Sustainability in the community

My name is Will Payne, and earlier this year I adopted the Little Free Garden (LFG) that Dan Waite previously had on Lawrence Avenue (thank you, Dan!) and installed it on North 2nd just north of Lincoln. The LFG is open for all kinds of botanical sharing, from tree saplings and plant cuttings to extra fruit and vegetables (including some of the massive crop of apples from our front yard tree this fall). One focus so far has been providing a place to share extra “volunteer” plants from our yard in need of a new home, especially those native to New Jersey and the region.

When I moved to Highland Park in 2020 from an apartment in Oakland, California with only a few balcony planters, I felt overwhelmed maintaining even a small yard, especially once I started to appreciate the amount of water, chemicals, time, and money it can take to keep up purely decorative lawns. In the years since, we have stopped spraying for mosquitoes and watering the grass, transitioned to electric yard tools, and installed a rain barrel (picked up at the Highland Park Earth Day Fair) to help water new plants before they’re established. We have gradually been shrinking lawn areas and planting native perennials in areas where we don’t need turf grass for recreation like the sidewalk boulevard (after preparing the soil with leaves and wood chip mulch collected for free via ChipDrop and local sources).

This effort has been inspired by national organizations helping wildlife-conscious gardeners like Homegrown National Park and Wild Ones, to state groups like the New Jersey Native Plant Society (which has a Highland Park chapter) and Jersey Yards, to Sustainable Highland Park and the Highland Park Native Plant Sanctuary on River Road. Rather than buy expensive mature plants that can suffer from transplant shock, I’ve used smaller landscape plugs and saplings purchased from smaller regional nurseries like The Pollen Nation, Wild Ridge Plants, My Backyard at Nectars, and Toadshade Wildflower Farm (in addition to native plant sales through Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension) or winter sown myself in plastic water jugs and aluminum lasagna trays.

I’m extremely happy to live in a town with a critical mass of people interested in sustainability, and without the heavy-handed HOA rules and municipal ordinances banning “weeds” that can make it hard for people to plant more nature-friendly gardens. Let’s keep Highland Park wild (and weird)!

I’ve recently started helping people interested in sustainable landscape design through a consultancy business. Feel free to reach out to bonesetdesigns@gmail.com.

SHP intends to join the international Repair Café organization. At Repair Cafés, people bring their damaged articles, such as clothes, jewelry, bicycles or small appliances, and skilled volunteers with tools help with the mending and fixing.

We are looking for volunteers to help make the SHP Repair Café initiative possible. Please contact John Caputo at johncaputo55@gmail.com for more information.

Also contact John if you would be interested in going together to the Repair Café in Summit – Sat, Sep. 27, 11 am – 3 pm, Christ Church, 561 Springfield Ave.

Mark Lesko has been running the cleanups twice a month for years and is looking for 2 dedicated volunteers to assist with setting up the check-in table, signing in volunteers, and breaking down the table/helping  load his car after each cleanup.  Cleanups are typically the 1st Saturday and 3rd Sunday from 10 am – 12 pm (9 – 11 am in the summer). He’s looking for one Sat. volunteer and one Sun. volunteer. You can also volunteer with a friend. The commitment is for a couple of hours each month. If interested, please email  highlandparksustainable@gmail.com.

You’ve got garden questions, we’ve got answers!

Reach out if you need help with:

• vegetable or fruit gardening
• tree care
• plant pests and diseases
• weed and insect ID and control

Email: mastergardeners@co.middlesex.nj.us or call 732-398-5220 with your name and town of residence. Include a detailed description of the problem in the email and any photos that would be helpful.

Our July Sustainability Spotlight is Mark Lesko, a 50 year Highland Park resident and member of SHP, who for for over 14 years has organized community clean-ups across town. Read more.

Have a resident, business, or organization you think should be featured for next month’s Sustainability Spotlight? Nominate them here.

Our June Sustainability Spotlight is Emma Shannon, a junior at Highland Park High School. Read more.

Have a resident, business, or organization you think should be featured for next month’s Sustainability Spotlight? Nominate them here.

We are heartbroken by the passing of our former Chair, Tina Weishaus. Tina dedicated her life to pushing the world toward justice with heart, persistence, and vision. She passed peacefully on May 28, 2025, surrounded by family. We honor her extraordinary legacy of sustainability, equity, and community. She will be deeply missed. Tina was honored by Sustainable Jersey as a Sustainability Hero for her impactful leadership with Sustainable Highland Park. Read the full piece here.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been awarded the Highland Park Park Partners Grant for our Raritan Avenue Rain Gardens Revitalization Project, submitted by Mark Lesko, Josephine O’Grady, and Chris Perez! This grant will help us restore the rain gardens’ ability to manage stormwater, add beautiful native plants, and create hands-on volunteer opportunities for our community. Thank you to everyone who supported this effort. We can’t wait to get started and share more!