Bronx River Alliance

Trash can travel from our streets to the Bronx River—and all the way to the ocean. You can help stop it. 💧

Floating trash pollutes waterways and harms wildlife. Trash booms help catch it before it travels farther, reducing the debris that can reach Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.

These floating barriers capture trash at the water’s surface, while an underwater skirt catches debris just below. A weighted chain keeps the skirt in position, with space underneath for aquatic life to pass through.

There are four trash booms along the Bronx River: in White Plains, Tuckahoe, Muskrat Cove, and Concrete Plant Park.

At Concrete Plant Park, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection manages the boom and routinely removes captured trash using a skimmer vessel—a specialized boat that collects plastic waste and other debris with equipment such as conveyor belts and nets.

You can help keep trash from reaching the river in the first place:

🗑️ Secure your trash so loose items can’t blow or wash away.
🥤 Choose reusable cups, bottles, and containers whenever possible.
🤝 Join a local cleanup to help remove litter before it travels downstream.

Visit Concrete Plant Park to see the trash boom in person, and share this video to help more neighbors take action. Every piece kept out of the river matters.

About 60% of the trash we collected from the Bronx River this year was Styrofoam. You can help change that. 💧

Lightweight and easily carried by wind and rain, polystyrene foam—commonly called Styrofoam—can reach the Bronx River, Long Island Sound, and the ocean. It breaks apart into microplastics that pollute the water and harm wildlife.

NYC’s foam ban took effect on January 1, 2019. Stores and food vendors cannot offer, sell, or possess single-use foam clamshell containers, cups, plates, bowls, trays, or coolers. Selling foam packing peanuts is also prohibited.

Exceptions include food containers filled and sealed before reaching the business; containers for raw meat, poultry, fish, or seafood sold from butcher cases or similar displays; and protective foam blocks used in shipping.

Take action to help protect our river:

🗑️ Secure loose foam in a tightly tied trash bag so it can’t blow away.

🥤 Choose reusable cups and containers when possible, and ask businesses for alternatives to foam.

📞 Report suspected violations to 311. Provide the business name, location, and type of product. Businesses violating the ban can face fines.

Share this post to help spread the word. To learn more, visit: https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01373

The Bag Waste Reduction Act took effect on March 1, 2020, and enforcement began on October 19, 2020. The law prohibits anyone required to collect New York State sales tax from distributing plastic carryout bags.⁠
⁠
This was a major breakthrough for the environmental movement. Before the ban, more than 23 billion plastic bags were used throughout New York State each year, polluting our parks, neighborhoods, and waterways. Plastic bags can harm wildlife through entanglement and ingestion, and degrade the natural beauty of our local environment.⁠
⁠
Six years after the ban, however, we are still seeing plastic bags polluting our waterways. One reason is that the law includes several exemptions, including plastic bags used by restaurants for takeout orders, bags provided by pharmacies for prescription drugs, and bags used for bulk produce and deli items.⁠
⁠
Do your part by remembering to bring a reusable bag when you shop. You can also file a complaint with the Department of Environmental Conservation if you see a business distributing plastic carryout bags in violation of the law.⁠
⁠
Want to learn more about the Bag Waste Reduction Act? Visit: https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/recycling-composting/bag-waste-reduction-law
⁠