The Ewing Township Green Team is set to hold two events in June focusing on providing information about environmental issues.
First up is a seminar on June 3 designed to help the Ewing business community tap into state funds for energy upgrades while improving their bottom lines and helping the environment. A
Ewing small business owners will learn about grants that can help save up to 70 percent of the cost for energy saving building upgrades for small and medium size buildings that are available from the state through its Direct Install program.
Direct Install is sponsored by the NJ Board of Public Utilities and Clean Energy Program and helps business owners tap into state funds allocated for improving the environment, while at the same time offering quick investment paybacks.
Speaking will be Sandra Torres of Tristate Light and Electric Company, which is the exclusive contractor for Direct Install in Mercer County. The seminar will be held at 7 p.m. at the Ewing Senior Center.
On June 24, also at 7 p.m. at the senior center, the Green Team will hold a program titled “Invasive Species in the Landscape: Together, We Can Nip Them in the Bud.” The event is the latest in the Green Team’s Environmental Insights Series, which is designed to engage Ewing residents in a public conversation about critical environmental issues and to spark new ideas concerning sustainability.
Speaking will be Susan Brookman, executive director of the N.J. Invasive Species Strike Team, about what an invasive species is and why it’s important that they be eradicated.
The Strike Team works to stop the spread of new invasive species — plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are not native to New Jersey whose presence is likely to damage the health of our environment, economy or our citizens. It creates an annual list of target species and then encourages conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts to be on the lookout for them. When invasive species are detected, the Strike Team offers guidance to property owners to help them eradicate the problem species.
According to Brookman, detecting invasive species early is the key to successful control.
“If we can catch an invasive species soon after it arrives, we have a chance to nip it in the bud and keep it from establishing a viable population in New Jersey,” Brookman said.
Both events are free and open to the public For more information go to www.Ewinggreenteam.org or call Pete Boughton at (609) 313-5021.
–Bill Sanservino
