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If you identify a hemlock tree in your neighborhood please log in the latititude and longitude of the tree and email us at:

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Invasive Species: Hemlock Woolly Adelgid -- David Orwig

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Ashburnham student movie about the infestation of Hemlock Woolly Adelgids

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Ashburnham student movie about the infestation of Hemlock Woolly Adelgids

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Plogging is picking up trash while jogging.

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Plogging is a combination of jogging with picking up litter (Swedish: plocka upp). It started as an organised activity in Sweden around 2016 and spread to other countries in 2018, following increased concern about plastic pollution. As a workout, it provides variation in body movements by adding bending, squatting and stretching to the main action of running, hiking, or walking.

Erik Ahlström started plogging in the Swedish capital city, Stockholm, when he moved there from the Åre ski resort. He created the website Plogga to organise the activity and encourage volunteers.

Author David Sedaris combines litter picking with exercise in the Parham, Coldwaltham and Storrington districts of West Sussex, taking up to 60,000 steps a day in pursuit of local rubbish. He was so effective in keeping his neighbourhood clean that the local authority named a waste vehicle in his honour. The Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, Susan Pyper, said "The sign on this truck is a very fitting way to say a huge 'thank you' to David for his tireless efforts ... he is a real local hero."

The Keep America Beautiful organisation is now promoting plogging to its affiliates and has found that some already combined exercise with clean up, such as the Trashercize program in Tennessee. In New York, a Meetup group, Plogging NYC, had about 100 members in 2018, with events in four boroughs. In Indianapolis in 2018, a Summer of Plogging was organised by the November Project and the local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.

National Cleanup Day advocates plogging as a way to cleanup and keep the outdoors clean.

There is also another group in Oakland, CA, called Fit4Good that aims to pick up trash around Lake Merritt each week.

The Indian PM, Narendra Modi, has plogged to lead by example for his Swachh Bharat Mission to clean up India.

Pune Ploggers is the largest community of ploggers in single city with more than 500 routine ploggers. They collected than 50 tonnes of Plastic in 20 weeks and were behind the largest plogging drive ever with more than 1,05,000[clarification needed ] citizens participated across Pune.

A non-profit initiative called Go Plog! has collected 16 Tonnes of dry waste in Kolar through plogging. They organise an event every month. Students to high-ranking officials of the local administration participate.

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Plogging is a combination of jogging with picking up litter (Swedish: plocka upp). It started as an organised activity in Sweden around 2016 and spread to other countries in 2018, following increased concern about plastic pollution. As a workout, it provides variation in body movements by adding bending, squatting and stretching to the main action of running, hiking, or walking.

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How you can be a Storm Drain Superhero ~

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How you can be a Storm Drain Superhero ~

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When it rains, the water has to go somewhere. In a natural system, a good 55% of the rain is absorbed by the vegetation and soils, but when land gets paved over, the water has no place to go except run downhill. This is stormwater runoff.  It needs to freely flow down the storm drains to the ocean.  When the storm drains are blocked by leaves, trash, and other debris the water cannot flow down the drain.  The water may back up and flood the area.  This is where you might be able to help stop flooding!

Look around your neighborhood to find a storm drain.  If it is not cleared, with the help of an adult, use a rake or broom and personal protection gear to clean the drain. Take a before and after picture, and send it to buglerd@peabody.k12.ma.us.  Please tell us the location of the drain you cleared.

To learn more about keeping storm drains clear and the importance of keeping our water clean and safe, check out Salem Sound Coastwatch’s Website Below:

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The Run for the Beach is ON - virtually

Help Us Celebrate World Ocean Day

Friday June 5th - Monday June 8th, 2020

We were so disappointed at the thought of cancelling this year's
Run for the Beach. We love seeing friends, families, runners of all ages and abilities come together to celebrate our ocean and the work of Salem Sound Coastwatch. So, this is our way of NOT cancelling! This year we can't run with you, but you can still share your run with us and help us raise awareness about our spectacular yet vulnerable ocean.

Leading the way to a Healthier Sea and Shore!

