GreenWaySquad Turns Trash into Teaching

A team of high‑school juniors in Basking Ridge is turning everyday waste into lessons about climate change. They call themselves GreenWaySquad, a group that started in May 2024 and has already reached more than 1, 200 kids. The idea began with a love of art made from old clothes and other discarded items. The founder, who grew up turning junk into room décor, realized that art could also raise awareness about the planet. Now the squad runs workshops in local libraries and schools. Students cut up plastic bottles and other trash to create new pieces, showing how waste can be reused in creative ways.Besides hands‑on art, the group offers classroom talks at elementary schools like Liberty Corner and Cedar Hill. They also run a website tool called Wasteway that lets students follow the path of their trash from curb to landfill. The squad invites community members to add painted plastic pieces to shared canvases at events, making the projects feel collaborative. They are looking for new members and let people start their own chapters through the website. GreenWaySquad also produces videos, articles, and educational guides, hoping to make sustainability feel doable for children. They now have chapters in Belgium and India and plan to keep growing across New Jersey and beyond.