Greener Bloomfield

Happy New Year! In the January 14 Bloomfield Life, Greener Bloomfield coordinator John Palomaki wrote the Bloomfield Public Square column and offered some New Year’s Resolutions for Bloomfield, focused mostly on sustainability. The full text is posted after the jump, and we welcome you to add your own resolutions you’d like to see Bloomfield take on in 2010.

New Year’s Resolutions for Bloomfield
by John Palomaki

I’m sure most of us are happy to give 2009 a swift kick out the door. The economy, jobs, war, healthcare, and climate crisis would be enough challenges for a lifetime. We’re losing trust in our elected officials and institutions. At a time when we need to work together, divisive rhetoric is pushing us apart. We’re losing the middle ground in our economy and in the ability to work together to find solutions.

Fortunately, 2010 is a new year, and all of us in Bloomfield can make some New Year’s Resolutions to think and act in ways that will benefit us all in the long-term, economically, socially, and environmentally, without causing new problems along the way.

By the way, that’s the definition of SUSTAINABILITY. While often used to refer to the environment, it’s just as important to think about sustainability in terms of thriving financially and socially. It’s often called the “triple bottom line” where we measure success not just by someone’s wallet, but on how we all do:  “People, Planet, and Profit” (they’re not mutually exclusive). We just need the will to discard our old unsustainable ways and create newer more sustainable habits and practices.

So, here are a few resolutions we should make for Bloomfield. If you have more ideas, write a letter to the editor or add your comments on www.GreenerBloomfield.org.

1. Build greater civility and seek common ground. Say “Hi” to your neighbor, or even have a nice conversation. Hold the door, apologize when you bump someone, offer to help answer a question or give directions or shovel the snow. We can keep our voices calm, listen, acknowledge and try to understand another’s perspective, and show respect for others, even if we disagree. On virtually every issue, there’s something we all can agree to, and we can seek win-win solutions.
2. Work for change. It’s easy to complain, anonymously write a nasty letter or blog post, or rely on someone else to do it. But change only happens if we work for it. Go to meetings, speak your mind, write letters, and have discussions, but talk about the solutions, how you’d fix the problems or make them better. Volunteer to help, even if it’s just an hour, on any issue you feel passionate about.
3. Set a good example. Someone is always watching what we do, whether it’s a neighbor, a co-worker, a stranger on the street, or a child. Young people especially need positive role models. A good attitude, a good deed, careful words, and even a smile can go a long way toward showing someone there’s a better way.
4. Make a commitment to health. Eat a balanced and varied diet of less-processed and more natural foods, exercise regularly, and spend more time outdoors. Help your kids develop healthy habits. Diabetes is the biggest health issue for children, and limiting sugars and encouraging exercise and more diversity in diets can go a long way to prevent it.
5. Support local efforts. Shop, eat, and play locally, give to local charities, and participate in local events. You’ll use less gas. You’ll be supporting local jobs. You’ll help businesses stay here or start here, which in turn support local organizations and contribute to Bloomfield’s tax base. And you’ll make Bloomfield a more vibrant place to be.
6. Turn your car off. We have great mass transit, from the Bloomfield shuttle to the many buses and trains that go through town. We have bikeable and walkable streets. Leave your car at home or take fewer trips. If you have to drive, don’t idle! Turn your car off after 10 seconds if you’re stopping for 30 seconds or more, while you’re waiting to pick up or drop off your kids at school, when you’re “just running in” to the convenience store, post office, or dry cleaner, or warming up your car on a cold morning. You’ll save gas, save money, keep our air cleaner, and keep our more vulnerable kids and seniors safer from asthma and other respiratory diseases.
7. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Do we really need all the “stuff” we buy? The first step is to buy less, so less stuff is manufactured, packaged, shipped, and discarded. Use reusable coffee mugs, water bottles, grocery bags, recycled paper, and “pre-owned” goods from garage sales and vintage shops. Take advantage of Bloomfield’s top-notch recycling programs, with curbside pickup of all papers, plastics, bottles, and cans and depot drop-off of electronics and clothing each Saturday at Grove Street (recycling even earns our town some money).
8. Support sustainable building, land use, and resource protection. As a township that’s already over 90% built out, we must be careful about how we use the property we have. We need to build and renovate our properties for greater energy, water, and resource efficiency. We need to preserve open space to regenerate air and water quality, provide scenic beauty and recreation, protect habitats for wildlife, and save the Township money (since open space uses fewer costly resources like schools, infrastructure, and services). We should encourage (green) mixed-use development, low-and mixed-income housing, and complete streets programs adopted for the new Downtown Redevelopment and extend them throughout the township for their economic, social, and environmental benefits.
9. Make hard but long-lasting choices. It’s going to be an extremely tough year for municipal and school budgets, with increasing costs (especially salaries and benefits) and decreasing revenues (less state aid and lower tax collections). We must encourage and support our elected officials in making tough but wise choices with a long-term view, just as we have to in our households. All sides need to work together. People may have to sacrifice a little in salaries, benefits, conveniences, and services, so we can have employment levels, budgets, and taxes that we can sustain over a longer time with less dependency on the state. We can insulate buildings better, buy more energy-efficient equipment, and make other capital changes that will reduce annual operating costs. We can use more fuel-efficient vehicles, or use the vehicles we have less. We can turn down the thermostats in the winter. We can print less, print on both sides, make fewer copies, and do more electronically.  We can share or outsource services with other neighboring towns and businesses. We can step up our efforts to find new revenue sources, including grants, property sales and leases, solar access leases, and selling services to other municipalities. We all need to accept and contribute to a new way of thinking sustainably in our school and government operations, as well as in our homes.
10. Celebrate! Celebrate our successes, our family and friends, our diversity, and our heritage. They give us the capacity to understand each other better and make the world a better place.

Remember, it’s not just about us, it’s about our children, our planet, and future generations.

(John Palomaki is a Bloomfield homeowner and the co-founder and coordinator of Greener Bloomfield, a community organization that works toward sustainable living, working, and community in Bloomfield NJ. Greener Bloomfield coordinated actions with the town government and community to be one of the first 34 towns in New Jersey to receive Sustainable Jersey certification. For more information, go to www.GreenerBloomfield.org.)

January 14th, 2010 | Tags: Anti-Idling, Bloomfield, Food, Green Building, Ideas, Local Government, Local press, Open space, Recycling, Sustainability, Waste | Category: Bloomfield Township Gov't, Featured, Green Building, Recycling | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL