Bernards Township Leads the Way in Going Green

Bernards Township has been setting the pace for "going green" since 2007, when the township created a "green team" to look at ways to reduce energy costs, become more environmentally friendly and — not coincidentally — often reduce spending of local tax dollars.

The township already has taken groundbreaking steps in becoming more energy efficient, planning solar projects and recycling at its local recycling collection facility.

Those efforts by years predated the state's "Sustainable Jersey" program, which provides rewards for such initiatives. Bernards Township also has been using lighting that the state is now recommending, said Township Administrator Bruce McArthur.

Here are some of the major steps that Bernards Township has take to "go green:"

• The township has for the past few years begun a "pesticide-free" policy for all municipal properties.  Organic fertilizers are used where needed, McArthur said. 
• The township school district also has abolished the use of pesticides on school property, said Susan Carlsson, president of the Board of Education.
• The township sewerage authority's building was in recent years renovated and expanded according to LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Design) standards. The sewerage authority is in the final stages of implementing its own solar project that will provide energy for the sewerage treatment facility that serves a large portion of township residents.
• The township last month awarded a contract for installation of solar panels on an unused field that once served as a municipal landfill for the township. The Township Committee also agreed recently to participate in part of a county-sponsored solar panel initiative.
• A township recycling center at the Pill Hill facility off Pill Hill Road accepts a wide variety of items that are difficult to recycle elsewhere, including carpeting, televisions and other electronics.
• For years, all traffic signals in Bernards Township have been lit with money-saving LED (light-emitting diode) lighting, McArthur said.
• McArthur said that Bernards Township already is using new T8 flourescent light bulbs, the most efficient bulbs, which are just now being recommended by the state.
• Mayor John Malay said the township continues to search for ways of improving energy efficiency through an energy audit and other measures.