Residents clean up Highland Lakes

VERNON — The Earth Day website, earthday.org, displays a caption saying Earth Day is Every Day.
The first Earth Day was founded and celebrated by US Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970.
On Saturday morning, April 29, one week after the official date of Earth Day, 35 stoic residents of Highland Lakes became “pickers.” They embraced their task of unselfishly picking and correctly disposing of other people’s carelessly thrown trash on the roads of Highland Lakes, their lake community. The cleanup has been organized and guided for the past 20 years by Highland Lakes resident and Ecology Committee member Carol Fortenbach. Providing fresh strawberries for her volunteer trash pickers, Fortenbach maps the areas of Highland Lakes and suggests to volunteers where the most work is needed.
“I’m so pleased with the turnout today,” Fortenbach commented.
She also elaborated on some of the trash that has previously been pulled from Highland Lakes’ forests, beaches, parks and lake areas. The list involved the usual cans and bottles, namely, beer and liquor, foam, dirty diapers, tires, large and small furniture and even an old, rusty washing machine.
According to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, litter, hazardous debris and dumping have been on the rise, most especially on state lands and parks. The Department has launched the “Don’t Waste Our Open Space” campaign which is cracking down on polluters with arrests and stiffer penalties.
Locally, Highland Lakes residents are fighting back by organizing and cleaning up the trash of a certain few. On Canistear Road near Route 23, the commuter garbage has gotten so overwhelming, one local picker is out there nearly every weekend tirelessly bagging trash. A small sign is affixed to a pole begging commuters to “Not Trash Canistear.”
According to the DEP, litter and dumping threatens our local environment, animal life and the public. It mars natural beauty, jeopardizes public health and causes increased taxes necessary for clean-up.