Sustainability in Action

Although surrounded by farms, Trenton is considered a food desert. The city only has three grocery stores—and most Trenton residents do not live within half a mile of them. Residents must either find transportation–often requiring multiple bus routes–or shop at local corner stores lacking fresh produce and other nutritious options. In response to the problem, the Trenton Health Team, an innovative non-profit collaboration, convened a working group of 50+ organizations called the Trenton Food Stakeholders. Co-facilitated by Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County, the group is working together to improve the regional food system. As a result of this collaboration, the Trenton Health Team launched the Mercer County Free Food Finder App to help community members find free food resources. Matthew Broad, senior program manager for Trenton Health Team and a co-chair of the Trenton Food Stakeholders, explained, “It's an app to help folks find the food they need, in the neighborhood in which they live, at a day and time in which they can access the resources.” The app lists food pantries and meal distribution sites serving children, families, seniors and adults. The Trenton Food Stakeholders included representatives from the City of Trenton’s Department of Health and Human Services, Rider University, Hunger Free NJ, a local family farm, a small regional food distributor, Mercer Street Friends (the food bank for Mercer County), food pantries and organizations that provide regular and emergency food services for different populations, such as HomeFront, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and the YMCA. The number of people using the app has demonstrated its value with over 150 people using the app each month. The City of Trenton, a silver-level Sustainable Jersey certified municipality, received 10 certification points for this collaboration with the Sustainable Jersey action: Community Food Pantry/Bank & Soup Kitchen.

Readington Township has a long history of protecting and restoring the municipality’s natural resources. This year the township distinguished itself as a leader again with the development of the 2022 Readington Township Municipal Water Story. The document summarizes Readington’s current strategy for preserving and protecting the freshwater supply and embracing the goal of clean water for future generations. Recognizing the critical significance of water-based initiatives to every one of Readington’s sustainability goals, the township decided in 2021, to establish an advisory committee focused on clean water preservation and related sustainability issues. Named the Readington WaterWatch (RWW), the committee collected and organized all of Readington’s water-related initiatives under one umbrella and took the lead in preparing the Water Story. The municipal commitments include a focus on creating and implementing projects that engage and recognize citizen and business participation in water stewardship processes and activities. Among these are a variety of efforts to develop students as the next generation of water stewards. The Readington School District, in collaboration with RWW, has achieved silver-level Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification in all of their schools. The Readington Township Environmental Commission and the Readington Township Open Space Advisory Board also help drive Readington’s clean water initiatives. In November 2022, Readington Township received a Sustainable Jersey Gold Star in Water. The Gold Star in Water identifies specific actions and levels of performance for municipalities to achieve improvements in source water protection as well as water quality, quantity and use. Readington Township completed the Sustainable Jersey actions: Municipal Water Story and Natural Resources Inventory. Readington Township was certified at the silver-level and is one of only two municipalities in New Jersey to achieve the Gold Star in Water.

Located on the blacktop behind Veterans Memorial Family School is a long row of container pots that have provided the nearly 500 students, in grades pre-K-8 school, a taste of fresh tomatoes, peppers, kale, broccoli, peas and the opportunity to learn how to grow their own healthy food. This is important because Camden is a designated food desert with only one supermarket available to feed its 70,000+ residents. Three teachers at Veterans Memorial Family School have planned, funded and labored, often long after the school bell, to grow a school garden that is broadening students’ horizons about what is possible for health and food in the community. Shannon Ratajski, Denise Kaeferle and Hang Tran, with the help of the East Camden community, support an impressive gardening program that includes an indoor grow lab and hydroponic garden and outdoor container gardens with rain barrels, a pollinator garden and composting. This past year, the garden grew vegetables, herbs and raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, strawberry and grape plants. They even have dwarf apple and cherry trees. Shannon Ratajski, a teacher for over 20 years and leader of Veterans Memorial Family School’s Green Team said, “Our gardens don’t just grow food, they nurture pride and the ability of our students to imagine a better future.” 

