Wondering what to do with that big gray box in the closet? Livingston’s Green Team will help you ditch your high-tech trash on Saturday. The Green Team’s Recycling and Reclamation Committee is sponsoring an electronics recycling and paper shredding event at the Livingston Senior/Community Center on Hillside Avenue from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers from the committee will be on hand to collect everything from computers to toasters. The volunteers will also collect household batteries and cell phones (to be donated to soldiers). Advanced Recovery, a company that collects electronics to recycle …

What if you could use a free natural resource to reduce your monthly water bills? You can!  People have been collecting rainwater to use during dry months for centuries. Historical records indicate that rain was collected in simple clay containers as far back as 2,000 years ago in Thailand. Now, with the rising price of municipal water and drought restrictions imposed in many areas during the summer, a growing number of homeowners are harvesting rainwater to save money and protect this vital resource.  On Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Senior/Community Center on Hillside Avenue, Dr. …

In a society that’s gotta have it, the problem becomes how to get rid of it. In Livingston, dedicated green volunteers are helping with an eco-savvy solution. Livingston’s Green Team will help you ditch your high-tech trash – old computers, VCRs, TVs and more -- this Saturday, June 11, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Livingston Senior/Community Center on Hillside Avenue. The Green Team expects to collect tons of high-tech trash at the township’s second electronic recycling and shedding event of 2011. TVs, computers and hard drives will be wrapped up and hauled to a Newark warehouse, where they …

Newark will see more green in the next year. That's a promise from Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. and state legislators who outlined plans for the creation of Essex County Riverfront Park in Newark's Ironbound. The officials made the announcement Friday at River Bank Park, while touting the 50th anniversary of the New Jersey Green Acres Program. The new park, which will line roughly 20 square miles along the banks of the Passaic River and Newark Bay, will be developed by both the county and the City of Newark. "We want to have passive, plus organized recreation. With all the …

It’s not easy being green, but Arlene Johnson wants us all to try. On Monday night, she’s the final “Green” Speaker in a West Orange series that brought together environmental leaders for discussions on lowering utility bills, saving energy, and understanding state environmental projects. Johnson will be sharing with the West Orange community the “Big and Little Things That Matter” when it comes to saving water. These include some of the programs that Livingston has begun, everything from giving out free rain gauges and having a rain barrel workshop, to building a rain garden at the library …

If your kid has a garden in his or her life, whether at school or in your backyard, you may already have a budding scientist, environmentalist or farmer on your hands. To encourage summer learning, here are some ideas on getting dirty with kids. Magical Bean Garden: Construct a sturdy tee-pee out of bamboo stakes and plant beans at the base of each pole. Scarlet runner beans are dark blue with streaks of purple. The green vines sprout vigorously, produce brilliant red flowers that attract hummingbirds and then yield eight-inch long beans. Pizza Garden: Plant a circular plot with six …

It was a day to celebrate trees and we can't think of a better way to do that than to spend some time chatting with Al Werner, Livingston's unofficial "Town Arborist." He's not the "official" arborist only because the title doesn't actually exist. He's been planting and tending to the trees in Livingston since 1978 and he plans to keep on doing it. As he has for the last five years, Werner had just planted a Kwanzan Cherry on the Oval. Chosen because of its popularity in Branch Brook Park, it joins a variety  of trees already in bloom.  As Werner gets talking about trees, it's clear that he …

It didn't take much to get around 60 kids to clean up the grounds at Hillside school (OK, it took the promise of an ice pop). In celebration of Earth Day, they put on plastic gloves, grabbed their trash bags and, accompanied by parents and teachers, took off in search of garbage. And they found it, filling numerous bags before going for the snacks. At Burnet Hill, the school's "Green Team" put on a celebration designed to educate. About 150 kids came through the gym, where they created art from recyled materials, learned about composting and enjoyed Doug Jay's musical performance. One of the …

“I’m gonna RESYKL!,” the first grader at Collins School had written. She didn’t know how to spell “recycle," but she knew what it meant and that doing it was good for the planet.  Earth Day festivities at Collins School were off to a great start as, on the blacktop, members of the PTA’s Environmental Committee helped the kindergarten, first, and second grade with various activities to remind them what Earth Day was all about.  This activity, pledging to do something daily to help our plant, had the kids proudly showing what they know. Some, like second grader Alexa, had a nonchalant attitude …

If you are a gardening neophyte but you’ve always had an urge to try it, why not start now? The best way to ensure that your produce is organic, is to grow it yourself.  Absolutely everything tastes better  picked fresh.  Taken from environmentalist and author Ellen LaConte’s "Life Rules," here are five things to help you get started: 1)  Start small.  You can make your garden grow larger each year.  If you take on too much, you might get overwhelmed.   A great way to start is with containers – either on a deck, porch, patio or even a sunny spot in your house.  Herbs grow very nicely this way…

