Green Team

May 12, 2009: During the May 12 Cranford Township Committee meeting, resolution 2009-172 supporting participation in the Sustainable Jersey™ municipal certification program was adopted by the Township Committee. Mary Reilly will head the Cranford Green Team and will be working with the Environmental Commission as well as representative members of the many interests of Cranford Citizens to create a Green Team.

Sustainable Jersey™ is a certification and incentive 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. The one mandatory requirement for participation is the formation of a Green Team. Establishing this team is the first step in developing a community sustainability program. Green Teams leverage the skills and expertise of team members to develop plans, implement programs, and assist with educational opportunities that support the creation of a sustainable community. Such entities can go by any name, but the role is the same: lead and coordinate the sustainability activities of the community.

More details about the Green Team will be posted on this web page so check back often. If you are interested in learning more, contact team member Mary Reilly at 908 967-6044 or complete our sign up form.

SUSTAINABLE JERSEY™

Sustainable Jersey™ encompasses issues such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity, land use air and water quality, equity, buying local, local living economies, and sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable Jersey:

Identifies concrete actions that municipalities can implement to become "certified" and be considered leaders on the path to sustainable community;
Provides clear guidance and tools to enable communities to make progress on each action; and
Provides access to grants, and identifies existing and new incentives for municipalities to make progress toward the actions.

The Sustainable Jersey Certification is a prestigious designation for municipalities. Municipalities that gain the certification will be recognized at an annual awards event.
Read more

Green Team Projects

Community Education & Outreach

Community Education and Outreach is an essential element of any effort to make change. It provides community members with an understanding of sustainability as it relates to their everyday lives by giving them an understanding of how the choices they make can lead to a more sustainable future for themselves and their communities. Click here to learn more.
The MyGreenCranford Speaker Series is our first Education and Outreach initiative.

School Programs & Partnerships

The purpose of the School Programs and Partnerships toolkit is to link schools with municipal sustainability initiatives by building partnerships between local government, communities, and schools. These partnerships will provide more formal educational opportunities to advance education for sustainability. This toolkit will focus on curricula and/or programs that could educate students, both in the traditional classroom setting and through programs linked to schools, such as after-school clubs, scouts, etc. Collaborative relationships are important in creating educational models that foster sustainability by promoting sustainability literacy and building awareness, understanding, and action. Municipal governments need to engage schools as resources for the community in educating for sustainability.
Click here to learn more.

Anti-Idling Education

Many of us do it, but are unaware of our actions or their impacts. A car is idling when the engine is turned on but the vehicle is not in motion. This is not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the environment and our health. New Jersey has had a No-Idling regulation for diesel-fueled commercial vehicles since 1972. The current regulation, effective since 1985, and updated in 2007, states that, with limited exceptions, no motor vehicle (diesel or gasoline fueled) may have its engine running if stopped for more than three consecutive minutes. Click here to learn more.

Sustainable Land Use Pledge

Smart growth is a difficult and long term proposition. As a significant, but beginning step, this Sustainable Land Use Pledge is designed to be a public affirmation of a municipality’s intention to align its land-use decision-making and policies to support smart growth and sustainable development. This tool is a model resolution to be adopted by a municipality. “Smart Growth” is one component of building community sustainability. The adoption of the model resolution is seen as the starting point for a municipality to begin to re-evaluate current land use practices and planning policies. The end result will be a community where land use decisions balance economic, environmental, and social needs, and the highest possible quality of life is provided for all its residents without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Click here to learn more.
On Tuesday, December 15, 2009, the Township Committee took a major step towards sustainability by adopting the Sustainable Land Use Plede.

Health & Wellness

The Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC) http://www.mayorswellnesscampaign.org/ works to equip mayors and other key leaders with the tools to develop and implement active-living initiatives in their communities with the ultimate goal of improving health and reducing skyrocketing health-care costs that come with the obesity problem in New Jersey. Click here to learn more.

The Cranford Challenge is a town wide program designed to promote fitness, weight control and an overall healthier lifestyle. Join them on 10-24-09 for the Health Fair kick off. For more information please contact Marc at 908.272.3700 or email info@cranfordchallenge.com. Website Coming soon.

Community Visioning

Community Visioning means developing a shared community vision for the future that involves convening stakeholders to assess what an ideal community should offer and what it should look like. Stakeholders can address elements such as natural resources, housing options, transportation, economic development, and more. The visioning process evaluates the community as it currently exists, identifies what is valued in the community, and encourages stakeholders to imagine how it could be improved in ten or twenty years. This shared vision creates the basis for developing goals and completing actions that move the community toward a more ideal, sustainable community. Ideally, the community vision will be used to guide the establishment of community programs, personal behaviors, and government decisions. Click here to learn more.

Projects Looking for Leaders:

This is a great opportunity to use your talents and develop more.

Green Fair: We do not have a date for this yet, and will need to coordinate with DMC, but at some point we would like to have one. We have people from other towns that have been very successful with their fairs, but we need a leader.

Community Gardens: Create garden space for people who do not have it or want it in their yard. [Again, we can start with a modest project and grow from there.] Visit Hanson Park Conservancy to learn about rain gardens.

Green Challenges: We need to enroll Cranford citizens in two green challenges; one of which is already started.

Become part of the solution!

Contact us
today to learn how you can help.