Mt. Kisco, No. Castle Volunteers Clean Up Shores of Byram Lake
About 20 Mount Kisco and North Castle residents collaborated Saturday morning to pick up garbage around Byram Lake, which serves as Mount Kisco’s water supply.
The small crew of volunteers, armed with gloves and large trash bags, picked up bottles, cans, wrappers, plastic bags and any other litter they could find during the first Restore Byram Lake Reservoir Watershed clean up.
Organized by North Castle resident John Halloran and the Village of Mount Kisco’s Byram Lake Committee, the volunteers split up into groups, with one starting at the north end of the lake closest to Mount Kisco and another at the south end. They left the bags along the roadside on Byram Lake Road to be picked up by local highway department crews.
Halloran, who grew up around the lake, said a few years ago he first noticed deplorable levels of garbage around the water body’s perimeter, in particular at various locations where access is easier for people to reach.
“Three years ago I took it upon myself to clean up an area around the lake after having seen the amount of litter and debris,” he said. “Three months ago I had visited the same area that I had cleaned and it was in a state of disaster. I was appalled by the condition and knew something had to be done.”
Halloran, a corporate affairs administrator at Nestle Waters North America in Stamford, Conn., was successful in having his employer sponsor the effort. The company, which bottles a variety of different types of drinking water, supports similar events throughout the United States as part of its Healthy Waterways Initiative, he said.
Mount Kisco resident Pamela Geismar said when she heard about the event it seemed like a worthwhile and important undertaking. Although her Byram Lake Road residence isn’t on the lake, she is familiar with the water and the area.
“For an hour of my time, it was worth it,” Geismar said.
Another Mount Kisco resident, Hank Freeman, participated in the clean up with his 13-year-old son Patrick. Freeman said that while some might assume that much of the lakeside trash would be generated by kids, he found a large amount of “adult litter,” such as beer bottles.
Halloran and Mount Kisco Trustee Peter Grunthal, who is a member of the Byram Lake Committee, said they are optimistic that future clean ups can be scheduled around the reservoir.
Halloran said the problem of debris around lakes and other water bodies cannot be solved only through cleanup efforts, but that recycling campaigns have to improve. In the United States, only 38 percent of PET plastic water bottles are disposed of properly, according to the National Association for PET Container Resources. Nestle Waters North America has set a goal of achieving a 60 percent recycling rate for PET plastic bottles in the U.S. by 2018.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
