earth Day at Gateway Park in Everett

*******April 28th – Noon – 3:00 PM Green Malden Fair at Pine Banks Park

The City (Councillor MacDonald) will be reaching out to your groups – We would highly appreciate it if you can spare an extra couple of hands for the Friends of Malden River and Malden River Works!

May 19th (9:00 AM – onwards) – Mystic River Watershed Association’s 28th Herring Run at Blessing of the Bay 

Register Now to reserve your place on land or in the water!

*******JUNE 1st – Brass Band on the Malden River with 375 year celebration of Malden and Malden River Works – 

There will be celebrations at the Malden River Works Waterfront Park site  Details will follow!

Bring your ideas and concerns to our ongoing meetings, the second Monday of each month (excluding legal holidays) at 6:30-8:00.  We meet via Zoom or in person at the Cambridge Health Alliance in Malden, River’s Edge in Medford, and in Everett.  Sign up for updates at Friendsofthemaldenriver@gmail.com

by

Plastic Free Massachusetts – Call/Meet with your MA legislator to support and endorse the Modernize the Bottle Bill – Please less Plastic in our waste stream and waterways!

Join Plastic Free Mass for Bottle Bill Lobby Day – Tomorrow 10 AM, April 2nd

  1. Please call your two legislators and set up meetings with them at the State House on April 2nd. Even if you do not have a meeting set up, please attend! We will be dropping literature off at legislators’ offices, and we need your help!
  2. Please be at the Grand Staircase at 10 AM on April 2nd in a royal blue shirt for a group picture and to collect printed materials.
  3. Please ask your legislators to support the modernized Bottle Bill and for them to ask leadership to support the bill (learn more at the trainings).

Need more info? Please join us today for Lobby Training

  1. Meeting with legislators can be intimidating. Please join us for one of the lobby training/ Q& A session TODAY April Fool’s Day.

                                          i.    One at 4PM EST Click here to join the meeting

                                         ii.    A second at 7 PM EST Click here to join the meeting

Why we want to modernize Massachusetts’ Bottle Bill:

Right now, beer and soda are the only beverages included in Massachusetts’ deposit return system. But we can do much better.

We want almost all glass, plastic, and aluminum beverage containers, from nips to 3 liters, to be part of the Bottle Bill. We want the deposit to go up from 5 cents to 10 cents, and if return levels aren’t high enough in the future, it should go up again. We want the system to be convenient, so we need to be able to bring beverage containers to any store that sells bottled and canned drinks. Finally, we want to get rid of plastic, which means transitioning from single use plastic bottles to reusable glass bottles and a regional beverage refill system.

A coalition of Mass environmental groups – Plastic Free Mass – is working to get the Bottle Bill across the finish line. We’ve adopted a list of essential principles for a modern Bottle Bill that we’d support, here.

Why do we want these things?

  1. We are tired of paying for the disposal and curbside recycling of beverage containers. The producers should be required to pay a handling fee that pays for bottles and cans to be recycled and refilled.
  2. We are tired of picking up litter and paying taxes for our cities and towns to pick up litter. Modernizing the Bottle Bill would significantly reduce the amount of beverage container and non-beverage container litter in the Commonwealth.
  3. Modernizing the Bottle Bill would help fight climate change. Modernizing the Bottle Bill would reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of taking 39,800 cars off the road for a year, or powering over 40,300 Massachusetts households for a year – and it won’t cost taxpayers a cent!
  4. Modernizing the Bottle Bill would mean that glass and plastic bottles would actually be recycled. Right now, glass bottles are ground up and used to build roads and landfill cover and plastic bottles are downcycled into textiles, not made into bottles.
by

March 11, 2024 minutes

click on links for more information re: the topics

Senior Attorney Maggie Sullivan of  Conservation Law Foundation had to reschedule due to dental surgery.  She will present on Chapter 91 – waterfront public access for the 4/8th Meeting via Zoom at 6:30PM

  1. Philip summarized the ECC: On February 12th, at the Everett City Council (ECC) meeting:  Katy Rogers, Councilor at Large, brought forth a resolution to address the National Grid failure to comply with the MassDEP ruling of their Chapter 91 mandate (public access to the Malden River) 

A recording of the EEC meeting is here: and the proposed resolution regarding notice to NGrid’s lack of compliance is at 1:29:44 through 1:47 including Assist. City Counsel: Keith Slattery’s and Conservation Commission Agent, Tom Philbin’s presentation of the NGrid noncompliance.

https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/cT30AQ_xtOBQF0oJM2gIVCDX9kjgfWZb/media/854356?autostart=false&showtabssearch=tru

In addition: the ECC voted to table a NGRID request to install a conduit under a public sidewalk and have continued to table other infrastructure requests until NGrid responds to their resolution 

The ECC voted unanimously for a motion to the Everett City Counsel to draft a letter to NGrid and MassDEP instructing them of the necessity for Chapter 91 compliance for the three 

communities on the Malden River. 

