FAIR HAVEN – On a normal spring weekend Fair Haven Fields is a hive of athletic competition with players, crowds and other patrons buzzing around baseball and softball diamonds, lacrosse fields, tennis courts and a system of scenic walking trails.
Borough Environmental Commission chair Ralph Wyndrum said during peak warm weather seasons the facility can host hundreds of local athletes over a weekend, and several hundred more during the week.
One consequence of all those thirsty people, Wyndrum said, is piles of plastic water bottles littering the grass around overflowing recycling bins, and other bottles strewn about dugouts and along sidelines.
The accumulation of these single-use plastics has motivated the Environmental Commission to submit a grant application for $10,000 to the nonprofit organization Sustainable Jersey, which, if accepted, would provide funding for two water bottle refilling stations to be installed near the Fair Haven Fields snack bar.
“When you have five fields being used simultaneously for several hours a day by players, coaches and parents, the buildup of plastics can happen quickly,” said Wyndrum, a former Bell Labs professional and college professor at Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology, among others.
“For better or worse, a lot of parents have become uncomfor table allowing their children to drink from the water spouts we used to use when we were kids,” he said. “Now they bring cases of plastic water bottles to the fields and the bottles have become a nuisance, in terms of maintenance and removal, as well as to the environment.”
CUTTING SINGLE-USE PLASTICS
In New Jersey, water bottle refilling stations are becoming a popular way to cut back on customary single-use plastics, a growing initiative in the state that has led to many Two River-area eateries, like McLoone’s restaurants, banning plastic straws.
In May 2018, the Borough of Monmouth Beach took the effort several steps far ther by passing one of the most progressive policies in the country with its ban on all single-use plastics and Styrofoam takeout containers for restaurants and grocery stores within the municipality.
Gov. Phil Murphy vetoed a bill in August that called for a 5-cent sales tax on plastic bags distributed to shoppers at supermarkets, convenience stores and retail outlets because it wasn’t strong enough.
Another potential bill, if signed by Murphy, would completely ban single-use plastics in New Jersey and levy a 10-cent tax on single-use paper bags, which would be used to finance a new “Plastic Pollution Prevention Fund.”
The cultural shift away from single-use plastics prompted Warren Township Schools to install 12 bottle-filling stations in 2017. Essex County Schools like the Millburn School District also followed suit.
FUNDING THE PROJECT
That same year, Sustainable Jersey granted $2,000 to H. Russell Swift Elementary School in Egg Harbor and Harding Township school to install water refilling stations, and in 2018 the nonprofit awarded the Borough of Red Bank $10,000 to install stations at various parks around town, including Riverside Gardens Park.
In 2018 the Atlantic Highlands School District was awarded a $2,000 grant, and the Jackson Township School District received a $10,000 grant, to install stations at their schools.
“Our state’s students and teachers continue to inspire me with their passion for sustainability and commitment to New Jersey’s future,” said Randall Solomon, Sustainable Jersey executive director. “We are proud to support their efforts with grant money to help realize their vision.”
Wyndrum said Fair Haven’s vision for a pair of stations connected to the snack bar’s water system will cost approximately $4,000 each, plus the cost of installation.
“This is a cultural change. But we’ll be directing the kids to fill up their bottles and promoting to parents the idea of purchasing reusable bottles at a cost of $3.95. This is something that needs to happen,” Wyndrum added.
RISING RECYCLING COSTS
A $10,000 grant would cover the entire cost of the project, but regardless of the award, Borough Administrator Theresa Casagrande said the town’s Recreation Committee is committed to making the stations a reality.
“The (Recreation) Committee is very supportive of this plan. And if there were a need, if we weren’t awarded as much of a grant as we needed, the (Recreation) Committee said it will supplement the total with funds from its community appeals fund.”
Additionally, Casagrande said the installation of these stations is not only the pragmatic course of action for an environmentally conscious community, but from a savings standpoint it just makes sense.
“Every community is struggling right now,” said Casagrande, noting the rising costs of recycling around the world due to a new policy enacted by China, a global leader in recycling purchasing. The policy calls for such a high level of purity of recyclable products that most facilities around the world are unable to meet it.
“The fact is we’re having a hard time selling our recycling and the stuff we can’t sell is ending up in a landfill,” Wyndrum said.
“Recycling used to be a commodity. Then it is was a break-even product. Now recycling is a cost to us,” Casagrande said. “Any way we can cut down the amount of plastic we need to recycle is something we want to look into.”
