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.)

TIDY ALTERNATIVE A view of Church Street in Bloomfield, a place with tightly packed houses, a great commute, and lower prices than Montclair and Glen Ridge. (NY Times, May 22, 2009)

The May 22 New York Times Real Estate section features an article on Bloomfield as a town that is “charming in an old-fashioned kind of way” with “a great commute” and “lower prices” than its neighboring towns. They also mention Bloomfield’s Smart Growth Award from New Jersey Future. Read more at “Living In Bloomfield, N.J.: A Starter Spot for Suburbanites”.

Sustainable Jersey is “a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to go green, control costs and save money, and take steps to sustain their quality of life over the long term.” It identifies actions a town can take, provides toolkits for each action, and identifies funding and other resources available to help achieve the steps. Points can be earned in 13 categories of tasks, such as “Community Partnership and Outreach”, “Energy Efficiency”, “Sustainable Planning”, and “Waste Reduction and Recycling”.

John Palomaki outlined the program goals and the steps, and the group agreed that several of the actions could be easily achievable, and points could be earned for many other steps with some focused attention. Greener Bloomfield will work with the Township Council on a resolution to register with the program and develop a plan to gain certification.

For Earth Day 2009, officially on April 22, the group brainstormed several ideas for an event to be co-sponsored with the Bloomfield Recycling Committee somewhere around that date, hoping to avoid conflicting with the Essex County Environmental Center’s Earth Day 2009 event on Saturday, April 18. Some of the ideas include:

• Set up a “Green Fest” of tables for green non-profit organizations and local green businesses
• Sign up members and volunteers for Greener Bloomfield
• Encourage greater recycling with information from the town and Waste Management’s truck, giveaways, and robot
• Offer home composters to residents, using the DPW’s discount program
• Kick off a Project Porchlight campaign to encourage people to change to more energy-efficient lightbulbs
• Offer 20-minute discussions on the half-hour on topics such as:
  • Clean energy program – homes
  • Town Forester – tree planting
  • Bloomfield Center Redevelopment’s sustainability plans
• Sponsor a School Clean-up Day
• Use resources at StopGlobalWarming.org

Additional discussions will be held with the Bloomfield Recycling Committee on dates and venues. People wishing to volunteer for the Earth Day Committee should please post a note to this entry.

We’ll feature additional posts about the details behind the town’s Paperless Council project, which was implemented by Greener Bloomfield organizer John Palomaki. We’ll also highlight Greener Bloomfield’s work in getting green building and other sustainability details into the Redevelopment Plan, which is being sent to the Planning Board for approval. Greener Bloomfield organizer Meredith Nole, an energy efficient lighting expert with Warshauer Electric and President of the Illuminating Engineers Society of New Jersey, will be working on a lighting assessment for the town’s light bulb replacements.

First-ever Green Fest will join weekend Harvest event

By Michael W. Curley Jr. Staff Writer

In addition to the annual Harvest Fest this weekend, Bloomfield residents can visit Green Fest to learn about what the town has to offer in environmental businesses and organizations.

Green Fest will be held by the Greener Bloomfield organization, and will run concurrently with Harvest Fest, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sun­day from noon to 6 p.m.. It will be held in the plaza in front of the Bloomfield Public Library, across the street from the Green.

There are expected to be more than 20 exhibits at Green Fest, including local businesses that provide green goods and services, such as a company which does energy efficiency audits for homes, and remodel­ing with an emphasis on energy efficiency.

Local organizations featured at Green Fest will include the Greener Bloomfield organization, the Brookdale Park Conservancy, and the Friends of Clark’s Pond and Third River, which will be giving out information on their activities. In addition, the library will have a display show­casing its environmental literature.

“For people in our community who are thinking about energy efficiency and our environment, this is a great event to learn more, discover some simple steps they can take, and get involved in their community,” John Palomaki, a member of the Greener Bloomfield organization, said in a press release.

Palomaki said the organization was looking to get people to speak during the day, and that a representa­tive of the United States Green Building Council in New Jersey would be speaking on Saturday about sus­tainability. Also during Green Fest will be composting demonstrations to show residents how to convert their organic waste into fertilizer.

This is particularly important, Palomaki said, because food products make up the majority of garbage that’s thrown out, and if residents compost, they’ll find the rest of their garbage, if they separate recyclables, will be reduced dramatically. “If everyone composted, it would bring down the costs of waste disposal,” he said, adding that there is a limited amount of space for landfills. At the Green Fest, there will be a sample composting bin. The cov­ered bin allows heat to remain in and helps keep pests away and will be available for residents to order at Green Fest to be picked up at the Department of Pub­lic Works later.

On Sunday, Mercedes-Benz will be showcasing its Smart Car, and residents will be able to take the vehi­cle for a test drive in the library’s parking lot. The car is half the length of a normal car, Palomaki said, and it’s energy efficient. He added the company would soon be coming out with an electric version of the vehicle.

The organization began as a group of residents that wanted to ensure the Bloomfield Center redevelop­ment used as many energy efficient and environmen­tally sound methods as possible in its undertaking, and is co- sponsoring Green Fest with the Bloomfield Recycling Committee. The organization is looking to increase its membership, and bring more sustainability practices to the residents of Bloomfield, as well as the businesses and local government.

“Everyone can take simple steps such as recycling, making our homes and businesses more energy effi­cient, and protecting our parks and waterways,” Nick Joanow, a member of the Bloomfield Recycling Com­mittee, said in the press release, “It’s good for our environment, and it’s good for our budgets.”
This will be the first year that Green Fest will come to Bloomfield, Palomaki said, and it was inspired in part by similar exhibitions in nearby towns, such as Summit, Maplewood and Glen Ridge. Palomaki said Bloomfield’s Green Fest was directly modeled after the one held in Glen Ridge, with Elizabeth Baker, a councilwoman from Glen Ridge, helping to organize it.

“It seems a good time to do it now,” Palomaki said, noting the group’s success in getting green guidelines into the redevelopment plan. Palomaki and the Green­er Bloomfield organization also helped in implement­ing the paperless council meetings, eliminating the paper packets that used to be used in the meetings in favor of new laptops for the council members.

“With energy prices getting higher, and home-heat­ing bills expected to get higher, it’s a good indicator that it’s time to do something like this, and help Bloomfield residents to save money,” Palomaki said, adding he hopes Green Fest becomes an annual event.

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