Farmington, CT Green Efforts

08/12/2026

Registration Full. Accepting Waitlist names only.

07/27/2026

Running out of ideas to keep the kids entertained this summer? We’ve got you covered!

Download our Backyard Sustainability BINGO card and challenge your young explorers to see how many eco-friendly outdoor activities they can complete right in your own yard or neighborhood!

Connecting with nature is one of the very best ways for kids to build a lifelong love for the planet. Whether it’s spotting local pollinators, picking up a stray piece of litter, or taking a quick break from screen time to enjoy the fresh air, every little action counts!

How to play:

Save or print the BINGO card attached below.

Head outside and start exploring!

Drop a picture or comment below if your family gets 5 in a row!

Let’s see who can get a BINGO first this week! What’s your family’s favorite outdoor activity lately? Tell us in the comments!

07/06/2026

🌿 Garden Thugs: What to Do About Invasive Plants 🪓
A walk through our beautiful Farmington woods or a stroll in the park is amazing for your body and mind - spending just 120 minutes a week in nature drastically reduces stress and anxiety (American Heart Association).

But some of those beautiful green plants we see on our walks? They’re marauders.

Invasive plants are rampaging through our local landscapes, choking out the native plants that our local birds, bees, and pollinators desperately need to survive. They grab the water, sunlight, and soil nutrients, and right now in the fall, breezes and birds are spreading thousands of their seeds all over town.

🚨 Farmington's "Most Wanted" Invasives:
🌾 Common Reed (Phragmites): Those 15-foot gray/brown plumes you see filling up wet roadside ditches.

🍁 Japanese Knotweed: Brought here in the late 1800s, this plant is so aggressively strong it can literally crack concrete.

🟠 Oriental Bittersweet: Known for its bright orange berries that birds spread everywhere.

🌹 Others to discourage: Japanese Barberry, Winged Euonymus, and Multiflora Rose.

Want to see what the top offenders look like? Check out the Connecticut Top 10 Invasive Plants Guide here:https://cipwg.media.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/244/2023/05/TOP-TEN-invasive-plants30-x-40.pdf

💪 How You Can Help Fight Back
Getting rid of these "garden thugs" takes time and perseverance, but we can protect our native ecosystem together! Regular mowing is a great strategy to exhaust the plants and stop them from dropping seeds.

For a complete breakdown of how to treat specific invasives on your property, along with a seasonal schedule of exactly when to act, visit the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) website:

👉 https://cipwg.uconn.edu/ (Click on the Invasive Plant Management Calendar!)

Huge thank you to committee member Brie Quinby for putting this together originally printed in our Fall Town Newsletter! 🌳💚

07/06/2026

Your Farmington Green Hub

To make it as easy as possible to keep Farmington clean and green, we’ve created a one-stop shop for all your local eco-questions.

SCAN THE QR CODE ON THE PHOTO TO ACCESS:

Farmington’s official recycling resources & Special town collection days and hazard waste drop-off info.

📩 Let’s Stay Connected!
Have a question about local recycling rules? Want to share an idea for a town sustainability project? Or interested in joining us at a future meeting?

📧 Reach out to us directly at: [email protected]

Bookmark or save this post so you always have Farmington's green resources right at your fingertips!

07/06/2026

Keeping the Conversation Going in Farmington!

It was absolutely wonderful meeting so many of you at Farmington’s 250th Celebration! Our town has such an incredible history, and talking with so many neighbors who are eager to help protect its future was the highlight of our weekend.

We loved introducing you to your Green Efforts Committee and the work that we do! Whether you stopped by our table to chat about local recycling, ask about energy-saving tips, or just to say hello, we are so grateful for your interest and ideas!

The celebration may be over, but the work to keep Farmington green, vibrant, and sustainable is just getting started - and we want to keep the conversation going with you!

Here are a few quick ways to stay connected and get involved:

Follow along here to receive practical, local eco-tips and updates on town green initiatives.

Attend a Committee Meeting: We love fresh perspectives! Come see how local environmental decisions are made. Find our meeting schedule here: https://www.farmington-ct.org/government/human-relations-commission/minutes-and-agendas-copy

Share Your Ideas: Have a suggestion for making our community more sustainable? Send us an email: [email protected] - we are all ears.

Thank you again for showing up for our town's past and its future. Let's keep working together to keep Farmington green!

05/21/2026

In an effort to keep the recycling conversation going here in Farmington, we thought we would share some helpful local recycling information and updates!

A great statewide resource is RecycleCT, which explains recycling guidelines across Connecticut.

