Six months in the making, our first-ever Passaic River-wide cleanup, honoring Jane Goodall’s legacy, took place over two consecutive Saturdays on May 9 and May 16. Special thanks to Atlantic Health for sponsoring this important event.
The Inspiration
This landmark cleanup event was planned in partnership with GSWA, AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassadors, and Roots & Shoots NJ – a youth action program of the Jane Goodall Institute empowering young people to be the change in their communities.
Jane led by example, helping people around the world to engage in their environment in meaningful ways. Following Jane’s lead, the partners identified 10 cleanup sites in 6 of the 8 counties that touch the Passaic River: Somerset, Morris, Union, Bergan, Hudson, and Essex.
This type of approach makes a big impact on the health of the river as a whole. Trash that collects in parks and along stream banks will eventually make its way into the water, polluting the river and impacting local wildlife. Cleanups like this are an incredibly effective way to get that trash out of our waterways and keep it out of downstream communities.
FACT: 2M people get their drinking water from the Passaic River.
May 9th Cleanups
A rainy start to the day did not dampen the spirits of the 134 enthusiastic volunteers, ranging from ages 7 to 70. Scouring the banks of the river and surrounding parks they collected 178 bags of trash 39 bags of recyclables – mostly plastic bottles. Unfortunately, these items could not be recycled as the dirt in and on them rendered them unrecyclable. Additional items found included 500 feet of fire hose, a toilet, 12 tires, a truck tailgate and a variety of car parts, furniture, oil drums, and much, much more.
The cleanup portion of the day ran 10:00 am – 12:00 noon followed by a celebratory picnic. Volunteers met up at the Lyndhurst cleanup site to enjoy a well-deserved lunch and swap stories.
Celebratory Picnic
May 16th Cleanup
Site coordinators at the Newark location opted to move their cleanup to the following Saturday in anticipation of poor weather. This site had an astounding 50 volunteers who worked for 8 hours with a mid-day picnic break. They collected 97 bags of trash plus larger items including 2 e-scooters, a chainsaw, and multiple tires. The estimated weight of debris removed from under the Jackson Street Bridge was 1,150 pounds.
Passaic River Cleanup Final Tallies
Volunteers – 184
Bags of trash – 275
Bags of recycling – 39
We were inspired by the number of families who participated and provided a lot of great feedback – especially our enthusiastic, younger volunteers who shared similar thoughts, “This was amazing! When can we do this again?!”
Bingo! This was a huge goal of ours for this cleanup – to engage local community members of all ages in the work we do and deepen their connection with the river.
GSWA extends our heartfelt thanks to Roots & Shoots NJ, AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassadors, Atlantic Health, our committed partners, and all the local agencies and businesses who assisted with supplies, trash pickups, and more. And of course, a BIG thank you to all our site leaders and amazing volunteers who offered their time and energy to help protect our shared water and land. We hope to see everyone again next year.
