Earth Day Celebration - Walk in the Footsteps of Thoreau
2026-04-26 14:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Lincoln and Concord MA
Celebrate Earth Day on Sunday the 26th with a walk to Walden Pond.
Multiple groups starting from Concord and Lincoln will converge at the Thoreau Cabin Site to celebrate the natural world and renew our commitment to protect it. A simple meet-up with music, inspiring words, and sharing of wishes & commitments.
Meet at First Parish in Concord Center or St Anne’s Church in Lincoln at 2pm, arriving by 3pm to the cabin site after a 2 mile walk. Alternatively, you can park at the Walden Pond visitor center, and have a very short walk to the cabin site. There will be carpools returning to the starting point for those who would prefer.
Featuring short talks by:

Richard Smith – Concord public historian and Thoreau scholar – on Walden
Sabine von Mering – environmental activist, Brandeis professor – on Civil Disobedience
Thea Iberall – Jewish Climate Action Network – eco-poetry
Peter Alden – naturalist – on nature in Thoreau and our time
Roger Rosen – guitarist, folk singer – leading us in song

For more information or to get involved with the planning contact Brad Hubbard-Nelson or Alex Chatfield.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection
2026-05-02 09:00 - 12:00 | Natick Department of Public Works, 75 West St., Room Parking Lot, Natick, Massachusetts, US
The 40th annual Natick Board of Health Household Hazardous Waste drop off day is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the Natick Department of Public Works at 75 West Street.
Due to the limit of 300 cars, we must sell tickets in advance and you must have a ticket with you when you arrive. No tickets will be sold that day: vehicles without a ticket will be turned away.
The ticket price is $10.00 per car for Natick Residents only.
If you are a Natick Resident and wish to participate, please visit the Health Dept. website for more information or call the office at 508-647-6460.
https://www.natickma.gov/808/House-Hazardous-Waste-Collection-Day

Earth-Friendly Fair!
2026-05-02 09:00 - 13:00 | Natick Town Common, 13 Common Street, Natick, Massachusetts, US
Our Theme: “MAKE A SHIFT, GIVE THE EARTH A GIFT, FIND THE JOY!”

Explore more than 20 booths and tables, 9:00am to 1:00pm.
Pick up a PASSPORT at any table, and collect a sticker for your passport at each table you visit.
Win a prize for collecting 5 stickers if you can tell us: What will be YOUR joyful shift?

Take the plastics Quiz, switch to reusable cotton mesh produce bags, Write a fun postcard to your state rep and senator in support of the Updated Bottle Bill, and learn how to reduce plastic in your life with Beyond Plastics Greater Boston.
Make Native American items out of recycled materials with Natick Nipmuc Tribe.
Find the “road less travelled” with Town of Natick’s Trails and Forest Stewardship and the Open Space Advisory Committee.
Help weave the colors together with Natick is United, to create public art with recycled materials.
Learn about the harms of vaping and be motivated to never start vaping, quit vaping, or properly dispose of vapes since they are harmful to the environment, offered by Natick 180 and the NATI Club at NHS.
Learn what “environment justice” means with Natick For Black Lives Matter MetroWest.
Get a textile recycling bag to fill up at home, and take a trivia challenge about plastics in clothing, courtesy of Fisk United Women in Faith.
Find out how Eversource is preparing the grid for electrification. What part you can play in achieving Massachusetts’ goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Reflect on things in nature using your senses, with folks from The Green Spiral.
Check out a mini split heat pump system and consider making the switch to keep off the gas with Elephant Energy.
Sign up for a 15- or 45-minute consultation to learn how heat pumps work, explore solutions specific to your home, as well as incentives, rebates, and financing opportunities to decarbonize your home with MassSave.
Get free seeds and advice on planting natives, herbs, vegetables, and flowers, from Natick Garden Club.
What’s Wild in the Water? Take a close-up look at the small creatures with different body parts and behaviors that allow them to live in local freshwater ponds, lakes, and vernal pools. Learn how they help you, and how you can help them, with Mass Audubon Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary.
Sign a petition asking our state legislature to pass a strong climate bill; email your state legislators; and post your thoughts about climate change on an art board, courtesy of 350 Mass MetroWest.
Make a button with an eco-friendly theme, with folks from the Trustees of the Bacon Free Library.
Grow your own microgreens at home, with materials offered by Natick is United.

Earth Day All Around Natick
2026-05-02 09:00 - 2026-05-03 17:00 | Natick Town Common, 13 Common Street, Natick, Massachusetts, US
EcoNatick invites you to participate in the 5th year of a reimagined Earth Day celebration. Our vision is that Earth Day All Around Natick will unite residents in learning and taking action toward more sustainable living, addressing greenhouse gas emissions that are creating the climate crisis, and appreciating our amazing life-sustaining planet.
On the weekend of May 2-3, 2026 EcoNatick is partnering with community groups, organizations, families, individuals, businesses, and houses of worship to host Earth-friendly (mostly outdoor) activities all over town (think First Night or Artists Open Studios). We will feature these events on EcoNatick.org, along with an interactive map and schedule.
We envision that Earth Day All Around Natick will include a variety of hands-on, educational and FUN activities, and invite you to be creative in planning your event. Garden tours, energy equipment show-offs, trail clean-ups and meditative walks – all ideas are welcome! If you need inspiration, contact us.
Our celebration will also feature the “Earth-Friendly Fair,” on the Town Common on Saturday May 2, 9am-1pm. We welcome up to 25 informational tables/booths that follow our theme: “Make a shift, give the Earth a gift. Find the Joy!” We envision that each booth/table will offer a specific action (“shift”) people can take, and why it’s important, and how to find the joy in these efforts. We’re offering a fun “passport” to encourage families to circulate.
Our Event Host Guide 2-pager provides the details, along with the link to our Event Host Registration Form. Have a look, feel free to contact us if you have questions, and please register your event or booth by April 15th.

