Patch Participates in 'The Great Brookhaven Cleanup'

At Patch, we believe that service to the community doesn’t stop in the field and to be the voice of the community we also have to give back to it. That's why we routinely "Give 5," a Patch-wide volunteer program where editors donate time to nonprofit organizations, community service groups and more.

As part of the program, editors from Three Village, Miller Place-Rocky Point, Commack and Smithtown Patch came together Saturday to help clean up Sylvan Avenue Park in Miller Place as part of “The Great Brookhaven Cleanup.” Here are their thoughts on the experience.

When Community Service Meets Anthropology Lesson

If you ever want to conduct an independent study in contemporary anthropology, I suggest starting alongside a well-traveled road and picking up trash for a few hours.

As Peter, Kaitlyn, Rich and I scooped up every piece of refuse we could spot in the wooded areas on either side of Sylvan Avenue, we found cigarette butts, candy wrappers, fast food containers, bottles and cans, car parts and tires, golf balls, broken flower pots, random bits of plastic waste, styrofoam peanuts, and broken glass. I laughed when Kaitlyn found a tire. I laughed again when Rich found another. And I fell silent when we stumbled upon a pile of discarded clothing, half-buried and decomposing. We're pretty sure we identified some underwear and a pair of child-sized pants.

For me, that's when it really sank in. We had picked up more than four huge trash bags of litter – including many things which could have easily been recycled or disposed of properly by their consumers, if they were at all considerate of the environment. But we had also picked up pieces of people's lives, from the food wrappers tossed out of car windows to the errant golf ball hit beyond the park's fences to the clothes discarded for reasons we could only imagine. And imagine we did.

I was reminded of a quote I once heard: "I found a discarded textbook on calculus in a wastebasket and read it from cover to cover." John Pople, an English scientist who lived from 1925 to 2004, said that. He must have learned from something he found tossed away as trash. So did I.

– Chrissy Sampson, Three Village Patch editor

Team Patch Shares Laughs While Tackling Brookhaven Litter Issue

This particular Give 5 opportunity was special because it was the first time I participated with a group of fellow Patch editors, which added a sense of teamwork and familiarity I haven’t had in past Give 5’s. Escaping our computers, pads and pens for a few hours and sharing laughs while working to clean up Sylvan Avenue Park was a fulfilling experience.

What also was special was arriving to a parking lot full of young children in oversized lime green t-shirt that were handed out to all participants, which I immediately believed to be an indication of the importance of keeping your community clean to the youth of today.

While cleaning, Christine, Kaitlyn, Rich and I were rather amused with the items we came across and shared laughs at how random these things were. The items became more-and-more amusing as we cleaned, from decomposing clothing to seat cushions, golf balls, Wendy’s wrappers, Volkswagen hubcaps and more. My personal favorite item I removed from the side of the road was an “asphalt patch” bucket (yes, because “Patch” was written on the side of the bucket).

Although what we found brought laughs, it was a little troubling to see the amount of bags we filled up in just a few hours. Much of what we found were food-related items, something that could be held in someone’s car until they get home or to work to throw out. I couldn’t help but think of the difference people could make if they properly disposed of their trash, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant the item, rather than litter.

Although the start-time was well before my alarm clock typically sounds-off on a Saturday morning, and I did go home with more thorns suck in my back, neck, arms and legs than I have had in my entire life, the feeling of accomplishment and actually seeing the difference a few hours of picking up trash on the side of the road and in a park makes, made the experience was well worth it.

– Peter Verry, Smithtown Patch editor

Volunteers Receive A Lesson in Littering

While picking up trash on the side of the road isn't exactly an ideal way to spend a cold Saturday morning, the experience was surprisingly rewarding, and—dare I say—a fun one.  

The objects that were tossed to the side of the road—and sometimes behind trees or bushes—surprised me. Sure there were lost gloves, discarded candy wrappers and hundreds of cigarette butts—those things I expected. But large metal poles, two tires, close to a dozen flower pots and a mound of clothing? Not so much.

These were not items that most people would consider 'trash' or 'litter,' but rather things that we use (and in most cases, reuse) every day.

As I struggled to lift the heavy tire I found out of the brush, it occurred to me that it had taken just as much effort to put it there in the first place. It likely would have taken less effort to place the tire in the trunk of a car and transport it to the nearest trash bin.

It left me asking why. Why would someone go out of their way to litter? Furthermore, why do people think that's acceptable?

As we were finishing up, I joked to Peter that all the trash we picked up alongside the road will be replaced within a week. Unfortunately, it's really not much of a joke. Hopefully the people who drove past us and all the other volunteers along the road cleaning up trash in our bright green t-shirts will think twice before they litter again. We certainly will.

– Kaitlyn Piccoli, Commack Patch editor

You May Not See It, But It's There

As a 16-year resident of Sound Beach, I've hit all parts of the Miller Place-Rocky Point area and to me, it has always looked clean.

I've driven down Sylvan Avenue in between Echo Avenue and 25a many times and to the naked eye, it's looks perfectly fine. Upon closer inspection, however, it's apparent that a cleanup like this one was necessary. Scrummaging through the brush on either side of the road we found everything from cans and newspapers to golf balls, flat tires and even old clothes.

It was nice to give back and help clean up the community, but five bags and a few hours later, I realized this is a bigger issue than I thought. I wondered what other areas were like this and just how much trash was littered throughout the town, and just what would it take to clean it up? You may think to yourself that 'it's just one can' or 'you can't even see it from the road,' but it really does pile up...and fast.

With beach season approaching, we're going to be spending more and more time outside, so this plea becomes even more important; hold on to that trash and properly dispose of it, because it can make all the difference in helping our great community as clean as it deserves to be.

- Rich Arleo, Miller Place-Rocky Point Patch editor