  1. Marcia:  Malden River Works Update: Whip Katherine Clark secured a federal earmark for  Malden River Works Project, City of Malden: $1,560,000 
  2. Sheila: summarized Malden’s  Climate Action Plan – see attached document.  The Steering Committee will be finalizing their work in April.  This work will be integrated in the City of Malden Master Plan. 

Plastic Free Massachusetts has two Calls to Action to Modernize our Bottle Bill   Stay tuned for more details.

March 19th – Call your legislators  (or you can write to them using this link) Tell them you support House Bill 3676 and House Bill 3690/SB2104. With litter pollution engulfing our cities and waterways, we have zero time to waste.

Information here:  modernizing the Bottle Bill 

Plastic Free MA will provide a script for the legislator phone calls and meetings.

April 2nd – Massachusetts State House Lobby Day.  Register here: https://forms.gle/u5xLSvbszccYqk6MA

Adopt A Storm Drain is coming to the City of Malden!  Launch will be in April:  Stay Tuned

SAVE THESE DATES (some Details and Times to be determined/confirmed): 

Malden River Cleanups:

Sunday, April 7th (1:00PM-4:00PM)  – River’s Edge, Medford at the Tufts U. Boathouse with Tisch College of Civic Life  and Gentle Giant Rowing Club

Sunday, May 12th 9:30 AM –Noon with a gratis cheer of beer afterwards)– Idle Hands Craft Ales – our second Mother’s Earth Day neighborhood and River Cleanup

Events:

April 5th: (10-11AM; rain date 4/6) grand opening of the Bike to the Sea Bike Kitchen on Canal Street, Malden 

April 13th (rain date: April 14th) 10:00 AM Walk the Malden River Greenway with the Sierra Club and our community to create advocacy for the Malden River.

Start at Wellington and end at Nightshift Brewery.  Map will be posted on the Friends’ website.  April 13th – (Afternoon – time to be determined 2:00PM-4:00PM?) Learn about Rain Gardens! Replant the Beebe School Rain Garden with the Malden Community Gardeners 

April 20th – Everett Earth Day at Gateway Park in Everett

April 27th – 10am-3:00PM Malden Mass. Memories Road Show.  Bring 3 photos and share your story.  It will be highly appreciated if anyone can bring one photo of their experiences on the Malden River. 

April 28th – Noon – 3:00 PM Malden Earth Day Fair at Pine Banks Park – Hoping for the Adopt A Drain Launch with the Water Department.

May 19th (9:00 AM – onwards) – Mystic River Watershed Association’s 28th Herring Run at Blessing of the Bay 

Register Now to reserve your place on land or in the water!

JUNE 1st – 3:00-5:00PM (Rain or Shine)  – Brass Band on the Malden River with 375 year celebration of Malden and Malden River Works – There will be celebrations at the Malden River Works Waterfront Park site to be announced soon.

JUNE 2nd – Rain Date for the Malden River Works Placemaking Event. 

