Pathways to Sustainable Communities

• Audits & Assessments
• Policies
• Land Use Planning
• Ordinances
• Municipal Initiatives
• Key Resources
• Implement pesticide free pest management programs;
  See sample policy
• Involving Residents

Every community can make a difference in securing a sustainable future.

• Audits & Assessments
  • Determine the level of carbon emissions
    • For local governments and communities
      Two providers of methods and tools are
      ICLEI (Paid membership required) and
      World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
      Two examples are Columbia MO
      Langley, B.C.
    • For houses
      Encourage residents to calculate their household's carbon footprint;and
      estimate personal emissions.
  • Conduct an energy audit
    • For local governments and communities. Guides are provided by NJDEP's Office of Planning & Sustainable Communities and NJ Sustainable State Institute
      
    • For houses
      

  • Review public works processes, i.e. garbage collection, recycling and snow removal for ways to improve sustainability; Canada's National Research Council has put together a National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure

• Policies
  • Adopt Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™ (LEEDs) for major construction projects;
  • Implement sustainable purchasing policies;
  • Use green cleaning supplies; information available from NJ DEP's NJ Environmentally Preferable Purchasing based on the 2006 New Jersey green cleaning executive order;and the Spring 2007 ANJEC Report, page 13.
  • Sign the Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement;
  • During site plan review, consider factors like building orientation, preserving shade trees and nonstructural drainage to conserve heat and air conditioning and reduce stormwater runoff;
  • Protect and enhance wildlife habitats and natural ecosystems.
    
    
• Land Use Planning
  • Shared parking;
  • Pedestrian and bicycle friendly-circulation;
  • Open space protection;
  • Convert brownfields to green fields;
  • Funding opportunities.
    
    
• Ordinances
  Sample Ordinances for Sustainable Communities
  • Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™ (LEEDs) green building;
    
  • Cluster Development
  • Pesticides Use
  • Recycling construction and demolition debris
  • Stream Buffer
  • Tree planting, replacement and protection
  • Wind Energy Zoning
  
  Additional ordinances available through ANJEC Resource Center (send email request to resourcecenter@anjec.org)
  • Conservation design zoning;
    
  • Noncontiguous cluster zoning;
    
  • Pedestrian overlay district;
    
  • Transit village overlay;
    
  • No phosphorous fertilizer use;
    
  • Recycling;
    
  • Critical areas protection, such as wetlands, stream corridors,* flood zones, dunes, forests, steep slopes, well heads, areas, etc.;
    
  • Solar access;
    
  • Solar easement, (N.J.S.A. 46:3-24)
    
    
• Municipal Initiatives
  • Key Resources
  • Involving Residents
  • What's Happening in New Jersey?
  • Ideas from Other States
    
    
• Key Resources
• Energy
  • Retrofit municipal buildings with energy efficient heating, cooling and lighting system. See Highland Park .
  • Replace fleets with more fuel efficient or alternative fuel vehicles. See Montclair and Woodbridge.
    
  • Install Light Emitting Diode (LED) traffic lights and use compact fluorescent lights in buildings, on ball fields and in street lights. See Highland Park and Montclair.
    
  • Consider opportunities for solar, wind, geothermal heat pumps and other alternative energy sources. See Montclair, Bayonne and Highland Park.
• Natural Areas
  • Protect aquifer recharge areas and wellheads;
    
  • Remove invasive species;
    
  • Restore wetlands and forest habitats;
    
  • Establish a farmers market;
  • Educate members of the community to reduce nonpoint source pollution by creating rain gardens.
    See links at Rutgers Water Resources Program.
    
• Involving Residents
  
• Explore ways to make it easier for commuting residents to carpool or use mass transit; See Maplewood and Parsippany's Carpool Center
  
• Encourage residents to conserve water and energy, buy locally grown foods, reuse and recycle and other sustainable behavior;
  
• Set up electronics recycling program.
• Join the New Jersey Environmental Federation's campaign for "idle-free" zones. See Millburn's use.

For additional advice and information, contact resourcecenter@anjec.org.