Beachgoers in Ocean City are able to borrow specially designed bags to pick up trash or collect shells under a program funded by the N.J. Clean Communities grants. (Photo courtesy of Ocean City)
Ocean City is one of the recipients of state grants to help New Jersey communities remove trash, spruce up their neighborhoods and protect wildlife and their habitat.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced Wednesday that Ocean City will receive nearly $119,000 as part of $27 million in Clean Communities grants doled out to counties, towns and cities across the state.
Ocean City and Lower Township were the communities in Cape May County to receive the largest Clean Communities grants. Lower Township was awarded $103,000.
The complete list of municipal and county grant awards can be found at njclean.org/grant-funding/.
Municipalities and counties may use the grants to organize litter cleanups on public land and clear trash from stormwater systems. The money also helps them to remove graffiti, enforce anti-litter laws, educate the public and purchase trash-cleanup equipment.
DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said the grants ensure that counties and municipalities “have the necessary tools to keep New Jersey clean.”
“These annual investments through N.J. Clean Communities continue to help communities remove unsightly litter and beautify neighborhoods, educate people on the harms of littering, and inspire us to be stewards of the environment we share,” LaTourette said in a news release.
The DEP has been partnering with the New Jersey Clean Communities Council on programs to help keep the state clean. NJCCC educates the public, particularly young people, about the harmful impacts of litter, especially on the waterways and ocean.
The NJCCC also administers the Adopt-a-Highway and Adopt-a-Beach programs. The statewide volunteer programs support groups, organizations, businesses or individuals who wish to enhance the appearance of New Jersey’s landscape by conducting trash cleanups at specific public locations.
“Local litter abatement programs are critical as we continually strive to prevent roadway litter from getting into our waterways,” NJCCC Executive Director JoAnn Gemenden said in the release.
Volunteers remove litter from the Ocean City beach during an earlier cleanup.Ocean City already has its own initiatives to help remove trash and other debris from the beaches. Each year in the spring and fall, volunteers fan out on Ocean City’s beaches and dunes to pick up litter as part of an annual statewide cleanup organized by the environmental group Clean Ocean Action.
In April, Ocean City launched a local beach cleanup program sponsored by the city’s Public Works Department with funding from the N.J. Clean Communities Program.
Beachgoers may borrow specially designed bags to pick up trash or collect shells while enjoying their time at the shore. The bags are designed to allow sand to sift through, but also to gather small litter such as plastic straws, bottle caps, microplastics and Styrofoam.
The bags can be found in boxes placed near the beach entrances at Surf Road, 29th Street and 59th Street. Beachgoers are asked to deposit any litter they collect in trash containers at beach entrances or street ends, then return the bags to the boxes.
The beach cleanup program was inspired by a group of local residents concerned with plastic pollution and other litter along the coast, the city said in April when it announced the program.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Story has been corrected to note that Ocean City and Lower Township were the municipalities in Cape May County to receive the largest Clean Communities grants.
