On Nov. 17, Sustainable Jersey representatives announced that Lawrence Township had met the rigorous requirements needed to achieve Sustainable Jersey certification, making it one of the 142 out of 417 registered municipalities to attain the bronze award.
To become certified, Lawrence Township submitted documentation to show it had completed the required sustainability actions, meeting a minimum of 150 action points. In addition, each community had to create a green team and select at least two out of 11 priority action options. Lawrence Township completed four of the 11 priority actions by creating an inventory of the energy efficiency of all buildings, a natural resource inventory, a sustainable land use pledge and a prescription drug safety and disposal program.
Councilman David Maffei said “As Council Liaison to the Lawrence Township Environmental Resources and Sustainability Green Advisory Committee, I am able to see firsthand the tremendous effort of the Committee members that is instrumental in achieving bronze certification and we will endeavor to receive silver certification. The Township Council is behind this effort of the Environmental Resources and Sustainability Green Advisory Committee.”
Sustainable Jersey is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that provides tools, training and financial incentives to support communities as they pursue sustainability programs. Currently, 417 of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities are participating in the sustainability certification program. In 2014 the Sustainable Jersey for Schools program will be launched in partnership with New Jersey School Boards Association and other statewide educational organizations.
Sustainable Jersey’s partners include the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, The Sustainability Institute at The College of New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Clean Energy Program. Program underwriters include the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Surdna Foundation and BPU. Previous Sustainable Jersey Small Grants program cycles have been underwritten by Walmart, PSEG and the New Jersey Department of Health.
Sponsors include South Jersey Gas, New Jersey Natural Gas, Church and Dwight, Covanta Energy, Energy Solve, Terhune Orchards, Bayshore Recycling, Good Energy, EcoMatters, Spiezle Architectural Group, Waste Management of New Jersey, Pennoni Associates, Inc., Investors Bank, and Concord Engineering. The program underwriters for Sustainable Jersey for Schools are the New Jersey School Boards Association, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Clean Energy Program and Bayer Foundation. The founding sponsors for Sustainable Jersey for Schools are South Jersey Gas, New Jersey Natural Gas and NJM Insurance Group with additional support from Pennoni Associates, Inc.
