River Cleanups and Green Volunteering in Trenton: Where to Start and How to Do It Safely

Litter on a riverbank rarely starts there. Most of it is dropped on streets and carried by rain through storm drains into creeks and the Delaware. That is why some of the most useful environmental volunteering in Trenton happens a long way from the water, on sidewalks, vacant lots and park edges.

Clean Communities: the program behind the cleanups

According to the Mercer County Improvement Authority, New Jersey Clean Communities is a statewide, comprehensive litter-abatement program created by the Clean Communities Act in 1986. Its mission is to reduce litter in public places, promote volunteer cleanup of public lands and sustain a reduction in litter through education. The program focuses on three areas: cleanup, education and enforcement.

The program has its own funding source. The act places a tax on fifteen categories of businesses that may produce litter-generating products, and that money flows to counties and towns for cleanup work. The Mercer County Clean Communities program is part of the statewide strategy to clean and prevent litter on streets, beaches, waterways, parks, recreation sites and vacant lots. Statewide information is at njclean.org.

Adopting a stretch of road or shoreline

Mercer County’s Clean Communities page links to its adopt-a-beach and adopt-a-highway programs, in which a group takes responsibility for regular cleanups of a specific stretch. They suit businesses, congregations, schools and neighborhood associations that want a recurring project rather than a one-off event. Contact the MCIA, at 609-278-8086, for current openings and rules.

The Trenton Green Team

The City’s Trenton Green Team is made up of residents and people who work or volunteer in the city, all committed to a healthy, sustainable community. City staff, residents and area non-profits work together to engage neighbors and support sustainability initiatives. The team typically meets monthly, all are welcome, and the City’s page invites people to contact the chair to join the distribution list. The team’s January 2023 meeting agenda opened with an introduction to Sustainable Jersey and Green Teams, followed by the history and current projects of the Trenton Green Team.

Planning a cleanup that works

A good cleanup is mostly planning. Before you set a date, settle three things: where the bags will go, who will pick them up and what you will do with anything that is not ordinary litter.

• Get permission. Parks, riverbanks and vacant lots all have owners, public or private.
• Arrange disposal. Ask the City’s Division of Solid Waste Management, at 609-989-3175, how filled bags and bulky finds will be collected.
• Separate recyclables. Bottles and cans that meet the county’s rules can go to recycling; see Trenton Recycling Guide: What Goes in the Bucket, When It Is Picked Up and What Stays Out.
• Set aside problem items. Tires, construction debris and electronics are not City trash; the City refers residents to the MCIA for electronics.
• Check the weather and the river. Stay off steep or slippery banks, and avoid the water’s edge after heavy rain.

Safety on the day

Give every volunteer heavy gloves and closed shoes, and appoint one person to deal with hazards. Syringes, sharp metal, and unlabeled drums or containers should not be picked up by volunteers; mark the spot and report it to the City. Leftover chemicals found during a cleanup belong at the county’s household hazardous waste days, described in Household Hazardous Waste in Mercer County: 2026 Drop-Off Days and What They Take.

Weigh or count the bags before they are collected. Groups that report what they removed find it easier to get support, supplies and permission for the next event.

Why it matters for the rivers

The City’s stormwater plan lists illegal dumping among the activities that carry sediment, nutrients, metals and other pollutants into Trenton’s waterways, and it reports that every subwatershed in the city was rated by the state as not supporting at least one designated use. The City has adopted ordinances on littering, pet waste and dumping for the same reason. Every bag of litter removed from a street is a bag that will not wash into the Delaware during the next storm.

Other ways to help

Not every volunteer wants to pick up litter. You can help the City’s Shade Tree Division’s goal of expanding the urban canopy by caring for a street tree in front of your home, keep the storm drain on your block clear of leaves, or set up a compost pile so yard waste never reaches the street; see Composting at Home in New Jersey: A Rutgers-Backed Method for Yards and Kitchen Scraps. Each keeps a little more of the rain clean on its way to the river.

Finding your first event

The easiest start is to join something already planned. Ask the Trenton Green Team about upcoming projects, check the Mercer County Improvement Authority’s events, or contact your neighborhood association. Once you have taken part in one or two, organizing a cleanup on your own street is a small step.