Sustainable Jersey Certification Report

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This is the Sustainable Jersey Certification Report of Watchung Boro, a Sustainable Jersey bronze certified applicant.

Watchung Boro was certified on October 09, 2014 with 195 points. Listed below is information regarding Watchung Boro’s Sustainable Jersey efforts and materials associated with the applicant’s certified actions.

Contact Information

The designated Sustainable Jersey contact for Watchung Boro is:

Name:William Hance
Title/Position:Chief Financial Officer / Finance
Address:15 Mountain Boulevard
Watchung, NJ 07069
Phone:908-756-0080 ext. 216

Actions Implemented

Each approved action and supporting documentation for which Watchung Boro was approved for in 2014 appears below. Note: Standards for the actions below may have changed and the documentation listed may no longer satisfy requirements for that action.

  • Community Partnership & Outreach

    Create Green Team

    10 Points
    Bronze Required Silver Required

    Program Summary: The Borough "Energy Team" was changed to the "Green Team" with the given task of obtaining Sustainable Jersey certification for Watchung in 2012. Attached is the most recent resolution showing the Team members. Each member has a one year term. Please find attached the most recent solution showing the Green Team members and also Agendas and Minutes from 2 of our 3 meetings. Please let us know if any additional information is required for approval. Thank you

    Green Fair

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough of Watchung got together with four other towns and held a GrEEn Day on October 17, 2009. There was a contest to design the logo for the event which was won by Warren Township resident Alexa Nelson. The event promoted conservation, sustainability and recycling. We held another Green Day on June 15, 2013 Where we collected 40 pounds of foam and a truck load of scrap metal. The local Stop & Shop donated 100 reusable shopping bags which we handed out along with some recycling and composting information. Over 300 people attended the event. The surrounding town of Warren held Green Fairs April 27,2013 and April 26,2014 and was made open to Watchung Residents. The Borough posted this information on our website and sent out a resident email. The Watchung Garden Club also had a booth set up and had commercial shredders available for residents.

    Community Education & Outreach

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The attached is an example of the campaign flyers the Borough of Watchung distributes to educate the community on conservation. The information is distributed in the Borough newsletter that the Borough mails to all residents in April and September, through our resident email mailing list at the same time, on our local public access channel daily, and on the environmental commission website: www.watchungnj.com/environmental_commission.htm. The newsletters can be viewed on the "Newsletters" tab on the Watchung website, www.watchungnj.com. The annual expenditures for these campaigns are under $1,000. We are uploading a print out of our website that has links to these flyers Environmental flyers. Unfortunately, I do not think they have dates printed or accessible. We also have attachments to show pictures of bulletins we keep housed in every department that has information on recycling events, prescription disposal, and other environmental publications. Attached you will also find our town newsletter that contains information on programs such as storm water management clean water, fertilizers, pet waste, bulk-pick up (non-mandated recycling), our Queen of the Sun event and our Mulch project(Borough recycling trees into mulch and offered to residents for free, and Municipal Shred Dates. You will find a print out of our Borough website, www.watchungnj.gov, in which we advertise shred events, our mulch program, recycling events, DEP tips on bear encounters, etc. We have also attached Facebook screen shots on events/efforts made for sustainability.

  • Food

    Community Gardens

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Girl Scouts in conjunction with the Garden Club received permission from the Borough's Library to plant a community garden. The garden was planted by a third grade troop in front of the library with plants such as: lettuce, tomatoes and corn. The harvest will be donated to the Food Bank Network of Somerset County. This action directly involved a committee of the Borough-The Garden Club and received support from the Borough. The Borough is donating a rain barrel to the library so they will be able to properly care for the garden. We have attached a picture of the garden for your review which also shows that this action was promoted through Facebook to make residents aware.

    Farmers Markets

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough has planned a seasonal fall farmer's market that we are waiting approval from Mayor and Council. We have approximately 10 vendors lined up that offer local produce and products. This market will be advertised by Borough website, signs, fb and local advertising. I have attached the proposed guidelines. We will know by 8/22 if this is approved, and if approved the first market will be held on 9/14/2014.

  • Natural Resources

    Environmental Commission

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Environmental Commission meets on a monthly basis. There is also a member of the Environmental Commission on the Green Team. The Commission was involved in a styrofoam recycling day and a recycling / scrap metal in 2012. They also assisted the Borough in obtaining a grant to purchase rain barrels for the Borough buildings. The members are: Jean Forlano, Lynn Franklin, William Nehls,Pamela Lewis, Donald Pote, Karen Pennett, Andrea Stout, and James Stout.