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Online Teacher Institute - July 21- 24

Advance your climate knowledge, build confidence to share the past, present and future state of our environment with your students. The course will focus on Earth's climate science and provide you with local resources that make climate science relevant to students.
See the full 2020 Institute Flyer
Email EmilyFlaherty@salemsound.org

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Pull the Invasive Pepperweed

While we cannot organize group outings this summer, pepperweed, an invasive plant along our shore and in salt marshes, still needs to be pulled. Let Barbara.warren@sal emsound.org know if you want to help with this. We will point you to a spot that needs pulling, bagged and thrown in the trash. More info and pepperweed pictures here.

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Where are Horseshoe Crabs in Salem Sound?

This is the time of year that they spawn. Can you help us learn where they are. We are most likely to see them on protected sandy beaches, in coastal shallows, coves, or Forest River and the Danvers River. There is more info on our webpage.

If you see any, take a picture and send it to us at info@salemsound.org.

Or you can use the free iNaturalist app and add your sighting to

To get started, download the free iNaturalist smartphone app. Then, turn on your location and upload your photos to the Biodiversity in the Salem Sound Watershed Project. If you don't know the name of the plant, animal, insect or bird, iNaturalist will give you suggestions as to what it may be. Within minutes or hours, other users will see your observation and will help identify it.

What's iNaturalist?

It's one of the world's most popular nature apps, becaues it helps you identify marine and terrestial plants, animals, even insects, with the help of the iNaturalist community of more than 400,000 scientists and naturalists.

2020 City Nature Challenge results: Just over 1000 people came together to document 1,761 species - up 150 species from 2019.

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We are moving the next phase of Marblehead Harbor's Resiliency Building Project online so stay tuned.

Video courtesy of MHTV, Marblehead, MA. Thank you MHTV for taping and completing this video of Kirk Bosma's presentation
to 280 people on 2/3/2020. Kirk is a Senior Coastal Engineer and Innovation Director at Woods Hole Group. He explains the detailed coastal flood modeling and mapping under changing climatic conditions (present, 2030, 2050, 2070). All coastal communities will soon have access to similar maps so this is an chance to learn how to interpret the maps.

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Our Story Maps illustrate the Work YOU Support.

Collins Cove Salt Marsh Enhancement: living shoreline along the Collins Cove bike path

Acidic Waters: citizen science monitoring program of coastal flats.

Make a pledge to reduce single use plastics in your life.

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More on Like us on Facebook.

Follow us on Instagram at @salemsoundcoastwatch

Sign up for our e-newsletter to receive notification of our events.

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Contact Us | Become a Member | Volunteer | Make a Donation

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The Run for the Beach is ON - virtually Help Us Celebrate World Ocean Day Friday June 5th - Monday June 8th, 2020 We were so disappointed at the thought of cancelling this year's Run for the Beach. We love seeing friends, families, runners of all ages and abilities come together to celebrate our ocean and the work of Salem Sound Coastwatch.

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What is sustainable gardening and how to do it

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What is sustainable gardening and how to do it

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The concept of Sustainable gardening is causing no harm to the earth.

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Sustainability is a movement that embraces all facets of human endeavor. "Sustainable" means to perpetuate existence as well as to provide sustenance and nourishment. Today, the word is attached to everything from forestry to ceiling tile.

Sustainability is most often associated with the environment and specifically to our landscapes and gardens. What is a sustainable garden? It is an organic garden taken a step further. Following organic gardening practices will sustain soils and plants while it nourishes and sustains your family, both physically and aesthetically. Organic gardening also points us towards other gardening practices that pursue the goal of sustainability by conserving resources.

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Sustainability isn't a commodity as much as it is a lifestyle. It has immediate as well as long-term rewards. Generally, sustainability is forward-thinking, looking ahead to secure a future for you and yours, getting things to last, making things better than you've found them. When one chooses to preserve and protect resources, to make as little negative impact on the earth as possible, to nurture the planet as well as those around us, one has chosen the path of sustainability.

