11/18/20: Montgomery Veterans Park (Gunja)

 Name: Gunja 

Date: November 18th, 2020

Location: Montgomery Veterans Park/ 235 Harlington Rd, Montgomery, NJ 08502

Parks Normal Uses: 

• softball/soccer/basketball

• Playground for children to play

• Walking trail for walking

• 
  

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 4.6 lbs

Time Spent: 3 hours

Expected Trash Type:

• food wrappers/water bottles

• Cigarettes

• Plastic bags

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• Sports gear (part of a helmet)

• Halloween decoration

• An envelope, cell phone charger, and a toy

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• softball/soccer/basketball practices

• People walking on the trail

• Children on the playgrounds

Photos:

12/24/20: Harvey J. Inman Park (Gunja)

 Name: Gunja

Date: December 24th, 2020

Location: Harvey J. Inman Park/ 290 Leupp Lane, Franklin, NJ 08873

Parks Normal Uses: 

• Tennis courts used for playing tennis

• Playground for children to play

• Pavilion for parties or to sit

• Basketball courts for basketball

• Baseball/softball fields

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 16.3 lbs

Time Spent: 2.5 hours

Expected Trash Type:

• Plastic bottles

• Food/candy wrappers

• Fast food drink cups and food waste

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• Glass bottles

• Vaping device

• Cigars

• Clothes

• “Goofy String”

• Drug product

Compared to the parks in Hillsborough, a lot of the trash was found in clusters. Most of the trash found at Inman Park was found on one side of the park. At least half of the trash we picked up was caught in an area of trees, and other plants.  The other half came from all around the park. Not much trash was found near the tennis courts or the playground, although you would expect there to be trash near it since it would be used by the people who visit the park. 

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• Parties at the pavilion

• Picnics

• Children on the playground

• People using the basketball/tennis courts and baseball/softball fields

11/14/20: Amsterdam Road (Gunja)

Name: Gunja

Date: November 14th, 2020

Event: Hillsborough Township LitterCon 

Location: Amsterdam Road/ Hillsborough, NJ 08844

Parks Normal Uses: 

• Road for cars

• Walking and running (on the sidewalks)

• Softball field and playground (on this road)

Total Trash Weight (lbs): 51.7 lbs

Time Spent: 4 hours

Expected Trash Type:

• Plastic bottles

• Cigarettes

• Food wrappers

Found Trash Types (unexpected):

• A whole trash bag filled with empty alcohol bottles

• Cigar box

• Metal debris

• Swimming pool liner

Where the Litter may be Coming From: 

• Cars driving by on the road

• People using the sidewalks

• Household garbage/recycling that blew out of their containers (from the neighborhoods nearby)

• Parties

Ideas for Future Cleanups:

• Bring more trash bag so the bags don't overflow

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