Orange Wins Sustainable Jersey Certification Award

At the NJ League of Municipalities conference in November, the Sustainable Jersey program announced that Orange has met the rigorous requirements to achieve Sustainable Jersey certification. Orange is one of only 96 out of 350 municipalities registered with the program that have attained certification to date. Sustainable Jersey's participating communities represent over half the state's municipalities and nearly 75% of its population.

Certified towns excel in areas such as improving energy efficiency and health and wellness, reducing waste, sustaining local economies, protecting natural resources, and addressing diversity and equity. The award comes one year after Enterprise, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce magazine, published a cover story featuring Orange’s environmentally sensitive revitalization strategies.

The city’s green programs and policies helped it achieve Sustainable Jersey certification including Creation of a “Green Team” to coordinate sustainable initiatives, requirements for energy-saving technologies in new development, an energy audit, a community paper shredding day, passage of a sustainable land use pledge, a focus on sustainability in revising the Master Plan, diversity in boards and commissions, and “buy local” promotions. Other sustainable initiatives in Orange include planned retrofitting municipal buildings with energy saving features, an urban farms program, recycling and waste reduction, public/private health partnerships, and construction of several “green” buildings.

Orange was one of twenty New Jersey municipalities and the only Essex County community to achieve Sustainable Jersey certification in 2011. The cities were honored at the Sustainable Jersey awards luncheon on Tuesday, November 15 at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City with Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. accepting the award on behalf of Orange.

Statement by Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.
“Orange is the perfect laboratory for sustainable development because we are a compact city where homes are a short walk or bicycle ride from our train stations and thriving business district. In an era of high energy prices, global warming, and heightened environmental sensitivity, it has been my goal as Mayor to make Orange a leader in the movement for sustainable communities.”

Statement by Donna Drewes, Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainability Planning & Governance at The College of New Jersey and Sustainable Jersey founding partner.

“These are exceptional towns with outstanding programs. We’ve been amazed to see how this program has catalyzed community spirit and fostered grassroots leadership, cross-sector creativity and collaboration across New Jersey.”

 

 
About Sustainable Jersey
Sustainable Jersey is a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey. Launched in 2009, Sustainable Jersey is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports 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. It provides tools, training and financial incentives to support and reward communities as they pursue sustainability programs.

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. Sustainable Jersey is 100% voluntary and each town can choose whether it wants to get certified and the actions it wants to do in order to achieve enough points to get certified.
Currently, 62% of New Jersey’s towns and cities (350 towns across all 21 counties) have registered to become Sustainable Jersey certified.

The program has distributed over half a million dollars to New Jersey communities to support an estimated 1,500 actions taken "on the ground" to make communities more livable, environmentally friendly and prosperous. Nearly 75% of New Jersey’s population lives in registered/ certified Sustainable Jersey communities.

Sustainable Jersey’s partners include 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, United Water, Verizon, Atlantic City Electric, South Jersey Gas, New Jersey Food Council, Waste Management of New Jersey, Terhune Orchards, EcoMatters, Concord Engineering and Alteris Renewables.