Defining sustainability in general terms is hard enough. The 1987 United Nations Brundtland Report on sustainable development defined the movement as, "... design, construction, operations and maintenance practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Sustainable gardening is one of the most important and effective sustainability practices that we can follow. Its practice and benefits include respecting, and improving the soils, using native plants, shrubs and trees to create beautiful landscapes, feeding one's family fresh, organically-grown fruits, berries and vegetables and utilizing every renewable resource that nature provides, from rain water to gravel.

Look to the American Sustainable Sites Initiative, a collaborative effort of the U.S. Botanic Garden, American Society of Landscape Architects and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, to define sustainability in terms of gardening. The organization says sustainability seeks to... " protect, restore and enhance the ability of landscapes to provide ecosystem services that benefit humans and other organisms." Substitute the word "gardening" for "landscape" - they mean much the same thing - and you have the perfect understanding of what it means to be a sustainable gardener.

Practicing sustainability is a reach for perfection, an act of protecting the environment through actions that benefit it or do it least harm. The closer we come to a goal of complete gardening sustainability, the more reward to our gardens, our families and the planet as a whole. Sustainability not only embraces organic gardening methods but conservation of resources as well. Sustainability often mimics natural process, utilizing what nature gives us with as little supplement as we can manage. When supplementing natural process is called for, it's done with as little impact as possible; substituting beneficial insects for pesticides or drip irrigation for sprinkler watering. In short, sustainable gardening is a low maintenance, eco-friendly method of growing, harvesting and using a resource - in this case our very earth - so that the resource is minimally depleted, easily restored and not permanently damaged.

Here is a list of broad sustainable gardening principles and practices that will, together or individually, move us closer to the goal of gardening sustainability. Note that the practices are interrelated, that one influences the other; that any two practices result in benefits to a third or more. Not only will the practices here reward future generations, they'll make our gardens healthier and produce bigger yields right now.

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Compost

Composting has the most impact of any sustainable gardening practice. Composting recycles and enriches. It benefits the health of your soil and benefits your family at the same time. Composting yard and garden wastes means less material going to the landfill and more organic material for your soil. Composting can be as simple as raking leaves over your garden when you put it to winter bed or as specific as indoor food composting with a Bokashi bucket or worm bins. Whether you're growing vegetables, lawns, flowers and shrubs or fruit trees, composting will bring about vibrant, fortifying change to your gardens while it reduces waste. Composting practices which make soils more friable also help to conserve water. The planting of green manures - cover crops like rye, oats and hairy vetch that are composted directly into soils - add nitrogen and other nutrients and also help prevent erosion during spring and fall runoff.

Maintenance Techniques

How you care for your garden goes a long way towards attaining sustainability. Age-old practices like cultivating between plants with a long hoe not only suppresses weeds but aerates your soil. Avoid using chemical herbicides and toxic pesticides that extract a toll on the environment and you. Instead follow organic weed and pest control methods. There's both health and knowledge benefits to getting down on your knees and pulling weeds. Using beneficial insects to control pests not only benefits your garden, it can become a valuable lesson in natural science for your children.

Grow Native, Climate-Appropriate Plants

Nature has designed the perfect plant for your micro-climate: the one that is native to your area. Check natural areas and local garden experts for plants that thrive in your conditions. Find plants that, depending on your conditions, tolerate drought, or high rainfall and seasonal flooding. Exposed environments may need plants that tolerate high winds. When growing vegetables, you already choose plants that mature during your area's growing season. Making sure vegetables are hardy and high-yielding inside all your area's climatic, prevailing soil and elevation conditions means you use less soil additives and supplements, less water and less overall effort to see them succeed.

Save Seed

Seed saving brings you more in-tune with your plants and assures that the seed you'll plant next season has done well this season. Start with the easiest seeds to save: peas, beans, peppers, tomatoes and work from there. Harvest flower seed taken from dried flowers. Scout fields and woodlands for harvest-able native plants and grasses. Learn to identify weeds and invasive plants to prevent accidentally importing them to your landscape. Few experiences are as gratifying as watching seed you grew, harvested and cured, sprout the following season.

