Urban Park Rangers Participate In Recycling Training

Three Urban Park Rangers learn how to play the Recycling Game during January’s recycling training

On the morning of January 10, Central Park’s North Meadow Recreation Center was filled with chatter and excitement as 30 Urban Park Rangers from all five boroughs gathered for a recycling education and outreach training. The Sustainability Office organized the event and teamed up with GrowNYC’s Office of Recycling Outreach and Education (OROE) to offer a comprehensive recycling training. The Urban Park Rangers’ innumerable public environmental programs, which span nature centers to school classrooms, make them ideal ambassadors for spreading recycling awareness and tips.

Alyson Schill, the Events Coordinator at OROE, spearheaded the training. She gave a thorough presentation on the state of waste and recycling in New York City, ran through a refresher course of what items are recyclable, and talked about how Rangers can organize recycling at their own events. Sergeant Sunny Corrao appreciated the training and was surprised to learn some new rules about recycling. “A couple of Rangers, including myself, were amazed to learn that paper coffee cups are not able to be recycled in New York City due to the wax coating and liquids they hold,” she said. One of the most valuable components of the presentation was the hands-on recycling game instruction. Rangers were selected to role play recycling scenarios, taught how to engage the public with the Recycling Game, and learned how to play and carry out the Recycling Olympics with kids. A brief presentation by Director of Sustainability Initiatives David Barker at the end allowed Rangers to see the impact Parks recycling has had over the last year at events, as well as resources they can utilize to expand outreach and education.

Since the Rangers are interacting with the public on a daily basis, Corrao felt the entire training was useful for them to know what Parks is doing regarding public recycling. “It is important for Rangers to be well informed, so we can provide the public with the best and most up to date information,” she said.

Interested in volunteering to teach New Yorkers about recycling at Parks events? E-mail sustainableparks@parks.nyc.gov


Just days after attending the recycling training at Central Park’s North Meadow Recreation Center, Bronx Urban Park Ranger Adelaida “Deli” Duran-Ruiz was spotted recycling two large bags of materials in Van Cortlandt Park. Deli, who has been a New York City park ranger for 25 years, was excited to add a variety of recycling outreach games to her extensive environmental education tool kit. Deli’s passion for the environment is a product of her upbringing in Puerto Rico, where she often ventured into the woods. Working with the public first hand was the most appealing aspect of the ranger position to Deli and she is committed to passing on her recycling knowledge and ethics to future generations.

“There is too much trash as it is,” said Deli. “I would like to do my part in preserving the natural resources we have, in whatever capacity I can, by reusing instead of over-consuming. By recycling, we can reduce waste and that is an important lesson to impart to children because, as the future generation, resource preservation applies significantly to them.”

Her enthusiasm for the job and environmental knowledge are infectious to her peers too. Ranger Bill, who spotted Deli recycling at Van Cortlandt Park, considers himself fortunate to work with such a talented Ranger. “As a new employee, I consider myself a mentee of all full-time rangers, but being invited to learn from Deli’s example has had a special significant because she leads by such wisdom”.

Interested in meeting Ranger Deli? You can often find her leading the Birding Program at the Van Cortlandt Park Nature Center the first Saturday of every month at 8:00 a.m.

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