Awards and Recognition

Recycling’s a Ball!
The Sixteenth Annual Morris County Recycling Awards Dinner

Friday, November 7, 2003

Hanover Manor
16 Eagle Rock Avenue
East Hanover, New Jersey

Morris County Awards for Exceptional Achievement In Recycling
Individuals Who Have Made A Difference Awards

Recycled “Gingerbread” Is Delectable - Ricky Boscarino, Luna Parc, Montague – In “Paradise Regrouted” (The New York Times, June 26, 2003), writer William L. Hamilton described Ricky’s home as “phantasmagorical.”  Oh, yes, and then some.  “Ricky’s five-acre plot of land in northwestern New Jersey, along with the house that sits on it, has been ‘developed’ into an environmental park by artist, designer and self-proclaimed King-o-Luna, Ricky Boscarino,” according to the Web site www.lunaparc.com.  Ricky has decorated his amazing estate with found objects such as trophies, crutches, corks and bowling balls.  Recycling’s a ball!

A Pocketful Of Litter - Jordan Matelsky, Roxbury Township - Jordan, a fourth grader at Kennedy School in Succasunna, has been an avid collector of litter for most of his life; in fact, “he’s even organized litter pickups during recess at his school,” wrote Lori Silverstein in “Naturalist an acorn, but stands like an oak” (The Star Ledger, May 29, 2003).  Jordan is the youngest person to receive the Gold Medal Award from the New Jersey Garden Club.  Last spring he was recognized for creating a Morris County chapter of Kids For A Clean Environment (KidsFace), “a nation-wide organization that spreads information about the environment to children and encourages their involvement in nature activities.”

Energetic Enforcer - Kathleen O’Neill Margiotta, Morristown - The headline for the lead story in the May 1, 2003 Daily Record:   “Prayers to rise across Morris.”  The headline in the story directly below the lead:  “Litter bugs to get zapped.”  Those two headlines are related because any litter bugs who are apprehended in Morristown will have to pray that Clean Communities Coordinator Kathleen O’Neill Margiotta doesn’t sentence them to a lifetime of cleaning up litter!  On a very serious note, Kathleen is responsible for creating a public notice and a flyer alerting Morristown residents and visitors that they must clean up their properties and refrain from littering, and she means business.  Kathleen organizes town-wide cleanups and assists the Morristown High School cheerleaders with cleaning up the bleachers at football games.  “Litter is among the top three complaints in surveys that have been done about Morristown,” Kathleen says.  “People don’t like it.”

Extra Mile For The Environment Award – Louis Troiano, Onyx Waste Services, Inc. – When Lou Troiano is assisting customers who need to dispose of solid waste (garbage), he enthusiastically goes the extra mile to ensure that recycling is also part of the equation.  Quite recently, for example, Lou helped the Wharton ShopRite set up a recycling system for baked goods and produce that are no longer fit to be sold.  Lou made the arrangements for over-the-hill angel food cake, bagels, lettuce, pumpkins, etc., to be put into a special container that is transported to Penn-Jersey Pork & Beef Farms, Inc., in Strausstown, Pennsylvania.  At Penn-Jersey, the food is sorted, shredded and mixed prior to becoming a meal for about 2,500 pigs and 500 steers.  Although ShopRite pays for transportation of the food, the cost is lower than the tipping fees at the transfer stations.

“On The Ball” Recycling Coordinator – Eileen Hladky, Chatham Township – “My dad should get the award because he’s been recycling forever,” remarks Eileen Hladky.  “He used to use old envelopes, and we laughed at him.”  Eileen definitely inherited her father’s penchant for recycling, for she’s a regular attendee and contributor at Morris County recycling coordinators’ meetings.  She frequently notifies MCMUA employees about recycling-related articles in periodicals such as New Jersey Monthly magazine.  Eileen is also a very helpful volunteer at recycling awards dinners.  In 1999 she added a special touch to the mini-fashion show while modeling a cowgirl outfit.  And last year she assisted at the registration table, just as she has been doing this evening.

