Green Maps are a great way to highlight a community's natural, cultural and sustainable resources.

Who takes care of these resources? And can you get to Princeton’s green places and resources without a car?

These are some of the questions we hope local residents and others familiar with our town can help answer by working together on the “Princeton Green Connections” green map project.  Green Connections is an interactive online map based on the Green Map System, which uses thematic icons to identify natural, cultural and sustainable resources in communities and encourages public collaboration through its open green map platform.  Currently, there are 776 green maps in 60 countries.

Green maps include photos, website links and videos and because the maps are online they are easy to access, share and update.

The “Princeton Green Connections” green map will focus on Princeton’s green space resources, and also show the bicycle, hiking and pedestrian routes that connect us to, and through, Princeton. Future green maps may focus on other sustainable resources – including green buildings and technology, green businesses, cultural/historic resources, and more.

To find out more and to get involved in the green map project, you can:

• Come to Sustainable Princeton’s “Great Ideas Breakfast” on Feb. 10, 8:30 a.m. There will be a brief presentation on the green map project and an old-fashioned paper map display.
• Sign up for the “Green Mapping on St. Patrick’s Day” workshop, Mar. 17, 1 – 3pm, where participants will learn the basics of green maps, and get started on some mapping! (Seating is limited – please contact Andrea Malcolm to reserve a spot.)
• Contact Andrea with your questions or comments, and/or send her your green space descriptions and photos!

Princeton, Lawrence, Hillsborough, and Montgomery are recipients of a Green Map training grant from Sustainable Jersey and the Dodge Foundation. We look forward to working with these neighboring towns, Sustainable Jersey, Green Map Systems, and many others as we create and develop the Princeton Green Connections green map!

It’s pretty easy to do some simple checks to make sure your home is using water and air-conditioning efficiently. And you may well be able to fix issues yourself — fixes that pay for themselves through savings on energy and water bills.

Here are some tips on how to check and improve your home’s use of water and energy.

If you want to learn more, why not come to hear local architect Heidi Fichtenbaum outline some easy actions. She’s talking at the Sustainable Princeton evening meeting on January 31, 2012.

Local author Jeanne DeVoe was so inspired by the idea of saving money and the environment at the same time that she has written about it in her “Lazy Shades of Green” blog.

2011 Sustainable Princeton Leadership Awardees

1. People for Princeton Ridge, Developer J. Robert Hillier, and Princeton Township Attorney Ed Schmierer – for their many hours of collaborative work that led to an agreement about the Princeton Ridge Development.
2. Princeton Joint Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee – for the critical role this group played in the decision to install “sharrows” on Princeton roads.
3. Friends of Princeton Open Space Trail Committee – for the untold hours of work this group has put in to mark local trails with signs, build crossings or bridges across streams, and fix muddy spots so our parks can be enjoyed year round.
4. Camila Tellez, Fair Trade Princeton, 9th Grade Student at Stuart Country Day School – for founding Fair Trade Princeton and her tireless efforts to inform others of the importance of Fair Trade.
5. Green Sanctuary Committee and Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton – for their creation of broad-based sustainability initiatives, including installation of solar panels, energy audits, a rain garden, use of Fair Trade products and more.
6. Janet Pelichero, Recycling Coordinator, Princeton Township -  for her determined, informative and innovative approach to recycling, including organizing  New Jersey’s first curbside food waste program and many other projects that aim to increase recycling in Princeton.
7. Princeton Farmer’s Market – for its support of local farms, offering fresh local produce to residents and for creating an inspired public gathering place for our town.
8. Charlie Yedlin, Yedlin Associates – for its installation of 58.4 Kw solar system on the Clock Building on Route 206 in Princeton.  As of Fall 2011, the panels had generated 50,000 kilowatt hours of silent, renewable pollution free energy.

Thank you to all of these leaders for the good work they have done for Princeton!

The Sustainable Princeton Leadership Awards are sponsored by Sustainable Princeton and the Princeton Environmental Commission. Each year a call for nominations is issued to help us identify Princeton’s best, brightest and greenest businesses, residents, teachers, school administrators, government employees, religious leaders and any others that are leading the way toward a sustainable Princeton.

See Jeanne DeVoe's fun blog about changing to LED lights for the Holidays

Lighting with LEDs

For those who enjoyed the recent “Sustainability for the Lazy” guest post by Jeanne Jackson-DeVoe on our website, check out this fun new Lazy Shades of Green blog by Jeanne about her family’s conversion to light emitting diode (LED) lighting for the Holidays.

