Holden Named to Sustainable Jersey Board of Trustees

Madison Mayor Mary-Anna Holden is one of five New Jersey mayors selected to serve on the Board of Trustees of Sustainable Jersey for 2011-2012.

Representatives of Sustainable Jersey are strengthening the organization with the addition of the Board of Trustees as it evolves from a partnership into a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The newly formed board also includes sustainability experts, accomplished scholars, corporate leaders and innovators. 

Launched in 2009, Sustainable Jersey is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports community efforts to reduce waste, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve environmental equity. The organization links certification with strong state and private financial incentives, and a fully resourced program of technical support and training. 

“Meeting and working with this talented board affords me the opportunity to learn and then employ cutting-edge ideas to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ here at home,” said Holden. “I am pleased to say there are 350 New Jersey towns participating along with Madison. Participation is 100% free, voluntary and can lead municipalities to small grants. Madison, for instance, learned of an energy-efficiency auditing program that led to an annual $100,000 of cost savings with a $30,000 grant available.”

She continued, “At last year's state-wide League of Municipalities conference, I questioned the points eligibility categories, particularly in green building. Of particular concern was the low ranking for historic preservation, which seems listed as an afterthought under Arts and Culture. Think of how quickly Madison could have moved up in certification from bronze level to at least silver if we could have gotten points credited for adaptive reuse of the old fire bays to a courtroom and repurposing terracotta tiles and marble through the selective demolition techniques employed during the Hartley Dodge Memorial building renovation, for example. After all, the greenest building is the one that is already there.”

“I look forward to serving on Sustainable Jersey, Inc.'s education and outreach committee, as well as contributing to its accreditation standards,” Holden said. 

"We are extremely fortunate to have such talented people join Sustainable Jersey," said Donna Drewes, Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainability Planning and Governance at the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey and Sustainable Jersey founding partner. "Each Trustee brings extensive experience and his/her leadership is something that will be an invaluable asset as Sustainable Jersey strives to expand its reach across New Jersey to support every town that pursues a comprehensive sustainability program through our municipal certification program."

Currently, 62 percent of New Jersey’s towns and cities (350 towns across all 21 counties) have registered to become Sustainable Jersey-certified.  The program has distributed more than $500,000 to New Jersey communities to support an estimated 1,500 actions taken "on the ground" to make communities more livable, environmentally friendly and prosperous. Nearly 75 percent of New Jersey’s population lives in registered/ certified Sustainable Jersey communities.