Bring your electronic to recycle at the Brookdale ShopRite

You can drop off computers, monitors, printers, wires/cables, keyboards, mice, telephones, TVs under 32 inches, VCRs, DVD players, stereos, small appliances to be recycled. Pick up information on recycling and a free cloth bag courtesy of Shoprite. Electronic recycling will continue at Brookdale Shoprite the last Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Why recycle electronics? You save the town money by not having to pay to send them to the Newark Covanta incinerator where they are burned, polluting the air in Essex County and beyond. The toxic leftovers are put in a landfill. By recycling them, you are helping to clean our air, land and water and saving our tax dollars!!

[We're also looking for volunteers to help at our table for an hour or two, starting with setup at 9:00. If you'd like to help, please sign up at www.meetup.com/GreenerBloomfield. Thank you!]

The Great West Essex Toy Swap is an opportunity to bring your old toys to exchange for different toys your kids will love. It’s a great way to ensure your child’s previously loved things will geta new happy home, and that you can give them new things to play with at no cost to you. It’s a wonderful ReUse event!

The Great West Essex Toy Swap is the brainchild of Bloomfield resident and artist Greg Gutbezahl.The Swap will be held on Sunday February 21, 2010 from 10am to 3pm, with a drop off day on Saturday, February 20, 2010, after 4pm, at Temple Sholom of West Essex 760 Pompton Ave Cedar Grove, NJ 07009-1229, (973) 239-1326.

The SWAP organizers are currently looking for volunteers for the swap committee from the Caldwell to Bloomfield area. If you are interested, please visit the contact page on the website (see below), or email Greg at greg@gmg-design.com

Please visit the swap website http://toyswap.wordpress.com/ for updates and information.

The Swap organizers are also seeking donations to provide for promotions, and for schools and groups to promote the event through their lists. If you are able to help, or know of a business who may be willing to sponsor the event, please let Greg know, or contact JoAnn Pine at 973 239 1321.

Baristanet reports that the program, launched with Creative Outdoor Advertising of America (”COA”), “is designed to enhance the township’s recycling efforts while generating revenue for the municipality”. The 26 recycling stations throughout the town will feature advertising to offset the cost.

“This new program offers residents an additional outlet to recycle while enjoying their time out and about Bloomfield,” said Councilman Nick Joanow, council liaison to the recycling committee and advocate for the new program. “We’re going to bolster our litter abatement program and generate new revenue through this initiative.”

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.)

Join our regular Greener Bloomfield meeting on Thursday, May 28, 7pm at the Bloomfield Civic Center, 84 Broad Street, where we’ll have a screening of “The Story of Stuff”, a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Agenda: 

• “The Story of Stuff” 
• Project Porchlight CFL distribution 
• Recap of the Bloomfield Green Fest 
• Work on Sustainable Jersey actions 

Everyone is welcome to join us. To RSVP, please go to www.meetup.com/GreenerBloomfield. Join Meetup.com if you haven’t already, and let us know if you’ll be able to attend. We hope to see you Thursday evening!

What did YOU like best about the Bloomfield Green Fest?

Celebrate and learn about sustainable living, working, and community at the Bloomfield Green Fest on Saturday, May 2, 2009, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Brookside Park.  This event continues Earth Day festivities locally and focuses on energy conservation and respect for the environment.

• See exhibits from over 40 local businesses and organizations
• Hear guest speakers talk about green living, working, and community 
• Learn about recycling, composting, and home energy efficiency audits
• Judge the Bloomfield Schools’ “Save the Earth” poster contest

Education and fun for all!  Admission to Green Fest is free.  Delicious food and drink will be available. The Bloomfield Green Fest is co-sponsored by Greener Bloomfield and the Bloomfield Recycling Committee.

Exhibitors:

• Acorn Home Improvements
• AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassadors
• Anderson Windows/Silver Line
• Backyard Wildlife Habitat
• Barb Conover Missouri Master Composter
• Bike Montclair
• Bloomfield Recycling Committee
• Bloomfield Vocational Tech Green Academy
• Boxed Organics
• Boy Scouts of America
• Brookdale Park Conservancy
• Cornicopia Network
• Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology
• Essex County Environmental Center
• Essex County Greens
• Farm to Bistro
• Fine Green Design
• Friends of Clark’s Pond and Third River
• Gaia Gardens Landscaping
• Go R.I.S.E. Up, Inc.
• Green Handyman
• Green Harmony Now
• Greener Bloomfield
• Guy Gsell/ Darren Gage/ Bob White
• Herbolution
• Home Depot
• Home Energy Diagnostics
• ICI Paint
• Music Together of Montclair
• Muti Oils
• New Jersey Clean Energy Program
• NJ Peace Action
• Pardise Pets
• Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners
• Photographic Coffee Mugs
• Project Porch Light
• Purple Dragon Co-op
• Shaklee
• Tony’s Hot dogs 
• Unlimited – renewable energy in NJ
• Waste Management Recycle America
• Women’s International for Peace & Freedom