Cool New Jersey

A Guide to Climate-Friendly Policies in Your Community

(This entire guide can also be downloaded in a printable form as the Cool New Jersey Handbook)

Resource Management

Purchasing, waste reduction, and waste management policies impact on climate change in multiple ways. The production, packaging, transportation, use, and disposal of a product and all its ancillary parts contributes climate changing emissions to our atmosphere. When we consider the entire life cycle of even the most mundane item, the impact on the environment can be stunning. The production of a stapler, a quarter-pounder, your shoes, can be linked with the emissions of hundreds of pounds of greenhouse gasses, the use of literally tons of water or the clearing of tropical rainforests to list only the most likely impacts. The packaging of a simple item can outlive the item itself by a thousand years and take tenfold the energy to produce. It is therefore vital that we carefully consider our purchases and minimize unnecessary or wasteful consumption.

The way we deal with waste also has climate-changing implications. The unmanaged decomposition of waste in landfills releases methane, a gas that is twenty times more effective at trapping heat in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Waste incineration also contributes greatly to climate change and local air quality problems. Even the collection and handling of residential municipal waste and recycling is very energy intensive.

So, source reduction or avoidance is the most effective way of reducing the impact of waste. Each product that we purchase but do not need means un-tallied emissions in the manufacture, transport, and disposal of this unnecessary item. Responsible consumption requires that we: first, reduce our consumption; second, take care to evaluate the entire life-cycle of a product and select the least energy-intensive option; third, facilitate the reuse of products whenever possible; and finally, recycle products when they can no longer be reused.

Recycling is not the first step, but it is often the easiest to address since most communities have some form of recycling program and the value of recycling is established in the public’s mind. And, recycling can help reduce energy demands and thus climate changing emissions. Producing materials from recycled steel, for example, cuts the climate changing impact of the manufacturing process in half. Recycling a ton of aluminum cans can save the equivalent of emitting ten tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Yet the typical waste stream in a New Jersey town includes a variety of materials, including metals, glass, yard waste, and paper, that still have value and can be reused or recycled but are sent to landfills instead. Proper public policies can help address this waste.

Solid Waste Management

Bronze

♦ Maintain multiple recycle containers in public areas.
Research indicates that the most common reason for not recycling is lack of convenience. Providing clearly marked, multiple recycling receptacles at municipal sites and throughout town, on sidewalks, pedestrian malls, and parks, can significantly increase recycling rates almost overnight. Clearly marked receptacles for trash should be available as well to discourage commingling of waste with recyclables. Using standardized shapes, colors, and signage can help promote public awareness and encourage proper use.

♦ Establish complete and convenient curbside recycling.
Curbside recycling can be made available with high cost-efficiency for five units: glass bottles, plastic bottles, tin and aluminum, newspaper, and yard waste. Communities in New Jersey have assumed responsibility for their own curbside recycling program; and current participation rates are uneven. A regular and convenient pickup schedule and convenient containers can improve participation rates considerably.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection helps coordinate the efforts of several public and private sector networks that can help provide resources and ideas for your cool cities campaign, including the Sustainable Schools Network, the Buy Recycled Network and the Energy Star Network.

♦ Provide mini-grants to promote recycling awareness.
Small grants ($500-1500) can encourage schools, community groups or non-profits to develop innovative projects that promote source reduction, reuse, or recycling in the community.

♦ Require that a set percentage of construction and demolition (C & D) waste is recycled.
Most waste from construction of new buildings, renovation, and demolition of old structures is relatively easily recycled. Concrete can be crushed for use in paving, road maintenance, and landscaping; wood can be processed into mulch or compost, or sold as fuel; and all metal waste can be recycled as well.
A municipal requirement can help catalyze what is often a lucrative as well as climate-friendly practice. An aggressive policy would require that seventy-five percent of C & D waste be recycled. A more modest policy might set a fifty percent target. High tipping fees at waste facilities can help make recycling more attractive to builders; the tipping fee for segregated wood, brick, concrete, and other recyclables should be simultaneously reduced. It is essential that waste materials be separated on site. Some municipal solid waste facilities in the US have instituted a complete ban on commercial C & D waste.

Silver

♦ Required recycling receptacles in all public buildings, restaurants, and stores.
Obligatory, clearly designated recycling containers in restaurants and stores can help make recycling more convenient for residents and visitors to a community.

New Jersey’s Toxic Roundup provides bi-annual drop off locations and some residential pick up of hazardous household waste. Municipal support can help make this program more effective.

