Ridgewood students ask council to fund new trash and recycling bins at Veterans Field

Three Ridgewood High School seniors asked the Ridgewood Village Council on April 2 to fund and install new trash and recycling bins at Veterans Field, saying current receptacles are unevenly distributed, poorly secured and allow litter to blow out.

The students — Danielle Haas Hendricks and Esma (Esma/Esme) Hendrix, both seniors in the AP environmental science class at Ridgewood High School — told the council they surveyed the field, mapped existing cans and proposed adding paired trash and recycling bins at roughly 11 sites, including the bridge entrance and the parking lot. They showed photos of existing cans with holes and no lids and presented a preferred model the school uses that costs about $600 per unit.

The presentation matters because fields used by school teams and community groups often overflow and spread litter; the students said better, paired receptacles placed near entrances should increase proper disposal and make recycling clearer. "Some of them are poorly made and some of them are recycling bins. There might be one," Haas Hendricks said during the presentation, and she added that the group had already surveyed varsity, junior varsity and freshman athletes and met with the school facilities manager to pilot new bins at the football field.

Council members and staff responded with a mix of operational and logistical guidance. A council member offered to arrange a meeting with the parks supervisor, Matt Andrula, because parks picks up the field trash and can explain pickup schedules, weight limits tied to employee safety and where bins are intentionally placed. The council also asked the students to meet with recycling coordinator Sean Hamlin to discuss labeling and contamination — the council noted that recycling bins that contain food or film can contaminate whole loads and make them unrecyclable.

Damien Smith, who oversees facilities at the Board of Education, met with the students on the football-field pilot and supplied examples of sturdier can designs; the students said they had already started a pilot on the school football field with his help. The students also told the council a school-based grant was available but restricted to school campuses, so they were seeking the village’s endorsement or funding to expand the effort to Veterans Field.

Fields-committee members who had seen the presentation told the council the idea was well received and that sports groups indicated willingness to donate toward the project. A councilmember noted the village’s purchasing power could reduce unit costs if the village bought the cans for multiple sites.

Students said the preferred bin model would be purchased in pairs (trash and recycling) and that the $600 per unit price means their 11-site plan is subject to change based on council direction and fundraising. They offered to assemble the bins themselves if the village supplied the units, describing the installation as a one-time setup with little extra upkeep beyond current routines.

Next steps identified on the record included: (1) a meeting between the students and the parks supervisor to mark precise locations and review pickup schedules and OSHA-related weight limits; (2) consultation with the recycling coordinator on labeling to reduce contamination; and (3) follow-up with the fields committee to coordinate donations and prioritize placement. Council members also encouraged the students to provide contact information for further coordination and thanked them for the presentation.

Council members, staff and volunteers publicly praised the students for their initiative and said they expect further operational conversations — including whether the village will include the sites in a purchase process or pursue grants where eligible. No formal council vote or funding commitment on the Veterans Field plan was recorded in the transcript.

The students closed the presentation by thanking family and teammates and saying they would continue coordinating with school and village staff.

Ending

Council members said they would facilitate the technical and operational follow-up and that the project will proceed to department-level review; the council did not record a final funding vote during the April 2 workshop.