Toms River residents can conserve water and – if everyone pitches in – benefit local charities at the same time.

Mayor Thomas Kelaher is joining mayors across the country in asking residents to make a commitment to conserve water and cut pollution by taking part in a national contest aimed at “drastically slashing water and energy use across the nation,” the township said in a statement.

The Wyland Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation, which started April 1 and runs through April 30th, is a non-profit national community service campaign. Toms River residents are asked to sign a pledge to reduce water and energy use and towns with the highest number of residents who make a commitment are entered in a contest to win hundreds of environmentally friendly prizes. The Wyland Foundation is giving away over $50,000 in prizes like an all-new 2018 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid to a deserving charity in your town and $5,000 toward your home utilities.

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“This contest challenges our residents to conserve water, save energy and reduce pollution by adopting water-saving habits such as taking shorter showers, running only full loads of dishes and laundry and fixing leaky water pipes,” said Kelaher.

Last year, residents from over 3,900 cities in all 50 U.S. states pledged to reduce their annual consumption of freshwater by 1.5 billion gallons, reduce waste sent to landfills by 47 million pounds, and prevent more than 141,000 pounds of hazardous waste from entering our watersheds.

Residents can take part in the National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation and make their pledges to reduce water consumption at mywaterpledge.com