Clean Water Action Massachusetts

New England Currents | Summer 2025 In this Issue: New England States Sticking to Bans on Toxic “Forever Chemicals” in Pans; Plastic-Free July Update:
ReThink Gains Ground in Cafeterias; CT Team Scores Big Legislative Wins in 2025; Hono...

NEW ENGLAND! 📢 We are so excited to announce our #NewEnglandCurrents Summer Newsletter drop. 📑

💚 Check out all of the incredible work our team in CT, MA, and RI are doing in our latest Clean Water Currents Newsletter. 👇 #SummerReading #News #CleanWaterNews

cleanwater.org/publications...

ReThink Disposable - Participant Map These businesses have partnered with ReThink Disposable to reduce waste by switching from single-use foodware items to sustainable alternatives. Stop by and show your support!

This map shows what reuse in action really looks like.
Restaurants, schools, and cities are already making the switch. See who’s on the map:
#PlasticFreeJuly #ReThinkDisposable
cleanwater.org/rethink-disposable-map

plastic free july flyer with tips- carry a reusable water bottle, skip the stuff, and take our pledge: cleanwater.org/rethink-pledge

plastic free bbq tip! tell guests to BYO dining ware

INTERN SPOTLIGHT! Our @rethinkdisposable.bsky.social interns in New England designed some posters and graphics to spread the word about #PlasticFreeJuly! They're also in the field supporting zero waste events this summer, including a triathlon! Thank you!
(Love this tip: BYO dining ware to a BBQ!)

This seems like a great moment to remind everyone that there are bills to improve MA air quality pending in the legislature... #mapoli
cleanwater.org/actions/ma-c...

Tell Congress to STOP the Permission to Pollute Act Send a message to your US Rep. and tell them to vote NO on the #PERMISSIONTOPOLLUTE Act (HR3898). This bill guts the Clean Water Act, weakens pollution safeguards, and puts our water, health, and com...

💧 These bills give corporate polluters more power to contaminate the rivers, lakes, and streams we rely on for drinking, fishing, and swimming. It’s a direct threat to our health, water, & way of life. #ProtectCleanWater #StopTheDirtyWaterBill #VoteNoOnHR3898

act.cleanwater.org/page/173938/...

Register for our free webinar on the fight against plastic pollution. Choose July 30 or July 31! cleanwater.org/rethink-webinar-2025

How do we move beyond single-use plastics?

Join our free @rethinkdisposable.bsky.social webinar on July 30 or 31 to hear how real people are making reuse work in their communities.

RSVP: cleanwater.org/rethink-webinar-2025

#PlasticFreeJuly #ReThinkDisposable

This is why we are working to pass the Toxic Free Kids Act in MA. There should not be toxic chemicals in children's products.
@jocomerford.bsky.social‬

The Plastic Inside Us Microplastics have infiltrated our bodies. What does that mean for our health?

Microplastic bits don't just pollute the environment. They pollute our bodies.
This is why we continue to push for legislative action...
magazine.ucsf.edu/plastic-insi...

Proud to be a part of this effort to protect kids from lead in drinking water!

This July, let’s make America the Land of the Plastic-Free! This Plastic Free July, take stock of your consumer habits, strive to reduce your plastic consumption, spread the word, take action in your community, and speak out to your local government. Let's dem...

GOOD NEWS ALERT: Check out our local updates from the ReThink Disposable team in New England! Our summer intern wrote a great piece celebrating our successes and sharing tips for everyone to be a plastics activist! #PlasticFreeJuly @rethinkdisposable.bsky.social
cleanwater.org/2025/07/08/j...

She fought to ban PFAS while dying of cancer. Now Minnesota has the nation's strictest law. "Amara's Law" will reduce, then eliminate, the manufacture and sale of nonessential PFAS products by 2032.

Amara Strande died fighting to protect her community from toxic #PFAS. The MN law named in her honor will eliminate the manufacture and sale of nonessential PFAS products by 2032. Let's get PFAS out of products in MA next. #mapoli
@juliancyr.bsky.social
www.cbsnews.com/news/pfas-mi...

Urgent: We need your help RIGHT NOW to stop the "Permission to Pollute" Act. Tell your U.S. Representative to vote NO on H.R. 3898

The budget bill may have passed, but there's still more we can do:

The PERMIT Act is coming up soon, and it has so many giveaways to polluters we're calling it the "Permission to Pollute" Act.

It guts the Clean Water Act, weakens pollution safeguards, and puts our water AND our health at risk.

image of plastic litter floating in water reads: Choose to ReThink DIsposable! Say NO to single-use plastic. Also has the CLean Water Action logo

Plastic pollutes. From the extraction of fossil fuels to polluting manufacturing processes to litter and microplastics to final disposal - they are a disaster for our drinking water at every step.
This #PlasticFreeJuly, say NO to single-use plastic.
#ReThinkDisposable

Local and Green: It’s time for reusable take-out containers Though much could be said about the Trump administration’s retreat from climate action and the disappearance of funding to state and local governments, there is still a lot we can do on a local level ...

GOOD NEWS Monday! Great column from Darcy DuMont of Zero Waste Amherst highlighting the steps local communities are taking to tackle single-use disposable waste and plastics, and highlighting our ReThink Disposable campaign!
www.gazettenet.com/Columnist-Du...

