We are delighted to announce that Ewing has achieved Sustainable Jersey Silver Certification!  Of the 565 registered municipalities in New Jersey, Ewing is one of only 198 New Jersey towns that are Sustainable Jersey certified and, only 39 towns that have attained recognition at this level.  By becoming a Sustainable Jersey certified town, Ewing Township reinforces its commitment to saving resources, the environment and the planet.   Mayor Bert Steinmann, as well as participating Township staff and green team members will be accepting the award at the NJ League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City in November.

Sustainability Champion

In addition, we have just learned that Ewing has achieved the 2016 Sustainability Champion award in the medium municipality category (population between 5,000 – 39,999) .   The award is for receiving the highest number of points in this population category.  This award is one of five categories awarded each year: Sustainability Champion, Leadership, Creativity & Innovation, Collaboration, and Rookie of the Year. Award winners are selected from the municipalities that were certified or recertified in the designated award year.

Building a Sustainable Future in NJ

Across New Jersey, hundreds of towns are now working on sustainability programs to help the environment and their bottom lines. Efforts to curb carbon emissions, protect natural resources and reduce waste are happening at the local level.  Through the voluntary program, communities are implementing solar power and wind turbine projects, rain capture and reuse efforts, new walking and biking programs, building and operating community food gardens, launching community outreach programs on recycling and energy, and dozens of other initiatives.

To become Sustainable Jersey certified, Ewing had to complete a balance of the rigorous program sustainability actions. In addition, Ewing created a green team and did 4 priority actions by instituting a green business recognition program, taking a sustainable land use pledge, completing a natural resource inventory, and running a prescription drug safety and disposal initiative.  Please see Ewing’s Sustainable Jersey Profile to view the 2016 Silver Certification Report for details of the actions that were considered in becoming Silver Certified.

About Sustainable Jersey

Sustainable Jersey certification is a prestigious designation for municipal governments in New Jersey. Municipalities that achieve certification are considered by their peers, by state government and by the experts and civic organizations in New Jersey, to be among the leading environmental municipalities in the state. Certification is a rigorous process and once certified, Sustainable Jersey towns have access to incentives and grants; training and guidance towards the development of a sustainable community; and are promoted on the Sustainable Jersey website as a town that is doing its part for the environment.   For more information about Sustainable Jersey visit their website at http://www.sustainablejersey.com.

The Work Continues!

Despite this very gratifying recognition, much remains to be done and we invite all interested residents to participate.  A great place to start and learn about what we are doing is to attend our monthly meetings on the 4th Wednesday of each month.  If you are interested in joining the Green Team as an appointed member we encourage you to speak with a Green Team member or email ewinggreenteam@gmail.com.  New members are sworn in in January, so we’re looking for interested candidates now!