Earth Day is more than exceptional when you spend it at one of the Horizon Schools in Livingston. For these students, Earth Day becomes a celebration not just of our planet but of those who experience it in a manner unlike others. Thanks to volunteers from various school systems, including Livingston, West Orange, Millburn, Rutherford, Springfield, Mountain Lakes, Randolph, and the Golda Och Academy (formerly the Solomon Schechter Day School), the Horizon kids were able to visit a number of stations to learn more about how to save the environment.  Teacher Robin Marlowe, who started …

Humans are the cause of all environmental issues, and we have the power to solve them. Here are things you can do to become a better environmental citizen. Feel free to post this on your fridge or bulletin board, and try to tackle one item every week. We can all do our part to sustain the Earth and make it a cleaner place. What YOU can do to be a more environmentally conscious citizen: General Consume less: Environmentalists agree that reducing is preferable to reusing and reusing is preferable to recycling.  Opt out of junk mail at www.dmachoice.org and  http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/…

Earth Day is Friday, April 22, which coincides with Spring Break for many families in Livingston.  For parents wanting to celebrate Earth Day in child-friendly ways, here are a few ideas to keep the kids busy while teaching them a thing or two about the planet.   1.  Take a Bike Hike!  Forget the car! You can run errands while having fun and getting exercise at the same time.  Some possible destinations:   The supermarket.  Don’t forget to bring reusable bags. A drop box.  Make a donation of something used that can be recycled, such as old cell phones, electronics or clothing. The Hardware …

Mother Nature wasn’t going to make it easy to be green on Saturday. But even with rain and wind whipping, hundreds of people decided to get back to nature at Essex County’s Earth Day Celebration. The Essex County Environmental Center hosted the Planet Earth celebration at its eco-friendly facility in Roseland. While many vendors wrapped themselves in blankets to keep warm, this sixth annual event still managed to provide plenty of opportunities to re-connect with nature through hands-on educational games and activities, canoe trips, bird walks, live nature-themed music, information booths, …

The kids at the Little Learners preschool must have had a lot of fun creating the pieces for the "Recycled Art Show." Made entirely of discarded materials, these are fun and imaginative pieces that makes you want to grab some stuff out of the recycle bin and make something of your own. From robots to mobiles to castles, they express their creativity and a lesson in green. Here are 5 ways you can join the Little Learners in expressing your inner green: 1. Crayons: Used crayons can spend eternity in a land fill. Did you know that there is a national crayon recycling program? This program takes …

When the Paper Mill Playhouse Associate Art Director puts on gloves and starts picking up dirty diapers in the parking lot, you know he and his team are serious when it comes to caring about their surroundings. Patrick Parker, along with 15 or so employees and one subscriber spent a few hours scouring the areas adjacent to the Playhouse for rubbish.  They cleaned up the brook, sidewalks and parking lots, filling heavy duty garbage bags and occasionally sharing their finds. Beer bottles (empty), wet blankets, sand bags, a garbage can lid and a bra were a few of the items hauled away.  In …

Remember the Mod Squad? Those hip crime solvers who made the Flower Children era a little safer? Flash forward 50 years and the Mod Squad is now the Rot Squad, eco-friendly garbage solvers who are making the world a little greener. Livingston’s own Rot Squad is out to arrest the amount of trash going into landfills. It's a huge number: 32 million pounds of garbage every day – and that’s just the stuff people throw away at home. The squad has a solution: Composting. The Rot Squad is succeeding in increasing the visibility and practice of backyard composting. Since the original composting …

Let me go on record as a frugal gardener who tries not to buy plants. Most of my plants came from somewhere else or from seeds I've grown. In order of preference, I like to: get free plants from friends, swap, grow from seeds, and then buy locally from gardeners to support a good cause. After that, I like to buy from local businesses and only then buy further afield. I like the serendipity of garden gifts. Even with a few garden seasons under my trowel, I'm still a new gardener. Every plant I get or give teaches me something new and strengthens friendships. When I do spend money, I pick …

The town is taking down the old house on Orchard Hill as plans for a working Colonia farm and orchid on Hillside Avenue move into the next phase of open space development in Livingston. Originally a farm and orchard dating back to the days of the American Revolution, the property today is a combination of cleared land and woods. This week, a company is demolishing the house on the property. Historical components are being preserved and reused. For example, the basement beams are over 200 years old and, with proper care, could be donated to a museum or historical society or sold for re-use. In…

In a society that’s gotta have it, the problem becomes how to get rid of it. In Livingston, dedicated green volunteers are helping with an eco-savvy solution. Last Sunday, the Green Team helped collect nearly 40 tons of high-tech trash at the township’s electronic recycling and shedding event. Stacks of TVs, computers and hard drives were wrapped up and hauled to a Newark warehouse, where they will be repaired, taken apart, or crushed to destroy any personal information. The discarded electronics are a byproduct of the digital age. Newer, faster and cheaper gadgets come on the market every …