METUCHEN — The water bottle filling station at Metuchen High School has been a success with some 230,000 bottles saved over the past few years.
Edgar Middle School and Moss Elementary School have been outfitted with water bottle filling stations, saving 45,000 bottles and 177 bottles, respectively, and the installation of a station at Campbell Elementary School is coming soon.
The incentive for the installation of water bottle filling stations is Sustainable Jersey for Schools, a certification program for New Jersey public schools that want to go green, conserve resources and take steps to create a brighter future, one school at a time.
Sustainable Jersey for Schools, which launched in fall 2014, is a nonprofit organ- ization that provides tools, training and financial incentives to support and reward schools as they pursue sustainability programs, according to its website.
Schools Superintendent Vincent Caputo said the district is in the beginning stages of achieving Sustainable Jersey certifications.
“It takes a couple of years to accumulate points,” he said at a Board of Education meeting on Nov. 24.
There are two levels of certification — bronze and silver. Each level of certification requires the establishment of a mandatory green team. Schools accumulate points for taking actions in a variety of categories in the respective certification level.
Along with attaining a certain number of points, a number of priority actions must be completed in order to qualify for certification, which includes a carbon footprint, an energy audit, building efficiency, green building and purchasing policies, indoor air quality, community education/outreach, student learning, wellness and a waste audit.
All four schools in the Metuchen School District have created green teams.
Moss Elementary School has an access to healthy water program, a bottle filling station, an anti-idling campaign, and a milkweed garden, which is collaboration with Edgar Middle School.
Campbell Elementary School has a wellness focus program, a health access to water program, a bottle filling station, an anti-idling campaign, integrated pest management, education sustainability, and a safe school traveling plan for walking and biking.
Edgar Middle School is applying for 80 points this year. The school is a recent recipient of a $2,000 Sustainable Jersey for Schools Project Grant for a student wellness organization. The goal is to create a fitness club.
The grant will be funded by the New Jersey Education Association.
“There are different grant periods,” said Caputo. “If an idea fits a category, we will apply for that [grant].”
Metuchen High School has a healthy water program, an anti-idling campaign, green cleaning supplies (which will expand district-wide), pest management, school travel plan, energy-efficient appliances, and a gardening club.
With some items such as the anti-idling campaign, the district has collaborated with the Borough of Metuchen to promote the program.
Board member Tara Matise said she was impressed with the progress so far and it was great to see the community as a whole work together.