June 15th – The Friends will Celebrate Family Day at Malden Community Garden

Date TBD:  Explore the Malden River with the Chinese Cultural Connection

Action items

  • uncheckedTo request that Malden and Medford follow Everett’s lead for a resolution/motion for notice to NGrid and MassDEP.  Ask Deb Burke, Director of Malden’s Office of Strategic Planning and Development (who was present at the ECC meeting) for the feedback from the City of Malden and to investigate whether the City of Malden and Medford can legally delay NGrid requests for infrastructure changes.  – Once Malden says yay or nay, then Philip B-G will speak with the City of Medford
  • uncheckedDeb Burke has been out of the office this past week.  Karen will reach her on Monday, 3/18
  • uncheckedMark your calendars for events: we could always use an extra hand and head!
  • uncheckedSign up to represent the Friends of Malden River at the Everett Earth Day (4/20) and the Malden Earth Day Fair (4/28)with an email friendsofthemaldenriver@gmail.com
  • uncheckedJoin the Friends in the Plastic Free Mass events, Legislative calls or letter writing efforts, and/or Lobby Day (4/2) – spread the word to support the legislation. The State Reps need  to hear from the public
  • uncheckedKaren Lynch asked for the info regarding Cleenland and Neighborhood Produce for refills.Neighborhood Produce has over 100 items in bulk (and you can bring your own containers). The Ball Square – 691 Broadway store is the only Cleenland satellite location in Boston, with all their best-selling cleaning and home care items (in both bulk and retail options).  
  • uncheckedPlease don’t use laundry or dishwasher powder pods:  they are suspect of PVA’s (polyvinyl alcohol) and plastics: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/6027
  • uncheckedShare social media posts of the Friends if you use Social Media
  • uncheckedSpread the Word of events in your fashion! 
by

Monthly Meeting – March 11th 6:30-8:00 PM via Zoom – Join us!

Be sure to mark your calendars with the Event Dates mentioned below

Join the Friends of the Malden River Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84806972372?pwd=SDk5ZUgrbWZaY1paL1R2VlVReTZRQT09

Meeting ID: 848 0697 2372
Passcode: 621361

One tap mobile
+16469313860,,84806972372#,,,,*621361# US
+19294362866,,84806972372#,,,,*621361# US (New York)

Meeting ID: 848 0697 2372
Passcode: 621361

Agenda: 

Senior Attorney Maggie Sullivan of  Conservation Law Foundation will join us for the 3/11th Meeting.   Maggie Sullivan, “senior community resilience attorney who promotes meaningful public access and climate resilience on the Massachusetts waterfront”, will be speaking about our Mass General Law, Massachusetts Public Waterfront Act, Chapter 91 that provides public access to Massachusetts tidal and once tidal waters (Malden River was tidal before the Amelia Earhart Dam was built in 1966).

Bring your questions and ideas of how we can mobilize Malden River public access and improve our Malden River Walk using the Chapter 91 Law! 

Plastic Free Massachusetts has two Calls to Action to Modernize our Bottle Bill   Stay tuned for more details.

March 13th – Call your legislators  (you can write to them using this link)

Plastic Free MA will provide a script for the legislator phone calls and meetings.

April 2nd – Massachusetts State House Lobby Day

Adopt A Storm Drain is coming to the City of Malden!  From the front of their front yards, Malden Residents will actively keep our Malden River clean and help prevent flooding by signing up with Adopt a Drain!  You can Name Your Drain and interact with a website!

Bring your ideas and concerns to our ongoing meetings, the second Monday of each month (excluding legal holidays) at 6:30-8:00.  We meet via Zoom or in person at the Cambridge Health Alliance in Malden, River’s Edge in Medford, and in Everett.

SAVE THESE DATES (Details and Times to be determined/confirmed): 

At the meeting, we will discuss the available details.  For now, please mark your calendars! 

Please email FriendsoftheMaldenRiver@gmail.com to join the fun, if you can’t make the meeting. Check the web pages for incoming details: https://maldenriver.wordpress.com/ and https://www.maldenriverworks.org/

Malden River Cleanups:

Sunday, April 7th – River’s Edge, Medford at the Tufts U. Boathouse with Tisch College of Civic Life  and Gentle Giant Rowing Club

Sunday, May 12th9:30 AM – Idle Hands Craft Ales – our second Mother’s Earth Day neighborhood and River Cleanup

Events:

April 13th – Learn about Rain Gardens! Replant the Beebe School Rain Garden with the Malden Community Gardeners

April 13th (rain date: April 14th) 10:00 AM Walk the Malden River Greenway with the Sierra Club and our community

April 20th – Everett Earth Day at Gateway Park in Everett

April 28th – Noon – 3:00 PM Malden Earth Day Fair at Pine Banks Park

May 19th (9:00 AM – onwards) – Mystic River Watershed Association’s 28th Herring Run at Blessing of the Bay 

Register Now to reserve your place on land or in the water!

JUNE 1st – 2nd – Brass Band on the Malden River with 375 year celebration of Malden and Malden River Works – There will be celebrations at the Malden River Works Waterfront Park site 

JUNE 2nd – Malden River Works Stewardship by Boat and Canoe event

June 15th – The Friends will Celebrate Family Day at Malden Community Garden

Date TBD:  Explore the Malden River with the Chinese Cultural Connection

by

Looking forward to seeing you on January 22nd (2024)!

