By Huck Fairman
A number of concerned citizens and community groups joined together in 2009 to enable Princeton to address a range of environmental, educational, transportation and efficiency issues, in order to make the town sustainable. The then-borough and township councils adopted a Sustainable Princeton Community Action Plan, and a way to track its progress. The underlying idea was to first develop a long-term vision for the town, and then a plan for realizing it.
It has been six years since the last progress report. Here are the latest findings, along with the opportunity to refine and refocus.
The original plan laid out six goals in order to keep the community functioning smoothly, healthily, and efficiently. Those goals were: 1. Greening the built environment; 2. Improving transportation and mobility; 3. Building a strong, local green economy; 4. Protecting environmental health and natural resources; 5. Curbing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change through energy conservation and renewable energy; 6. Fostering an educated, engaged, vibrant and socially responsible community.
The guiding piece was the non-profit organization, Sustainable Princeton, started in 2012, whose purpose was to help draw together the many interested citizens, and help realize ideas and efforts. Since then, it has served as both the chief operating office and a spur and connector to implement the six goals.
Just how important sustainability is became clearer in October of that year when Hurricane Sandy swept through the town, flooding streets, downing trees and power lines, closing businesses and schools, and leaving many homes without power. This year’s even stronger hurricanes elsewhere and the still-raging forest fires remind us of our changing climates, and the need to respond.
Driven by the town’s engaged, alert citizenry, responses have gone in many directions. Schools are teaching their students about the environmental changes. The Princeton Library is an ever accessible source and forum for ideas. Sustainable Princeton oversaw the first EV charging station in the center of town. The shopping center subsequently installed its own facility.
Bikers, with SP’s assistance, have, through the town’s Bike and Pedestrian Plan, increased awareness, added infrastructure and encouraged biking, in part by making it safer with the assistance of the police department, and by making bikes available to the public.
Traffic and parking needs and limits are being discussed with sustainability in mind. While a number of businesses and homes have installed solar power and saved money, the town’s municipal buildings and schools remain potential locations for that emissions-cutting, money-saving technology – as Princeton University has demonstrated, for solar and other green technologies.
In addition to the university and its several research and experimental programs, the town is the home for the research center, Climate Central, and, just outside, to the Stony Book-Millstone Watershed Association. These institutions help us turn to renewables, use resources more efficiently, adopt ways to preserve land and water, and in doing so, improve the health of our biosphere and citizens, as well as educate us with the information necessary preserve and transform.
With all of this available, it should come as no surprise that the town has made significant progress, much of it abetted by Sustainable Princeton. The town received a Silver Level certification, from the NJ League of Municipalities, with the third-most points in the state behind Woodbridge and Summit.
Three Public Schools (John Witherspoon, Littlebrook, and Johnson Park,) earned Bronze certifications from Sustainable Jersey, with more following. A town bike plan is in the works, as part of the Princeton Master Plan’s look at circulation in our not-uncrowded streets and roads. In addition to the town’s recycling program, which slows the filling up of landfills and their methane emissions, the town also runs a purchasable composting service, with more than 1,000 participating households, again to reduce waste, transportation costs, and emissions.
With much accomplished in just a few years, and more ideas coming from many residents, organizations, businesses, and outside sources, the town, and Sustainable Princeton, should be proud of what has been done, even as both look ahead. In fact, with our changing climates, and our interdependent world, participation and cooperation are essential. (Mayor Lempert joined other mayors from across the country in Chicago for a National Climate Summit.)
But with our engaged, educated citizens, and innovative institutions all contributing in many ways, and with the leadership and organization that Sustainable Princeton provides, the town is responding to the challenges we face, while recognizing that there is more to do, and that we’re not in it alone.
