The sum of $34,000 has been awarded to four Monmouth County municipalities to support sustainably sound environmental projects.
Red Bank, Fair Haven, Ocean Township and Holmdel are among the 32 New Jersey municipalities that received a total of $200,000 in Sustainable Jersey grants.
Funded by the Public Service Enterprise Group, four $20,000 grants, eight $10,000 grants and 20 $2,000 grants were distributed to finance a number of local projects, according to a press release from Sustainable Jersey.
Sustainable Jersey administers tools, training and financial incentives necessary to support sustainability programs, according to the nonprofit organization.
In a statement, Randall Solomon, executive director of Sustainable Jersey, said, “Nothing beats seeing a great idea turned into a reality, especially when that dream realizes benefits for communities and the environment. These grants support green teams and municipalities working at the local level to create vibrant and sustainable communities.”
Red Bank has been awarded $10,000 toward its clean water initiative, according to the press release. Borough officials said they encourage an ongoing effort toward plastic reduction education. Officials said they plan to use the grant money to implement water bottle refill stations in local parks.
In an interview, Kate Triggiano, chairwoman of the Red Bank Environmental Commission, said the current water fountains in the borough’s parks are not up to par with sanitation standards.
“People tend to do horrible things to water fountains,” she said.
Triggiano said officials from the environmental commission plan to implement two Aquafil water refill stations in Red Bank as a means to remedy the situation.
Aquafil water stations are stainless steel water refill stations that provide filtered water. Triggiano said the permanent fixtures will also accommodate pets. She said stainless steel dog bowls will be fastened to the bottoms of the new filtration fountains.
Triggiano said receiving the grant was a first-time honor for the Red Bank Environmental Commission.
Fair Haven received a $2,000 grant toward the development of rain gardens on the Knollwood Elementary School premises. Students will be involved in maintaining the soil-absorbing plot, according to the press release.
In a statement, Fair Haven Mayor Ben Lucarelli said the Fair Haven Environmental Commission is committed to planting rain gardens throughout the community in an effort to rid the Navesink River of pollutants.
Rain gardens are depressed areas of landscape that alleviate pollution by infiltrating water back into the soil. Plants naturally remove pollutants from runoff, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Navesink River is an eight-mile long estuary surrounded by Middletown, Red Bank, Fair Haven and Rumson.
High levels of fecal matter have been repeatedly reported in the waterway, according to Bill Heddendorf of the New Jersey Data Execution Prevention Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring. Heddendorf spoke at a recent meeting of the Navesink Maritime Association.
Heddendorf said that after conducting dye tests in sewers, he was able to effectively locate and address areas of Fair Haven where there were blockages in sewer systems.
Controlling the means by which fecal matter and other pollutants enter the Navesink River requires additional research and studies.
Lucarelli said planting rain gardens throughout the area will help alleviate the runoff of pollutants into the Navesink.
One of the largest grants, $20,000, was awarded to Ocean Township.
Ocean Township’s Environmental Resources Inventory (ERI) will serve as a guidance document for municipal and county governments, land use planners, and the town’s Environmental and Shade Tree commissions, according to the press release.
The ERI will create a greater sense of the town’s natural resources and anything that may threaten those resources, according to the press release.
“It is a compliment to the hard work of the members of the Ocean Township Environmental Commission … The grant will allow us to move forward with a comprehensive ERI so we can get a complete picture of our environmental landscape now and manage our growth going forward,” Ocean Township Mayor Christopher P. Siciliano said.
A $2,000 grant was awarded to Holmdel to use toward a “Single Use Plastics Campaign.”
The Holmdel Green Team plans to develop the conservation campaign to reduce single-use plastics through information at events, town-wide communications, modifications to signs on recycling bins in parks, and devising “Waste Free Wednesdays,” according to the press release.
The Holmdel Green Team is a volunteer committee which seeks to preserve resources offered by nature, according to member Sabrina Conlan.
Conlan spoke at a recent Earth Day event at Bayonet Farm in Homdel.
She said Americans use 100 billion plastic bags per year and said, “Small changes can make a big difference, even if we don’t get to change the laws and ban plastic bags. If we don’t take care of the Earth, we are really hurting ourselves.”
Conlan said she has also been encouraging the installation of solar panels on homes and the use of electric vehicles in her community.