♦ Established procedures to conduct a periodic waste composition review.
A periodic evaluation of the waste stream from a municipality allows administrators to determine which policies are working and which waste products and sources can be effectively targeted for further reduction.

♦ Provide composting bins at low or no charge to residents.
Municipalities should encourage backyard composting of yard, garden, and vegetable waste. Handling waste at the point of production entails far less energy use than a centralized municipal collection and processing system. Making backyard composting bins available to residents entails a small cost to the municipality, but it can reduce the substantial collection and processing costs of leaves and yard waste, leading to an overall savings by the municipality.
However, because not all residents will choose to compost at home and because some larger property owners may have more yard waste than they can usefully compost, this is not a replacement for municipal composting program. Backyard and municipal-level composting are complementary efforts.

In San Diego, each building and demolition permit applicant is required to pay a deposit based on the size and nature of their project. They then receive a refund based on the amount of waste material that is recycled. If seventy-five percent is recycled, they receive a full refund.

Many US municipalities promote recycling and encourage upgrades to more energy efficient appliances by offering free pick up or cash for old appliances that are still in working order. Some US towns offer $20 or so for every air conditioner or refrigerator turned in.

Gold

♦ Enforce mandatory residential and commercial recycling with penalties.
Penalties have a modest impact on residential recycling rates and a somewhat higher impact on commercial or multi-resident unit rates. The threat of penalties, for example, can encourage apartment managers to more aggressively promote and facilitate residents’ recycling.

♦ Set marginal pricing on commercial and residential waste pickup.
Rather than charge every household the same amount for refuse collection, cost can be varied by size of container or number of bags. If recycling and yard waste are not charged, this can encourage proper recycling and reduce the amount of recyclables that end up in landfills. Research indicates that the effect of variable pricing on recycling rates for bottles and cans is modest; however the effect on yard waste recycling rates can be significant. Such policies should be coupled with enforcement of recycling requirements to ensure that recycling containers are not used for waste to avoid high fees.
Some American communities have adopted a ‘pay as you throw’ program. Such a program can be managed by providing designated bags of various sizes that can be purchased from the municipality or local retailers for $1-5 each. Only trash placed in a designated bay will be picked up. When residents pay per bag for trash pickup, they have a greater incentive to recycle. In some instances, recycling rates increased by over fifty percent as a result of such a program.

♦ Establishing a municipal composting facility.
For many New Jersey municipalities, composting has provided a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method of managing leaves and yard waste. Composting can be less expensive than conventional disposal and the compost can even bring in modest proceeds from public sale of compost and reduced municipal landscaping costs. With grants available from the state Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Solid Waste Management to help cover composting costs, two hundred composting facilities are in operation in the state.

About 13 percent of solid waste in New Jersey is a combination of food scraps and yard waste. Putting this in a landfill is a wasted resource.

The town of New Paltz, New York, initiated the Hudson Valley Materials Exchange, diverting reusable building materials from landfills to reuse. Artists, teachers, and homeowners take advantage of this resource.

Composting is climate friendly, a valuable public service, and cost effective for the municipality.

The New Jersey statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act requires municipalities to establish recycling programs. The Act set a target of diverting half of all municipal waste to recycling. Of course, the elimination of waste is always preferable to recycling.

♦ Initiate a community materials exchange.
Municipalities can establish a central designated site that allows residents to drop off unwanted materials. Such projects often function in partnership with a non-profit organization, to allow surplus materials, overstocks, usable building supplies, and other designated items to be reused by teachers, artists, homeowners, and community agencies.

♦ Establish a commercial food waste collection program.
The amount of food waste from restaurants, grocery stores and large institutions can be substantial; and the decomposition of this waste in landfills can be a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. A municipal program to collect this waste and compost it not only reduces the emission of greenhouse gas but it can create a potentially lucrative source of rich compost for local farmers and gardeners. The Solid Waste Resource Renewal Group at Rutgers University is especially focused on changing food waste recycling policies in New Jersey.

Purchasing Practices

Shifts in a municipality’s purchasing practices can be the most immediate way of reducing a community’s greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) policies can reduce the ‘embodied energy’ of municipal purchases, that is the amount of energy that is used to manufacture, transport, and deliver the product prior to purchase. It should establish a preference for recycled, post-consumer content, increasing the climate friendly and general-Earth friendly nature of municipal purchasing. Choosing paints, solvent, and cleaners that are low in volatile organic compounds (VOC) helps promote a healthy work environment as well as being climate-friendly. Green purchasing can also eliminate hazardous or toxic materials, from dioxin to mercury, making the workplace safer and more pleasant.