For TWO Good Reasons:

Plastic Free Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Legislative Zero Waste Caucus is sponsoring an event at the Massachusetts State House.

  • Attend the January 22nd event at the State House if you can!  We need to fill the room to show our support to MA Legislators.
  • The Zero Waste Caucus and Plastic Free Mass coalition are hosting an 11AM Expert Panel Discussion followed by 12 Noon complimentary lunch and film screening of “We’re All Plastic People Now” by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Rory Fielding.  Watch the trailer > here. 
  • Contact your Legislators ahead of January 22nd:
    • Email your legislators to let them know you will be at the State House on Jan 22nd and encourage them to show up (i.e: “I hope to see you there!”) and that tackling the issue of plastic pollution is important to you.   Find your MA Legislators here.
    • Set up a face-to-face lobby meeting with your legislators early AM or after the film on January 22 to discuss priority legislation (fact sheets will be provided)
  • Spread the news!  Please share on social, email friends and family, we need to fill the room!
  • RSVP requested so we have an accurate head count for the complimentary lunch.  RSVP: https://act.oceana.org/page/141684/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=field

GOAL: let legislators know that we EXPECT them to modernize the Bottle Bill, ban plastic grocery bags, and take meaningful action on reducing single use plastic THIS YEAR! 

Plus: The Friends of the Malden River are celebrating the results of the Wicked Cool Mystic community survey with Mystic River Watershed Association! Find out of ways we can stay cool during the upcoming heat waves. Come join the discussion while enjoying a Taco Bar! 

by

Next Monday Monthly Meeting: December 11th 6:30-8:00

We will meet in the first floor Community Room of Cambridge Health Alliance, 195 Canal Street, Malden

Please join us next Monday, 12/11 at Cambridge Health Alliance in the Community Room A/B/C.Use the main entrance and the community room is immediately to your left after you exit the lobby. 

This coming Monday, 12/11, Sushant Bajracharya of Mystic River Watershed Association will join us to speak about the Mystic Stormwater Collaborative and Resident Adopt-A-Storm Drain program. This Adopt a Drain program will help keep the Malden River clean from street litter and leaves that accumulate around catch basins/street storm drains.  This trash and organic waste flow directly into the Malden River and other local water bodies. We can make a difference as residents with easy actions. Sushant is program director of Trash Free Mystic and will inform us of all the initiatives in our watershed and of the Malden River Trash Trap that was installed in 2021.

Also, here are a couple of quick action items (Thank you for clicking on the links):

CLEANAIR Survey:  Please click on this link to find out more and to fill out a 5 minute community survey.  Part of the CLEANAIR study is focused on learning more about community members’ understanding of air quality and identifying locations for short term air quality monitoring. To help achieve this, we have created a community survey for residents 16 and above who live, work, or attend school in East Boston, Everett, Malden, and Charlestown. Please share this with friends and family of these four cities.  This link has the survey translated into six languages.  Thank you for taking the time.

As part of the Massachusetts Zero Waste Legislative Caucus, there is a legislative bill on the table: “Skip the Small Stuff”.  Once this bill is signed into law, Skip The Stuff requires that food establishments only give single-use food-ware upon request by customers.  Specifically it seeks to limit the waste associated with unused cutlery, condiments,  plates, napkins, etc, while still giving customers the option to get these goods should they need it. Here is a link for more information and to send an email to the hearing committee: 

https://www.reusablenewengland.com/skipthestuffemail

Agenda items include:

  • Plastic Free Massachusetts Action Items
  • Spring events
  • Update on Malden River Works Waterfront Park

From the November meeting: 

Archeologist, Jim Bradley, joined us during our November meeting to lead a discussion about our first peoples.  He took us back in time to the Paleolithic Ice Age through the Historic period. How did the Native People survive?  Through strong community and smart/equitable use of resources. 

Photo Credit:  Susan Margot Ecker !  Thank you Jim for sharing your expertise.

Thank you and the Friends of the Malden River are grateful for your work towards strengthening our community!  We are planning spring activities!  Let us know if you have any ideas or questions! 

by

Collaboration is key to open up the doors of Action!

Let’s take the verb of hope to generate action in our community! “Many hands make light work” as the Girl Scout motto reads.

Thank you for joining us in celebrating our Decade Plus celebration!  We enjoyed hosting a “full house” and sharing information about hope and action for climate change resiliency through environmental and community protections.  There are so many ways that we can work together to continue our progress!

