Please join the City of Paterson’s Department of Public Works’ Clean Communities Program.

For more information, please follow this link.

It is unbelievable, but true.  There are no bike racks at Pasaaic County Community College so you to have secure your bike to whatever you can find.

I think that for college of this size and with the many challenges students encounter trying to find parking; it would make sense to have bike ranks all over campus.

Oh yeah, and its also better for the environment.

Go green!

The Julio Tavarez Civic Association
Would like to request your help to keep our new City Green community garden clean and beautiful!

The Keep Paterson Clean Project

We will be conducting our third Keep Paterson Clean operation of the year in the area of our new City Green Community Garden ( MAP) on Saturday, June 4th.  We will meet at 10:00 AM to register, get organize, distribute supplies and equipment.

Remember that every time you volunteer with the Julio Tavarez Civic Association, Inc. you become eligible to receive the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

Click HERE to Sign up!

Hon. Julio Tavarez, MPA

Photos from the Keep Paterson Clean Project on April 2011.  The next one will be on May 14th!

More pics coming soon!

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The Paterson City Council’s Green Team Committee Presents:

Sustainability Summit

Green Fair will educate and encourage residents about adopting a more sustainable lifestyle!

PATERSON, NJ – The “Silk City” is becoming a “Sustainable City.” On December 16, members of the Municipal Council will be presenting a progress report to Patersonians on the city’s successful efforts to go green.

Since July, the City Council has adopted a resolution to register with the nationally renowned and respected certification program, Sustainable Jersey and enacted ordinances that call for the creation of a Green Team and an Environmental Commission. The Council just completed its “green toolkit” which is comprised of several resolutions that address anti-idling, sustainable land use, green building design, the Mayors Wellness Campaign, complete streets, the NJ Wildlife Action Plan and responsible pet ownership.

The Sustainability Summit or Green Fair will also feature information booths that will highlight the work of other organizations in the community. For example, City Green, a local non-profit, will be showcased for growing community gardens throughout Paterson and for creating environmental clubs in seven schools. Recycled and forest-certified paper will be used and compact fluorescent light bulbs will be distributed. Moreover, gluten free cookies, organic coffee and chips will be served using corn starch spoons, corn starch forks, wheat straw plates, compostable paper cups and disposed in compostable trash bags.

An additional reason to attend the fair, is the participation of two of the foremost experts on sustainability in the state. Maplewood Deputy Mayor Fred Profeta, Co-Chair of the Mayors Committee for a Green Future and Randall Solomon, Co-Founder of Sustainable Jersey will serve as the event’s co-keynote speakers.

The Green Fair will also encourage residents to recycle, reuse, reduce and take a sustainable pledge. There will also be green elements involved in the event.

WHAT: Sustainability Summit/Green Fair

WHEN: Thursday, December 16

WHO: The Paterson City Council’s Green Team Committee

WHERE: Public School #25 287 Trenton Avenue (Vernon Avenue entrance)

WHY: To educate and encourage residents to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle

The Paterson City Council has adopted an ordinance stablishing an Environmental Commission.  This new commission will address environmental issues of strategic planning as to sustainable development, local air quality and management of open spaces.

Click below to view ordinance:

Please click below to view the City of Paterson’s Green Team enabling resolution below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2010
Contact: Kristy Ranieri, (973) 762-1510
k.ranieri@circlepoint.com

Half-way Point Achieved: 50% of New Jersey Municipalities Register for Sustainable Jersey Towns across all 21 Counties Working to Attain Certification

Trenton, NJ (July 23, 2010) – Today Sustainable Jersey announced that 283 towns or fifty percent of the 566 municipalities in New Jersey have registered and are now working on attaining the municipal certification for sustainability. With the submittal of a town resolution and registration, the City of Paterson in Passaic County has the unique designation of being the 283rd town to register, pushing participation in Sustainable Jersey to the half-way point.

“Today we reached a true milestone. New Jersey is showing other states how to effectively implement sustainability programs from the local level. Half of our state’s municipalities are actively working on measurable programs and actions to become more sustainable,” said Fred Profeta, Chair of the New Jersey League of Municipalities’ Mayors’ Committee for a Green Future, one of the Sustainable Jersey program partners. “I am truly inspired by the leadership of New Jersey’s mayors and the dedication of the communities that are contributing to making New Jersey a national leader in sustainable change through the Sustainable Jersey program.”

