GREENFIELD — Residents and businesses can help improve the water quality of streams and rivers by participating in the Greenscape Challenge, aimed at reducing pollution through a number of actions people can take in their own homes.
The goal of the collaborative project between the Town of Greenfield, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Greening Greenfield is to provide information to residents and businesses to help reduce pollution that ends up in rivers and the amount of storm water that goes down storm drains from homes and businesses.
“Often, residents and businesses don’t make the connection between what they do at home or work, and how it impacts our streams and rivers,” Mary Chicoine, FRCOG land use planner, said in a news release. “When people understand their connection to our rivers and streams, they feel more empowered and engaged in protecting water quality. They like being part of a larger effort to have a positive impact on the environment.”
Greenfield’s Director of Planning and Development Eric Twarog said the Greenscape Challenge is a great way for people to learn about actions they can take in their own homes, gardens and lawns — from something as simple as recycling motor oil and antifreeze correctly to something a bit more challenging, like installing a rain garden.
The Greenscape Challenge offers a list of ideas and resources residents can use, and it’s up to each person to decide how much they want to do. The project is modeled on Greening Greenfield’s “10 Percent Challenge,” which encouraged people to take action to reduce energy consumption.
“We are excited to be part of the Greenscape Challenge, because it makes everyone aware of what they can do every day to make our world more sustainable by keeping our rivers clean, and returning rainwater to our aquifer so that future generations will have both enough water and clean water in our changing world,” said Nancy Hazard, Greening Greenfield member and former director of Northeast Sustainable Energy Association.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, storm water runoff is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. In Greenfield, rain that falls on roofs, streets and parking lots cannot soak into the ground and instead drains through gutters and storm drains, and flows, without any treatment, into nearby bodies of water, such as the Green River, according to the release. Storm water runoff carries trash, dog waste, bacteria, heavy metals and other pollutants from streets, sidewalks and parking lots.
Disposing of dog waste and trash appropriately, using techniques such as installing rain gardens, planting trees and reducing the amount of paved surfaces can improve water quality and recharge aquifers close to home and beyond, according to the release.
The Greenscape Challenge is part of a larger water quality project for the Town of Greenfield that is funded in part by a MassDEP s.319 grant and a Massachusetts Environmental Trust grant.
Kimberly Noake MacPhee, FRCOG Land Use & Natural Resources Planning Program manager, said the project helped fund the rain gardens installed along Olive Street and the Chapman-Davis parking lot. FRCOG staff is also working with the town to update Greenfield’s existing regulations related to storm water management.
“It is hoped that recommendations made as part of this project will help reduce and manage storm water runoff from future development in ways that ‘green’ Greenfield and protect the water quality of the Green River,” she said.
Community members interested in taking the Greenscape Challenge can do so online at: surveymonkey.com/r/GreenscapeChallenge or by picking up a Greenscape Challenge form and tool kit at Town Hall’s downstairs Service Center or at Greenfield’s Planning Office, 114 Main St. Free Greenscape Challenge yard signs are available to participants who sign up for the Greenscape Challenge. They can be picked up at the Planning Office or at the FRCOG’s offices at the Olver Transit Center, 12 Olive St.
For more information on the Greenscape Challenge, contact Chicoine at 413-774-3167, ext. 131 or maryc@frcog.org. To request a free tree for your front yard or tree belt, contact Janine Greaves in the Greenfield Department of Public Works office at 772-1528, ext. 106.