Please join our efforts in any capacity – all volunteer efforts are highly appreciated.

  • Malden River Works Waterfront Park Project:  check out www.maldenriverworks.org to review the project and find updates.  We need public pressure to keep the project on track!
  • Wicked Cool Mystic:  The community data has been collected to formulate a pilot program for communities to adopt interventions to protect the more vulnerable populations
  • Adopt a Storm Drain Project:  Malden is one of the few municipalities not signed on to the program!  Let’s change this! Sign on with friendsofthemaldenriver@gmail.com to create a Storm Drain Community Program – find a storm drain (or more) to keep clear of litter and debris.  This helps prevent flooding and from trash and debris from entering the Malden River and other waterways.
  • Eyes on the Malden River:  Assist your Conservation Commission in identifying and documenting potential/real issues of infractions of the Wetlands Ordinance – learn from the Conservation Commission of how we can help

Join our 

  • Events and Volunteer Coordination Committee:  including Community Cleanups, Stewardship events, Canoe events, etc.
  • Communications: Outreach/Website/Social Media/Public Relations/Membership Recruitment Committee – including share the Friends of the Malden River with your network
  • Malden River Advocacy, Legislative, and Access issues:  including let’s create a force around reducing single-use plastics, elimination of harmful rodenticides to protect our raptors and eco-system.

Upcoming events:

October 7th:  (9:30-11:30) Celebrate Indigenous People’s Day at the Malden High School Gallery (Ferry Street entrance)

October 14th – (9:30 AM-12:00PM) : 356 Commercial Street, Malden: Traditional Blessing of the land and water, traditional fish weir building and Learn about and remove invasive species on the Malden River Banks behind the Malden City Yard

October 15th: (10:00AM-12:00PM) – Work with Living Root Dragon Boat Club on the Malden River on the Everett Banks (details to follow:  Please email FriendsoftheMaldenRiver@gmail.com for more updates)

October 21st (9:30 AM-12:00PM) – Meet at Idle Hands Craft Ales, 89 Commercial Street, Malden – we will continue our Trash Free Neighborhood and Malden River Tour (this will be the fourth Idle Hands cleanup of 2023 – and it is making a difference!) 

Remember our monthly meetings are the Second Monday (excluding holidays) 6:30PM-8:00PM at Cambridge Health Alliance, 195 Canal Street, Malden – our regular meeting of 10/9 has changed to 10/16.

by

Decade Plus Celebration!

Over 80 Friends of the Malden River joined us at 200 River’s Edge in Medford on September 11th to celebrate a Decade Plus of Advocacy!

Lots of Friends of the Malden River joined together to celebrate our progress!
Julie Wormser of the Resilient Mystic Collaborative and senior policy advisor of Mystic River Watershed Association. Julie started with her presentation with hope being an action verb to act upon your beliefs.
Senator Jason Lewis spoke of the legislative plans to address climate change. Jason spoke of the Zero Waste Caucus in the Massachusetts Legislation.
Philip Bronder-Giroux, co-founder of Friends of the Malden River in 2012, shared the evolution of the advocacy of the Friends of the Malden River.
Marcia Manong, Chairperson of Malden River Works, wrapped up this wonderful event by addressing the importance of Trust in community building and outreach!
by

Focus on Nature Walk at RiverGreen Park, Everett

Join Urban Media Arts and Friends of the Malden River on Saturday, 2/18 between 10:30-Noon. We will explore the Malden Riverbanks on the Everett Side! Click on the link for directions, what to expect and to bring, and to register. No need to register, but it is helpful to know how many people are joining us and to contact you if something goes awry!

https://urbanmediaarts.org/event/focus-on-nature-walk-rivergreen-park/

Photo Credit: Alexandra Jacobson Offiong
River Green Park, Everett
Heavy Sky

The second of several free guided “Focus on Nature” walks in the woods, by the river, or in other pockets of nature in or bordering Malden. Bring your camera or phone. Free and open to all.

This particular walk will be to Rivergreen Park, a park that sits on the Malden River and includes a football field, basketball park and splash pad, boat launch area, and natural wetland habitat that is continuously being restored and revitalized. The park also connects to the nine-mile trail that bicyclists often use to travel across the North Shore.

Click on this link and join us! https://urbanmediaarts.org/event/focus-on-nature-walk-rivergreen-park/