Education Awards

Caring for Planet Earth Award – Cedar Hill Tools For Schools For Kids Committee, Montville – “Let’s give back to nature” is the slogan of a student committee at Cedar Hill School that meets regularly to discuss the environmental projects on which they would like to work.  Advised by kindergarten teacher Cathy Lundquist and first grade teacher Cindy Nosti, the students wrote a grant proposal to the P.T.O. to request funding for recycling bins.  After receiving approval for the grant, the students purchased recycling bins and delivered them to the classrooms.  This past spring, 21 committee members and their two advisors traveled to Trenton to support passage of Senate Bill S1781 that requires school bus engines to be turned off while the buses are waiting at schools for children to get onto or off them.  “[Senate Bill S1781] is old news at Cedar Hill ... because buses there have been shutting off their engines while in front of the school for more than two years,” according to Montville kids fight for clean air” (The Star Ledger, May 29, 2003).  “We had an assembly in kindergarten, and a man talked about garbage,” said fifth grader Grace Maher.  “That assembly influenced me to join the Tools for Schools for Kids Committee.” 

Excellence In Environmental Education Award – Environmental Commission, Hanover Township - In the letter she wrote to nominate the Hanover Township Environmental Commission for an award, Robin Dente, assistant to the Hanover Township business administrator, wrote, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the enclosed Fortrel Eco-Spun T-shirt showcasing a sparkling clean Whippany River is speaking volumes....” Indeed.  The tee shirt is just one of the items made with recycled material that commission members designed and distributed at a recent Hanover Township Day.  In addition to participating at that annual event, the commission sponsored “Celebrate Earth Day 2002” and has been involved in science fairs at two of the local public schools.  Robin opines that the commission “has invested a great deal of time, energy and creativity in educating the public and promoting recycling and environmental protection.”

“How Does Your Garden Grow?” Award – Mount Olive Middle School Environmental Club, Mount Olive Township – The anonymous author of the nursery rhyme “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” poses the question that is being used as the name of this award, and here is one answer:  The gardens in the one-half acre plot next to the Mount Olive Middle School are doing quite nicely.  “The students have done all of the work; it must be their project.  I administrate, they lead, and the whole spectrum of students is involved,” says Ryan McCrea, environmental science educator and club advisor.  Several teams work on the garden project:  planting, publicity, maintenance and financial.  Already in place are butterfly and hummingbird gardens, as well as a heart-shaped flag garden in memory of Susan Toth who taught at the school.  The field hockey team raised money for the recycled plastic lumber bench that sits in one corner of the garden area.

Push The Envelope Award – Flocktown-Kossmann P.T.A., Washington Township - “It’s not easy being green” is a familiar quotation of Kermit the Frog of Sesame Street.  And the P.T.A. committee that launched a reusable Tyvek® envelope/folder program for weekly notices taken home by students would agree.  “Debbie Peirson, P.T.A. mom extraordinaire, has streamlined communication at our school.  The school has approximately 1100 kids in 860 families.  Once a week all communications are put into the folder/envelope -- voila!  Each family gets one copy of everything.  No more duplicates,” wrote fellow P.T.A. member Susan Goodhand.  Using this distribution tactic (the youngest child in each family took the envelope home), the P.T.A. saved about 300 sheets of paper every week.  Although the P.T.A. has stopped using the returnable envelopes/folders, committee members assemble and staple one packet of notices for each family, and they plan to use the schools’ Web site for posting even more information in the future.  “It’s such a simple idea,” remarked Alice Dickson, “but there have been a few glitches.”  As Kermit said....

Business Awards

Outstanding Institutional Recycling Program Award – Morris County Correctional Facility, Morris Township - “ ... and we’ll wear out, In a walled prison....”  (William Shakespeare, King Lear, V, iii, 8)  No, the recyclables that are generated at the Morris County Correctional Facility that opened on May 25, 2000, will not “wear out” there.  Shortly after the new facility opened, Fire Safety Director Tim Murphy contacted the MCMUA recycling staff to request assistance with setting up a recycling program.  Later, appropriately labeled containers sprouted up inside the facility and on the loading dock, resulting in the collection of 60 tons of corrugated cardboard, 29 tons of junk mail and magazines, and 21 tons of office paper (totaling 113 tons).  In addition, numerous bottles and cans have been recycled, but no tonnage figures are available because those materials are delivered to a local municipal recycling depot.  “This effort not only assists the County of Morris in providing for the environment, but it has also resulted in substantial savings for the removal of our waste products,” said Chief Ralph McGrane.  It’s clear that the recyclables at the correctional facility leave the four walls and move on to a new life.

