Sustainability Update: What’s Happening On The Vineyard

Each municipality on Martha’s Vineyard has its own objectives when it comes to conservation, climate change, and other sustainability efforts, although town governments will often collaborate and share resources. The Vineyard Way’s MV Climate Action Plan outlines shared goals for Islanders to address climate change, promote resilience, and protect the vibrant ecosystem. 

Stay up to date on completed, active, and upcoming projects each town is working on with Bluedot’s town-by-town update:

Edgartown

Five Island towns — Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, Chilmark, and West Tisbury — voted to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers at their annual town meetings. Aquinnah is the only town to not take up the ban this year, but officials say they are open to implementing a ban in the future. This shift is part of an ongoing effort to diminish noise and air pollution on the Vineyard, and will be a part of the overall energy transition away from fossil fuels. The ban sets time of day and week restrictions for both gas and electric leaf blowers, seasonal limits for gas blowers, and gas blowers will be prohibited year-round after three years. Town planners say this is the first step in moving toward fully electric landscaping equipment. The three-year transition period included in the ban will allow commercial landscapers and homeowners to invest in the upfront cost of purchasing new electric gear, with the knowledge that going fully electric will save money in the long run and reduce carbon emissions. The town also received a no-cost National Renewable Energy Lab feasibility study for a microgrid with solar power and battery storage and has developed a town EV charger strategy with additional Level 2 as well as two Level 3 fast chargers.

Oak Bluffs

Since 2023, the Oak Bluffs Tree Stewards have been aiming to plant 20 new trees in town each year. The group consists of members of the Oak Bluffs Parks Commission, the town parks manager, and several volunteers. The group is currently seeking funding for the next three years to ensure ongoing tree planting. In the spring of 2024, they celebrated Earth Day by planting 10 trees. They also planted 10 trees in the fall of 2023. Oak Bluffs also received the green light from Eversource to interconnect a new 1MW solar array for their landfill site. Another major project that Oak Bluffs is undertaking is the MV Hospital Resilience Project, which seeks to mitigate flood risk and increase access to the Island’s only hospital. The hospital property will undergo a climate vulnerability assessment, which includes remapping floodplains and analyzing existing EMS routes to and from the hospital. 

Tisbury

The newly overhauled Tisbury School operates entirely on electricity, eliminating the use of fossil fuels. This transition supports Tisbury’s goal of achieving net-zero energy consumption and aligns with Martha’s Vineyard’s broader climate objectives. The school is designed to be “solar-ready,” with infrastructure in place to support rooftop solar panels. Thanks to cost savings during construction, the project team was able to reintegrate plans for solar panel installation without additional funding. The renovated school features the installation of a 107,000-gallon underground cistern beneath the playground. This system captures and manages stormwater runoff, helping to mitigate flooding in areas downhill from the school. The renovation includes a highly efficient building envelope, improved insulation, and upgraded windows and doors to minimize energy loss. Additionally, the project emphasizes the use of responsibly sourced construction materials and native landscaping to enhance environmental performance.

West Tisbury

The West Tisbury Conservation Commission is looking to restore retired cranberry bogs back to wetlands. This initiative, supported by a $6 million grant from the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, aims to enhance climate resilience, improve water quality, and restore wildlife habitats across the state, including areas in West Tisbury. Additionally, the town has established a Tree Advisory Committee to address the aging tree canopy and the prevalence of invasive species. In 2023, the committee secured over $19,000 to plant 16 new trees and is utilizing digital mapping to inventory and manage the town’s tree population. The West Tisbury School, along with the MV Public Charter School and the Chilmark School, is set to implement a rapid composting program in collaboration with Island Grown Initiative. The initiative involves installing machines capable of processing approximately 90 tons of food waste annually, converting it into nutrient-rich soil amendments for on-site gardens and other uses.

Chilmark

Chilmark Pond has long been beleaguered by cyanobacteria blooms which harm wildlife and water quality and make the pond off-limits for recreation. (See our story about that here.) The Chilmark Pond Foundation has proposed dredging portions of Chilmark Great Pond to enhance water circulation and ecological health. In April 2025, the town’s conservation commission approved the installation of an ultrasonic buoy designed to emit sonic waves that disrupt algae buoyancy, causing them to sink and preventing toxin release. This technology aims to improve water quality and has been implemented in similar ecosystems. After years of study, the Mill Brook Watershed Committee has decided that the best way to protect the water body is to remove the spillway boards and the small dam which have created an inhospitable environment for aquatic wildlife such as brook lamprey, herring, trout, and eel. 

Aquinnah

The Town of Aquinnah has applied to the Massachusetts DEP for Electric Vehicle Incentive Program funding to replace the Level 2 chargers at both municipal charging locations and is contracting with Energy Source of Marlborough to complete the project, with the goal of completing the project during the spring and summer season. Officials are also looking to potentially install a Level 3 charger near the Fire Station. Representatives of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and Vineyard Conservation Society, together with climate committees of the Island towns, are discussing the possibility of proposing bylaw changes to limit damage to vegetation in connection with excavation and development projects. Together with Chilmark and the Tribe, the Aquinnah Climate and Energy Committee filed a “concept paper” with the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations of the US Department of Energy, seeking a grant to fund creation of microgrids for the Town and Tribal buildings.