November 23, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 13 Wyckoff Local event garners 151 pounds of drugs by John Koster Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox and Detective Michael Musto reported that the police collected 151 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs for immediate destruction on Nov. 12, no questions asked, in a highly successful drive to keep residents safe from outdated or unwanted drugs. “We had a banner day,” Detective Musto said. Last spring, the Wyckoff police accepted 115 pounds of unwanted or outdated prescription drugs for destruction by the DEA, which the police considered an outstanding success. Chief Fox noted that the addresses perished in the bonfire along with the drugs, so no residents were monitored for what drugs they might have kept at home. Wyckoff officials noted that the tandem document shredding program was also a success. Residents who had documents to shred were invited to bring those papers to Wyckoff Town Hall and have them turned into pulp by a high-powered shredder. Wyckoff Township Administrator Robert Shannon reported last week that the municipality accepted and shredded 8,460 pounds of paper. “I think it was successful,” Shannon said of the event. Reports of the drug turn-in and the shredding operation came at the same meeting as the news that Wyckoff had won certification at the bronze level as a Sustainable New Jersey Community -- one of only 82 in the state. Wyckoff qualified by meeting a number of criteria. The township took an inventory energy audit for all municipal buildings including the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department’s three engine companies. A community outreach program was required, and Wyckoff’s annual Team Up to Tidy Up program, in which volunteers pick up stray litter and recyclable materials, fulfilled that requirement. A program at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School fulfilled the requirement for education for sustainability. The Wyckoff Township Committee carried out a required sustainable land use pledge this spring, and the police undertook an automobile engine idling education and enforcement program. An easement conservation and stewardship program to keep small slices of open land from being trashed or weed-infested was also noted, as was the community forestry program in association with the Wyckoff Shade Tree Commission. A tree maintenance program, the Nifty Fifty recycling program, a construction waste ordinance, and the The Wyckoff Police Department had 159 people drop off their medication and they collected a total of 151 lbs. It was 2 1/2 times their old record. recent community shredding program completed the roster of requirements.