| Author |
Message |
    
Lawnboy
Citizen
Username: Lawnboy
Post Number: 4
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 9:37 am: |     |
Here's how to get rid of the garbage that accumulates in the park: whenever an organized event takes place, like soccer, or softball, after the game is over have the kids walk one patrol of the field and pick up plastic bottles and cans and put them in the trash - maybe even provide the coaches with some garbage bags. It will take minutes, and teach the kids that cleaning up - even if it's not your own garbage - is as important as playing sports. It would probably be a good idea to tell the kids not to pick up broken glass. |
Colleen
Citizen
Username: Cbroderick
Post Number: 126
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 10:34 am: | |
I think that your idea is certainly a great idea. Though they may want to do it before they play so that they get to enjoy a clean park.
And they'd have to stay to the open areas b/c I certainly wouldn't want them to see nor pick up the used condoms or little drug bags either.
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Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3978
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, October 3, 2004 - 10:09 am: | |
I just read an article about a park in a neighboring town which was adopted by a local realtor who sponsors one day a week clean-up in the park. Think any of our local businesses would be interested in adopting Maplecrest Park or any of our other parks in a similar fashion? |
Colleen
Citizen
Username: Cbroderick
Post Number: 127
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, October 3, 2004 - 12:52 pm: | |
Now that's a good idea, too. I'll call the SAP one day this week and talk with them, too. They might be able to point us toward a biz.
There was a woman cleaning up in the park and around the bench closest to Essex this morning. Thank you! |
Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3984
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, October 3, 2004 - 2:31 pm: | |
Lawnboy:
I would check with the Town first to see if we are covered in the event that a child gets sick or injured as a direct result of being required to pick -up debris in the park before or after an organized activity, even if parental permission slips were to be signed for each child.
People who are paid to pick up trash from the ground in public areas wear protective clothing and use special equipment because disease can be spread by some of the debris and fecal matter on the ground, puncture wounds from sharp objects and cuts from broken glass can occur, etc. There could also be bio-hazardous material among the trash on the ground.
Older kids could be properly trained in how to pick up litter and could be advised on the proper clothes to wear and safe practices to use in performing this task but that is the only way kids should be used in such an activity. |
johnny
Citizen
Username: Johnny
Post Number: 1073
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 12:18 am: | |
Joan, are you a lawyer? |
C Bataille
Citizen
Username: Nakaille
Post Number: 1780
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 12:27 pm: | |
My daughter's Brownie troop had an informal meeting on Saturday at Maplecrest. Afterwards the girls took bags and picked up papers in the area by the bleachers and the playground. They were proud of their work.
Cathy |
Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 3994
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 12:35 pm: | |
Joan, your suggestion dismays me. Can't we do anything without worrying about liability? Is picking up garbage really that much more dangerous than playing soccer? Either way, you're coming into contact with the dirt and all that is mixed into it. |
Earlster
Citizen
Username: Earlster
Post Number: 577
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 3:29 pm: | |
Cathy,
I saw your kids do that, and thought it was a really great idea.
Joan,
you make me think, maybe we should take the playground equipment down, too. Because kids can get hurt really bad on those mean slides and swings.
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sac
Citizen
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1554
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 3:35 pm: | |
When my Girl Scouts do "trash hikes" we specifically tell them not to pick up anything "suspect" - i.e. sharp items, questionable containers that might have hazardous contents, etc. but rather to check with an adult if they see something like that and the leaders figure out if/how to handle. So, we mostly stick to the dry paper/plastic trash. It is unfortunate to have to do this, but safety comes first. And given our litigious society, this is a necessity. |
Rich Carr
Citizen
Username: Rcarr
Post Number: 4
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 4:32 pm: | |
Joan's comment was met with dismay and sarcasm, but I think she has a valid point. You can't just ignore the threat of litigation just because it doesn't make sense to you.
I also wonder why the onus of picking up trash should fall on kids. Sure, teach them to be responsible with their trash, that's great. But force them to be the town janitors? I find that strange. Maybe it's because I don't have kids.
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Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3987
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 7:19 pm: | |
Johnny: I am not a lawyer.
Tom: Playing soccer without having the necessary safety equipment and training is dangerous. Goalies should wear the proper clothing to minimize the risk of getting injured. Players should learn the proper way to head the ball before trying it in a game. With the right equipment and coaching, the danger is much reduced. The same is true of picking up garbage in the park. SAC's comment about carefully supervising her scouts and restricting what they pick-up is valid and necessary, lest the girls get injured.
Earlster:
I believe that young children should not use playground equipment without supervision. I also believe that parents should check playground equipment for obvious hazards such as hard surfaces directly below swings and sliding ponds, splintering wood on seesaws, swings that are not securely fastened to their supports, etc.
Children are precious and we should do what we can to protect them. |
sac
Citizen
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1560
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 10:26 pm: | |
Serious thread drift - what the heck is a "sliding pond"??? |
Reflective
Citizen
Username: Reflective
Post Number: 577
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 11:26 pm: | |
Ahem.....
The Township should simply require a performance bond from the teams of say $100. If the area must be picked up by the Town the bond is forfeit to the Town.
Lawnboy, this is the enforcement result.
Joan - Am very disappointed in your comments on this issue. Why not just close the park to everyone and eliminate all risk?
Rich Carr - new poster, new resident? reminds me of the new young adult breed. Everyone else and most specifically the municipal government should protect their precious elite kids from acountability , risk and everything else that might cause them angst.
Have you ever done anything for your community.. RC? Would you? No, that's for the great unwashed.
Get a life.
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Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 3991
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 4:08 pm: | |
Reflective:
I would never advocate closing our parks or the playgrounds and athletic fields found within them. However, I do care enough about the health and well being of our children to want them to be as safe as possible. For the most part, I think our Town, parents and community groups such as Project Playground have done a great job of ensuring this. I simply wanted to bring attention to the fact that children should not be instructed to clean up other people's litter in the parks without giving them the proper tools, instruction and supervision. The way SAC's group handles the issue is fine but other groups aren't as diligent.
Rich Carr: Don't let Reflective's comments scare you away from participating in this forum or in the community at large. There is plenty of work to be done to make our Town even greater than it is now. Volunteers and constructive suggestions are always being sought. |
Lawnboy
Citizen
Username: Lawnboy
Post Number: 5
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Monday, October 18, 2004 - 6:15 pm: | |
This board is dangerous! I thought of the idea of kids cleaning up because I take a bag to the park everyday when I walk my dog and pick up whatever refuse I find. When I saw a super large gathering of kids playing soccer it ocurred to me that if each kid picked up one piece of trash the park would be clean. It also seems to me that cleaning up, even if it's not your trash, is something that kids should learn early, as important, or even more important, than playing soccer.
Bottom line, having kids, or anyone else who uses the park, pick up trash is an efficient use of manpower. I am not suggesting that the kids pick up because it's their trash but because it doesn't matter whose trash it is. It's all of our trash. Maybe it will even have a long term effect and make the world cleaner as they grow up.
Litigation is, of course, an issue, this being NJ the capital of lawsuits (and resulting sky high car insurance rates). So teach them to pick up safely and confine it to plastic and paper - there's plenty of that. If the girlscouts can do it, why not others? Particularly if they enjoy the benefits of the park.
The park belongs to all of us, so all of us should keep it clean. In fact, parents can lend a hand when they drop off/pick up their kids! |
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