Sustainable Jersey representatives announced on November 1, 2016, that Manchester Township has met the rigorous requirements to achieve Sustainable Jersey certification. Manchester Township is one of 74 towns that have attained certification in 2016 and was honored at the Sustainable Jersey awards luncheon on Tuesday, November 15 in Atlantic City.

Sustainable Jersey Plaque Presentation

“Manchester Township is proud to once again participate in Sustainable New Jersey and will continue to explore responsible means to use energy,” said Mayor Kenneth Palmer.

To become Sustainable Jersey certified, Manchester Township submitted documentation to show it had completed a balance of the required sustainability actions, meeting a minimum of 150 action points. In addition to reaching 150 points, each certified community had to create a green team and select at least 2 out of 11 priority action options. Manchester Township achieved three of the 11 priority actions: completing an inventory & upgrade of all buildings, taking the sustainable land use pledge, and making prescription drug disposal safe.

Sustainable Jersey Manchester

“Sustainable Jersey is incredibly proud of the 74 New Jersey towns that achieved certification this year,” said Donna Drewes, co-director of Sustainable Jersey. “The 198 Sustainable Jersey certified towns demonstrate leadership and are a testament to how much we can accomplish toward the long-term goal of a sustainable New Jersey.”

Certified towns excelled in areas such as improving energy efficiency and health and wellness, reducing waste, sustaining local economies, protecting natural resources and advancing the arts. “Collectively the 440 participating Sustainable Jersey towns are a powerful force in New Jersey,” said Randall Solomon, co-director of Sustainable Jersey.

Manchester Township is home to a considerable amount of open space land, so it is a focus of township officials to ensure our environment is protected for both residents and visitors to enjoy. It is important that we continue to preserve our beautiful parks, forests and bodies of water for future generations to come.

About Sustainable Jersey

Sustainable Jersey is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides tools, training and financial incentives to support communities as they pursue sustainability programs. Currently, 78 percent or 440 of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities are participating in the municipal certification program and 218 school districts and 538 schools are participating in the Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification program.

Sustainable Jersey’s partners include the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, Sustainability Institute at The College of New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Clean Energy Program. Program underwriters include the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Clean Energy Program and the Surdna Foundation. The 2016 Sustainable Jersey Small Grants program for municipalities is funded by PSEG Foundation and the Gardinier Environmental Fund. South Jersey Gas and New Jersey Natural Gas are Platinum Sponsors. NJM Insurance Group is a Gold Sponsor, Bayshore Recycling is a Silver Sponsor and our Bronze Sponsors are Investors Bank, Covanta, Energy Solve, JCP&L, GovPilot Direct Energy Solar and SolarCity. The Sustainability Summit venue sponsors are Good Energy and Verizon.

Website: www.SustainableJersey.com; www.SustainableJerseySchools.com
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