IRVINGTON, NJ — Determined to have a cleaner community with less unsightly garbage, Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss held a “Team Up Clean Up” summer event on July 24 for residents to dispose of their unwanted garbage. Through this initiative, residents were able to rid themselves of bulky trash at dumpsters set up at schools across the township.
“This is our second event,” Vauss said on July 26; the first one was in June. “The purpose of this event is to help our residents keep the community clean. This is the first year this event has taken place, but we want to make this an annual event for our residents. Since we have schools in each of our neighborhoods, we decided that it would be the best central place to bring items. In partnership with the Irvington Board of Education, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to discard household items.”
“I listed all items, which was mailed to the residents, as to what they could and could not place into the dumpsters,” Vauss said. “All residents were responsible for unloading their own vehicles, but we had Public Works (employees) on staff at the locations that assisted with any bulky items. Residents had the option of going to a location closer to their homes or any location they felt comfortable going to.
“This initiative helps keep our community clean, whether you’re moving garbage or bulk items from your property or things that were stored during the pandemic. It was definitely much needed for our community,” Vauss continued. “We would love to do this annually.”
Vauss was pleased by the event’s large turnout and hopes to host another dumpster event before summer’s end.
“The event was a huge success,” Vauss said. “We had two to three dumpsters placed at each of our 11 school locations, which equaled up to 30 dumpsters. All the dumpsters were filled to capacity, and over 900 people came out to participate. This is a great initiative, especially during the summer. It has been so successful. We may try to have one more event in August for the residents.”
Photos Courtesy of Tony Vauss