By Desirée Taylor
NJ Today
Members of the New Jersey Youth Corps of Phillipsburg participated in a clean up program called “Dash for the Trash.” The goal of the week-long initiative is to clean up sections of the Delaware River and Bay from Sussex to Cape May counties.
“The whole goal of the program is to promote watershed stewardship in the community,” said Blaire Langston, from the AmeriCorps New Jersey Ambassadors program. “Through projects like ‘Dash for the Trash’ we get people out doing projects that help restore our watershed.”
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Twenty-five-old-year Elizabeth Akers, who participates in the New Jersey Youth Corps program in Phillipsburg, did her part by picking up trash along the banks of Delaware River. “There’s a lot of nasty stuff out here,” said Akers. “I think I am making a difference and I think everyone should be involved in it.”
Last year more than 400 volunteers from scout troops, schools, businesses, environmental and non-profit groups as well as residents logged more than 1,500 hours cleaning up the Delaware River and Bay. They collected 536 bags of trash and recyclables, plus truckloads of large debris items. Volunteers will likely exceed that amount this week because the second annual “Dash for the Trash” program has been expanded this year to portions of the Raritan River Basin.
Related: Those Along the Delaware River Complain About Trash