In order to register with Sustainable Jersey, a municipality must pass a resolution that states its intent to pursue the certification and designate an entity to take charge of the process. After registering, a town must achieve a set amount of points depending on the certification level.  Every community must also create a Green Team and select at least two (for bronze level) or three (for silver level) of the six priority actions: 1) energy audits for municipal buildings, 2) a municipal carbon footprint, 3) a sustainable land use pledge, 4) a natural resource inventory, 5) a water conservation ordinance, and/or 6) a fleet inventory.  Applications are carefully reviewed and towns must provide documentary evidence to prove they have taken the actions necessary to score points toward certification.

“To achieve fifty percent participation, in just 18 months (the program began in February 2009) in as diverse and politically dynamic a state as New Jersey is quite a feat in itself,” said program partner Donna Drewes of the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey. “We are taking a moment to celebrate, but know this is just the first step toward meeting our long-term goal for a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable state.”

Although going green may be the motivation for some communities participating in the program, many more towns are looking to save money or take steps to preserve their quality of life over the long term.  Sustainable Jersey towns and cities implement practices that lead to cost savings in energy, water and garbage bills. The program helps communities improve efficiency, cut waste and stimulate their local economies.  Registered towns get special priority access and notification of incentives and grants, and are eligible for the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program which funds $220,000 worth of sustainable projects annually across New Jersey.  The winners of the 2010 Small Grants Program are scheduled to be announced in August.

“Sustainable Jersey provides local governments with a clear mission and a menu of sustainable actions to achieve. Before, municipalities were approaching sustainability efforts haphazardly,” said program partner Randall Solomon of the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey. “The program provides an easy-to-follow checklist of actions with corresponding tools, plus guidance for how to get the actions done. The actions and resources in the program are the result of an unprecedented level of cooperation among municipalities, environmental organizations, academics, private companies and state government.”

In 2009, 34 towns met the rigorous requirements and achieved the Sustainable Jersey certification.  Sustainable Jersey program partners look forward to receiving the 2010 applications that are due on September 15, 2010.  Municipalities that complete the certification requirements will be recognized at the Sustainable Jersey annual awards luncheon held at the New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City in November of 2010. Review the Sustainable Jersey Participating Communities.

About Sustainable Jersey
Sustainable Jersey is a certification 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.  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. Half of New Jersey’s municipalities (50%-or 283 towns across all 21 counties) have registered to become Sustainable Jersey certified. By supporting 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.

Sustainable Jerseyis a collaborative effort between the New Jersey State League of Municipalities’ Mayors’ Committee for a Green Future and the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey, in partnership with 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, Nautilus Solar, the Smart Energy Group, Verizon and CDS-Xerox.

For more info, visit www.sustainablejersey.com.
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Think the trend of businesses making green office renovations is just a passing fad? Not according to the latest issue of EL Insights, which reports that the U.S. green building market value will balloon from $71.1 billion now to $173 billion by 2015. Commercial green building is expected to grow by 18.1% annually during the same time period from $35.6 billion to $81.8 billion. In this case, green building is defined as building with resource use and employee productivity in mind.

The explosive projected growth can be attributed both to a growing recognition of green building’s potential cost-savings as well as incentives from the government (i.e. the multi-million dollar Sustainable Communities Challenge Planning Grant program and the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program). Green renovation will also comprise a significant portion of future green building, thanks in no small part to government projects like then Recovery through Retrofit initiative, which offers $80 billion energy and environmental retrofits for federal buildings.

The growth in green building will lead to a number of changes in the larger building market, according to EL Insights: Construction workers will increasingly seek out green training programs, companies will spend more cash on green building technology (GE is already doing with its ecomagination initiative), and homes touting green building features will do better on the real estate market. All of this will result in cost savings for building and home owners, who will reap the benefits of lower energy and heating bills.

So if you haven’t been paying attention to the U.S. Green Building Council, now is the time to start–the non-profit offers virtually endless amounts of information on green building studies and LEED certification.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1666282/report-us-green-building-market-will-balloon-to-1735-billion-by-2015

On July 4, 1776, our forefathers declared independence from a power that threatened the safety and happiness of the people it governed. Today, we ask you to do the same.

Oil has destroyed the Gulf of Mexico and endangered the life, liberty, and happiness of those that rely upon it.  Declare your independence from dirty energy for a week this July 1-7 by following these three simple steps:

• Sign the Dirty Energy Independence pledge
• Show solidarity with the people of the Gulf Coast — Change your Twitter and Facebook profile pictures to our Dirty Energy Free avatar Spread the word!
• Tell 10 friends about the pledge

This Independence Day, as we celebrate and remember our past, let us not forget our future.