Environment

A small waterfall cascades over moss-covered rocks on a sunny day.

Dawn’s Pond commemoration at the Acton Arboretum

May 16, 2024

Under a bright blue sky, in the afternoon on Monday, May 13, 2024 a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to dedicate the fish pond installed in July of 2023 at the Acton Arboretum on Taylor Road. “Dawn’s Pond” is a dream manifested, a dream of the late Dawn…

A man wearing a suit and a yarmulke talks with a very tall woman wearing a jacket and flowered dress. They are on the patio of a building (Congregation Beth Elohim) and there is a trellis in the background.

Representative Lori Trahan presents SUNNY Award to Congregation Beth Elohim

May 16, 2024

by Karen Root Watkins

U.S. Representative Lori Trahan visited Acton’s Congregation Beth Elohim (CBE) on Sunday, May 5th, to present the U.S. Department of Energy SUNNY Award for CBE’s solar carport arrays project. The $12,500 SUNNY Award, one of only five in the nation, celebrates community solar projects deploying “best practices that…

A green and black sign that says "It's garlic mustard pull season!"

Garlic mustard – time to pull

May 16, 2024

by Ann Marie Testarmata

Do you have this pretty plant with lovely white flowers blooming in your woods, garden, compost pile or even lawn or garden? Look for it. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. It’s garlic mustard! It is a nonnative invasive plant from Europe that takes over, disturbs…

A multi-colored sky shows behind houses and trees.

Eyes on the (solar) storm

May 16, 2024

Franny OsmanandKim Kastens

In the May 11 issue of the Acton Exchange, we asked for your photos and stories about from last weekend’s rare local view of the aurora borealis. Lauren Rosenzweig caught the lights on camera on Marshall Path in north Acton, though her experience was the same as many.…

A bald, bearded, man stands in front of a podium. He is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, as befits a gardening expert.

“Gardening for Resilience” with Trevor Smith: Shirley Towle Lecture

May 7, 2024

by Ann Marie Testarmata

Trevor Smith of Weston Nurseries wowed the one hundred-person audience at the Acton Town Hall (and on Zoom) on April 24 as he shared his wisdom in “Gardening for Resilience”. He helped audience members understand how we each can make an impact on climate change in our own…

The sky with the northern lights in full bloom. The sky is purple and green with a few stars showing.

Did you see the northern lights this weekend?

May 7, 2024

by Franny Osman

Acton night owls are enjoying a rare view of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, this weekend thanks to a geomagnetic storm resulting from an unusually large sunspot . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wrote on their website, “For many people, the aurora is a beautiful…

Acton Water District Prepares for New Federal Limits on PFAS

May 7, 2024

by Ron Parenti

On April 10, 2024, the EPA announced the first federal enforceable drinking water regulations for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), and placed concentration limits on some of these chemicals at 4 parts-per-trillion (ppt). The EPA predicts that significant health benefits will result from this action; however, managers of…

A garden with several different kinds of plants and flowers. Peonies are coming up in the foreground and a beautiful weeping tree with pink flowers is in the background.

May Gardening Tips from the Acton Garden Club

May 7, 2024

by Judy Dembsey

Adapted from The Dirt, the newsletter of the Acton Garden Club. Garden advice for May in Acton: Do not plant annuals too early. They do not like nighttime temperatures below 40 degrees. The general rule is to plant them around Memorial Day, but if plants are purchased earlier,…

Two people standing next to each other. One is holding an instrument and showing the other person how to use it. A third person is looking over the shoulder of the first person.

Water Quality Volunteers Train at the Acton Canoe Launch

April 30, 2024

by Kim Kastens

On Friday evening April 26, twelve volunteers gathered at the canoe launch on the Assabet River in the southernmost corner of Acton. We were there to learn, or re-learn, how to sample and measure the quality of the water in the river, continuing the program of pollution monitoring…

Dawn’s Pond commemoration at the Acton Arboretum

Representative Lori Trahan presents SUNNY Award to Congregation Beth Elohim

Garlic mustard – time to pull

Eyes on the (solar) storm

“Gardening for Resilience” with Trevor Smith: Shirley Towle Lecture

Did you see the northern lights this weekend?

Acton Water District Prepares for New Federal Limits on PFAS

May Gardening Tips from the Acton Garden Club

Water Quality Volunteers Train at the Acton Canoe Launch

Donate

Subscribe

Categories