The pre-K students begin the plants indoors in the aeroponics garden grow lab and transplant the plants into the garden box or potted containers outdoors. The Garden Club, with 6th, 7th and 8th grade students, is responsible for growing, maintaining, harvesting and distributing the produce from the garden. With over 32 years of teaching experience, Denise Kaeferle has spent the last 10 years as a kindergarten teacher at the Veterans Memorial Family School. She said, “I didn’t become a teacher for the money. I did it because I wanted to make a difference. This garden project and the community spirit at our school has rejuvenated my passion for teaching. It has been an amazing experience for me in addition to the students.” Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an important focus at the school. Kaeferle added, “We did an exit survey of the students who participated in the Garden Club. They said each day after they left the garden, they felt relaxed and happy. Working in the soil and seeing the results has had a transformative benefit beyond the classroom.” Using the excess produce harvested in the summer, Shannon Ratajski prepared sweet pineapple habanero, blueberry maple habanero and cherry bomb chipotle hot sauce for the school staff on the first day of school.

As the garden’s bounty has grown, the school has donated fruit and vegetables to the local food pantry in addition to the school’s families. Ratajski said she is excited about the poinsettia plants that the students grew from seed. The plants will soon be sold at a holiday fundraiser. She said, “The garden is a gift that keeps on giving. It’s December and we are still harvesting lettuce and kale.”  To learn more about the garden, follow the school’s social media: Facebook; Twitter. Kaeferle includes frequent posts during growing season about the garden. The Veterans Memorial Family School Garden was launched with support from a $10,000 Sustainable Jersey for Schools grant funded by the New Jersey Education Association. Veterans Memorial Family School achieved Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification in 2022. The garden program earned the school 20 certification points for the action School Gardens. 

In October 2022, Penns Grove High School officially celebrated the opening of its innovative aquaponics lab. Located in the greenhouse behind the high school, the lab combines both aquaculture and agriculture production in one unit. The system has the capacity to produce over 100 different vegetables 19 times a year and raise over 200 food grade fish four times a year. Dr. Zenaida Cobian, superintendent of Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional School District, said that “the aquaponics lab incorporates another level of knowledge for our students on the production of plants in their school. This allows students to apply what they have learned to recreate a similar environment in their homes. They will be cognizant of the importance of protecting our natural resources, improving our climate and developing their technical skills for their future careers." Vicki Palaganas, a teacher and green team leader at Penns Grove High School, is on a mission to empower her students to be agents of change through environmental service-learning projects. She secured the Sustainable Jersey for Schools grant for the school and is the driving force behind their sustainability projects. A $10,000 Sustainable Jersey for Schools grant funded by the New Jersey Education Association helped support the aquaponics lab. Vicki said, “Aquaponics will help us tackle food insecurity in our urban community while offering an educational opportunity in nature for students. We’ll grow a forest of plants, fruits and vegetables as well as provide an ocean full of farmed-raised fish in a relatively small space.” Aquaponics also reduces the effects of climate change because it requires little energy to bring food from farm to table. Penns Grove High School is the only school in Salem County that has achieved Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification. Read the school’s 2022 certification report here.

Are you looking for ways to make your building more energy efficient in 2023? Municipalities and schools can be models of energy efficiency for their community by maintaining high efficiency in their facilities. Most buildings have room for improvement in efficiency, but the specific opportunities are not always obvious. The Local Government Energy Audit (LGEA) Program allows local government agencies, state contracting agencies, public agencies, state colleges and state universities, and select non-profit agencies, to examine their facilities and see how they can improve their energy use. The program can help identify energy efficiency measures at no cost. More details about the LGEA program are available in this Video Overview, Program Guide and FAQs. Visit njcleanenergy.com/lgea for more information. Municipalities and schools that perform energy audits and/or energy-saving upgrades can receive certification points under Sustainable Jersey’s Energy Efficiency for Municipal Facilities or Energy Efficiency for School Facilities action.