11/27/20: Neighborhood Cleanup (Colleen)

Name: Colleen 

Date of Cleanup: November 27th, 2020

Location: My Neighborhood

Normal Uses: 

• Residential area

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 54 pounds

Time Spent: 1.5 hours

Expected Trash Type:

• Food waste

• One-use plastics 

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• Shoes

• Wheels to a wagon

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• Vehicles throwing trash out their windows

• Garbage truck blow-aways

Interesting things I noticed:

• The closer we got to the road, the dirtier it was. 

• Despite only covering a short distance, there were over 50 pounds of trash. That is concerning in comparison to other parks, where the entirety of the park’s trash weighed 20-30 pounds. 

12/23/20: Summary of Our Silver Award (Colleen)

 Name: Colleen

Date: December 23st, 2020

Summary

Throughout all the cleanups, I have learned more about human tendencies: in myself and others. For some, if one way is easier but harmful and the other is difficult but helpful, they will choose the harmful. It is ingrained in society to take the easier path, despite the consequences. During this project, I discovered how much I want society to stop thinking about themselves and focus on the world before it’s too late. It is breaking down and no one has prevented it. There are groups that have gained traction and still are. It is like the snowball effect: it builds upon itself as more and more people join. For example, my partner for this, and I talked with Hillsborough Clean Communities and The Watershed about our project and the environment in general. We joined Hillsborough Clean Communities for their “Littercon” event across Hillsborough. Further, we contributed to a river clean up with fellow Girl Scouts for The Watershed. Later, we contacted someone from The Watershed via zoom to delve into the effects of pollution and the environment. From these encounters I have learned that because New Jersey is one of the most densely populated states, there is an overabundance of pollution/litter. From their point of view, they discovered ways to diminish the environment’s litter intake. It helped us have a deeper understanding of the environment and the effects of littering. In general, I gained skills such as public speaking, blogging, and building relationships. 

Our Take Action Project will shed light on the importance of cleaning up the environment. It demonstrates how magnanimous cleaning up the environment is, and it will show how much litter there actually is in the environment. Our Take Action project will, hopefully, encourage others to go outside for an hour or two and pick up garbage. Whether it is your neighborhood or a park, it will not go unnoticed and will have a positive impact on the world. 

Tips:

1. Don’t procrastinate - Some girls in my troop, including myself, waited until the last minute to finish our projects. To limit the stress from the project, I would suggest planning ahead and distributing your time wisely. The more time spent at the start diminishes the worries of not having enough hours completed at the end. 

2. Find something you are passionate about and branch out from it - For example, if you are a zealot in animals, you could do create an adoption website for a nearby animal shelter, etc. The more passionate you are about the project, the less it will feel like a job to accomplish. You shouldn’t feel forced into doing it: you have to want to complete the work. 

3. Reach out - Send emails to the people of the community, or just reach out to other people in general. Getting people involved in your project may spark something in others to continue living in a beneficial way. 

12/21/20: Re-evaluating Previous Cleanup Sites and Future Spots

Name: Colleen

Date: December 21st, 2020

After about two months, we went back to two of the parks that we cleaned up: Harold Docherty Memorial Park and Singley Park. We observed that our time spent cleaning up did make an impact. Despite trash reappearing, there was not as much as before. It was manageable. For instance, at Docherty, there were two or three water bottles and a few food wrappers, but other than that, it was clean. At Singley, the metal bench was still in the woods, and there were pieces of trash caught inside a bush in the middle of the park. In general, the parks were mainly clean. I believe that Hillsborough is conscientious of the litter situation, and some people have taken great steps in creating a healthier environment. With that in mind, there are others who continue to nonchalantly throw the trash into the street/wildlife, instead of disposing of it properly. 

Then, we scavenged for new sites to clean up in the prolonged future. During the river clean up, we only cleaned half of the site. So, we walked along the path for a while and took note of the plethora of beer bottles and cans. Once the weather is better, we plan on cleaning that up. Further, we went to Otto’s. After hiking around this park for 30 minutes and seeing little to no trash, we deduced that Otto’s is in no need of a cleanup. I plan on seeking out other parks in the future, but at the moment, these are places I have observed. 

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

Silver Award: Reflect, Share Your Story, and Celebrate - Memory Book Making

Hi, I’m Meghana G from Troop 60640. My Silver Award Project was to spread awareness about Alzheimer's and other forms of Dementia. I did this by working with an organization called Grace Healthcare Services to create memory books for patients with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. I worked with many other Girl Scouts to create these memory books, and the subject matter of the books ranged from food, to clothes, to wild animals. The books were fun to make, and even though there were some issues with meeting due to the pandemic, I was able to successfully help others understand what Dementia is, and why it is so important to know about.

Mary Ellen Day (From Grace Healthcare Services) and me, in front of all of the books that were worked on!