Heavy lifting for Rocky Point litter patrol

John Howell
Posted 8/27/15

Armed with a plastic garbage bag and joined by her team members from the Warwick Neck Garden Club litter patrol, Judy Droitcour makes a good argument.

“If you’re going to have a park, you’re …

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Heavy lifting for Rocky Point litter patrol

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Armed with a plastic garbage bag and joined by her team members from the Warwick Neck Garden Club litter patrol, Judy Droitcour makes a good argument.

“If you’re going to have a park, you’re going to have trash,” she said Tuesday morning in the parking lot at the entrance of Rocky Point Park.

Her logic is straightforward – plan on having trash; plan on having the trash collected regularly; make it simple for people to dispose of their trash; and make them stewards of the property so that they take pride in a clean park.

That’s not happening now.

Droitcour, Susan Dzyacky, Rhonda Schmaker and Lois Graydon make up one of the garden club’s litter patrols. Over the summer, they arbitrarily expanded their route to include Rocky Point Avenue and the park parking lot.

What they found has them wondering what can be done to stem the litter and trash dumped at the doorstep to one of the state’s newest parks, but unquestionably the one that evokes more memories for Rhode Islanders than any other state park.

On Tuesday, they didn’t have to go far to find an example of how some people choose to treat what really belongs to them. Just beyond the gravel lot, they found a mound of discarded paper plates and cups, cans, bottles, rotting food in plastic bags and a large pickle jar that still contained pickles.

This was not someone casually tossing their empty ice coffee cup, but a deliberate dumping. One doesn’t know if the plastic trash barrels at the park entrance were full and hence there was no place to leave the garbage, or if they didn’t even have the respect for others and the park to carry it 70 feet.

But the Department of Environmental Management, which oversees the greater portion of Rocky Point – the city has 41 acres, and the state owns twice that – has no intention of making it easy for park visitors to get rid of their trash.

In fact, the state doesn’t have trash receptacles at state parks, according to Lisa Primiano, DEM’s deputy chief state land conservation.

Primiano said the policy is “carry in and carry out.” She said plastic bags are available at many parks so that people can pick up after themselves, or even do a bit of cleanup after others.

“It’s been extremely successful,” she said of the program.

The verdict on whether Rocky Point will have trash barrels hasn’t been reached yet. That decision will be made in concert with the city. For the exception of the large parking lot that once served the Palladium – which is used at events like the movie nights sponsored by the Central Rhode Island Chamber – park maintenance is performed by the city. Department of Public Works crews mow the grass and do the park cleanup.

Primiano said she is pleased by park activities this summer, saying that the chamber movie nights were fun family events. The chamber was also the sponsor of the Rocky Point 5K.

Primiano said park visitors could expect to see shortly two solar-powered composting toilets at the park. One will be installed in the area of the former amusement park pool, and the other two-thirds of the way down the park path.

Primiano said the units, costing about $50,000, are easy to maintain and “actually attractive, better looking than port-a-johns.”

As for longrange plans for the park, Primiano said DEM is in the process of seeking requests for proposals for development of a park master plan. A major issue, she said, will be whether the park should have some form of private development, what and how much. Some development, for example a restaurant, could offer park security and generate income to offset maintenance costs.

For members of the garden club who have made keeping the area clean, the immediate issue is creating awareness and getting people to leave the place clean and welcome for others.

“Let’s take pride in Rocky Point,” Droitcour said. “If no one sets the expectation to keep it clean, it’s not going to happen.”

Some of the suggestions included more attractive trash barrels, signage urging people to keep it clean, involving high school students in developing and carrying out an awareness campaign, and incentives for people who do pickup.

Comments

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  • RPFarm

    Even though the policy is to carry in and carry out your trash at RI State Parks, isn't there staff working at most of the parks who pick up after those who don't follow the rule? Rocky Point Park is a well attended park which does not have the staff neede to maintain it properly. If there is no intention to make it easy to get rid of your trash, it is going to end up on the ground! Pretty soon...it will no longer be a park. It will be a dump!

    Thursday, August 27, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    Rocky Point is an absolute jewel, and people are pigs. Discarded DD coffee cups and water bottles are the worst. Too many visitors take the RI oath: "Make it someone else's problem."

    Thursday, August 27, 2015 Report this

  • ds2357

    JS -please don't call it RI oath. It happens everywhere. I live in OB and believe me what you see on the beach is not from just from RI wouldn't you agree?

    Friday, August 28, 2015 Report this

  • JohnStark

    ds: Sorry, go to state parks in NH and Maine. Nobody tosses water bottles or coffee cups onto the trails. I kayak all over the Bay, and none of those floating water bottles around Prudence Island is from Maine.

    Friday, August 28, 2015 Report this

  • RIposter

    Why is it so hard for people to bring reusable water bottles and carry out their own trash? People also need to clean up after their pets too at all parks!

    Sunday, August 30, 2015 Report this