HUMAN TRASH
By Yulia McClamrock SEPT. 26, 2016
On a Saturday morning in mid-September, five volunteers with three New York Restoration Project (NYRP) staff members were determined to clean the Harlem River’s shorelines at Sherman Creek Park, Inwood, New York. But nature took its unpredictable course. On this Stewardship Day, high tides forced Shakara Petteway, NYPR volunteer manager, to use her plan B.
“It is hard to coordinate schedules with nature,” said Petteway, who had been volunteering for a year before she got an offer to become an NYRP staff member. “We can try to clean up other parts of the park today. Hopefully next time the tides will be low.”
The park is supervised by a non-profit organization that collects funds through public and private donations. It is able to afford only three full-time employees who are not always able to pick up trash in hidden areas of the park. Situated on 15.38 acres of rich land, the park requires constant maintenance.
“Non-profits, such as NYRP, help to support parks and the community by tackling projects on public and private land, something the city agency cannot do,” said Rosemarie Miner, NYRP Citywide Volunteer Program Coordinator. “Non-profits are generally not as tied up in bureaucracy as city agencies and can work faster, and even on the fly, with community-based organizations.”
The city’s parks and community gardens rely heavily on volunteers. Miner shared her concerns about the volunteer shortage in smaller parks located in low-income neighborhoods. She said that for Central Park, it is easier to get more volunteers, but for distant parks such as Sherman Creek, it’s a struggle.
“During the fiscal crisis in the 70s there was not enough money and many organizations started up funds by wealthy people to help fix up the parks,” said former Deputy Director of Planning, Joseph P Chu. “The Central Park Conservatory was the first because it had so many rich people that live near the park. Others like the non-profit Prospect Park Alliance started later on. Those and many other organizations still exist. They supplement the city’s funding.”
NYRP is one of the non-profit organizations. Bette Midler, an American actress, songwriter, singer, and producer, founded it in 1995. There are more than 1700 parks across the five boroughs, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. NYRP owns now 52 community gardens and stewards four parks across the five boroughs. The main focus of NYRP was to restore parks in neglected neighborhoods. It took decades of constant work. Now, rehabilitated parks and community gardens, such as Sherman Creek Park, serve local communities in less fortunate neighborhoods. They are filled with trees, plants, some with mini waterfalls, ponds with turtles and vegetable gardens for children.
“It is our second visit at Sherman Creek Park. We love how clean and peaceful this park is. Kids love it,” said Maria Marte, an event planner who came with her family on Saturday afternoon to have a picnic and get inspiration for a commissioned birthday party at the park.
But, before NYRP became a steward of Sherman Creek Park, it was a place for illegal dumping.
“In the past, we used to find buried cars in this park,” Petteway said.
The announcements about volunteer events are constantly being posted at the NYRP and the New York City Department of Parks websites. Despite that attendance, such as on this Saturday morning, is oftentimes low, volunteers play a vital role in the city’s communities. According to Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal agency, volunteers contributed 352.6 million hours of work that equals to almost 15.5 billion dollars in New York back in 2014. This means that donated funds can be used to build more parks, create more public facilities in the parks such as playgrounds, amongst others.
“Volunteers are important because they give people an opportunity to form a deeper connection with the space they use recreationally,” said Miner. “It is also a way for people to build as stakeholders in a community.”
All attendees on this sunny and humid morning were women, most regular participants. At the meeting spot, bottles of bug spray, anti-itch creams for poison ivy, sunscreen lotion, and cold water bottles were provided. Everybody was required to sign a waiver and provide an emergency contact before getting to work.
“You never know who has an ivy allergy,” said Petteway.
Then Petteway asked everyone to introduce each other and name a food they would choose to eat for the rest of their life.
“I love eggs. You can fry them, boil them, etc.,” said Natalie Peralta, who began her volunteering a few months ago. The women giggled. Positive vibes infused the air. It was time to clean.
NYRP provided gloves, trash pickers, and garbage bags. The group divided into ‘pickers’ and ‘bag holders.’
“Oh there is a buried black plastic bag, I don’t know if I want to pull it out,” one of the volunteers said.
Miner shared a story with a smile. She said that some volunteers had previously stumbled upon dead bodies in a plastic bag. “It happened years ago and not in this park,” she added.
Aside from plastic bags, foam particles were the prevalent garbage found in the park, as well as bottles, plastics cups, and even baby diapers.
None of the women shied away from carrying heavy trash bags. While many of their friends were still asleep or heading out to a leisurely brunch, they preferred to spend a beautiful Saturday morning bending, lifting and patiently picking up trash.
“It gives me a peace of mind,” said Kathy Peng on her way home after three hours of volunteering. “It is Saturday morning, and I’ve already done something useful.”