The 40th anniversary of Earth Day isn’t until April 22, but plenty of Verona residents turned out a few days early to use the town’s recycling center this Saturday and pick up some new recycling tips in the process.
The Verona Environmental Commission (full disclosure: I’m a member) joined the recycling center’s regular emcee, Mike Inglesino, to wave in fellow townspeople with car trunks full of corrugated cardboard, mixed paper, cans, bottles and plastics–all of which can be easily recycled at the center. Computers and TVs were dropped off, as were old clothes and lots of old batteries. Residents–like the Matthewson family and Scott Osborne and his daughter Emily on our home page–also filled up two large posters with their signatures, pledging to recycle more.
Mayor Teena Schwartz was on hand, as was Department of Public Works Superintendent Chuck Molinaro. Even Chief of Police Doug Huber stopped by with his recycling.
The commission, which posted many more pictures of the day on its Web site, gave out 250 Verona recycling bins. Verona’s recycling center is located at 10 Commerce Court, just off Ozone Avenue on the north side of town. It is open Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., all year round. In addition, Essex County regularly schedules days to recycle some of the more difficult household waste items. On May 1, you can recycle hazardous waste, including pesticides, oil-based paints and pool chemicals, at the Essex County Fleet Maintenance Garage on West Bradford Avenue in Cedar Grove. On May 15, the garage will be open to take in TVs, computers and some household appliances.