As Jeanne points out in her blog, using LEDs can save you money in addition to saving energy.  LEDs also last much longer than traditional incandescent lighting and compact fluorescent lighting.  (See this U.S. Dept. of Energy website for more information about lighting choices.)  And there is no reason to limit their use to holiday lighting – try them year-round!

“Cash Mob” Style Local Shopping

To help promote our “Princeton Shops Sustainably” reusable bag sale fundraiser, volunteers came together in early December for some “cash mob” style shopping.  A cash mob is a shopping event where a group of people agree to spend $20 or more each at an undisclosed independently owned local business.  The aim is to support local businesses while reclaiming the fun and spontaneity of a flash mob.

Shoppers with the Princeton Shops Sustainably bags in front of jane for some "cash mob " style shopping!

Our group met at janes consignment store for a quick photo and shopping and then headed over to Kitchen Kapers, where we surprised store manager Hillary Gray.  Afterwards, Hillary thanked the group, saying “we were very happy to see you all spending cash.  Most people don’t understand the fees that the banks charge us to take cards – both credit and debit.”

In addition, she told us they “always ask people if they want a bag instead of just giving them one.  We are pleased that so many people are refusing bags these days.”  Its great to see that this bright idea promoted by the Sustainable Princeton BYOBag campaign is having an impact!

More Bright Ideas in 2012

We hope to highlight many more bright ideas for sustainability in 2012.  Here are some upcoming events where you can learn about and be inspired by what other people in Princeton are doing:

• Youth and Yogurt Eco Hour on Jan. 4
• Sustainable Princeton Leadership Awards Ceremony on Jan. 25
• Great Ideas Breakfast on Feb. 10

And don’t forget the Princeton Environmental Film Festival starting on Jan. 26!

We also hope you will tell us your bright ideas for living and working more sustainably in Princeton.  Please send Andrea Malcolm information on upcoming events, local resources, and other sustainability stories so we can post and share!

The script over the green Sustainable Princeton shopping bag image says "Princeton Shops Sustainably"

The bags fold into a small pouch for easy carrying – perfect to take with you or great to give as gifts to family members, coworkers, teachers and others on your shopping list!

The price of the bags is $8 each or two for $15, with all profits going to support Sustainable Princeton. The bags will be available for sale at the following locations:

• greendesign
• Hinkson’s Office Store
• Infini-T Cafe and Spice Souk
• jane
• Labyrinth Books
• McCaffrey’s
• Whole Earth Center

Shoppers with the Princeton Shops Sustainably bags at the jane store for some "cash mob " style shopping!

Thank you to all of these vendors for helping us raise money and awareness about sustainable shopping! We also thank Church & Dwight for providing the initial funding to support the bag sale, and Maria Bahlmann, a local graphic designer and typographer, for her wonderful design!

This side of the bag reminds people to shop local, shop fair trade, and BYOBag!

For more ideas on sustainable local shopping, please see our recent post “Turning Black Friday into Green Friday”. We also recommend a recent post by Michele Byers, Executive Director of the NJ Conservation Foundation about why we should all BYOBag this holiday season. And don’t forget to check the BYOBag Campaign page on this website regularly for updates!

A lazy approach to lawn care is sustainable!

So, for example, I have a compost pile but I do nothing to maintain it except add fruit and vegetable scraps and toss it with a pitchfork. There’s no bin, no effort to achieve just the right temperature or whatever it is you’re supposed to do with the darned thing.  It’s just a big lumpy pile.

But there’s no better example of my family’s lazy approach to the sustainable cause than our lawn. We don’t use chemicals partly because we’re against putting chemicals into the environment and partly because we simply can’t be bothered putting that much effort into our lawn. There are a dozen things we’d rather do than spend time worrying about dandelions.

My problem is only partly that I’m lazy. Sure, I dream about lying on the couch all day but I never seem to make it there.  Like most people in Princeton – I’m crazy busy keeping all those balls in the air as a teacher, a writer and a mother. My husband and I spend our days working, driving kids around, shopping, cleaning, and did I mention driving kids around? We can’t be bothered with lawn care. We can barely get the laundry done.

