11/15/20: River Clean-up (Watershed)

Date: November 15th, 2020

Location: Raritan River Greenway / 1038 Old York Road, Raritan, NJ 08869

Parks Normal Uses: 

• Hiking

• Running

• Walking

• It’s a trail and a park at the end

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 14 bags collected in total (7 recycling and 7 trash) as well as an entire bike and large tire (no exact amount)

Time Spent: 3 hours

Expected Trash Type:

• Water bottles

• Plastic wrappers

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• Beer bottles/cans

• Kitchen knife

• Tent

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• Parties (or events involving alcohol)

• Someone possibly living in the forest

Ideas for Future Cleanups:

• Wear durable clothes, not leggings

• Thorn bushes may be present, so durability is necessary 

Thoughts:

• It was more entertaining than the park clean-ups, in my opinion

• When we participated in the clean up with people we were not close to, it was somewhat of a bonding experience between us and the younger troop. (Photo shared with permission)

• I think the difficult terrain leads to a more interesting cleanup; some enjoyed the challenge of climbing in between bushes and branches to pick up litter. I was one of those people.

• Maybe the dangerous aspect of falling into the river or into a bush of thorns

• We wished we had a stick with a hook on the end to try to reach items out in the water.

Additional Photos

11/8/20: River Road Park

Date: November 8th, 2020

Location: River Road Park; Bedminster, NJ

Parks Normal Uses: 

• Softball

• Baseball

• Golf

• Lacrosse

• Soccer

• Events/Gatherings

• Hikes/Walks/Biking

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 10 pounds

Time Spent: 1 hour

Expected Trash Type:

• Softballs

• Golf balls

• Food waste

• Water bottles

• Food wrappers

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• From a local cub scout troop, they launched a rocket that got stuck in the trees.

• Squash

• Milk jug made out of glass

• Glove

• Bike reflector

• Pesticide signs that were broken apart

 

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• Sports (balls that got lost in the woods)

• Someone just left a squash, maybe from a farmer’s market; unsure. 

• The bike reflector may have come from the trail, which people use to walk/bike/hike/run. 

• Fell off of a bike

• The fields use pesticides to keep the grass green, but the lawn maintenance may run over the signs that caution people about them. 

Ideas for Future Cleanups:

• Decide the route to take before starting

• We only completed the fields; go back and complete the hiking trails. 

Interesting things I noticed:

• It was cleaner than the past fields done in Hillsborough.

• I cleaned this after practice with another teammate. The new person added to the experience; they made the cleanup more entertaining, compared to someone affiliated with the troop. 

Additional Photos:

11/7/20: Singley Park Clean-up

Date: November 7th, 2020

Location: Singley Park; 425 Woodfern Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844

Parks Normal Uses: 

• Sports

• Softball

• Soccer

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 30 pounds

Time Spent: 2.5 hours

Expected Trash Type:

• Sports garbage

• Plastic bottles

• bar wrappers

• Masks 

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• Metal bench in the woods

• Sandbags (many of them)

• Diapers

• Golf balls (one was destroyed)

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• The metal bench could have been deemed unused, so it was put into the woods for some reason instead of being taken care of properly.

• Sandbags are used to hold down the soccer nets, but they were in the woods, so -- like the bench -- it was thrown into the woods.  

• The diaper was under a tree, so I guess someone did not feel the need to dispose of it. 

Ideas for Future Cleanups:

• Take drinkable water/food in the cart if longer than an hour because some wanted water very often.

Additional Photos 

10/10/20: Docherty Park Clean-up

Date: October 10th, 2020

Location: Harold Docherty Memorial Park, 154 Route 206 South; Hillsborough, NJ

Parks Normal Uses: 

• Softball

• Soccer

• Field hockey 

• Roller rink could be a hangout-out spot where people drink alcohol, etc. 

• Using a park for alcohol consumption should not be normalized; it is illegal.

• Playground
• Picnic Area/Shelter

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 28 pounds 

Time Spent: 2.5 hours

Expected Trash Type:

• food wrappers

• water bottles

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• alcohol/vapes

• a dozen softballs 

• a tarp

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• softball/soccer practices

• the loading area on the opposite side of the fence

• group(s) that meet at the park to smoke/drink

Ideas for Future Cleanups:

• Wagon to pull trash

• Wear different shoes (durable ones)

• Bag(s) for plastics/recyclables and bag(s) for trash

Thoughts:

• It was the first clean up, so we did not know what to expect. 

• Not very difficult; we just walked the perimeter. 

• The skating rink was the dirtiest aspect of the park: the second being the parking lots.

Additional Photos:

Hillsborough Clean Communities Litter Kit "Unbagging"

Hi!  We are Colleen and Gunja from Troop 60640!  We are working on our Silver Award project about the environment and the human impact on them. Specifically, we are focusing on litter. As a part of the project, we have involved ourselves in the Hillsborough Clean Communities team. We wanted to share with you what came inside the kit we received from the Hillsborough Clean Communities team to help us clean up around town.

Look for our posts coming soon about our recent cleanups:

- Docherty Park (Hillsborough) on Oct 10, 2020

- Willow Road Park (Hillsborough) on Oct 11, 2020

- Singley Park (Hillsborough) on Nov 7, 2020

- Woodfield Park & Mr C’s Ballfields (Hillsborough) on Nov 7, 2020

- River Road Park (Bedminster) Nov 8, 2020

- LitterCon sponsored by the Hillsborough Clean Communities program on Nov 14, 2020

- Raritan River Cleanup sponsored by Girl Scouts Heart of NJ on Nov 14, 2020 -- https://www.gshnj.org/en/events-repository/2020/take_action_watershe1.html

#htcclittercleanup #kaptaincleanup #bealitterhero #litterhero