Welcome to Neighborhood View’s recurring roundup of good things happening in our city. This installment features the impact of the Green Malden Fair, PorchFest hosting opportunities and a Paris-Malden connection to benefit the Bike Kitchen.
What goes around comes around
Nearly 300 Malden residents brought their difficult-to-recycle items to the fourth Green Malden Fair at the Pine Banks Field House on April 25. Bekah McPheeters of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development organized the fair with support from a dedicated team of Maldonians, including youth.
”The Green Malden Fair was an amazing experience which rooted me much deeper in the community,” said Adrian Aguikar, MHS ’26, a member of the MA Clean Water Action’s Youth Action Collaborative. “I loved creating new connections with all the different people in Malden and learning about the things at each [vendor’s] stand.”
The Green Malden Fair offered recycling and repurposing for items not allowed in curbside recycling: clothing and textiles, shredded paper, latex paint, Styrofoam, electronic waste, and plastic film. The tonnage data is impressive for a three hour collection!
- Recolor Paints collected 2,573 pounds of leftover latex paint that will be remanufactured to become new paint.
- Friends of Malden River collected 47 pounds of plastic film to be used to create outdoor decking and furniture by Trex.
- Helpsy picked up 589 pounds of textiles.
- Shred Source shredded residents’ personal documents.
- Casella Recycling collected many bags of white Styrofoam (polystyrene).
- The Teacher Resource table collected items for classrooms.
Vendors shared information about saving energy, planting trees, supporting park systems, and other resources to reduce our footprint on the earth. Everyone loved the Gourmet Popsicles.
“It’s exciting to see our recycling tonnage increase year after year of hosting the Green Malden Fair,” said McPheeters. “Our vendors and community partners are fantastic and make the fair not only practical but also fun and educational.”
The next Green Malden Fair will be held on April 24, 2027, so save your stuff or check out Malden’s Waste Wizard for information about recycling, repurposing, or trash collections. — Reporting by Karen Buck
Click to see full images and captions. (Photos: Paul Hammersley)
Got a porch? Like music? Check out the talent at Malden PorchFest
Malden PorchFest is scheduled for Saturday, May 30, from noon to 6:00 p.m., with more than 150 performers fanning out to locations across the city — but there are currently many acts with only one time slot. If you’re on the fence about hosting, you don’t even need a porch to get in on the fun. Musicians can set up in a driveway, backyard, garage roof, or other controlled property. There’s a huge variety of genres, so bop over to the Malden PorchFest website to see what performers still have open slots.
Update: If you can’t host, Porchfest is also looking for volunteers and can offer service hours for students.
Organizers need folks to take pictures and upload them to a shared Google drive and to act as ambassadors at some of the larger events. This involves wearing a PorchFest shirt, helping sell merch and answering questions. Packets and key team contacts are provided. Email them at team@maldenporchfest.org if you can help.
Bonjour, les cyclistes! A Parisian grant for Malden’s Bike Kitchen
Malden’s Bike Kitchen has a facelift on the horizon. The 2026 winner of the Association EBN Architecture and Arts Grant is Boston-area transportation planner Jade Ma, for her place-making plan to enhance the local DYI bike repair station along the Northern Strand trail in Malden.
You may not have heard of Association EBN, which is based near Paris. The nonprofit was formed in memory of Emma Burke Newman — EBN — a 22-year-old French-American architecture student who was struck and killed by a truck while riding her bike in Glasgow, Scotland. The charity, run by Emma’s mother, promotes road safety for cyclists and pedestrians, with a special focus on female cyclists and the risks posed by trucks and other large vehicles. The group also works to develop young talent in the U.S. and Europe in the areas of architecture and the arts.
Ma’s €5,000 ($5,900) award-winning proposal aims to open up more surface area to accommodate the growing number of Bike Kitchen guests, while providing native landscaping to help cool and soften the space and integrated seating that invites people to relax and interact. Most of the grant will be used for seating and landscaping materials. Read more about the project at Mass Streets Blog. — Reporting by Lorna Garey
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