SPOTLIGHT: Cassidy Cashion
Cassidy Cashion is a senior at Rumson Fair Haven High School and is a founding member of the Rumson Junior Green Team. She has experience as a Junior Beach Captain for Clean Ocean Action for the past two years, monitoring beach sweeps and attending educational meetings regarding the goals and progress for the organization. She also works as a hostess at Birravino and tutors. Next year, she will be attending Boston College where she will major in Economics and minor in Computer Science. Though she is not studying anything related to the environment, she currently takes a college level Environmental Science course, has created an Environmental Activism website, and plans to remain involved in environmentally based organizations.

KRISTEN ROLFES HALL: In 2020, you helped form the Rumson Junior Green Team. Tell me a little about why you thought this would be a good organization to have in our town.

CASSIDY CASHION: As I have become more environmentally conscious over the years due to my involvement in the Environmental Club at RFH and Clean Ocean Action, I have become much more aware of the environmental plights that our community faces. Especially with young adults, we are generally unaware of our practices which are damaging the environment, such as recycling incorrectly, idling, and failing to pick up after our pets. In recent years, I have become much more aware and concerned as I notice my friends, peers, and family members do these practices. The greatest obstacle, in my opinion, is a lack of education and awareness on the impacts of one’s actions. I think that the Rumson Junior Green Team is a great catalyst in promoting environmental awareness and sustainable practices as the young adults bring a new perspective in how to modify the behavior of locals to create a healthier environment.

K R H: Are there any projects or causes that are particularly important to you?

C C: I feel like an effective manner to approach creating a more sustainable community is introducing small changes to one's everyday behavior. For instance, imploring for one to convert to a vegan diet is not realistic, while encouraging one to consistently pick up after their pets is easily achievable. Moreover, I have learned from my mother how important it is to separate caps from plastic water bottles (used only when necessary) because otherwise they will not be recycled. For this reason, I have proposed an invention for the STEAM Challenge at RFH that we create a prototype to manually remove the cap of water bottles. My main motivation through these environmental plights that I am most drawn to is to raise awareness of minimal changes that one can make which will have significant positive impacts on the environment.

K R H: I understand that you have been working on the issue of pet waste and how it contributes to water quality? Tell me a little about why this is important to you.

C C: Yes, though it may not seem like it, you contribute to pointless pollution when you neglect to pick up your pet’s waste. For example, when you leave your pet waste on the road, lawn or curb, rain washes it into the storm drain which leads right to our rivers.

K R H: Why does it matter if pet waste gets into the rivers?

C C: According to the EPA, dog waste causes oxygen levels to decrease in our waters, increases the growth of algae and is a source of harmful bacteria such as fecal coliform and E. coli. When we do not pickup our pet’s waste, it is deposited into local water sources and accordingly contaminates the water. Not only is the idea of feces infested water a gruesome thought, but also the concentration of this bacteria in our water can prove to be outright dangerous and unhealthy for our bodies. In 2015, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection released results of a study (https://www.nj.gov/dep/bmw/reports/docs/ne2_ss.pdf ) that found the Navesink River was polluted with these bacteria and recommended a downgrade in the water quality rating of our river.

K R H: What does it mean that the water quality rating has been downgraded?

C C: Swimming in contaminated waters or eating shellfish harvested in these waters can cause numerous illnesses. Partially because of the waters being contaminated with animal waste, the NJDEP officially restricted a 565 acre section of the Navesink River bordering Red Bank and Fair Haven from shellfish harvesting in 2016. Therefore, neglecting your pets waste has proven malignant environmental impacts in our local watershed and has the ability to impact your health!

K R H: What can we do to help with this problem?

C C: Clean up after your pet and tell all your friends and family why it is important. Admittedly, I have left my dog’s waste when I was younger on multiple occasions… but now that I realize that the introduction of toxins into the environment causes them to cycle through the ecosystems, I feel obligated to be prepared to pick up after my dog every time I walk him. Though it is undesirable and feels like a chore, pick up after your pet and hold others accountable for it as well for the sake of the local water quality and your own health!

