Painting ACES 2022, by the numbers

ACES is looking forward to continuing our work to foster environmental stewardship and leadership in 2023. We support the accomplishments of our allies and partners and would like to share some of our collaborative achievements during 2022 with you, starting with the numbers.

In 52 opinion columns published in The Daily News, we continued educating the public about climate and the environment and the contributions of our allies.

In 12 months of a crisp and visually pleasing newsletter, insights were provided to keep our subscribers informed and engaged.

ACES completed a comprehensive survey of over 550 users of the Merrimack River [MRUS]. A 20-page report with 14 highlights, charts, and graphs was then created to impactfully portray the MRUS findings about the significant concerns about the health of the river.

We participated in four meetings with other potential collaborators to foster a“River Rescue” movement highlighting the MRUS report findings. The conversations included the Merrimack Valley District Commission, the MerrimackRiver Watershed Council, Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon, and State Sen. Bruce Tarr.

ACES held 10 meetings with Reardon and staff on a variety of topics ranging from composting to school support programs to longer term projects for a greener, resilient, and sustainable community.

We participated in five meetings with the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce& Industry to help shape and support their Forever Green Newburyport campaign.

Focusing on the ‘Think Globally’ aspect of our work, we covered seven global topics including Earth Day Events, COP27, and Prince Williams’ Earth Shot Prize.

Acting locally, we participated in painting over 15 signs at TinkerHaus in support of the Earth Day 2022 celebrations on the waterfront and had a booth of our own at this event.

With Newburyport High School and the City of Newburyport, we organized and held two environmental stewardship open houses which gave the opportunity for over 130 students to interact with representatives from 18 allies to explore internships and project-based learning experiences.

We helped launch the Pollinator PowerWorks team which raised over $2,500 through the ACES website.

And our subscriber list grew from about 400 subscribers to over 800.

We are grateful to The Daily News for providing a forum for our climate and environmental efforts in 2022 and we are grateful to all the folks who pitch in to help keep our human habitats healthy.

The numbers to paint by get much bigger as we look forward to 2023, a year to focus on biodiversity in our local region and in the world at large. 

We plan to put forward ideas that support and expand ways in which other species can thrive in the world. Notable challenges include dealing with plastic waste in the oceans, wayward fishing gear harming whales, and the migration of lobster populations northward as the Gulf of Maine warms.

We want to fortify those efforts that preserve and expand biodiversity by habitat rescue, such as Mass Audubon reinforcing the ribbed mussel population in our coastal marshes to stabilize it from sea level induced erosion.

We want to applaud the preservation of lands and waters as sanctuaries and natural areas, especially new efforts such as West Newbury’s recent expansion of its conservation holdings. and we will be supporting beekeepers, garden clubs, and butterfly lovers for planting more and more native species that support biodiversity and a myriad of species nearby.

Our youth corps asks, whether you see yourself as an artist, a science geek, or simply someone who cares about the future of our planet, please reach out to us about a project or important information that you might like to see shared. Send us a note at acesnewburyport@gmail. com.

To learn more about ACES and its initiatives, visit: aces-alliance.org.

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