Despite the preconceived notion, the Earth is not an infinite resource.
On April 29, Bayonet Farm served as the host for the 20th annual Holmdel Earth Day Festival.
The event, which was held at 41 Middletown Road in Holmdel, featured live bands, rescue animals, children shows, guided tours and environmental informational stations.
“It’s really important to increase awareness and not take the Earth for granted. If we don’t take care of the Earth, we are really hurting ourselves,” Sabrina Conlan said.
Conlan is a member of the Holmdel Green Team, which is a volunteer committee with an effort aimed toward preserving the resources offered by nature.
“Right now, we are kind of going backwards,” Conlan said. “We’re reducing our laws, and we have so much pollution that is harmful to animals and to people.”
Conlan said the Holmdel Green Team had a necessary presence at the Earth Day festival. She said their goal was to increase individual awareness in regards to environmental sustainment.
Similarly, Tom Matulewicz, a Rutgers master gardener, offered individuals of the public information pertaining to food composition. He said composting reduces the amount of trash that enters landfills.
“Composting is nothing more than taking our food waste and turning it into a beautiful soil,” Matulewicz said.
To create a compost, Matulewicz suggested combining fruit peels with carbon, or as he referred to the resource, dead materials. An even mix of “green” and “brown” materials are confined to an airtight container. The “ingredients” will then break down to form a nutrient-dense soil.
Matulewicz said the composition process could take up to four to six weeks.
“If we don’t compost, all that stuff that we could compost is going out to the landfill,” Matulewicz said.
Matulewicz said the Monmouth County landfill is almost full. He said once the landfill does begin to see capacity, trash materials will need to be distributed elsewhere.
“This really is a healthy additive to gardening.There are many things that we can do today to make a big impact on how we live. We can really make an impact immediately by making a few changes in the way we operate each day,” Matulewicz said.
Scott Goldstein, president of Citizens For Informed Land Use (CILU), said Holmdel is in the midst of halting an industrial construction project he said could alter the water and air quality in central New Jersey.
CILU is a Holmdel-based organization, which promotes informed and thoughtful land use decisions, according to Goldstein.
New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) is seeking variances to construct a proposed regulator station, access and utilities that will be located on a 16.51-acre site on Holmdel Road, according to the township.
NJNG is a statewide supplier of natural gas. NJNG serves more than 525,000 customers in Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Middlesex and Burlington counties, according to the company.
The development of a regulator station would pose a danger to the health and safety of residents, according to Goldstein. The proposed permanent fixture will sit 1.5 miles from schools and water used for consumption. The industrial regulator station has been named “the first of it’s kind,” and will emit toxins 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the CILU.
Goldstein said the proposed station already has been shot down by the Holmdel Zoning Board. The applicant is now presenting the proposed development to be built on a neighboring property.
“If there is a problem with the station” Goldstein said, “it will pollute the local water that runs into the watershed.”
Goldstein said, Holmdel is a critical link in the state watershed. He said, 300,000 New Jersey residents obtain their water from Holmdel.
“If we don’t stop it now, there is nothing we can do after that is built,” Goldstein said.
For a second time, residents and members of the CILU are prepared to stand before the zoning board. Goldstein said their goal is to eradicate the proposal for development on the scenic byway.