Brook cleanup in Hackensack brings community togetherWednesday, May 25, 2011
BY MARK J. BONAMO
Hackensack Chronicle
When Zach Hubner came to Staib Park in Hackensack on a gray Sunday morning, he knew he was there to take the proverbial bull by the horns by helping to clean up Coles Brook as part of a community cleanup effort.
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Michelle Reynoso watches her son Kyle reach for garbage during a cleanup on Sunday at Staib Park. But he didn't know he would be taking a bike by its handles.
"This was buried under a bunch of mud," said Hubner, of River Edge, a sophomore at River Dell High School, as he pointed to the handlebars he just dragged out of the brook. "I found part of a sink, too. If we just leave this stuff around, the world will be just covered in garbage."
More than 30 volunteers came out as part of cleanup sponsored by the Hackensack Riverkeeper environmental advocacy organization with one green mantra in mind: Think globally, act locally.
Hackensack Riverkeeper Capt. Bill Sheehan rejoiced that "not a single tire or shopping cart" was removed from the brook - a sign for him of progress. Sheehan hopes that the community at large takes a more progressive view of the watershed around them.
"Coles Brook drains nearby Borg's Woods, then makes its way under Hackensack Avenue and out into the Hackensack River just below New Bridge Landing," said Sheehan. "People who live in urban areas like Hackensack often are totally disconnected from the fact that there is a watershed. Getting people to come out to these cleanups gives people a grass-roots environmental education while they are out getting to know their watershed and do some good work. They start taking ownership of their watershed and their environment."
Some participants in the Coles Brook cleanup were making their investment in the environment relatively early in life.
"We're doing this to help the community," said Robbie Barnett, a senior at Community High School in Teaneck. "It's better to have a clear environment than a dirty one."
"This is helpful for the environment," said Lexie Wilder, a sophomore at Community High. "People trash it every day, so we've got to help it."
Holding a bag of mostly fast food containers, Jennifer Munster-Simone found out about the cleanup through her job and chose to not only be a good corporate citizen, but also a good green advocate.
"I've always been interested in the Hackensack River and the Meadowlands area," said Munster-Simone, who lives in Bergenfield. "Filling up a bag is the least that I can do."
The cleanup was a homecoming for Rochelle Park resident Sean Fitzpatrick. For this 2002 Hackensack High School graduate, his homecoming was also a reckoning.
"I always complained about people trashing the environment but never did anything about it," said Fitzpatrick, decked out in hip-waders while hauling a cinder block out of the brook. "Words without action are empty. So here I am."
E-mail: bonamo@northjersey.com