NEWS

Outlook 2015: Sustainability initiatives in New Jersey

SUSAN BLOOM
Correspondent

Regardless of the particular slice of the sustainability arena they serve, New Jersey's many environmental organizations agree on one thing — that Jersey residents have demonstrated a growing appreciation for, and desire to protect, the state's natural resources.

Children learn the basics of planting and nutrition at Grow It Green’s Urban Farm, located at the Lafayette Learning Center in Morristown.

Five New Jersey-based environmental organizations share their perspective by reviewing accomplishments from last year, taking a look at growth plans for 2015 and providing their thoughts on the overall landscape for sustainability in the Garden State.

New Jersey Sierra Club

Though Jeff Tittel, director of the Trenton-based New Jersey Sierra Club (www.newjersey.sierraclub.org), feels that many moves by the state's current leadership have served to weaken New Jersey from an environmental perspective, he's encouraged by the decision to avoid the laying of pipeline through sections of the Pinelands and by residents' overwhelming referendum support of open space funding on last November's ballot.

"People truly support these ideals, as reflected by increases in recycling activity, purchases of green products, demand for electric vehicles and more. People are seeing the positives there and we see the energy in the public," said Tittel, whose member-supported environmental organization, which works to influence public policy at both the state and national level through public education and grassroots political action, helped organize the attendance of 5,000 Jerseyans at the 400,000-strong People's Climate March in front of the United Nations last September.

Looking ahead, Tittel said, "we're determining what the environment will look like post-Christie, but we're very optimistic for the future and feel we're at a point where we'll see a greener tomorrow."

Residents of Summit, a Sustainable Jersey Silver-Certified Town, participate in an Earth Day Clean-Up event last spring.

Sustainable Jersey

For Ewing-based Sustainable Jersey (www.sustainablejersey.com), last year was strong and the coming year promises more success. The organization, founded in 2009, offers a certification program that helps support and recognize communities that pursue sustainability programs

"Sustainable Jersey had an exceptionally active 2014, with the creation of new programs, a strengthening of our regional network and a significant increase in the number of towns that applied for and achieved Sustainable Jersey certification," said Donna Drewes, who co-directs Sustainable Jersey with colleague Randall Solomon. "Since 2009, we've committed nearly $1.6 million in small grants to over 225 community projects in 21 counties and 422 of New Jersey's 565 municipalities are currently participating in the sustainability certification program."

"In 2014, we launched Sustainable Jersey for Schools, which is a certification program designed specifically for the 2,492 public and charter schools and over 600 school districts in the state," Drewes said. "Our statewide initiative, the NJ Resiliency Network, was also introduced in 2014 and is now assisting communities with long-term resiliency planning. In addition," she said, "over 1,900 people participated in 55 free Sustainable Jersey workshops and trainings in 2014."

In addition to working with more towns and its first group of schools to achieve Sustainable Jersey certification in 2015, the organization is pleased to announce that, thanks to funding from the PSEG Foundation, $200,000 in new grant money is now available through the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program.

"We hope to increase the state's number of regional green team hubs in order to create a network of connected sustainability leaders collaborating on projects across New Jersey," Solomon said. "Our NJ Resiliency Network will also work to ensure that at least 25 percent of the state's coastal zone municipalities use resiliency tools and resources to understand and plan for the coastal flood hazards, risks and vulnerabilities facing their communities."

"In 2015, we'll continue to take stock and orient towards the future, taking steps to define a vision of sustainability and develop a system to track progress," Drewes said. "We believe this will lend intellectual rigor to our work, bring into focus the reasons why this activity matters and help inspire others to get involved in their community's sustainability initiatives and strive for 'gold level' certification."

Elliott Ruga, Senior Policy Analyst and Campaign Coordinator at the New Jersey Highlands Coalition in Boonton, participating in a rally with Roxbury’s REACT citizens group at the NJ DEP in Trenton last July.

