Recently in these pages we featured a story that detailed “the life of a bottle.” A story essentially about recycling, the article outlined where our trash goes once it gets picked up at the curb.
However, in too many Jersey City neighborhoods the true “life of a bottle” actually begins in a corner convenience store, after which it languishes for days – or weeks, or even months – on the ground, before it finally makes its way into a trash can.
Litter, and street filth in general, are among the top quality of life complaints of residents, according to neighborhood association presidents.
“It comes up at every meeting we have. At every meeting, at least one of our members complains about litter, or garbage, or dog waste on the streets,” said Jersey City Heights resident Becky Hoffman, president of the Riverview Neighborhood Association.
In an effort to combat the problem, at least in one community, several neighborhood associations in the Heights have joined forces to clean up litter this month and next.
The effort, dubbed “Spring Into Action,” kicked off last Sunday and will continue each Sunday through April 22. The effort will culminate in a Heights-wide celebration in honor of Earth Day on Saturday, April 29. Each volunteer-run clean-up will last from noon until 2 p.m. at different locations. About 19 residents volunteered to pick up trash when “Spring Into Action” made its debut on Sunday, March 18. Although there have been limited community clean-ups in the area before, this is the first Heights-wide campaign.
“There are some people who have asked, ‘Why are you doing this? Isn’t it the city’s job to clean the streets? Isn’t that why we pay taxes?’ But the city can’t do it alone. It needs to be a collaborative effort between the JCIA [Jersey City Incinerator Authority] and residents,” said Washington Park Association President Peter Basso. “Part of it is about creating an environment where people feel self conscious about littering. If the streets are already strewn with trash, people may feel like one more bottle or one more soda can isn’t going to make a difference. But if your coffee cup is the only one on the ground, you feel a little less comfortable knowing the only litter on the street is your litter.”
It would be better for residents to refrain from tossing old computer monitors along the street.
___________
Trash and the city
The infamous heaps of trash that collect along Mountain Road, and in other parts of the city, may lead some residents to question how often the JCIA actually cleans the streets of Jersey City.
“All main thorough-streets are swept six times per week, and all secondary streets are swept four times per week, twice on each side,” said incinerator authority CEO Oren Dabney. “For example Tuesday and Friday we’ll do the north side and Monday and Thursday we’ll do the south side. Street sweeping takes place citywide and is broken down into 11 routes.”
In addition to the street sweeping schedule, Dabney added that the JCIA also responds to residential complaints each day regarding trash, both on city-owned and private property.
“Our Division of Environmental Compliance inspectors are assigned to different areas throughout the city,” said Dabney. “They take pictures and monitor locations such as abandoned properties, common areas, vacant lots, graffiti, and other violators who don’t maintain properties. From that point our Division of Property Maintenance responds by removing litter, debris, vegetation, and graffiti from these locations.”
The city also relies on the help of Urban Enterprise Zone/Second Chance Program employees who are assigned to litter patrol in 16 designated areas throughout the city, including several sites in the Heights.
The Urban Enterprise Zone/Second Chance Program employees are responsible for removing litter and for recycling items from curbs and catch basins. They also empty receptacles that are overloaded in the designated areas, in addition to removing snow from crosswalks and catch basins.
“In general, the city does an okay job, and we understand they have their challenges,” said Basso. “But there does sometimes seem to be a little bit of a disconnect. Recently there was a lot of trash on Mountain Road, including an old computer monitor that someone had tossed over a fence and the monitor was caught in a tree. Residents complained and the JCIA went and we could see they had done something. But most of the trash was untouched and the monitor was still caught in the tree. So, sometimes I think what the city considers to be ‘clean’ may not necessarily be the same as what we would consider ‘clean.’ ”
Changing behavior
Of course, Basso admits it would be better for residents to refrain from tossing old computer monitors along the street in the first place.
Thus, one component of “Sprint Into Action” will be to educate people about legal – and illegal – ways to dispose of such items as old electronic gadgets, kitchen appliances, household waste, recyclables, and other trash.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.