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Hackensack Riverkeeper. Bergen County, New Jersey.

Driving up Main Street in Hackensack last weekend, mainly to check out a location I saw in an old photograph, I noticed the office of the Hackensack Riverkeeper. It's pretty much self-explanatory unless you suffer from what H.L. Mencken loved to describe as a paralysis of the cerebrum. I know that environmental preservation has been done on the marshes in the Meadowlands / Secaucus area, including protection for wildlife habitats, but I was not sure if this was the same group behind the project. At least, they must have something to do with it.

Our fellow person-of-conscience at the The Vegan Good Life blogged about this organization not too long ago. The Hackensack River I know well is the part that runs North from Little Ferry to and around Oradell. This is a tidal river. There are times when there is hardly any water, and you can see all the junk that has been thrown into it.

A section of the river snakes by the Kenneth B. George Field (KGB) in River Edge. This field is used for high school baseball and regional tournaments. It is very common for foul balls to drop into the river from where there is no return. We joked that archaeologists from a millennium hence will be puzzled by the discovery of so many round objects in that bend of the river. They're too small for dinosaur eggs, really. At least in my area, the riverbed is not rocky but black mud. Fossil records are being created at the moment, natural and otherwise.

I believe that a clean and natural environment is good for the animals; the two are intertwined. Animals are not happy in a dirty environment, unlike some humans. If you peruse the Hackensack Riverkeeper's website, you'll come upon a schedule of cleanups. The cleanup for my area, particularly the KGB Field, will be on May 30, 2-6pm. This cleanup is co-sponsored by the River Edge Environmental Commission. I will most likely be there unless I get hit by a freight train at the local crossing.

Comments

Catherine said…
Thanks so much for the mention of my humble blog and the amazing Hackensack Riverkeeper. That's great you are participating in a clean-up. Since I started doing clean-ups, I've been more aware than ever of how much waste our society produces (so much of which could be avoided if we were better stewards of the Earth), and the harmful impact it has on animals and ourselves. Simple actions like using reusable bags when we shop and reducing our need for disposable plates/cups would help cut down on this waste.

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