New Jersey Highlands Coalition

Following an active 2014, Elliott Ruga, senior policy analyst and campaign coordinator at the New Jersey Highlands Coalition (www.njhighlandscoalition.org) in Boonton, said his team remains aggressively involved in several missions related to advocacy for the natural resources within New Jersey's Highlands region, which supplies water to more than half of the state's population.

Among the organization's key 2015 pursuits, "we'd like to see an investigation of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for their bungling of the 'Fenimore Landfill to Solar' Project that turned into an environmental catastrophe for the citizens of Roxbury and an expensive clean-up for New Jersey taxpayers," Ruga said.

"Within months, evidence of a too-hastily-thought-out project manifested itself in the clouds of hydrogen sulfide that engulfed nearby residential communities, closed schools and required the establishment of emergency respite centers. Some things went terribly wrong at Fenimore," he said, "and the citizens of Roxbury as well as New Jersey taxpayers need to know who's responsible, as well as receive assurances that this won't happen again."

The Early Street Community Garden plans to expand in 2015. The garden is run by Grow It Green Morristown.

Grow It Green Morristown

Launched in 2009 by three Morristown-area women who sought a way for residents to gather and grow their own food, "Grow It Green Morristown (www.growitgreenmorristown.org) builds community through shared outdoor spaces, food and education," said Executive Director Abby Gallo of the Morristown-based organization.

Among its major creations, Grow It Green's 'Early Street Community Garden' — a 50-plot space established on the site of a former junkyard that was remediated — garnered so much support that it will be undergoing a major expansion this year.

"Through our 'Grow Early Capital Campaign,' we hope to raise $200,000 to build a larger garden within a community park," she said. In addition, the organization's five-year-old Urban Farm, a one-acre site overseen by Farmer Shaun, welcomed over 3,000 students from local school districts in 2014, offering instruction on nutrition, plant science, livestock and growing food.

"Roughly 90 percent of what's grown there is planted by students and we also offer classes in gardening, composting and related topics for adults," Gallo said of the unique teaching farm, which donated nearly 1.7 tons of produce to such local organizations as the Community Soup Kitchen, Interfaith Food Pantry and Table of Hope in 2014.

"We're connecting people with the land and local food and helping them start their own gardens and grow their own food, and each year we've seen an increased interest in and demand for what we do," Gallo said. "Our own organization's growth reflects the climate of sustainability in the area and we're looking forward to a great 2015," she added. "We hope to bring more educational and hands-on programs to the community so that we can enable even more people to participate."

NJ Audubon members recently worked with children from Morristown Neighborhood House to help them connect with nature and explore Morristown’s streams, woods, and natural resources.

New Jersey Audubon

According to President and CEO Eric Stiles, the over century-old New Jersey Audubon (www.njaudubon.org), with headquarters in Harding and Bernardsville, is dedicated to connecting people to the beauty of nature through inspiring programs and to serving as a steward of the state's diverse habitat and wildlife via innovative practices.

"It's about building a movement with and empowering others," said Stiles, whose organization not only works with farmers and other providers but with over 160 schools in the state, as well as nature centers, YMCAs and other organizations "to get people excited about the outdoors and make it accessible for them to experience it in their own communities. We want to connect people to conservation on a local level and empower them as equal partners; it's not an elitist concept," he said.

As demonstrated by the growth in local food and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives, urban beekeeping, community gardens and much more, "there's a huge amount of support for these activities," said Stiles. "We expect 2015 to be a great year for New Jersey Audubon as we continue to build on this foundation and leverage the time, passion and talent of so many others."

"We're blessed in New Jersey to have a cadre of environmental organizations who don't do this solo but rather sing together in a choir, and the level of sophistication in New Jersey is high," said Stiles. "Locally, Morris and Somerset County have among the best county parks in the nation and support a progressive sustainability movement. We're excited and optimistic for the new year and 2015 looks incredibly bright."

Share your sustainability story; email eabreu@dailyrecord.com.

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