Newton Climate News
July 6, 2026
| | | |
Save on Electric Supply this Summer:
Ensure You're Enrolled in Newton Power Choice
| | |
Eversource just announced its Basic Service electricity prices for the period from August 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027. As always, Eversource’s Basic Service prices change every six months and are for only the electricity supply portion of the electricity bill.
- For residential customers in eastern Massachusetts, starting August 1, the new Eversource Basic Service price for the next six months will be 17.32 cents/kWh.
- For small business customers in eastern Massachusetts, the new Eversource Basic Service price for that same period will be 16.76 cents/kWh.
The Newton Power Choice price is much lower than Eversource’s Basic Service prices, at 13.990 cents/kWh. Available to both residential and small business customers, this price is fixed for a two-year period, from January 2026 to January 2028, providing a long-term, stable electric supply price.
Newton Power Choice is a municipal aggregation program under State law. With Newton Power Choice, Eversource continues to deliver electricity, customers continue to contact Eversource if their power goes out, and Eversource continues to bill customers. The difference is that Newton selects the electric supplier for customers rather than leaving that up to Eversource. Newton Power Choice is a City-vetted program, as opposed to the solicitations customers often receive from competitive electric suppliers.
Remember, the best way to save money on your total energy expenditure is to reduce your use of energy. Learn more about how to save money and energy with a no-cost Mass Save Home Energy Assessment—available to you every two years. If you have questions, reach out to energycoach@newtonma.gov or drop-in during our Energy Help Office Hours, held every third Tuesday from 11am-1pm at the Cooper Center.
| | Image description: Newton Power Choice graphic with the message "Focused on stability. Prices fixed through January 2028." | | Image description: The Scoop on Solar Energy event graphic. | | New EV Charging Stations at the Cooper Center, Lincoln-Eliot, and NNHS | |
Exciting news for Newton EV drivers! New electric vehicle charging stations were installed last week at the Cooper Center, Lincoln-Eliot, and Newton North High School (NNHS), making it easier than ever to power up around the City.
These new charging stations are installed and operational. You can find them at the following locations:
- Cooper Center: 2 stations
- Lincoln-Eliot: 2 stations
- NNHS (Lowell St. side): 2 additional stations
Thinking about making your next car an EV? Sign up for a free Energy Coach consult to discuss your options.
|
Join Our Climate Efforts:
Recycle Right Reminders
| | |
For all of us, it can be difficult to keep track of what should and shouldn't go in the recycling bin. We've included a brief refresher on curbside and drop-off recycling below.
Also, a friendly reminder from our friends in the Sustainable Materials Management Division: do not place recyclables in any kind of bag, paper or plastic. Plastic bags are never recyclable, nor are paper grocery bags filled with other recyclable materials. Instead, dump your recyclables from your paper bag into your bin and then place the paper bag into the bin for proper recycling.
Need more guidance on what to do with an item? Search the Recycle Right Newton tool linked here and available in the app store.
The MA Beyond the Bin search tool helps you find local recycling outlets for difficult to recycle items.
| | |
YES:
- White & colored paper (staples, paper clips, and spirals OK)
- Cardboard flattened & folded
- Paperboard
- Phone books & junk mail
- Magazines & catalogs
- Books (rip off hard covers)
- Wrapping paper
- Newspapers & inserts
- Empty paper bags
- Pizza boxes (oil stains OK)
- Paper cups
- Aluminum cans, trays, & foil
- Stiff plastic contains (bottles, jugs, tubs, clamshells) - lids on
- Clear plastic cups (lids on, no straw)
- Glass bottles & jars
| |  | |
NO:
- Trash, liquids, or food
- Plastic bags, films, or wraps
- Plastic utensils
- Bulky plastics (#2 HDPE)
- Flower pots, garden plastics, colored plastic cups
- Food or beverage cartons (no aseptic containers)
- Black plastic
- Small plastic bottles (smaller than a credit card)
- Dishes, ceramics & pyrex
- Clothing, bedding & other textiles
- Styrofoam
- Pots/pans/scrap metal
- Light bulbs
- Paint cans
- Shredded paper
| | | Many items that cannot be recycled curbside (such as scrap metal, light bulbs, batteries, styrofoam, and textiles) can be recycled via drop-off at the Newton Resource Recovery Center at 115 Rumford Ave. See a comprehensive list of accepted materials here. | | Newton Leads the Way: Highlighting our Green Teams' Achievements | | |
Green Teams are active at all Newton schools, led by one or more Green Captains (38 in total, often teachers), working to advance sustainability in each building. These dedicated NPS staff and students work on a variety of green initiatives, ranging from gardening to promoting recycling to Earth Day/week education, and more.
As the school year has concluded, we're sharing a synopsis of the impactful projects Green Teams have worked on throughout 2025-2026:
-
Gardening. A few teams planted, watered, pruned, and educated others about native pollinator gardens, often dedicating their time weekly.
-
Safe Routes to Schools partnerships. Teams promoted Bike to School Day, coordinated bike safety presentations, and at NNHS, started a Bike Safety Ambassador program through which high school students presented to elementary schoolers.
-
Recycling efforts. Students and Green Captains collected cans, improved bin design and signage, created art with recycled materials, and recycled markers.
-
Waste reduction and diveresion. Teams undertook efforts in food rescue and recovery pilots, donating excess food to the Newton community Freedge, textile recycling, rescuing floor pencils, and coordinating a school-wide effort to reduce energy waste by turning off lights.
-
Clothing swap and pop-up thrifting events were popular and excess items were donated.
-
Earth Day events and educational activities included school-wide events and presentations, a trivia contest, a recycled art installation, Spirit Day, Earth Week morning announcements, Earth Month challenge, presentations at school assembly, and more.
What these highlights show is that big changes start with small, collective actions. Our NPS Green Teams and Captains have done a wonderful job making a difference in our schools this year. Let’s honor their hard work by keeping that same spirit alive throughout Newton this summer—whether that means supporting food rescue efforts, planting to support pollinators in our own yards, or choosing to bike on our next local errand.
| | Image description: Clothing swap at Newton South High School. | | | | |
