The charging station, the first at a Mass. Audubon facility, was provided free via a federal stimulus project, Gette said, and cost just over $8,000 to install. It looks like a skinny gas pump and can be used by two cars at a time. It was plugged in at the end of February, and there have been a handful of users so far, says Gette. Drivers can tour the center and watch birds on the marsh out back during the hour or two it takes to charge up.

The station is part of the ChargePoint.net network, and the center has also designated itself as a charging center online, so that electric car drivers can find it via GPS, Gette said.

It’s just one of many environmentally friendly systems at the Joppa center. Besides the 60 solar panels on the roof, there’s also a 1,200-gallon rainwater catchment system, which is used for watering the garden and washing the center’s vehicles. The rainwater is also used to run the water-saving toilets.

The center is just nine years old, but when an energy audit showed that more insulation was needed, it was promptly installed, Gette says. And the center even eliminated one door to the outside to improve energy efficiency, he said.

Audubon statewide has many hybrid vehicles, but Gette said the Joppa center is still waiting for a good hybrid van to become available. The center has three vans it uses to take patrons on bird-watching and other nature outings, rather than allow them to drive themselves. It saves gas “and a lot of the places we take them, there’s not a whole heck of a lot of parking,’’ he noted.

With advance notice, the center will also pick up visitors at the Newburyport commuter rail station, allowing them to use public transportation, he said.

Joel Brown can be reached at jbnbpt@gmail.com.