Essex County Dog Park Turns 4.6 Tons of Plastic Waste Into New Pet Play Equipment

At South Mountain Dog Park, old plastic has found new life. Workers just finished installing play structures built from waste collected at local stores. The materials came from five ShopRite locations working with TerraCycle and county parks.

Workers turned trash into treasure at stores in five towns. They picked through chip wrappers, pet food sacks, and soap containers. The stuff most people throw away became raw material for new park features.

“We were the lovely benefactors of that equipment. It’s been installed and it’s available for the public to use now,” said Kate Hartwyk, deputy director of the Essex County Park System, according to NJ 1015.

Dogs now run and play on fresh obstacles between Maplewood and Millburn. They can dash up ramps, leap through rings, or cool off in shaded spots when tired.

At the summer launch, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. spoke per NJ 1015 about the green benefits. “I want to thank ShopRite and TerraCycle for donating the new equipment to our South Mountain Dog Park. We appreciate their interest in wanting to help out and choosing our dog park at the location to make a donation,” DiVincenzo said.

The park’s good name helped it win this gift. “When they Google-searched the best dog parks in northern New Jersey, our dog park came out in the top, so we were the lucky benefactors of this program,” Hartwyk said, according to NJ 1015.

This work keeps junk out of dumps while making pets happy. The team saved over 9,000 pounds of hard-to-process items from the trash heap.

Success here could spark more green team-ups. With five other dog spots in Essex County’s care, similar projects might pop up soon.

Want to check it out? The park welcomes visitors and their four-legged friends all week long.

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