Celebrate and give back to the planet that provides us with everything this Earth Day!

As you may already know, BEAT purchased its very own home in November 2021; our Environmental Leadership & Education Center sits on the edge of the west branch of Housatonic River at 20 Chapel Street in Pittsfield. The riverbank right behind our building is overrun with invasive plant species. This isn’t uncommon, as you likely know – many natural areas are becoming increasingly infested with these non-native, overly-competitive species that hinder our native species and ultimately cause ecological harm. That’s why BEAT is restoring the riverbank behind our building, and we would love your help!

On Earth Day, we will begin working at 10:00 AM and finish around noon. Then, we’ll all have some lunch provided by BEAT. We ask that folks PLEASE RSVP (email team@thebeatnews.org) so we know how much food to purchase!

We plan to install straw waddles downslope of our work area before carefully removing all non-native, invasive species. Once plants are removed, straw mats will be placed over loosened soils, and we’ll plant native species through the straw mats.

This is an ongoing ecological restoration project of BEAT’s, and we don’t expect it to all get done in a few hours on a Saturday. But the more volunteers that can help, the quicker we can restore our riverbank to better support our native ecology!

DATE: Saturday, April 22

TIME: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

LOCATION: 20 Chapel St, Pittsfield, MA