From the Community

Jamaica Plain’s Christine Poff Wins Landscape Design Council Award

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The Landscape Design Council (LDC) of Massachusetts has recognized Jamaica Plain's Christine Poff, the director of Boston's Community Preservation Committee, as a 2018 awardee for excellence in the field of landscape design. Poff is the 2018 recipient of the Landscape Design Council Award for Excellence, given in recognition of outstanding civic accomplishment. “Throughout her career, Christine has worked in many ways to make life better for citizens,” said LDC chairman George Papavasiliou, via press release. “We particularly applaud her efforts on behalf of Boston’s Franklin Park and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, which stand out as supportive of the Landscape Design Council’s mission.”

As political director of the National Association of Social Workers, Poff advocated for economic and social justice bills at the Massachusetts State House, but she is likely better known for her 14 years’ service as executive director of the Franklin Park Coalition, a nonprofit organization that gives a community voice to Boston’s Franklin Park. She worked to bring back such beloved park institutions as the Elma Lewis Playhouse, the FPC Youth Crew, and the annual Kite and Bike Festival.

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Environment

J.P. Licks and O’Malley Debut Boston’s First Coffee Composting Station

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Always in pursuit to help the environment, Jamaica Plain's City Councilor Matt O'Malley recently teamed up with J.P. Licks to debut Boston's first coffee composting station. Did you know that when composted used coffee grounds are a fantastic source of nitrogen? That makes coffee grounds great for composting and gardening. So starting Dec. 27, J.P. Licks will be giving away used ground coffee from their in-house roaster every Tuesday and Thursday.

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Business

Stop & Shop Donating $ Collected from Paper Bags to Emerald Necklace Conservancy

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Customers will be charged no less than 5 cents for each paper bag at retail establishments as part of the new plastic bag ordinance -- and Stop & Shop will be donating all of the money it takes in from the paper bag fee to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. The plastic bag ordinance begins on Dec. 14, and it requires any bag provided by a retail business to a customer must be either a reusable bag, a recyclable paper bag or a compostable plastic bag. The new fee will show up on customers' receipts letting them know about it. To get into the spirit of the reusable bags, Stop & Shop is also giving away a free reusable bag on Dec.

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Environment

Thank You Event for Jeffrey Sánchez Includes New Play About Olmsted on Dec. 13

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An event to honor state Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez's 16 years at the State House will feature a special a special play about Frederick Law Olmsted and announcements from neighborhood organizations about local park initiatives. The Dec. 13th event is inspired by Sánchez's "...devoted service to preserving Jamaica Plain’s greatest jewels – its parks, its people and its conservation." Thus there will be a new play about Frederick Law Olmsted depicting his life at ages 26 and 76, which will be performed by Gerry Wright and Manganelli. There will also be announcements by Olmsted 2022, the A.R.T. Institute and the Friends of Jamaica Pond about two the preservation of Hellenic Hill by Jamaica Pond and tree planting in the neighborhood.

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Environment

What You Need to Know: Boston’s Plastic Bag Ordinance Goes Into Effect on Dec. 14.

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Boston is taking a big step this week to be more environmentally friendly as the city's plastic bag ordinance goes into effect on Dec. 14. The ordinance is intended to lessen the use of disposable checkout bags by retail stores. The ordinance requires any bag provided by a retail business to a customer must be either a reusable bag, a recyclable paper bag or a compostable plastic bag. The retail business that provides the bag for no less than five cents per bag will keep the the money generated by the fee.

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