Bronze

♦ Require that municipal wood purchases be sustainable.
A set percentage of all wood purchased by the municipality can be required to be certified by an independent body, like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), as sustainably harvested. FSC certification ensures that the timber was harvested in a way that maintained the forest’s biodiversity, productivity, and overall health. If we use sustainable practices, we can continue to utilize wood products while protecting our planet’s forests. Independent certification by an established not-for-profit organization like the FSC ensures that these practices are followed. Because certified wood is now widely available, a municipality might start by establishing a preference for certified wood or requiring that half its wood purchases are certified, and move up from there.

For every 100 pounds of final product we produce in the United States, about 3,200 pounds of waste is created.

♦ Ensure that municipal food and beverage purchases support sustainable practices around the world.
Municipal purchases of coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa and other commodities should support sustainable and just development around the world. Certification as organic, shade grown and fair trade ensure that the product was grown in a way that does not contribute to the deforestation of tropical rainforests, does not result in deterioration of the ecosystem, and promotes the sustainable development of communities around the world. Municipalities can commit themselves to purchasing only certified coffees and teas as a start and expand their commitment to other purchases later.

♦ Define preference for recycled materials in municipal purchasing.
Using recycled material can encompass varied products from office paper made from post consumer paper to playground cover manufactured from recycles tires. Specifying post consumer, rather than simply ‘recycled’, content ensures that the recycled material was not simply an industrial byproduct commonly reused in the manufacturing process but was in fact waste that has been recovered or diverted from landfill or incinerator for remanufacture as a new product. EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines can help define clear purchasing preferences.

♦ Require energy star ratings, when available, for all municipal electrical equipment.
The federal Energy Star program establishes efficiency measures for lighting, cooling, heating, and appliances. Purchasing energy efficient appliances is cost effective, typically with a payback period measured in a few years. However, an Energy Star rating does not mean you are getting the most efficient model manufactured; it only indicate that the energy efficiency of that model is somewhat better than the industry average. So, requiring or establishing a preference for energy star rated appliances is a good starting point; but a more aggressive policy might look at the actual energy efficiency ratings published by the EPA on all relevant appliances and defining set purchasing preferences that favor the most energy efficient option within a certain cost threshold.

There are over 150 Habitat for Humanity ReStores in America, including four in New Jersey, conserving resources and reducing waste by selling surplus and recovered building materials at discount prices. Municipalities can help support these and other such programs.

Silver

♦ Require municipal staff to complete a course in green product purchasing.
Many training opportunities are available in green purchasing. The New Jersey DEP provides an on-line guide for municipal Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP). The U. S. Conference of Mayors has developed the Buy Recycled Training Institute, and has offered local training workshops in the past. On-line courses are available through the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program, the Federal Environmental Executive, and other sources. New Jersey’s colleges and universities can often be a resource for training municipal staff. Attending relevant sessions of an established course or setting up a special raining session with university faculty and staff can help meet a municipality’s particular needs.

♦ Complete an internal review of purchasing.
A thorough review of municipal purchasing requirements will almost certainly indicate that certain products can be replaced with more climate-friendly alternatives. An audit can also identify products that are unnecessary, or can be made unnecessary with minor changes in policy or practice. Reducing consumption is the most effective part of the ‘three R’s’.

Gold

♦ Adopt green requirements for all municipal purchasing.
Establishing clear and definite requirements is vital to the development of complete and lasting climate friendly purchasing practices. These criteria should not only be specific to any given product; but also umbrella requirements that address general purchasing practices. For example, a town could mandate purchasing of maximum recycled content material whenever available. A set price limit could be defined to avoid major cost increases. Policy might dictate, for example, that the recycled option must be favored when the recycled item cost no more than 30% over the non-recycled alternative. A municipality might establish similar obligations for energy efficiency based on efficiency measures or set payback periods.

Rutgers University has committed to green purchasing specifications. Their environmentally preferable purchasing procedures ensures that the campus buys products that conserve energy and resources throughout the lifecycle of the product, including packaging, operation, and disposal. The university’s purchasing guidelines can be found on line, and may serve as a model for your community.

Education

Any effort to make your community more climate-friendly cannot ignore the importance of education. Municipal policies can promote climate friendly options and change general behaviors among policy makers, developers, and community members. But, only through education can we hope to foster a broader understanding of the challenges of climate change, the threats now posed to nature’s delicate balance, and the urgency of developing sustainable alternatives. Changes in policies might help us in the present; but only deeper changes in how we understand the world and our impact on nature can help us build a more sustainable future. In the end, we need to change more than policy; we need to change minds.

