It has been a long two years of waiting to gather and celebrate in person, but finally… welcome to the 2022 Envirothon! Through challenges, perseverance, and tenacity (three words that describe many solutions related to environmental issues), Envirothon teams have found ways to navigate throughout these difficult times. Whether learning through zoom meetings and webinars, scavenger hunts, site visits and team events, you have gained the knowledge and basics to make sound environmental decisions.

To quote my favorite rockstar, Dave Grohl, “if you’re passionate about something, and you’re driven and you’re focused, then you can pretty much do anything that you want to do in life.”

For those students who are continuing studies in the environmental field: you can do it and we are counting on you to be the next generation of voices to protect our planet! Today is a day to celebrate your knowledge and most of all to have fun!

Thank you to Dan Clark, Lisa Gustavsen and the entire staff at the Quabbin Watershed for welcoming us to this beautiful place for this year’s event.

Lastly, in the spirit of this year’s Current Issue — Achieving a Zero Waste Future for Massachusetts — we are publishing an e-program booklet online to reduce waste. Instead of an eight-page paper booklet, attendees are receiving a single page handout that includes the site map and schedule for the day, as well as QR codes for additional content available here on our website. I hope you enjoy it.

~ Kelley Freda, Chair, Massachusetts Envirothon Steering Committee