To live in community is to share in the privilege and responsibility of leaving a place better than you found it. Your small acts of kindness, from mowing your lawn to picking up pieces of litter, help not just you, but those who are members of our shared spaces and communities. When we take the steps to assure our communities remain clean and green, we take a powerful step in working towards a higher quality of life for all. Each and every day, the City of Trenton is taking steps to help its citizens keep our city in tip-top shape. And now through the month of August, the opportunity for a cleaner community is coming to a street near you.
On Thursday, August 1st, Trenton leadership, community members, and members of the media gathered to kick off the City of Trenton’s Annual City-Wide Cleanup. This highly anticipated initiative has been curated in an effort to clean up our streets, remove eyesores such as bulk garbage, and help to forge a city we can all be proud to call home. Throughout the morning, guests had the opportunity to hear from a number of individuals who were instrumental in bringing this effort to life, including Mayor Reed Gusciora, Crystal Feliciano, City Council President, Jenna Figueroa-Kettenberg, South Ward Councilwoman, Hector Weah, Assistant Director of Public Works, and Paul Harris, Director of Recreation, Natural Resources, and Culture.
In his comments, Mayor Gusciora stated “Last year, we collected about 250 tons of garbage during the month of August. Today, we’re hoping to collect much more.” After sharing that the city hopes to collect 75 tons of waste in this weekends upcoming cleanup, Mayor Gusciora noted, “The great guys from public works are the real heroes of this city. We can’t thank them enough. They’re cleaning up the alleys, they’re cleaning up the city’s illegal dumping, and we’re hoping to keep the city clean going forward. We need everyone’s contribution to this effort, so please help us out.”
Council President Crystal Feliciano expressed her enthusiasm for this project, stating “It’s my pleasure as the City Council President to support the many efforts that the Mayor has put forward to help better our city, to better our streets, and to highlight our employees for the tremendous work that they do.”
Jenna Figueroa-Kettenberg, South Ward Councilwoman, shared “I am very grateful to [city employees], because it is through them that we can see areas in our city that look as they should. This is no different than any other municipality, this should not be treated differently than any other municipality throughout the state of New Jersey.” Continuing, she shared “I want to thank everyone that is standing behind me, and everyone that is standing with me, to create these initiatives. I look forward to the city doing this in every other ward.”
Concluding the morning’s remarks, Paul Harris, Director of Trenton’s Dept. of Recreation, Natural Resources, and Culture, stated “The most important you can do is if you see something, say something. We all live and work here, and our neighborhoods are shared, so the best thing you can do is just say something. If you see your neighbors dumping, report it, speak out, and ask them to listen. We all live here, and we want to live nicely.”
This year’s cleanup will be kicking off on Saturday, August 3rd in Trenton’s South Ward. If you are planning on participating in this Saturday’s cleanup, be sure to have all waste out by 7am, or better yet, placed for pickup the evening before. Please note that this cleanup is intended for bulk items like furniture, and items like electronics, construction and home renovation debris, and the like will not be permitted. For full details on what is and is not permitted for pickup, please refer to the flyer at the bottom of this article. Remaining wards will be able to participate later in the month, with the schedule listed as follows:
- North Ward – August 10th
- East Ward – August 17th
- West Ward – August 24th
In addition to bulk trash pick-up, the City of Trenton will also be cleaning up other community spaces including main streets, alleyways, and parks. If you see a member of Trenton’s maintenance team in your neighborhood, be sure to say hello and express your thanks for the wonderful work they’re doing in our city!
It takes all of us to build a better Trenton, so be sure to do your part by taking advantage of this awesome resource!
