Farmingville, NY – –On August 18, Supervisor Ed Romaine and Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich announced the launch of the Town of Brookhaven’s “Pollution Preventer’s Passport” program during a press conference at West Meadow Beach in Stony Brook. The program, which was developed by the Town’s Youth Advisory Board, is designed to help residents explore the great outdoors and use the “Pollution Preventer’s Passport” to document the wildlife they observe, the litter they remove and list the environmentally friendly choices they made that day. After filling in as many pages as possible in the passport, it can be submitted to the Town of Brookhaven for a “Stamp of Stewardship.” Joining Supervisor Romaine and Councilmember Kornreich at the press conference was the Town of Brookhaven’s Environmental Educator, Nicole Pocchiare and members of the Town’s Youth Advisory Board, including Chairperson Charlotte Pressley, and Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen, who had the idea to create the “Pollution Preventer’s Passport” program. Prior to the press conference, the Town held a special teen clean up event to launch the program.
Supervisor Romaine said, “On behalf of the entire Town Board, I thank all the children who are cleaning the beach today for helping to make the Town look great through the ‘Pollution Preventer’s Program.’ The future is in your hands and after what I’ve seen today, I am more encouraged than ever. This is our community, and we need to keep it looking as nice as we can.”
Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich said, “Thank you to all those who helped in making our beach cleaner and safer today and a special thank you to Cayla and Iris who created the ‘Pollution Preventer’s Program.’ I’m impressed with the sophistication of this program and how interesting and engaging it is for kids. I look forward to seeing this run for many years to come.”
Pictured with the West Meadow beach clean-up volunteers are (left to right) co-founder of the “Pollution Preventer’s Passport” program, Cayla Rosenhagen; Town of Brookhaven Department of General Services Executive Assistant, Frank Petrignani; Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich and program co-founder, Iris Rosenhagen; Brookhaven Town Youth Board Chair Charlotte Pressley (third from right); Supervisor Ed Romaine (second from right) and Town of Brookhaven Environmental Educator, Nicole Pocchaire (right).
Residents who are interested in participating in the Town of Brookhaven’s “Pollution Prevention Passport” program can visit www.brookhavenny.gov/passport to download and print a copy of the “Pollution Prevention Passport” and find out more information about the program.
