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This annual township cleanup day began in 1989. Besides the direct goal of cleaning up the area, it also serves to generate pride in the community and raise awareness about littering.
Volunteers of all ages participated, including Boy Scout Troop 89, Cub Scout Pack 110, Cub Scout Pack 210 and Girl Scout Troop 126, as well as members of the Green Team Task Force and Partners in Pride, a civic group dedicated to the beautification of Wyckoff. Many families also attended.
Environmental Commission members Chris DePhillips, John McCauley, Randy Hoogerheyde and J.R. Frank; Environmental Commission liaison Frances Piskadlo; Planning Board liaison Rob Fortunato; and Township Committee members Mayor Kevin Rooney, Rudy Boonstra, John Carolan, Tom Madigan and Brian Scanlan participated in the event.
The volunteers collected litter from more than 26 quasi-public sites where litter seems to collect throughout Wyckoff. In a few hours, they collected approximately 40 bags of trash and 26 bags of recyclable materials.
"We would like to remind everyone that keeping our community clean and free of litter should not be limited to one day a year but a strategy for every day," organizers noted.
The group also passed along some anti-litter and green strategies:
- use reusable drink containers instead of disposables
- use recycling receptacles when they're available -- and if they're not, take your recyclables home to dispose of them
- bring reusable bags to the grocery store
- don't litter -- and if you see others' litter, pick it up
- cigarette butts are litter too; dispose of them properly
- consider adopting an area and keeping it litter-free all year long
These strategies will help residents meet the Township's Nifty-Fifty goal -- to increase the residential recycling rate to 50 percent. Each month the Recyclometer on the township website is updated with the prior month's recycling rate. The March rate was 34.95 percent.
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