(above) Volunteers during the Passaic River Park Clean Up.
Three Public Clean Ups Rid Berkeley Heights of Hundreds of Pounds of Litter
As a result of three litter clean ups open to the public, Berkeley Heights is now cleaner. Thanks to the efforts of local residents, hundreds of pounds of litter that previously resided on and next to local streets and parkland has been removed.
These clean ups, which occurred on March 17, March 24, and April 7, 2019, attracted a wide range of participants – from very young children to teenagers to adults. Even one enthusiastic dog joined her family while they participated in the clean up effort.
The March 17 event, an Adopt-A-Park clean up sponsored by Sustainable Berkeley Heights, was conducted at Passaic River Park in conjunction with Union County. The approximately 40 volunteers who participated were provided with reinforced gloves, bags, and garbage grabbers. The group removed objects such as oversized tires, bottles, and discarded construction materials. At the end of the clean up, there was one massive pile of debris and large objects, along with approximately 20 bags of litter and recyclables.
The other two events – one on March 24 along Snyder Avenue/Snyder Avenue Park and the other on April 7 along Watchung Way – were both Adopt-A-Beach clean ups, conducted in conjunction with the New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC) and sponsored by Val’s Valiants, Sustainable Berkeley Heights, the Berkeley Heights Environmental Commission, and the Berkeley Heights Downtown Beautification Committee.
Unlike the Union County clean ups, the Adopt-A-Beach clean ups require an itemization of all litter collected as well as the number of total pounds collected. This is why at the end of these clean ups, certain participants stood on a portable scale and held each bag of litter collected while Val Diamond, leader of Val’s Valiants, tallied the weight. In all, clean up volunteers gathered approximately 150 pounds of recyclables and trash during the Snyder clean up, and over 90 pounds of recyclables and trash during the clean up along Watchung Way.
These three events prove that grassroots clean up efforts can make a big difference. The nearly 240 pounds of litter removed from Berkeley Heights at the Snyder and Watchung Way clean ups, combined with what was likely more than several hundred pounds of litter from the Passaic Park clean up, demonstrate that residents who want their town to be greener and cleaner can participate in a clean up and help make this vision a reality.
For more information about the three clean ups described above, please visit the Sustainable Berkeley Heights webpage at sustainablebh.org.
For additional information about NJCCC and the Adopt-A-Beach clean up program, please visit the NJCCC website at njclean.org.
Submitted by Berkeley Heights Innovation and Sustainability Alliance
(above) Volunteers that came out for the Snyder Avenue Park Clean Up.
(above) Val Diamond and Emily Murphy pose with the bags of trash that were cleaned up during the Watchung Way Clean Up.