Guided Historic Trail Walk
2026-05-02 13:00 - 15:00 | Middlesex Path at Eddie’s Park, 111 West Central Street, Natick, 01760, United States
Walk the trail and learn about Fiske Pond and Henry Wilson, our 18th Vice President.
Meet at the Middlesex Path kiosk on the north side of Rt. 135 by Eddie’s Park (dog park). The trail can be quite wet during the spring so boots or waterproof shoes are recommended! Please be sure to dress appropriately for a wooded area including long pants and bug spray to deter ticks.

WEATHER: This event will happen “rain or shine.”
ACCESSIBILITY: Uneven ground or steep slope
Led by Terri Evans of the Natick Open Space Advisory Committee and Natick Historical Society.

Free Public Planetarium Shows
2026-05-02 15:00 - 2026-05-03 19:00 | New England Sci-Tech, 16 Tech Circle, Natick, 01760, United States
Watch “LOSING THE DARK,” free for the public, a multimedia show about the dangers of Light Pollution, followed by a live star show in our inflatable planetarium. Learn about constellations and the Milky Way. Examine and hold several large meteorites – real rocks from outer space. Best for families with children in grade 2 and up.
Learn how YOU can take action against night sky light pollution.

RESERVATIONS HERE.
ACCESSIBILITY: Inflatable planetarium is fun for kids and parents who don’t mind sitting on floor mats.
Not accessible to wheelchairs.

Pickerel Pond Guided Nature Walk
2026-05-03 09:00 - 12:00 | Pickerel Pond Conservation Area, 6 Huron Drive, Natick, 01760, United States
Guided nature walk on the northern trail system within the Pickerel Pond Conservation Area led by Claire Rundelli, Natick’s Conservation Agent/Environmental Planner, and Doug Drenik, Chair of the Trails and Forest Stewardship Committee. Learn about the ecology and wildlife of the Pickerel Pond Area, hear about upcoming trail improvement projects, and hopefully catch a glimpse of a beaver! The walk will be between 2 and 3 hours depending on group size and composition. The walk will be family friendly but will cover narrow and uneven trails, so strollers are not recommended.

REGISTER HERE.
WEATHER: This walk will happen “rain or shine.”
ACCESSIBILITY: Not accessible to wheelchairs.

West Natick Family Bike Ride
2026-05-03 10:00 - 11:30 | Cole Center, 179 Boden Lane, Natick, Massachusetts, US
Enjoy a leisurely and fun tour by bicycle around the quiet streets of West Natick! This ride is for all ages and skill levels. Our youngest riders are encouraged to attend and the ride pace will be at kid speed. Participants will grow their confidence riding on the road and will practice road bicycle safety skills, as well as experience the joy of biking in a group. Helmets required and colorful/costumed attire encouraged.
All are welcome to a snack potluck and playground hang out at Cole Center post-ride. Even if you can’t join by bike, catch us for the snack potluck!
Helmet and bike required, costume/colorful clothing and water bottle encouraged, optional to bring a snack to share at the snack potluck
WEATHER: We will bike in light rain but will cancel in case of heavy rain.

Repair Cafe
2026-05-03 14:00 - 17:00 | Natick Community Senior Center, 117 East Central Street, Natick, Massachusetts, US
The Fix is FREE!
A Repair Café offers an opportunity for your to bring a whole host of different items in need of repair that volunteers, with skills in different disciplines, will do their best to fix for free!
We invite you to bring in the following items in need of repair: Lamps, electronics & small appliances, small furniture, clean mendable clothing for hand and machine sewing, as well as sharpen scissors, garden tools, and knives (except for serrated knives).
The Natick Community Senior Center is located at 117 E. Central St. (Rt. 135), about a half mile west of the Wellesley Town line.
For more info, or if you or someone you know might be able to help in some capacity, please email NatickRepairCafe@gmail.com
Note: While we will have many parts and components on hand, if your item requires special parts, to increase the chances we can fix it, please bring them with you. It is a first come/first served event.
Timing: If the past is any indication, it will be extremely busy right at 2:00pm. So you might want to arrive sometime closer to 3:00, after the initial rush. Meanwhile, there might just be an EV Petting Zoo outside in the front parking lot!
Sponsored by Natick Rotary in conjunction with the Natick Community Senior Center’s Council on Aging & Human Services.

Recycle an unneeded Bike!
2026-05-16 09:00 - 13:00 | Ace Hardware, 70 Andrew Ave., Wayland, 01778, United States
Bring your old, tired, or just unneeded bike to Wayland Town Center, behind Ace Hardware, on May 16th between 9 and 1. The bikes will be delivered to the Lowell Bike Connector.
The Bike Connector’s mission is to provide the Greater Lowell Community with safe and affordable bicycles. The bikes are fixed up and then distributed to kids and adults in need of low-cost, local transportation.
Registration is optional, but it will help us plan. Click here to register.