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Garden Design

When sustainable gardeners design their gardens and landscapes, they consider all resource-conserving principles to protect their soil and plants. Just as American farmers worked to end the Dust Bowl by planting shelter belts and by practicing contour farming, the sustainable gardener utilizes the same soil-protective, crop-rotating, water-conserving practices to achieve minimal impact. When building walks, walls or decks, the sustainable gardener looks for recycled, environmentally-friendly building materials; likewise when building soils. And there's a ripple effect when you buy sustainable, organic products from businesses that support sustainable gardening. Their success - and yours - encourages more gardeners to follow the path of sustainability even as it immediately rewards the environment.

Sustainable design considers where plants are placed. Shade-loving plants are placed in the shadow of tall sun-loving plants, sun-loving plants are planted in places with the best exposure to light. Water-loving plants are grown where moisture collects, trailing plants are grown over terraces. Companion planting is an easy way to control pests and encourage growth. The more knowledge one has about plants and gardening, the better one's landscape design.

Conserving Water Resources

Water is precious. It needs to be protected for quality as well as preserved. The sustainable gardener will utilize rain barrels and collection systems to provide water not taken from the draw-down of dwindling municipal or private sources. The sustainable gardener protects water quality by not using herbicides or pesticides that might contaminate it as it percolates through the soil and heads back to the water supply. Water that drains away or ends up in a storm sewer is wasted. Sustainable gardeners control runoff with permeable soils. They use mulch and ground covers to enable soils to hold water, so it does not evaporate or drain away quickly. They design "rain gardens," utilizing terraces, holding pools and raised beds to collect rainwater, allowing it to soak slowly back into the soil.

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The goal is to use only the water nature provides, in the form of rain and runoff, achieved by harvesting it and storing it until needed. This is easier in some locations than others. Where rainwater collection is difficult or impossible, the sustainable gardener uses direct water methods - a watering can - or some form of drip or direct irrigation to cut down on evaporation loss. Sprinkling systems are wasteful (through evaporation) and most plants, excluding ferns and other humidity lovers, don't do as well watered with sprinklers.

Last, Not Least

These principles, taken together, encompass uncountable methods and techniques that move gardeners that much closer to sustainability. I encourage you to explore the links here and all other sources - including your local gardening experts - to increase what you know about plants, soil and resource conservation. The greatest tool you can use to pursue the goal of sustainability is knowledge. And the largest effect you can have on sustainability is to share that knowledge. That's a big part of making gardens and landscapes sustainable: passing on what you know.

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Sustainable Gardening: It's All The Rage! | Planet Natural

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Sustainability is a movement that embraces all facets of human endeavor. "Sustainable" means to perpetuate existence as well as to provide sustenance and nourishment. Today, the word is attached to everything from forestry to ceiling tile. Sustainability is most often associated with the environment and specifically to our landscapes and gardens.

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Step Bet is a walking challenge against your friends. In the challenge Step Bet you are required to track how many steps you walk each day.

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Step Bet is a walking challenge against your friends. In the challenge Step Bet you are required to track how many steps you walk each day.

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Some great walking apps are
1. Map My Walk (or run)
2. Walkmeter Walking and Hiking

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Upcycling is reusing witch helps keep our world clean.What are some upcycling ideas?Here are some ideas a water bottle piggy bank, and a water bottle boat.There are a lot more ideas too.

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plant holders
bird feeders from mik cartons/jugs

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Here is something about upcycling

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here are some ideas

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10 Easy Ways to Save the Environment! Upcycling & Recycling Hacks by Blossom

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This is a maker space-like challenge!
Green Robotics is creating something that will help us be kind to the environment.  Your robot does not have to work, just be a prototype of one that could!

Examples of a green robot that could:
Pick up trash
Clean the streets
Remove plastic from the ocean
...you be the creator.

Send pictures of your creations!

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Great Job! Keep up the steps.

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Simple way to help keep the community clean.

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Congratulations on winning an award! The Brown School is very proud of you all for helping keep the earth clean!
It is important for all of us to help out whenever we can. Thanks for your hard work.
Sincerely,
KM

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Two ideas you can try submitted by SM

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Keep it up!

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Congratulations Mrs.Bugler! i hope you are doing well😎

and i hope you are safe💙

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Great job this year keeping the school clean and green!