Sustainability in Action

Egg Harbor City is protecting its tree canopy and educating its residents on the benefits of trees. Led by its green team, SustainableEHC (Egg Harbor City), the city has organized and funded a number of model tree projects. Lincoln Park, located in the heart of the city, now has signage that identifies and teaches residents about its large trees.

Egg Harbor Councilwoman and SustainableEHC Chair Nanette LoBiondo Galloway explained, “I went to Lincoln Park and was mesmerized by the soaring trees, many of which are about to be 100-years old, and I immediately thought residents should be able to identify them and learn more about their best habitats.” This project spotlights various tree species and provides a real-life example of a tree variety residents may want to plant at home. This is important because SustainableEHC also encourages its residents to plant new trees and the green team even created a brochure for guidance: Tree Planting in Egg Harbor City.

The small town has accomplished a lot with an extremely limited budget thanks to the addition of funding through grants. Egg Harbor City has received two $30,000 New Jersey Urban & Community Forestry Program grants to plant new trees on public property. The first grant awarded in 2016 replaced 109 trees lost in the freak derecho storm of July 2012, and the most recent grant was used to plant 67 new street trees in November 2022. The green team has also secured three grants through the Atlantic City Electric Sustainable Communities Grant Program that is administered by Sustainable Jersey; these grants include: 1) $5,000 to fund a nature trail and restoration projects at City Lake Park (2022), 2) $5,000 to fund the tree signage project in Lincoln Park (2021) and 3) $10,000 to shore up the bulkhead at City Lake Park (2020). Visit the Sustainable Communities grants page in April 2023 for information about the next funding cycle. Egg Harbor City is a Sustainable Jersey Bronze certified municipality and its mayor, Mayor Lisa Jiampetti, is a new member of the Sustainable Jersey Board of Trustees.

In 2021, Woodbridge Township formed a Health Task Force to conduct a comprehensive review and develop an action plan for the health needs of the community. The task force members represent a cross-section of the community, including participants from the Mayor’s office, the Division of Engineering, the Woodbridge Department of Health and Human Services, Healthier Middlesex, medical institutions, the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign Committee, the high school, the Municipal Council, and more. This Health Task Force collected information through public surveys, data procurement and in-person outreach at events.

Using the data collected, Woodbridge created a Local Health Assessment Plan that now guides strategic planning for health within the community. Public feedback helped the Task Force shape the plan recommendations. For example, residents stressed the importance of preventative care, which resulted in a recommendation to prioritize mobile health units for the community. Woodbridge Township Chief of Staff Caroline Ehrlich served on the Health Task Force. She explained, “The results have been outstanding and have already ignited new resources and procedures for policy and programming tied to mental health, persons without insurance, equitable mobility, and tobacco points of sale enforcement. The Health Task Force's action plan was approved by the local board of health and the governing body. We look forward to continuing to grow the developments from this Task Force well into the future for the sustained growth and wellness of our community.”

Ehrlich has served on the Sustainable Jersey Board Trustees for 10 years and has been instrumental in Woodbridge Township’s achievements in the Sustainable Jersey program. Woodbridge Township has received the Sustainability Champion award 13 times. In addition, Woodbridge received a Sustainable Jersey Gold Star in Energy, a Gold Star in Water and Gold Star in Health. The Sustainable Jersey Local Health Assessment and Action Plan action is a requirement for the Sustainable Jersey Gold Star in Health.

Over 140 middle and high school teachers, supervisors and administrators attended one of two professional development days offered to review the new climate change education student learning standards, share strategies for integrating climate change education into the classroom and encourage students to take action on climate change. The in-person professional development days were held at Rowan University on January 10, 2023, and at The College of New Jersey on January 18, 2023.

The agenda included a presentation on climate change and the impacts in New Jersey; a teacher panel discussion on how New Jersey teachers are integrating climate change into their classrooms; break-out group discussions and more. The professional development days were part of the New Jersey Student Climate Challenge which is open to public school students in grades 6 to 12. Under a teacher's mentorship, student teams complete a school or community project and submit a video about the project. The Climate Challenge submissions for the current challenge are due on April 21, 2023. The New Jersey Student Climate Challenge is an educational initiative administered by Sustainable Jersey and the Drumthwacket Foundation. It is made possible through the generous support of Atlantic City Electric and Exelon. To learn more: bit.ly/NJStudentClimateChallenge.

The Westfield Green Team was determined to tackle the problem of takeout waste. Not sure where to begin, the group started with research. They surveyed residents to understand how often they were ordering food for takeout and to gauge their interest in using reusable containers. The results showed that respondents ordered food between 1 to 3 times a week. Because most takeout containers are non-recyclable and not biodegradable, that meant a lot of food packaging was being thrown out each week.

With the help of a Sustainable Jersey grant funded by the PSEG Foundation, the Westfield Green Team purchased 500 reusable containers to use in a pilot program. “We wanted to displace single-use packaging and replace it with reusable containers that are easy to receive and easy to return,” said Westfield Green Team member Catherine Hirschman Choudhry. “We were also hoping that by doing a small pilot, it would show other restaurants that customers want reusable containers and that it makes sense for a business to offer them.”

The green team partnered with Wonder to pilot a reusable takeout container weekend in which French fries were delivered in the reusable takeout containers. Stickers with a QR code were placed on the containers directing customers to a website where they could learn more about the program as well as information on where to drop off the cleaned containers. Wonder joined the green team at their Live Greener Fair and spoke to residents about the pilot. The pilot covered all of Wonder’s territories (12+ communities) who were asked to help promote the pilot and identify drop off locations. Several communities have reached out to work with the Westfield Green Team on a regional program for reusable containers. The Town of Westfield is certified with Sustainable Jersey at the silver-level and was named the Sustainable Jersey Rookie of the Year in 2020.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) launched the New Jersey Community Solar Project Finder in February 2023. This online tool allows New Jersey residents to search by zip code for community solar projects serving their community. NJBPU is partnering with Sustainable Jersey on this initiative. The tool includes an overview of community solar and frequently asked questions.

New Jersey’s Community Solar Program allows those who rent, lack control of their roof, live in an apartment or multi-family building, or cannot afford the cost of a solar installation to benefit from the cost savings and reduced carbon footprint of solar power. To date, there are 24 community solar projects that have come online and are in operation. Learn more about community solar: https://njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/programs/community-solar. Municipalities that support community solar can receive certification points under Sustainable Jersey’s Municipally Supported Community Solar action. Review the Community Solar: Sustainable Jersey How-To Guide to learn the multiple roles municipalities can take in supporting development of community solar projects.