By Karen Grossman
As part of the Jewish High Holidays from September 8th through the 16th, 81 community members removed 21 bags of litter from the Mystic River Watershed.
This is the second annual Reverse Tashlich—that encourages our community in addition to throwing sins into a body of water (Tashlich), they improve their local watershed by removing trash (Reverse Tashlich).
I was happy to lead this effort, that brought out participants from Temple Shir Tikvah, Beth El Temple Center, Kesher Nevatim Alumni and Temple Isaiah. By cleaning up our local watershed, we are taking a step to repair the world, “Tikkun Olam”. This local trash is not only bad for our environment—but it also ultimately ends up in the ocean.
Thank you to everyone who participated this year. Our watersheds do so much for us from providing countless hours of recreation, to serving as homes for birds and fish, to even providing drinking water.
“The Reverse Tashlich was such a great idea! And who needs to limit it to YK? Yesterday afternoon, I picked up a bag of trash along the Cambridge Street side of Mystic Lake. I am going to try and continue doing this from time to time. Thanks for organizing it for us!” ”
Mark you calendar next year to participate in Reverse Tashlich. Let’s make the third annual event the largest ever.
By the way, did you know that plastic pollution is growing, with half of all plastic having been made within the past 13 years? We will investigate this more, during the second annual Passover event with MyRWA, “Plastover”.
About the Author: My interest in wildlife, trees and plants began in my childhood growing up in a small town in a house on Pennsylvania woods, hills, and mountains. I also visited our beautiful national parks with my parents and have toured many countries of the world as a single woman and with my husband, Fred Moses. After my professional career, I have become the President of the Friends of Spy Pond Park in Arlington, MA where I live and am a past board member of the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), presently volunteering on the Outreach and Development Committees.
With those recent experiences I’ve come to understand and appreciate that crucial to promoting the growth of native plants and trees is eliminating prevalent invasive plants that compete with them. Through my involvement with the Mystic River Watershed Association, I’ve seen how working with a watershed association can expand outreach to many communities and enhance an essential healthy environment for all waterbodies: oceans, rivers, brooks, lakes and ponds.
