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Mercer County Sustainability Coalition to host Greening Together April 24-30, 2021

Please be sure to check our event website for most up to date details. 

Green Teams from throughout Mercer County are organizing an Earth Week celebration in a way that has never been done before. Planned to run from April 24 – April 30, Greening Together is providing a line-up of virtual activities, panel discussions highlighting sustainable resources, art education, and safe outdoor activities for all interested in celebrating Earth Week 2021. 

Many of us have taken solace in the great outdoors and the beautiful open spaces that Mercer County has to offer, in record numbers. Greening Together provides an opportunity for residents to learn from other local stewards, Green Teams, and experts about best practices for protecting our natural resources and living sustainably. 

There will be many opportunities to learn with events ranging from a stream clean-up (with appropriate social distancing) to panel discussions on clean transportation. Starting in mid-April, the celebration will kick off with stream cleanups, conducted in partnership with The Watershed Institute and they are planned virtually everywhere! These clean-ups give our ultimate gift to our parks — our time, love and care. Registration will be available soon. If you can’t participate in a cleanup, residents are still encouraged to get out and enjoy Mercer County’s beautiful open spaces. When you are out enjoying our open spaces throughout the event, please use the #GreeningTogether to share with others who are also making a difference. 

A special thank you to Cari Gallagher 3rd Grade Teacher/LTPS Green Team Leader for this contribution.

Use the New Jersey Walking School Bus App to organize walks to or from school during the “ Step into Spring. Ready, Set, Win!” campaign and win great prizes.Download the app, join a walk or create your own walking group.

Walking school bus page has video and links to the app store : https://gmtma.org/walking-school-bus/

  • See below for map of walking/biking routes between parks
  • Every time you and/or your child walks to or from school, you are entered to win prizes.
  • The more you walk the greater your chances are to win!

PRIZE DRAWING ON JUNE 9TH, 2021
Prizes include: reflective umbrellas, $100 gift card, reflective drawstring backpacks for students, $250 for the school of the winning walking school bus.

“We are thrilled that we have had enough interest and help to make this event happen. We know time and resources are limited so providing a free event with multiple ways to engage with us felt like the most equitable way to celebrate this year. We have seen how important it is to listen to science and experts on a global level. It is time we start taking climate action on the local scale seriously,” said Annette Loveless of Lawrence Township Environmental and Green Action Team.

Community Watershed Advocate Program Opportunity

Stream cleanups are back and in-person once again this spring and we are collaborating with The Watershed Institute! With a few small changes, we are able to gather safely to clean up our communities and make our Watershed a healthier and more beautiful environment.

A new addition this year – pre-registration is required! State mandates require 25 people or fewer at outdoor gatherings, so cleanup participation is limited. Head over to the Watershed Institute page to register.

In the meantime, review our Covid policies below. If you prefer a more solo cleanup activity, there are opportunities for Virtual Cleanups.

The Watershed Institute offers a wonderful Stream Watch Tool where you can put in an address in the search tool and you can view stream health information but unfortunately Lawrence Township is missing important information.

2021 Stream Cleanups:

In 2020 we opted for all virtual cleanups but this year we are going back to cleaning up as groups, although with social distancing and masking protocols. We’ll be changing the registration process as well to minimize contact.  Here are the confirmed dates and times we have for most of the municipalities we’ll be working with: 

DateTimeMunicipalityLocation
4/17/219-11amCranburyVillage Park
4/17/219:30am-12pmFranklinNaaman Williams Park
4/17/219am-12pmMillstone TownshipMeet at Court Building
4/17/219-11amPlainsboroMeet at Plainsboro Municipal Building
4/17/219-11amPrincetonGrover Park or D&R Canal Path – TBD
TBD9-11amHightstownPeddie Lake
4/24/219-11amEast WindsorEtra Lake Park
4/24/219-11amEwingTBD
4/24/219-11amLawrenceColonial Lake Park
4/24/219-11amMonroeCommunity Garden on Applegarth Rd
4/24/219-11amMontgomeryMill Pond
4/24/219-11amTrentonGeorge Page Park

Here’s a link to our Earth Day Cleanups with some guidelines and other information; once you’ve done some cleaning up, you can post a picture of yourself and/or your trash and mark it on our map: 2021 Earth Week Cleanups .