    Tree Protection Ordinance

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough published and adopted a Tree Preservation Ordinance No 11/14 which requires residents to comply with rules and regulations regarding tree removal and destruction as uncontrolled and excessive destruction and cutting of trees will result in increased drainage problems, soil erosion, and decreased fertility of soil. This ordinance is posted on our website www.watchungnj.gov and is enforced by our engineering department and is continuously reviewed and amended.This ordinance's publishing and adoption was posted in the local paper, The Echoes. We have attached a copy for your review.

  • Operations & Maintenance

    Adopt a Green Purchasing Policy by Resolution *Retired 12/31/23*

    5 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough adopted the green purchasing resolution. The purchasing agent put together the green purchasing policy handbook and instructed all department heads on the intent and procedures.

    Recycled Copy Paper

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough of Watchung has implemented a green purchasing policy and regularly purchases recycled copy paper.

  • Sustainability & Climate Planning

    Municipal Carbon Footprint

    10 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: The Borough of Watchung used the data collected during the energy audit to complete the municipal carbon footprint. We also used the recycling data collected in 2008 and 2009 to develop the footprint. Thank you for your review. Unfortunately we do not think we will be able to obtain the data for the therms used since we do not have our own treatment facility and the one we currently utilize does not itemize the therms used. We do have invoices in regards to the cost incurred with Water & Wastewater Treatment Facilities. The invoice is uploaded and its based on quarterly charged. Please let us know if you need any additional information to approve this action.

  • Waste Management

    Community Paper Shredding Day

    5 Points

    Program Summary: On June 16, 2012 the Borough of Watchung held a Shred Event in conjunction with the County of Somerset. 137 cars brought in 8,760 pounds of paper. On June 15, 2013 we held another Shred Event in conjunction with the County of Somerset. This year 310 cars brought 18,320 pounds of paper. We conducted the shred event in 2011 & 2012. Unfortunately, due to a collapsed rock from a rock wall which landed into our Police Department Parking lot, we were unable to host a shred event last year or this year. However, we have made an initiative to collaborate with Green Brook Twp. We have offered assistance in the form of volunteers. We have posted the Shred Event information on our website and also on our Facebook page. We also have contacted the county to see if we could have a shred drop off location which was rejected. Please see attachments and let us know if you need any additional information for approval. Also, we are in the works of locating an alternate site for next year's shred event. One additional note, our Garden Club did provide a commercial shredder for Watchung and Warren residents to utilize at the 2014 Warren Green Fair that took place on 4/26/14.

    Non-Mandated Materials Recycling

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Garden Club currently has a program where they collect bottle caps at the Library and Municipal Building, that are not able to be recycled through the County recycling system. The caps are then dropped off to Aveda, the cosmetic company, which then recycles the bottle caps for their corporation to utilize for cosmetic/beauty packaging. We have attached a copy of the Cap Collection Guide and a FB post notifying residents of the program. After Hurricane Sandy, many trees had fallen down on municipal property. The Borough recycles those trees and mulches the trees and offers the mulch to residents for free. We have attached a copy of the mulch program that was in our 2014 Spring Newsletter. Our website www.watchungnj.gov also has the mulch program posted on our home page under news. The Borough also currently recycles all ink cartridges and pairs with US Renewable which provides reports that highlight Watchung's aggressive electronic waste management program and achievements. Thorough its Commit to Zero program, the Borough of Watchung now uses an ISO 14001 zero landfill reclamation and recycling solution for small electronic waste. that actually tracks how much ink is recycled. Once the Borough attains a certain criteria of cartridges recycled, we receive a certificate. Please see the attached certificates that show the pounds/gallons of Landfill waste volume reduction, oil/petroleum preservation, petroleum preservation and C)2 emissions Reduction.

    Grass - Cut It and Leave It Program

    5 Points

    Program Summary: The Borough is encouraging Minimizing Waste Disposal: Grass Clippings Program. We have posted informational fact sheets on our Bulletins( Pictures of Bulletins were uploaded on Community Outreach Program) and also on Facebook. A link has been provided to the County Grass Clipping Program at http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS389. A copy of the Fact Sheet is also being posted on our webpage under Environmental Publications. A copy of the fact sheet that is being posted on the Bulletin and Website is attached. A copy of the FB post is also being attached.