Teen Litter Patrol Commemorates its Fifth Summer

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ (August 26, 2026) - The City's Teen Litter Patrol marked its fifth summer in 2026, cleaning up local streets, parks, vacant lots, and waterways. The program, which concluded Aug. 6, combated litter while providing participants with valuable first-job experience.

Throughout the six-week summer program, the seven participating teens cleared away a wide variety of debris. Across more than 170 city blocks, they collected 7,400 pounds of trash and 2,475 pounds of recycling-averaging roughly 1,057 pounds of trash and 354 pounds of recycling per person.

Over its five-year history, 48 teens have participated, collecting 32,300 pounds of trash and 10,290 pounds of recycling, totaling about 22 tons of combined litter.

Funded by a New Jersey Clean Communities grant, the program also featured an educational component that included field trips to the Middlesex County Landfill in East Brunswick, Bayshore Recycling in Woodbridge, and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension's Earth Center in North Brunswick.

Surveys completed by participants indicate that the teens felt they made a positive impact on their community and gained valuable skills, such as teamwork.