Clean Water Action's intern stands behind a green table and doll house with energy efficiency info on the town green on a sunny day

Did you see us at the Church Green Farmers Market in Taunton on Sunday? We will be there every other week helping neighbors sign up for energy-saving, and money-saving, improvements to their homes and apartments with Mass Save!
@massdoer.bsky.social

Celebrating Pride This Month & Every Month. "The environmental movement's goal of building a safe, sustainable, and more inclusive world for all can only be strengthened by including Queer activists' voices at the table and paying attention to intersectionality." Bethany Dickerson, New England Director of Operations

Our very own Bethany Dickerson shares her thoughts on Queer Environmentalism: "The environmental movement’s goal of building a safe, sustainable, and more inclusive world for all can only be strengthened by including Queer activists’ voices at the table and paying attention to intersectionality."

Juneteenth and the Ongoing Struggle for Environmental Equity Happy Juneteenth! Celebrate with Clean Water Action as we continue to fight for Environmental Justice today and every day.

Juneteenth is more than a date. It's a reminder that freedom is not just declared, it’s demanded. It’s earned, fought for, held onto. While this day honors the past, it also brings into focus the present: the rights still at risk, the voices still unheard.
cleanwater.org/2025/06/18/j...

Boston federal judge allows lawsuit over blocked wind projects to proceed Attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C. are suing in federal court to challenge President Donald Trump’s Day One executive order halting leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.

Attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C. are suing in federal court to challenge President Donald Trump’s Day One executive order halting leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.

the clean water team, past and present, pose in activist chic attire for a group photo at their event

AMAZING to be surrounded by such an inspiring community of activists last week at the Fun is In the Fight! Thank you to everyone who joined us or supported the event. And a huge congrats to all of our 2025 awardees! I don't know about you, but we're fired up and energized!

#Microplastics aren’t just tiny, they’re toxic!

They carry harmful chemicals and are linked to serious health risks. It’s time for state leaders to step up, reduce plastic use, promote non-toxic reuse, and phase out dangerous chemicals.

🔗Learn more: www.saferstates.org/microplastics/

Advocates pose on the fanciest staircase in the Massachusetts State House

Excited to show up at the State House with our allies to support the indoor air quality bill at the public health committee hearing yesterday!
Take action to fight asthma pollution at: cleanwater.org/actions/ma-c...

@sierraclubma.bsky.social @theclf.bsky.social @350ma.bsky.social

image of barbara espinosa barrera smiling as part of a blue and orange graphic design for Clean Water's event, the Fun is in the Fight

We are SO excited to honor the incredible Barbara Espinosa Barrera tomorrow! As the Environmental Justice and Health Equity Organizer at GreenRoots, she is an invaluable partner and leader in Clean Water’s grassroots work on lead in drinking water and clean air justice.

YouTube video by Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative What to Expect: Replacing Your Lead Service Line

Check out the Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) Collaborative's new video "What to Expect: Replacing Your Lead Service Line" explaining what happens before, during, and after replacement. 🚰💧

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVpm...

Graphic for Clean Water Action's event, the Fun is in the Fight, features a photo of the Mujeres Victoriosas team smiling together. For more info, visit cleanwater.org/ma-spring

Graphic for Clean Water Action's event, the Fun is in the Fight, features a photo of the CEDC team smiling together. For more info, visit cleanwater.org/ma-spring

We're excited to honor Mujeres Victoriosas and CEDC (Community Economic Development Center) on June 12th for their collaborative, multilingual outreach efforts to help residents of disadvantaged New Bedford neighborhoods access energy efficiency resources. See you Thursday!

Georgetown Public Schools Fighting Polystyrene Waste in the Cafeteria Schools Switching to Reusable Trays with Support from Clean Water Action and Plastic Free Restaurants

We aren't waiting for solutions to the waste crisis. We're building them now.
Great work Georgetown Schools, and thank you to our partners at Plastic Free Restaurants!
cleanwater.org/releases/geo...

The Fun is In the Fight! June 12th! Honoring 2025 Youth Leadership Awardees: Noha Ahmed, Delina Yohannes, Melinna Enamorado, Olivia Yang

The future is in good hands.
We will be honoring these young organizers, part of our
Youth Action Collaborative program at Malden High
School, next week! Congrats!
Learn more at cleanwater.org/ma-spring

The Fun is in the FIght! Thursday, June 12, 5:30-8pm, honoring Maria Belen Power. Learn more at cleanwater.org/ma-spring

Excited to honor María Belén Power, MA's first Undersecretary of Environmental Justice & Equity. She is forging a path toward stronger protections for overburdened neighborhoods across MA, bringing all the lessons she learned as a grassroots environmental justice champion.
@masseea.bsky.social

John O'Connor Award for Canvassing is given to Sara Etling

Counting down until our annual celebration by highighting our awardees! Sara not only excels at motivating people to take action and support Clean Water's campaigns, she is also training the next cohort of organizers! The Fun is in the Fight! Learn more and grab tickets: cleanwater.org/ma-spring

Clean Air, Stronger Communities: World Asthma Day 2025 About 1 in 11 Massachusetts residents currently suffers from asthma, and 1.5 million Massachusetts residents still lack access to local air quality data.

Neighbors. Community. Joy. That’s how we will win. Need inspiration? Check out this piece about the 2025 World Asthma Day Rally in East Boston.
cleanwater.org/2025/06/04/w...