Val's Valiants Cleans Up Local Highway, Notices Less Litter

On Sunday, December 15, 2019, Val's Valiants braved the cold, grabbed some reinforced gloves, and picked up litter along South Avenue (State Route 28) for the approximately 1 mile stretch between South Martine Avenue and Jersey Avenue in Scotch Plains as part of New Jersey's Adopt-A-Highway program.

Val's Valiants adopted this particular stretch of roadway during the second quarter of 2019. The group has conducted a litter clean up quarterly along this stretch ever since, with the December 2019 clean up being its third clean up conducted to date.

Many of the paper products the group gathered had been sitting in the snow and rain. Because they were wet, dirty, and contaminated, they could not be recycled under Union County standards.

The results of the December 2019 clean up, nevertheless, were significant. While the group collected a fair amount of cigarette butts, plastic bottles, and other random items, they were pleased to see that much of the roadway they had cleaned-up last quarter had remained remained relatively litter free. As proof, during the prior two clean ups, Val's Valiants used multiple bags to collect both the trash and the recyclables discarded along the roadway. During this clean up, only one bag for trash and one bag for recyclables were needed.

Val's Valiants is looking forward to conducting its quarterly Adopt-A-Highway clean ups in 2020. The group hopes that their efforts will continue to make the particular stretch of roadway along South Avenue a cleaner, greener area and will inspire drivers to discard their litter properly rather than using the highway as a garbage can.