Bronze

♦ Create educational displays in municipal buildings.
Such displays might highlight energy efficiency, waste reduction, and green purchasing options. Local schools can be involved in the design and development of the displays.

♦ Develop outreach efforts at community events.
Municipalities can develop a clear presence at fairs, farmers markets, and community meetings as an advocate for climate-friendly alternatives. The required investment in a booth and some educational displays and materials is minimal. Municipal employees and community volunteers can help with the outreach effort. An incentive or award program can help recognize and reward municipal employees who contribute.

State support for local environmental projects is available through multiple sources. The State Environmental Education Directory (SEED), for example, provides funds to support recycling, tree planting, pollution control and management, environmental awareness and more. The Environmental Services Program offers matching grants to support environmental projects in the state. The New Jersey Community Forestry Program offers challenge grants to communities to support the development of forestry management plans.

Silver

♦ Establish a website with information and resources for green homes and energy efficiency.
When combined with effective outreach, a website can be a good way to make resources and information available to community residents. In particular, a website might highlight the purchasing and resource options available in the area. A website might inform local residents where they can purchase certified lumber or energy saving appliances, for example.

♦ Use public meetings on development issues to educate members of the community on environmental issues and the advantages of smart growth.
The municipality should be a constant and reliable advocate for climate friendly alternatives. Defining a municipal staff member who can educate community members on sustainable options and highlight the advantages of climate friendly policies and planning is a vital element of the process.

♦ Organize and facilitate citizen groups to promote climate friendly practices.
Citizen groups, or ‘green teams’ can help foster awareness within the community. They can host open houses, discussion groups, public lectures, and other events that help clarify climate friendly options and promote change.

The Mayor’s Task Force of Burlington, Vermont began a voluntary program to build public awareness of Climate Change and encourage citizens and businesses to reduce their climate impact. Since its launch in 2002, municipalities throughout the state and beyond have joined the effort, nearly a hundred businesses and over a thousand residences have adopted climate-friendly changes.

♦ Celebrate residents or local businesses that have helped promote a climate friendly community.
Forms of public recognition, such as letters of commendation from the mayor, certificates of recognition, or distinction as a ‘Cool Business’ can help encourage local businesses to take on climate friendly reforms. This can be done in conjunction with informational brochures and workshops that outline climate friendly alternatives for local businesses.

♦ Install an alternative energy demonstration system in a local school.
A solar and wind demonstration system in a local school can be integrated with classroom activities and community events. With state support and perhaps consideration from a private installer, such a system can have a payback period of a few years or less. Local schools are a vital asset in the effort to promote climate friendly reforms. A local demonstration site can reduce the school’s operating cost, provide an engaging project for students, and offer an educational resource for local businesses and residents.

♦ Workshops and resources on green building design for policymakers, architects, developers, and educators.
Key decision makers and educators in the community often need to be educated on the need and possibilities for climate friendly alternatives. Communities can tap into local colleges and universities for experts in the field and host training sessions and workshops at almost no cost. Incentives can be offered to local educators, developers, architects, and other professionals who take part.

The New Jersey Commission on Environmental Education was established in 1996 to implement the state’s mater plan for environmental education. The plan, Environmental Education in New Jersey: A Plan of Action is available to the public. The Department of Environmental Protection produces a comprehensive report on the state’s air and water quality every two years. This report can be a useful resource for secondary schools and community groups.

Gold

♦ Develop a flyer or newsletter highlighting climate-friendly business options.
A monthly or quarterly newsletter can help inform and encourage local businesses to adopt climate friendly practices. Recognizing achievements among local businesses can provide a valuable incentive. Green business groups at the national, local and state level can help provide resources and information.

♦ Incentives for participation in municipally sponsored training programs.
A variety of incentives can be attached to participation in educational programs for local businesses. Simple public recognition, tax credits or other considerations may be used to encourage local business leaders to participate in green design and management, energy efficiency and green purchasing programs offered by the municipality or the state.

♦ Define a municipal awareness campaign.
Municipalities can use billboards, messages in local publications, radio, and other creative measures to create awareness of the social, health and environmental costs of fossil fuels and energy inefficiency, and the value of climate friendly alternatives.

♦ Produce a climate friendly citizen’s guide.
An annual guide or monthly newsletter can highlight climate friendly options such as where to buy locally-grown produce, how to dispose of old appliances, where to buy native trees, as well as lifestyle stories such as a taste test of shade grown coffees or a review of local nature trails.