SPOTLIGHT: Madeline Barber
Madeline Barber is a senior at Trinity Hall High School and one of the most creative members of the Rumson Junior Green Team. In addition to finding inspired and inventive ways the municipality can help Rumson become more sustainable, Madeline pours her passion for environmental issues into all aspects of her life. She founded the Trinity Hall Environmental Club, advocates within her school to improve recycling practices, works hard to support the efforts of the Rumson Junior Green Team, and is an active volunteer for Clean Ocean Action. She has completed the Conservation Biology and Sustainability: Sustaining the Planet course at Columbia University, where she learned best practices for incorporating sustainability at the municipal and local school level. She brings her knowledge back to her community by speaking to the students and creating posters clarifying recycling guidelines, developing educational games and activities for children in the community such as the incredibly popular Environmental Bingo Games and Earth Day Scavenger Hunt, and being a familiar face a local environmental events and festivals. Next year, she will be running at Bucknell University where she plans to major in Environmental Studies and will continue working with sustainability focused organizations.

KRISTEN ROLFES HALL: In 2020, you joined the Rumson Junior Green Team and started helping with community engagement on sustainability issues. You created some really interesting games and activities (Earth Day Bingo & Earth Day Scavenger Hunt) for the younger kids in our community and you are an active volunteer for community events. Can you talk a little about why you think activities like this are important?

MADELINE BARBER: Eco-friendly activities, like the ones produced through the Rumson Junior Green Team, are so important to have the younger generation involved in. It is our responsibility to impart the knowledge of how to care for our earth to young kids, so that they can learn how to make a change in a positive direction. The first step to creating change is being knowledgeable on the topic. I think that by teaching the kids lessons in a fun way, like playing bingo or going on a scavenger hunt, they will want to continue caring for the environment. I hope that by giving them these activities, we can plant a seed of passion for the environment in their heads and they can share these lessons with their friends. I love seeing the younger kids have fun and learn how to be eco-conscious at the same time!

K R H: You founded and lead the Environmental Club at Trinity Hall, can you let us know what you have done at Trinity Hall to help raise awareness for environmental issues?

M B: Primarily, I love answering questions about the environment and how we can make changes for the better. I am always recommending plastic free products to my friends! Besides this, I have presented to Trinity Hall the importance of recycling and how we can properly recycle our waste. I have made posters that are hung above every trash can that tell you what you can and cannot recycle. In the Environmental Club, we are currently working on bottle bricks that will line the school garden. Bottle bricks are empty plastic water bottles filled with soft plastics that are packed tightly, in order to resemble a building brick. They will be holding in the dirt for the garden. I have also sent out Earth Day guides that have a range of tips and tricks for caring for our earth, which I am planning to do again this year! Most importantly, because we have been eating outside at Trinity Hall, the club has been cleaning up any trash left behind in the school yard.

K R H: If you could help change one behavior of people in the Two Rivers area that would lead to a healthier environment, what would it be and why?

M B: I think that one of the most important changes we need to make in the Two Rivers area would be the reduction of excessive plastic consumption. Plastic bags are a part of many people’s everyday lives, even though they are detrimental to our environment. In a landfill, plastic takes many years to decompose and release toxins into the air and ground once they do finally decompose. When plastic burns in the incinerator, which is used to turn waste into ash, harmful gases, like CO2 and BCPs are emitted into the environment. These emissions then trap heat in our atmosphere, which causes global heating. Additionally, plastic bags clog water drainage systems and can be mistaken for food by a variety of animals. To avoid these issues, it is important to not only dispose of the plastic correctly (recycling the right types and using local collection bins), but also to get to the root of the problem by totally eliminating it from our households. Some easy swaps for plastic-free products are silicone bags or tupperware, reusable grocery bags, bar shampoo, toothpaste tablets, bamboo toothbrushes and hairbrushes, etc. The list could go on and on! I hope that more people can become conscious about the impact of plastic on our environment and research some easy swaps for plastic to prevent this problem.

K R H: What are you hoping to study in college?

M B: I am hoping to study either Environmental Studies or Environmental Science in college!