On Sept. 14, Sustainable Jersey announced that $220,000 had been awarded through the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants program. The 2010 Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program, funded by Walmart is providing grants to 34 local governments for sustainability projects.

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. Projects including wind turbines, electric vehicle charging stations, school food composting and water conservation outreach 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.

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 are registered and now working on becoming Sustainable Jersey certified.

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.
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, Warren County

2009 Recipient of $25,000 Sustainable Jersey Small Grant

HIGHLANDS BOROUGH, Monmouth County
HOPEWELL VALLEY (Pennington Borough, Hopewell Borough and Hopewell Township), Mercer County
LIVINGSTON TOWNSHIP, Essex County

2009 Recipient of $25,000 Sustainable Jersey Small Grant; Sustainable Jersey Certified

LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TOWNSHIP, Salem County
LOWER TOWNSHIP, Cape May County
MAPLEWOOD TOWNSHIP, Essex County

2009 Recipient of $10,000 Sustainable Jersey Small Grant; Sustainable Jersey Certified

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