But here’s some good news specific to Farmington residents:

Farmington recycling is processed through a highly advanced single-stream recycling system. After collection by Waste Material Trucking Co. (WMTC), recyclables are transported through Hartford and then sent to the All American Waste Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Berlin, Connecticut.

This facility was named the 2023 Recycling Facility of the Year by the National Waste & Recycling Association and uses optical scanners, AI technology, and advanced sorting equipment to process more than 50 tons of recyclables per hour.

Because of this advanced technology, some items that are NOT accepted in many towns ARE recyclable here in Farmington, including:
✅ Black plastic takeout containers
✅ Cold beverage cups, including many Dunkin’ and Starbucks-style cups
✅ Most paper products larger than a business card

A few important DON’Ts:
❌ Do NOT bag your recyclables
❌ No plastic bags in recycling bins
❌ No batteries
❌ No lightbulbs

For additional information and searchable recycling guidance, visit: https://www.allamericanwaste.com/single-stream-recycling

Every correctly recycled item helps reduce contamination and improves the effectiveness of the entire system. Thanks for helping Farmington recycle right!

05/19/2026

Last reminder to register for our “Recycle Right” workshop!

Join the Farmington Green Efforts Committee, the Farmington Library, and a speaker from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for an informative one-hour session focused on helping all of us recycle smarter and reduce contamination in our recycling stream.

We’ll cover:
✅ What CAN be recycled
✅ What should stay OUT of the bin
✅ Common recycling mistakes
✅ And plenty of time for Q&A

Let’s work together to get recycling right, Farmington!

Any last-minute recyclers ready to join us? Registration link below -

Events Calendar for The Farmington Libraries

05/15/2026

Farmington, we can do better - and it’s easier than you think!

Yesterday, a member of our Green Efforts Committee had the opportunity to team up with the Simsbury Sustainability Committee for a behind-the-scenes tour of the regional recycling facility.

Wow, are we lucky to have this infrastructure. The facility is utilizing incredibly sophisticated sorting equipment, optical scanners, and AI technology. But technology can only go so far. The real heroes are the incredible team of hand-sorters working the lines. They are deeply committed to keeping our waste as low as possible, but they need our help.

When we "wish-cycle" (putting items in the blue bin hoping they can be recycled), we actually make their jobs harder. Wrong items can jam the high-tech machinery or contaminate perfectly good materials, turning potential recycling into actual trash.

Doing our personal part simply means making sure that what goes into our home bins is actually appropriate.

Want to take the guesswork out of your weekly sorting?

Join us next week to hear directly from Chelsey Hahn at CT DEEP to learn exactly what is IN and what is OUT. Recycling correctly saves our town money, protects our natural resources, keeps Farmington beautiful, and is one of the easiest ways to care for our planet.

🗓️ When: Wednesday, May 20th

⏰ Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

📍 Where: Farmington Public Library (Main Branch, Community Room)

🔗 Register here: https://www.farmingtonlibraries.org/event/whats-whats-out-workshop-recycling-green-efforts-committee-85317

Let's work together to make Farmington a leader in sustainable habits. Look forward to seeing you there!

Don't forget to like and share this post so we can all work on this together!

05/06/2026

Is it IN or is it OUT? Let’s settle the recycling debate!

We’ve all been there: standing over the blue bin, wondering if that specific plastic container or piece of mail is actually recyclable. This is often called "wish-cycling," and while it comes from a good place, it can actually do more harm than good for our local recycling systems.

Join the Farmington Green Efforts Committee and the Farmington Libraries for an essential workshop: "What’s In, What’s Out: A Workshop on Recycling."

We are thrilled to welcome guest speaker Chelsey Hahn from the CT DEEP Sustainable Materials Management Group. Chelsey will help us identify exactly what belongs in your bin (and what doesn't!)

There will be plenty of time for a Q&A session, so bring your toughest trash and recycling questions!

When: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Where: Farmington Library, Main Branch (Jay Johnston Community Room)
Registration: The event is free but Registration is Required! (Register at the link below)

Let’s work together to make Farmington a leader in sustainable habits. See you there!

https://www.farmingtonlibraries.org/event/whats-whats-out-workshop-recycling-green-efforts-committee-85317

04/26/2026

Thank you Farmington!

Yesterday was a great day with so many participants - of all ages and from so many organizations & neighborhoods!

We had our Green Efforts Committee members stationed at four different locations and although they were cold 🥶(lol) they loved receiving all of your collected litter!

Thank you all for being a part of the solution! It's a greener lovelier day today because of you!

Keep an eye out for collection weight totals and biggest-haul winners! And enjoy our first few 📸 - we'd love to see your clean up day photos!