I think here’s room at the table for both the environmental couch potatoes – those who have the ideals but have no energy to spare and the full-fledged activists who are doing such a good job leading the cause. Even the laziest of us, myself included, can do things like bring bags to the grocery store (see Sustainable Princeton’s BYOBag Campaign) or join the food waste collection program. There are numerous other ways to get involved for those who hunger for more.

I am here to say that you can be lazy and still be an environmentalist.  I am the last person who can lecture anyone on the right way to do things but I can share my own struggles and occasionally offer advice from people who know how to do things the non-lazy way. I’m pretty sure there’s more to this composting thing than tossing the pile with a pitchfork, for example.  I’ll share what I’ve learned about ways we can all do our part and hopefully still find time for that elusive nap on the couch. Hey, we can dream, can’t we?

Keeping our greenbacks in town is a greener way to shop!

The color of the U.S. dollars we use to buy holiday gifts is green. But typical shopping behavior — driving miles out of town to big-box stores and purchasing stuff cheaply manufactured 6,000 miles away — is not at all green.

Can we think greener when shopping for gifts this holiday season? Absolutely:

• How about walking or cycling to local stores, instead of sitting in a line of traffic and fighting for that last parking space at a distant mall?
• Consider buying goods made by local artisans, for example, at crafts fairs or farmers markets (the Princeton Farmers’ Market continues throughout the winter in the Public Library’s Community Room).
• Why not give a special experience from a local provider?

Janet Pellichero holding the Innovation Award given by Sustainable Jersey on November 15, 2011

The food waste composting program began as a pilot demonstration project, but it is now an on-going program available to both Township and Borough residents.  The cost is just $25 per month for both organic waste and regular trash pick up, or $20 per month for organic waste pick up. (For more details, see this previous Curbside Composting post; also please note that Borough residents are currently limited to the organic-only waste pick up option).

You can join still join the Curbside Food Waste Composting program by contacting Janet Pellichero at jpellichero@princeton-township.nj.us or call her at 609-688-2526.

During the three month demonstration period, 25 tons of food and other organic waste were diverted from area landfills.  Currently, 228 Township and Borough households are participating in the program, along with several institutions including the Hun School, Tenacre Foundation, and Acorn Glen.

Sustainable Princeton thanks Janet Pellichero, Township Recycling Coordinator, for her tireless efforts in making this program a success – way to go, Janet!

Sustainable Princeton and the Princeton Environmental Commission are seeking nominations for the 2011 Sustainable Princeton Leadership Awards. The awards will be presented to Princeton’s best, brightest and greenest businesses, residents, teachers, school administrators, government employees, religious leaders and any others that are leading the way toward a sustainable Princeton.

Please nominate more great leaders like these award winners from 2010.

Nominations are due by December 20, 2011.  To nominate an individual or organization, please email Andrea Malcolm, Sustainable Princeton’s Office Assistant, with the following information:

1. Name, email and address of nominee
2. Name, email and address of person nominating
3. Reason for the nomination

For the nomination reason, be sure to include how the nominee:

• protects and improves the natural environment;
• conserves energy; uses energy more efficiently; and uses alternative energy sources;
• avoids the use of toxic substances;
• contributes to our community’s economic well-being, and,
• meets Princeton’s social needs fairly.

Examples of specific actions may include:

• lowering carbon emissions by building, renovating or better insulating their homes or businesses in an environmentally minded manner;
• reducing water consumption by using rain barrels or other methods;
• improving water quality by having pesticide-free lawns and gardens or by turning lawns into organic edible gardens;
• reducing vehicle use through car pools, biking or taking public transportation;
• shopping locally to strengthen the local economy; and/or
• improving the quality of life of the community’s underserved populations and those in need.

Please share your student story from Princeton High School and/or other local schools!

Please share stories, projects, pictures, dreams, songs, and results of efforts run by young people in our community.  Submissions should reflect a student’s own work— such as a first grader’s poem about what we must do to improve the environmental health of our town or a pride-filled summary about how an Eagle Scout cleaned up a river. Suggestions for future sustainability projects, practical or wild, are welcomed.

Students of all ages are encouraged to forward whatever they would like to share to Theodore Casparian who will be coordinating student and school postings on this site.  PDF scans and digital photos are great, but you can also email Theodore and he will give you his mailing address for things that cannot be scanned or digitized.

Students and their parents are invited to join Sustainable Princeton’s Green Schools Council to share ideas and to help plan actions to make our schools more sustainable.  See our events page to see the time and location of our next Green Schools Council meeting.