Livgreen Supports Newark Academy Cedar Ridge Trail Clean-up

Sarah Fisher, Director of Community Engagement and Neil Stourton, Director of Sustainability at Newark Academy invited LivGreen to support students and community during their Spring Day of Service on April 18th. Working from opposite ends of the Cedar Ridge Trail in Livingston, over 20 students and their families, including LivGreen member Kiran Adams, cleared snags and branches to make the trail more accessible. Students also started measurements of the existing boardwalk section which is in need of repair.

After a few hours hard graft, with clippers, rakes and trash bags in hand, we met with Mr Stourton and his crew and made use of the outdoor classroom space where we gathered as a group to discuss environmental impacts, volunteerism and how we could improve accessibility of the trail in future.

The young people working that day were engaged with nature, curious and ready for action. Along the way we stopped to talk about issues of invasive plants, deer control, increased stormwater and planting native. LivGreen was grateful for the chance to support these young people, our local educators and support environmental stewardship that opens up our community park spaces.

Sarah Fisher explained beyond the work we participated in along Cedar Ridge Trail: ‘the students also engaged in a variety of projects on and off campus including restoring the trail along the river, planting in our pollinator garden, removing invasive plants in Drew Forest, and working in a community garden in Florham Park. The day is focused on sustainability projects as part of our Earth Month programming.’

Creating a connected community is important and we are grateful to the staff for inviting collaboration with us throughout the year.

If there are environmental projects in Livingston that you think could be a good fit for future please reach out to: Livgreenteam@gmail.com with your suggestions.