The Lisle Park District is experiencing an increased frequency of illegal dumping within the parks in Green Trails. The refuse containers that are strategically placed throughout park district sites are provided as a convenience for park users to deposit trash generated through their use of the parks. However, park district staff have observed and emptied cans full of refrigerator cleanouts, household trash, shredded mail, cardboard boxes, landscape waste, and other items/materials that are clearly not generated from casual park use. In fact, just recently a can was so full of a park neighbor’s trash that staff required the use of a front-end loader to lift the can into the truck so it can be emptied.
Additionally, park district staff regularly removes landscape waste that park neighbors have brought from their own yards into the parks for park district personnel to remove. This often includes branches, leaves, mulch, perennial cutbacks, pumpkins, brick pavers, chunks of concrete, retaining wall debris, used tires, and more. This turns the routine task of emptying garbage cans or other park maintenance duties into a coordinated effort that consumes considerable time and energy. The park district trusts that most of residents agree that park district resources are much better allocated to enhancing the natural park experience than to disposing of residential garbage and landscape waste that has been deliberately brought into the parks and left behind.
While most parks in Green Trails have illegal dumping issues to an extent, Woodglenn, Carriage Hill, Aspen, Timber, Coach House, and Sun Valley parks have received the bulk of this recent abuse. As one of your neighbors, the park district respectfully asks for your help in curbing this behavior by keeping your eyes and ears open. If residents observe anyone performing the above reported activities, please take note of the offender and their residence and notify the Lisle Park District. We will not reveal our informant and to the extent possible, we will confront the individual(s) responsible. If needed, we will also involve the Lisle Police Department, as this activity is in violation of Section 2.14 of the Lisle Park District Conduct Ordinance. It is our hope that with more eyes and ears on the parks this activity will cease.
Lisle Park District genuinely appreciates their ongoing partnership with Green Trails in providing the cleanest and safest parks possible and in allocating your resources wisely.