Waste Minimization Award – Howmet Castings, Dover – Howmet Castings is one of Alcoa’s 26 business units; this unit makes industrial gas turbine engine components primarily for jet engines and power generators.  The industrious Howmet Waste Minimization Team at the Dover site that has 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space, is vigilant about proper disposal of hazardous waste and recyclables.  Team members are Gary Ackley, supervisor of buildings and grounds; Steve Fromkin, environmental health and safety manager; Gabriel Garcia, group leader, and; Bruce Tiger, environmental health and safety engineer.  The efforts of these four men have resulted in Howmet’s being a very good customer at the Morris County Recycling Consolidation Center in Dover where ballasts, fluorescent  bulbs and batteries have been delivered.  Howmet has recently embarked on a new continuous re-use program for potassium hydroxide whereby a vendor uses the spent chemical compound to neutralize waste acids.  Howmet’s list of recyclable materials is most impressive -- they recycle 40 different materials.

“We Recycle – Bottom Line Results” Award – Schoor DePalma, Parsippany-Troy Hills - “Reenee Casapulla of Schoor DePalma [an engineering and design firm] is a very detail-oriented person who’s enthusiastic about recycling and the environment.  She’s a treasure!” exults MCMUA Recycling Specialist Liz Sweedy.  Some time ago, Reenee, who is a permit facilitator, called Liz to discuss setting up an office recycling program, and on November 18, 2002, the recycling program was under way.  As of August 28, 2003, Schoor DePalma had diverted approximately 100 pounds of cardboard and mixed paper every week from the waste stream.  That translates to 3,600 pounds, or a little under two tons, that the Parsippany office has recycled.  Schoor DePalma has realized a savings of $75.00 each month by Garden State Management Corporation as an incentive to continue the recycling program.  Reenee and her cohort George Gouker hope that before too long recycling will be a way of life for its employees in all twelve Schoor DePalma Offices. 

Special Awards

Giving By Taking Away Award – Waste Management of New Jersey, Inc. – On the evening of September 10, 2003, the Morris County memorial to the victims of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks was dedicated.  The memorial is located on a hill on West Hanover Avenue in Parsippany where a house once stood.  (From one portion of that hill, the Twin Towers were visible when the sky was clear.)  After the house was razed, Waste Management transported 30-cubic-yard containers of demolition debris (a total of 88.51 tons) to the Parsippany Transfer Station.  Waste Management delivered the first container on June 6, 2003, and made the last pickup on June 18, 2003.  Waste Management donated the containers for the debris, as well as the hauling service.

Helping Hands Award and Distinguished Extinguishers Awards – Budd Lake First Aid & Rescue Squad; Budd Lake Volunteer Fire Department; Chester Volunteer Fire Company No. 1; Flanders Fire and Rescue Squad; Mount Arlington Fire and Rescue Company; Picatinny Arsenal Fire Department; Roxbury Engine Company No. 2; Washington Township Fire Department, Schooley’s Mountain – From the pen of MCMUA Operations Manager Louise Abato who described a fire at the Mount Olive Transfer Station:  On July 28, 2003 (a beautiful, sunny day), at approximately 9:40 a.m., the fire alarm started going off.  Tom Bosco came into my office a few seconds later and told me we should evacuate the building because there was a fire on the tipping floor.  We immediately left the building, and went to the far side of the parking lot in front of the tipping floor.  The blaze was very high, and there was black smoke pouring from the building.  Within a minute or two, the Mt. Olive police arrived, and within ten minutes, several fire companies, as well as first aid/ambulance squads arrived.  The Prosecutor’s Office arrived, and we were all moved off the property and waited across Gold Mine Road.  They also evacuated the weighmaster from the scalehouse.  Because there was a malfunction in the fire control system, the fire department called in tanker trucks, and eventually hooked up to the fire hydrant across the street at the shopping center.  The foam trucks from Picatinny Arsenal were also called, and the blaze was brought under control.

