Warren To Hold Earth Day Recycle Event

Environmental sustainability is based on the premise that everyone is capable of doing something positive to help the environment.

Of course there’s a lot that individuals can do on their own, such as separate trash into paper, glass and metals. But when efforts are combined on a community level, the collective collaboration can have a greater impact. 

Residents of Warren have an opportunity to show how green they can be on Saturday from 9 a.m. - noon at the municipal complex for Warren’s first Earth Day recycling event, replete with opportunities for the community to get involved in making the environment more eco-friendly.  

“We are all fired up,” said Laura Mandell, who is the leader of the Green Team Committee formed by the Township Committee in 2010.  “We just hope the weather co-operates!” 

The event will take place rain or shine.

At the time of this writing, forecasts for good weather and community participation look good. Mandell and team have planned a half day of events and recycling opportunities, including paper shredding, small electronics recycling, styrofoam recycling and various other green-centric activities.

For starters, the event will be an opportunity for the community to unload hard-to-recycle items (a complete list is at the bottom of this article), and all proceeds from the collection will benefit the Watchung Hills Band Parent Association. 

Other recyclables include styrofoam, except for packing peanuts. Styrofoam recycling will be handled by the Watchung Environmental Commission.  

Paper can be brought to the event for shredding with the assistance of the Somerset County shredding machines.

And finally on recyclables, the Mount Horeb School Service Club will accept plastic bottle caps (which currently can't be recycled with their regular Somerset County pick up). 

Other planned activities include an electric vehicle display featuring a Tesla Roadster and Mini Cooper Electric; the Warren Recreation Commission will give away maps of Warren Trails, and the Warren Library will be hosting a craft from 10 a.m. to noon.

“Members of the Green Team own those cars,” Mandell said proudly, adding she just purchased a Ford Fusion Hybrid. “It's really wonderful.” 

The Watchung Hills High School Environmental Club who will present their environmental projects and Central School students will take the Siemens Challenge and promote reduced lighting at Central School as a way to save on energy consumption. They will present information on the Green Quest, a way the community can monitor energy use in much the same way as in done for the Warren School District.

Additionally, Scouts will present their environmental projects, and Wagner Farm Arboretum volunteers will be available to go over activities offered at the Arboretum.

Mandell said the Earth Day recycle event is part of Warren’s efforts to earn certification in Sustainable New Jersey, a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to go green, save money, and take steps to sustain quality of life long-term.  The program links certification with state and private financial incentives, and a fully resourced program of technical support and training.

To qualify, communities must create a Green Team and select at least two (for Bronze level) or three (for Silver level) of  six priority actions: 1) energy audits for municipal buildings, 2) a municipal carbon footprint, 3) a sustainable land use pledge, 4) a natural resource inventory, 5) a water conservation ordinance, and/or 6) a fleet inventory. All actions taken by municipalities can score points toward certification. 

Mandell said the Warren Green Team will be awarded various point values for specific recycling efforts and the Earth Day event itself.

There's more green activity to come. “We are working on other things such as a natural resource inventory,” Mandell said.

Electronic items you can recycle at the Earth Day event include computers (CPUs), servers, monitors, terminals/CRTs, televisions, printers, fax machines, copiers, computer/laptop peripherals, telecommunication equipment such as telephones, cellular phones, telephone mainframes, keyboards, mice, cables, wiring, circuit boards, modems, power supplies, laptops and docking stations, audio visual equipment, typewriters, VCRs, mainframe equipment and controllers, camcorders, CDs, DVDs, computer disks, diskettes, videotapes, cassette tapes, rechargeable and button-cell batteries (individually bag each battery or tape each terminal to avoid short-circuiting). Desktop computers and TVs will be accepted at a fee of $5.