GREEN CAN BE FUN

Going "Green" normally means expending extra time and energy but it can also be entertaining and educational. Join the Westville Environmental Commission on Saturday, October 15, 2011 from 10 am to 2 pm at Westville's Fall Festival. Include a stop at our display on Broadway when you peruse the crafters' tables and ogle antique cars.

Our table will offer native plants and gardening tips such as using cider vinegar to kill weeds and the latest recycling / composting information from GCIA. Rain barrels and water conservation options will be available and Krista Tinney, Director of Strategic Planning of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, has an excellent display on boating safety and water quality.

Cindy Pierson, "The Turtle Lady", with her giant African turtles and smaller friends will augment the children's obstacle course, hay rides and pumpkin painting. Activity books, crayons, pencils, rulers and stickers are available at our table with ideas for fun nature crafts.

Sign up for Westville's Make A Difference Day Cleanup on Saturday, October 22nd and consider joining the Environmental Commission. We need volunteers of all age groups. Voting members must be Westville residents but Associate Members may assist with specific projects. Applications will be available at our table or Borough Hall. Become involved! Make a difference!

E-Waste Recycling

The state of New Jersey implemented a ban on the disposal of e-waste.
Effective in the beginning of 2011, computers, laptops, monitors, and televisions cannot be disposed in the trash.

What does this mean for residents of Westville?
It is no longer legal to throw away the following items into the solid waste stream (i.e. regular trash.)

Public Works will pick up these items curbside on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month.

Public Works then sends the items away for recycling.

Or, residents can take items to a recycling center. Both Goodwill and Best Buy accept e-waste recycling.

This ban has been implemented due to the high amounts of lead, mercury, and other toxins in these items. This is an effort to keep these toxins out of the land fills and from leaching into the waterways.

For more information, please visit the State Of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection.
http://www.nj.gov/dep/dshw/ewaste/index.html

To view the “Electronics Waste Management Act” please go to this link:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/PL08/130_.HTM

Thanks for making a difference!

On “Make A Difference Day” (Saturday October 23) over 100 people volunteered in a town wide clean up day. 3,105 pounds of trash and 1,170 pounds of recyclables were collected.

The Westville Environmental Commission would like to send a special than you to Wheelabrator (our corporate sponsor), Donna Domico and public works, and all of the residents who did their part to make a difference.

Upcoming Events

Butterfly Garden Dedication

Saturday, September 25

2:00 pm


The garden at Thomas West Park will officially be dedicated Saturday, September 25 at 2:00 pm. Refreshments will be served. We also will be distributing native plants.



Please come join the Environmental Commission in thanking everyone for their contributions to this award winning project.









Fall Fest

October 9th on Broadway

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

The Westville Environmental Commission will have a booth at The Borough of Westville's first annual Fall Fest!

Stop by and visit for information on the NJ Community Partners Initiative, rain barrels, native plants, a children's activity, and more!

Make A Difference Day

Saturday, October 23, 8 a.m.

The Commission is sponsoring a fall clean up day for National Make A Difference Day. Make A Difference Day is the nation's largest day of service. Created by USA WEEKEND Magazine, Make A Difference Day is an annual event that takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October. Millions of people throughout the country participate.

Trash bags and gloves will be provided. Please meet at the gazebo on River Drive at 8 a.m. to help beautify our town and make a difference together!

The next meeting of the Environmental Commission is October at 7:00 pm.


All meetings are at 114 Crown Point Rd and open to the public.

Shoreline restoration project at Thomas West Park

You may have noticed the depleted shorelines at Thomas West Park.
You may also have noticed the new addition of coir logs.
The brown (serpent looking) objects in the banks are coir logs.

In conjunction with Public Works, the Westville Environmental
Commission is currently working to control and prevent erosion on the shores of the stream and pond at Thomas West Park. Coir logs were delivered and installed. Then native plants were planted into the logs.

The coir logs act as an anchor for the erosion. However, once the native plants are established on the shoreline, the plants will take over the task of controlling erosion. This is an ongoing project with several stages planned.

If you would like to help with this project, please email us at
GreenWestville@westville-nj.com or stop by speak with anyone you see
working in the gardens at Thomas West Park. We are always looking for
volunteers and new members! Working at the park and gardens is a
great way to give back to the community and the environment.

As always, meetings are welcome to the public.

The next meeting is October 6th, 7:00 p.m., 114 Crown Point Rd.

Compost Tea

Another use for your compost is to make compost tea.

Compost is a nutrient booster for your plants. Pour it on the roots or spray it on the leaves.

What You Need
~compost
~5 gallon bucket
~water – preferably taken from your rain barrel – if using municipal water, let water stand overnight to reduce amount of chlorine
~paint strainer
~string

How to Make Compost Tea
~fill bucket with water
~fill the paint strainer with a shovel full of compost & tie it off with the string, thus creating your compost tea bag
~drop tea bag in the bucket
~let it soak for a couple of days, periodically dunking the bag
~remove tea bag & put contents of bag around your plants
~use the “tea” to water your plants at their base or dilute it & spray on the foliage
~apply once a month during growing season

Composting: How-to

How Do You Make Compost?

The beauty of making compost is that it is so simple and easy. You use materials that you have in your home and yard. It does not have to be an exact science. Think of a forest floor – it is covered with layers of materials that have fallen there naturally, over the seasons, and they have decomposed into a fluffy, fragrant, rich soil.

To get you started, here are some basic guidelines to follow.
Start by making or buying a compost bin. This can be as simple as making an open bin, in a 3 or 4 feet in diameter circle, out of welded wire or plastic garden fencing. Or you can purchase a compost bin, which will come with a lid. Using a lid speeds up the composting process.
Put your compost bin on the ground, in an easily accessible place. It should be near a water source because you will have to keep your compost pile moist. And it should be in a semi-sunny location.

Add ingredients. Start with a 4 inch layer of chopped leaves and stemmy plants, sticks, or other coarse material on the bottom.

Then, add kitchen wastes, dead plants, and chopped leaves, as they become available.
In your kitchen, keep a small pail or some type of washable container to collect your food scraps.

Make regular trips out to your compost pile and mix your kitchen scraps into the existing pile.
Your compost pile should be a mix of carbon-rich materials, your “browns,” and nitrogen-rich materials, your “greens.” Aim for 2 parts browns to 1 part greens.

Your carbon or brown materials are dried leaves, sticks and dead plants.

Your nitrogen or green materials are fresh or green, such as kitchen scraps.

Good Compost Ingredients
Leaves, and other dead plant material
Grass clippings ( * NOTE – As an alternative to collecting grass clippings, leave them on your lawn after mowing. They are an excellent way to naturally feed and mulch your lawn. Grass clippings do not cause “thatch”. Clippings are 90% water and decompose very quickly) Fruit and vegetable trimmings
Fruit rinds, peels, cores, egg shells
Coffee grinds & filters, tea bags
Manure from horses, cattle, goats, poultry and rabbits (optional)

Bad Compost Ingredients DO NOT USE
Meat scraps
Fat or butterFatty, sugary or salty foods
Chips or sawdust from treated wood
B-B-Q or charcoal ash
Wood ashClippings from herbicide-treated lawnsManure from dogs, cats or humans


Add water to your compost pile as often as needed to keep the material moist but not soggy (like a wrung-out sponge).

Turning the pile is helpful but optional.

The compost is ready to use when you can no longer recognize the original ingredients. A compost pile is an ongoing activity. You keep adding to it from the top, and you remove your compost from the bottom.