Youth sports teams and other users of several DeFazio and Memorial Park fields will soon be able to recycle their containers instead of throwing them away thanks to a recycling pilot led by seven Needham faith organizations.
Members of the faith organizations, meeting over the past two years as an Interfaith Environmental Network to share ideas and coordinate environmental activities, have partnered with the Town of Needham and Green Needham to introduce the recycling pilot at the DeFazio complex and Memorial Park. Christ Episcopal Church, the Congregational Church of Needham, First Parish in Needham Unitarian Universalist, Grace Lutheran Church, St. Joseph Parish, Temple Aliyah and Temple Beth Shalom are jointly funding four bottle and can recycling containers to be piloted at the fields.
The initiative is being implemented with the support of the Needham Department of Public Works, the Needham Park and Recreation Commission and the Trustees of Memorial Park. The Department of Public Works will assume responsibility for collecting the bottles and cans from the containers.
“With the spring sports season commencing, we felt that this was an opportune time to follow the lead of neighboring communities and extend Needham’s recycling efforts. I know that many people are bothered by the sight of trash barrels filled with bottles and cans that could be recycled,” said Michael Bailit, who initiated the project.
The Green Needham Collaborative and Green Needham members are active participants and supporters of the Interfaith Environmental Network. Green Needham has been involved with this project since its inception, helping organizers make connections with appropriate town officials and advancing money for the containers.
The recycling containers are shaped as bottles, are easy to use, and are wind and rain- resistant. Should the pilot prove successful, the interfaith network and Green Needham hope to expand the pilot to other parks and fields, and potentially to the downtown area.
