Moorestown has achieved Sustainable Jersey certification at the silver level and is now one of 206 certified communities in the state.
According to its website, the township is one of 81 certified municipalities that attained certification last year and were announced at the New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference last month in Atlantic City. Sustainable Jersey’s participating communities represent more than 82% of the state’s towns.
To become Sustainable Jersey certified at the silver level, Moorestown submitted documentation to show it had completed required sustainability actions, a minimum of 350 action points. Each community had to create a green team and select at least three out of 14 actions.
“For me personally, it’s just that recognition of a lot of effort,” Councilwoman Sue Mammarella noted of the certification. “Mostly for the green team. This team has been doing this for years …
“This is important to the township, and I think that we have shown that we are a leader, being maybe one of 15% of all the participants who achieved this honor.”
According to Sustainable Jersey’s website, the organization is a network and movement of municipalities, schools and school districts working collectively to achieve a sustainable New Jersey. Acting with state agencies, nonprofits, foundations, academia and industry, it researches best practices for what communities could and should do to contribute to a sustainable future.
Since the launch of the Sustainable Jersey municipal program in 2009 and the Sustainable Jersey for Schools program in 2013, participants have successfully implemented and documented more than 9,000 actions from a list of best practices.
Sustainable Moorestown’s Green Team consists of members Saima Bhutta, Daniel Carlin, Bradd Forstein, Pat Fowler, Susan Gilman, Dave Hess, Charles Sides, Wolfgang Skacel and Steve Toniatti, with Mammarella as the team’s council liaison. The team’s mission is to lead and coordinate the township’s efforts to obtain certification.
To do that, a town completes with a minimum of priority actions: two for bronze or three for silver. Actions include energy tracking and management; municipal carbon footprint; and energy efficiency, among others.
Mammarella emphasized how Moorestown’s green team works every day to meet those requirements.
“The team is constantly looking at this list (Sustainable Jersey’s priority actions) and saying, ‘Hey, do we already do this? or ‘Can we start doing this?’” Mammarella explained. ” … It takes a lot of documentation that you have to send in to get those points to demonstrate what you’re doing, so the team has done really great …”
Certification is good for three program years, at which time a municipality will need to recertify at any point prior to the third year. Towns can recertify at current or next certification level.
“The silver certification award recognizes Moorestown as a leader in providing solutions to our sustainability challenges,” Mammarella pointed out. “It requires work from everybody in town, including our township and our private groups and the team, and we’re always trying to get whatever cooperation we can from residents, who are all very interested.”
For more information on Sustainable Jersey, visit www.sustainablejersey.com.