C.S.I. Morris Awards – Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Arson & Environmental Crimes Unit, and Morris County Hazardous Materials Unit – From the pen of Lieutenant Jeffrey Paul:  On July 28, 2003, shortly after the fire broke out at the Mount Olive Transfer Station, four officers from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Arson and Environmental Crimes Unit responded:  Lieutenant Jeffrey Paul, Detective/Supervisor George Wendt, Detective Robert McDermott and Agent Jennifer Miktus.  Detective/Supervisor Wendt and Detective McDermott were detailed to coordinate the transition of the incident from a firefighting operation to a hazardous materials incident after it was determined that a 55-gallon drum with unknown contents, as well as unknown chemicals, may have been involved in the incident.  A command post for the law enforcement operation was established, and this was coordinated by Agent Miktus, a trained arson investigator.  The Morris County Office of Health Management Hazardous Materials Team responded and was requested to conduct air monitoring operations to ensure that the nearby public was not in immediate danger.  In addition, members of the hazardous materials team tested the run-off water from the fire suppression operation for the presence of chlorine or an oxidizer.  Members of the Picatinny Arsenal Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team responded and manned a decontamination system in support of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Arson and Environmental Crimes Unit, as well as the Morris County Office of Health Management Hazardous Materials Team.  Both Detective/Supervisor Wendt and Detective McDermott, along with hazardous materials technicians, made two Level B entries into the hot zone to determine the cause and origin of the fire.  As a result, Detective/Supervisor Wendt and Detective McDermott determined that improper disposal of pool chemicals led to the fire.  By working together, we were successful in minimizing any unnecessary risks to the public, as well as the emergency workers who were involved in this operation.

Recipients of Certificates of Achievement for Notable Recycling Projects

• Borough of Lincoln Park, home of the Second Hand Shack

• Borough of Morris Plains, where recycled plastic lumber is the official “platform”

• Borough of Rockaway, a town without lids

The mini-fashion show

At press time for the dinner program, the fashion show is a work-in-progress.  We know that several models will carry handbags made from recycled or reused material.  And MCMUA employee Kristie Olsen will model a red jumper made of Fortrel EcoSpun.  Donna Bangiola designed and stitched that jumper for the master of ceremonies to wear at the 2000 awards dinner (this for the benefit of those of you who weren’t at that dinner).  Also, a yet-to-be designated model will display Xtreme Recycled Rubber “bracelets” manufactured from recycled tires by Dodge-Regupol, Inc., in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

For the second year in a row, Leeza Tea Coco Chanel, a.k.a. Liz Sweedy, has designed an outfit for Penny Jones to model.  Last year it was “All the news that’s fit to print,” a shirt featuring pleats and ruffles made from pages of the October 6, 2002 New York Times (it’s currently being framed).  This year Liz has created “Buttons and Flourishes,” a ball gown style skirt that was a white crinoline in an earlier life, embellished with ruffles, buttons and a bow.

The mannequin

This year, Miranda McMua sports a stunning corrugated cardboard ensemble fashioned by Leeza Tea, MCMUA designer-in-residence.

The table favors

Biodegradable golf tees made primarily of starch from corn or potatoes, along with other proven biodegradable additives donated by Public Service Electric and Gas Company.  Thank you, Al Fralinger, PSEG employee and former president of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers, for this donation.

Gold napkin rings encircling the cloth napkins on the tables, and other boxed napkin rings.  Thank you, Hudson Favell, recipient of A Tulip Tree Turns Into A Tribute Award at last year’s dinner.  Hudson informed the MCMUA that an entire pallet of brand new napkin rings sitting in a warehouse where he carves tree trunks, was destined for one of the MCMUA transfer stations.  The MCMUA rescue squad scooped up the napkin rings before the garbage truck arrived at the warehouse.

The door prizes

• New Jersey Devils’ tickets donated by Atlantic Coast Fibers.

• A DVD player donated by Solway Paperboard, Inc.

• Marcal paper products donated by Marcal Paper Mills, Inc. 

• Glitzy decorative bottles made by Maria Dunko, Liz Sweedy’s aunt who lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

• A Littlearth “Recycled Road Journal” with NJ license plate covers.

• A Littlearth journal and address book with Pennsylvania license plate covers.  

• The paper is Georgia Pacific Proterra, 100% recycled paper with 80% post-consumer waste.  To see more Littlearth products, visit  www.littlearth.com. 

• Tote bags donated by the Morris County Library Foundation.

The cake

MCMUA Vice Chairman Herman (Hy) Nadel, a.k.a. the Cake Man, has once again created an edible work of art for a recycling awards dinner.  This year’s cake is the 13th that Hy has donated.  Please note that the three colors dominating the dinner invitation, program and cake are those traditionally associated with Mardi Gras:  gold, symbolizing power; green, symbolizing faith, and; purple, symbolizing justice.