Media Advisory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2010
Contact: Kristy Ranieri, (973) 762-1510  k.ranieri@circlepoint.com

 

34 New Jersey Towns Win Sustainable Jersey™ Grants; $220,000 Awarded for Sustainable Projects Funded by Walmart

Award Recipients Span 14 New Jersey Counties: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Essex, Mercer, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, Union and Warren

Trenton, NJ (September 14, 2010) – Today’s announcement by Sustainable Jersey — that $220,000 has been awarded through the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants program — was hailed as extremely good news by resource-strained towns across New Jersey.  The 2010 Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program funded by Walmart is providing grants to 34 local governments for sustainability projects. 

This is the second year that Walmart has funded the grants program, bringing their total contribution over two years to $420,000.

“As a result of the success of this grant program last year, Walmart is proud to again sponsor the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program,” said Jennifer Hoehn, Walmart Senior Manager of Public Affairs for the state of New Jersey. “These grants are a perfect example of the public and private sectors working together for the greater good and there is no greater good than improving the environment.”

At a time when state funding for innovative ideas is constrained, the 14 winners of the $25,000 and $10,000 grants have proposed projects that provide sustainable solutions to everyday challenges.  Wind turbines, electric vehicle charging stations, school food composting and water conservation outreach programs — all of these projects, and more, have been added to the list of initiatives that the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants program is funding. Most projects include public outreach campaigns and many will involve school children or community organizations.

$25,000 Grant Winners - Four $25,000 grants were awarded to Chatham Township, Long Branch City, Montclair Township, and Rutherford Borough. 

$10,000 Grant Winners - Ten $10,000 grants were awarded to Bay Head Borough, Berkeley Heights Township, Bradley Beach Borough, Englewood City, Ewing Township, Galloway Township, Middletown Township, Ocean City, Tenafly Borough and West Orange Township. 

$1,000 Capacity-Building Grant Winners - Twenty $1,000 capacity-building grants were awarded to Alloway Township, Chester Township, Franklin Lakes Borough, Haddon Heights Borough, Hammonton Town, Hardwick Township, Highlands Borough, Hopewell Valley, Livingston Township, Lower Alloways Creek Township, Lower Township, Maplewood Township, Mendham Township, Mount Holly Township, Mullica Township, Netcong Borough, Northfield City, Peapack-Gladstone Borough, River Vale Township and Roseland Borough.

The Sustainable Jersey grants are intended to help local governments make progress toward a sustainable future in general, and specifically in the Sustainable Jersey certification. More than half of New Jersey’s municipalities (51%, or 288 towns across all 21 counties) are registered and now working on becoming Sustainable Jersey certified.

“The impact that these projects will make in New Jersey is incredible,” said Fred Profeta, Jr., Chair of the New Jersey League of Municipalities’ Mayors’ Committee for a Green Future. “Funding green initiatives at the community level will have a ripple effect that will benefit us all.”  

The grant funding has been an important incentive for towns pursuing sustainable projects and certification.  Sustainable Jersey program partner Randall Solomon, of the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey, congratulated the winning towns: “These communities will implement sustainability projects that will serve as practical models for the rest of State while making measurable contributions toward the long-term goal of a sustainable New Jersey.” 

In applying for the grant, each municipality submitted a proposal describing their local sustainability initiative and how it would relate to the Sustainable Jersey actions.  A total of 78 proposals were reviewed and scored by a neutral Blue Ribbon selection committee composed of uncompensated experts and public figures.

About Sustainable Jersey
Sustainable Jersey is a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to go green, save money, and take steps to sustain their quality of life over the long term.  New Jersey is the first state in the nation to have a comprehensive sustainability program for communities that links certification with strong state and private financial incentives, and a fully resourced program of technical support and training. Half of New Jersey’s municipalities (50%-or 285 towns across all 21 counties) have registered to become Sustainable Jersey certified. By supporting community efforts to reduce waste, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve environmental equity, Sustainable Jersey is empowering New Jersey towns to build a better world for future generations. 

Sustainable Jersey is a collaborative effort between the New Jersey State League of Municipalities’ Mayors’ Committee for a Green Future and the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey, in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.  The policies and other substantive contents of the program are developed though a transparent participatory process involving NGOs, academics, government, and the business community. Program sponsors include the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, PSEG Foundation, New Jersey Natural Gas, Church and Dwight, Covanta Energy, Elizabethtown Gas, Nautilus Solar, the Smart Energy Group, United Water, Verizon and CDS-Xerox.

For more info, visit www.sustainablejersey.com. 

2010 Recipients of $25,000 Sustainable Jersey Project Grants

Municipality	County	Project
CHATHAM TOWNSHIP Sustainable Jersey Certified	Morris County	School Food Composting
CITY of LONG BRANCH	Monmouth County	Model Green Ordinances
MONTCLAIR TOWNSHIP Sustainable Jersey Certified	Essex County	Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
RUTHERFORD BOROUGH Sustainable Jersey Certified	Bergen County	Community Teaching Garden

2010 Recipients of $10,000 Sustainable Jersey Project Grants

Municipality	County	Project
BAY HEAD BOROUGH	Ocean County	Small Wind Demonstration
BERKELEY HEIGHTS TOWNSHIP Sustainable Jersey Certified	Union County	Tree Canopy Analysis
BRADLEY BEACH BOROUGH	Monmouth County	Small Wind Demonstration
ENGLEWOOD CITY	Bergen County	Tree Inventory and Assessment
EWING TOWNSHIP	Mercer County	Rain Gardens and Water Conservation
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Sustainable Jersey Certified	Atlantic County	Environmental Resource Inventory
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP	Monmouth County	Native Plant Garden
OCEAN CITY Sustainable Jersey Certified	Cape May County	School Rain Garden
TENAFLY BOROUGH	Bergen County	Environmental Resource Inventory
WEST ORANGE TOWNSHIP	Essex County	Water Conservation Education

2010 Recipients of $1,000 Sustainable Jersey Capacity-Building Grants

Municipality	County
ALLOWAY TOWNSHIP	Monmouth County
CHESTER TOWNSHIP	Morris County
FRANKLIN LAKES BOROUGH	Bergen County
HADDON HEIGHTS BOROUGH	Camden County
HAMMONTON TOWN	Atlantic County
HARDWICK TOWNSHIP 2009 Recipient of $25,000 Sustainable Jersey Small Grant	Warren County
HIGHLANDS BOROUGH	Monmouth County
HOPEWELL VALLEY (Pennington Borough, Hopewell Borough and Hopewell Township)	Mercer County
LIVINGSTON TOWNSHIP 2009 Recipient of $25,000 Sustainable Jersey Small Grant; Sustainable Jersey Certified	Essex County
LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TOWNSHIP	Salem County
LOWER TOWNSHIP	Cape May County
MAPLEWOOD TOWNSHIP 2009 Recipient of $10,000 Sustainable Jersey Small Grant; Sustainable Jersey Certified	Essex County
MENDHAM TOWNSHIP	Morris County
MOUNT HOLLY TOWNSHIP	Burlington County
MULLICA TOWNSHIP	Atlantic County
NETCONG BOROUGH	Morris County
NORTHFIELD CITY	Atlantic County
PEAPACK-GLADSTONE BOROUGH	Somerset County
RIVER VALE TOWNSHIP	Bergen County
ROSELAND BOROUGH	Essex County