Highland Park Mayor Gayle Brill Mittler is taking action to ensure that sustainability remains a top priority for the community and that the town retains its leadership role in New Jersey’s sustainability movement. She invited the chairs – plus one additional member – of all of Highland Park’s municipal agencies, committees, commissions, boards including the school board, and town council to convene on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016 to discuss moving forward with a progressive and aggressive sustainability strategy.
“As you know, I am proud that Highland Park is considered one of New Jersey’s first ‘green’ communities and am continually looking for ways to make our town more sustainable on multiple fronts – downtown redevelopment, environmental protection, social justice, public health and on and on.
“This year, the borough’s silver-level Sustainable Jersey certification is set to expire and rather than let that happen, I would like to use re-certification as motivation to work together on our shared goals of sustainability and building a better Highland Park (and world!) for future generations. This is a big task, but if we each take a small piece we can achieve certification and also build a strong foundation for working more collaboratively in the future,” said the mayor in her letter to the various boards, commissions, agencies and committees.
Sustainable Jersey is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides tools, training and financial incentives to support communities as they pursue sustainability programs. By supporting community efforts to reduce waste, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve environmental equity, Sustainable Jersey is empowering communities to build a better world for future generations. Currently, 77 percent, or 433 of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities are participating in the municipal certification program and 155 school districts and 398 schools are participating in the new Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification program.
Highland Park Borough, a participant in the municipal certification program, has achieved the highest level of certification – Silver – that means the municipality has made significant progress in a number of categories toward sustainability and is a statewide and national leader. In addition, the schools within the Highland Park School District have won Sustainable Jersey for Schools Small Grants (funded by PSEG Foundation), and the district has begun the process for certification in the Sustainable Jersey for Schools program.