Norwood celebrates Earth Day

On a cloudy Sunday morning, town committees, nonprofit organizations, community members and local musical talent gathered on the Town Common on Washington Street for the seventh annual Earth Day celebration to educate community members on sustainability and celebrate everyone coming together to help the environment.

This event, which began in 2018, is organized by the Town of Norwood in partnership with Progress Norwood, a community group that encourages civic participation from residents and organizes resources to increase awareness of social justice and progressive values, according to the group’s website.

“The town has several resources available to make our homes more Earth-friendly,” noted Katie Neal-Rizzo, the event’s organizer. “We created a fair where we can tell people about these resources, including rain barrels, compost barrels and the Conservation Commission.”

The fair was held after the 11 cleanup events throughout the Town that day.

Different groups join in the fair each year, Neal-Rizzo explained. This year’s fair included the Norwood Swap Shop, a demonstration of electric vehicle chargers, native plant sales and a visit from Friends of the Blue Hills in Milton to promote events that immerse community members in nature.

“This is a great way to meet other people reusing clothing, planting native flowers and others who care about the Earth,” Neal-Rizzo added.

The Rybicki family of Norwood, including Johnny, Jen and Zoe, organized a swap shop on the Common and allowed community members to either exchange unwanted articles and clothing for new additions to their wardrobes, or give away their gently used sporting goods, tools and toys in exchange for new items.

“We began the swap shop less than a year ago,” explained Zoe. “Our mission is to reduce the amount of reusable material that contributes to waste streams,” noted the signs on the table.

“Stuff like tools and household goods get claimed quickly,” added Johnny. Lawn furniture and bicycles are also favorite items that visitors like to swap at the main site facility at the Department of Public Works building at 370 Winter St.

“I love thrifting,” explained Jen. “It’s a great opportunity for people to refresh wardrobe and to find clothes that fit their children as they grow.”

As the afternoon progressed, the sun shone down on the Town Common, and attendees gathered around the chargers and Ford F-150 Lightning presented by Norwood Light and Energy New England, the municipal light plant cooperative based in Mansfield. With the rise in gas prices, the table saw an uptick in interest in people wanting an electric vehicle.

“There’s a $3,500 Massachusetts rebate and a $1,500 Town of Norwood rebate available to electric vehicle buyers,” noted Nate Puzey, Associate Engineer at Norwood Light.

“Currently, it costs $1.62 in an equivalent gallon of gas to recharge an electric vehicle,” added Ray Stetkiewicz of Energy New England. “Electric cars predated gas cars, and now we’re coming on the backend,” Stetkiewicz added. “EVs can be renewable while gas could never be anything but polluting.”

Advertisement

The fair also featured tables that addressed food security and native plants. One of them promoted the Norwood Food Forest at Endean Park off Mylod Street. The forest, first organized by the Norwood Conservation Commission and Ramanda Morgan, has perennial fruit-bearing trees, which foster an edible landscape, according to volunteer Mark Negron, who was there with his daughter Ruby.

“We learned the idea of permaculture,” when he said he first started working with the Boston Food Forest. “There are fruit trees in the center and supporting plants around them, creating a tree guild.”

The food forest addresses biodiversity by providing shade to reduce heat islands and recreating ecosystems that were eliminated due to construction and agricultural activity, according to Negron.

The Friends of Blue Hills visited Norwood’s Earth Day celebration for the first time to “bring people into the parks,” remarked Mary Timilty, the organization’s membership coordinator. The organization’s table promoted upcoming events like beginner hikes, children’s fishing events and even a Department of Conservation & Recreation Park Serve Day cleanup event on May 2.

“The Earth is an important place for all of us. We need to protect it as best as we can. We’re all here for a common cause,” Timilty added. She signed up three new members during the event, and her experience in this year’s event inspired her to return in 2027.