More Towns Committing To "Going Green"

Cherry Hill, N.J. One Of The Communities That Makes Environmental Planning A Priority

(AP)  This town, with its vast housing developments and miles of shopping centers lining every thoroughfare, was not designed to go easy on the Earth, but that isn't stopping local officials from going green.

Cherry Hill, once a desolate farmland and now a bustling Philadelphia suburb of 70,000, is one of the latest examples of a nationwide movement of local governments committing to make environmental issues a priority.

The township is switching to lower-energy traffic lights, offering residents incentives to recycle and even looking into putting solar panels on a municipal building.

"For far too long we have waited for other government agencies to act on these issues," Mayor Bernie Platt told the township council before it adopted a plan last month to reduce carbon emissions and waste. "This elected body will act to provide leadership, guidance and immediate action."

Many local governments across New Jersey and the nation are also taking formal steps to "go green."

Some examples:

• Westwood, N.J. is converting its fleet of police cars to gas-saving hybrids.
  
• Austin, Texas is planning to power all city-owned buildings with renewable energy by 2020 and require new single-family homes to do the same within a decade.
  
• Warwick, R.I. has is using more efficient LED lights in all its traffic signals.

Former Vice President Al Gore deserves part of the credit for raising awareness of the idea - backed by many scientists - that people's activities are responsible for global warming, according to Annie Strickler, spokeswoman for the Oakland Calif.-based U.S. offices of The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, or ICLEI. The organization's U.S. membership, consisting of local governments trying to be more sensitive to the environment, has nearly doubled in the past year.

Cynthia McCollum, president of the National League of Cities and a member of the city council in Madison, Ala., says the jurisdiction of cities gives them good reason to be thinking green.

"We control the building codes," she said. And in most places, local government controls the roads and planning regulations, she noted.

McCollum's group is lobbying Congress to allocate $2 billion a year to help local governments with environmental initiatives.

"I think it's a good thing in that towns are at least talking about going green," said Peter Kasabach, executive director of New Jersey Future, which promotes sustainable land-use planning. "The concept of going green has gone mainstream."

Cherry Hill isn't exactly a granola-crunching town that you might expect to strive for greenness.

Before it was Cherry Hill, it was Delaware Township, a mass of mostly farmland and a few suburban neighborhoods just east of Camden and Philadelphia.

Starting in the late 1950s, development took off with waves of ranches, split-levels and, later, Colonials, condos and McMansions until by 1985, practically every lot in the 24-square mile town was developed. Population swelled to about 70,000, making it one of New Jersey's largest suburbs.

The town's claim to fame was having the first large, enclosed shopping center on the East Coast. The Cherry Hill Mall opened in 1961 and the same year, the township changed its name, picking a moniker that matched the mall, which remains a shopping hub.

Mayor Platt, a funeral director long involved in local politics, looked at recycling as a way to save money. The cost of taking trash to a landfill was rising relentlessly.

Township officials calculated that by using RecycleBank, a program that gives residents gift certificates in exchange for recycling, it could save $2 million in landfill fees over the next five years.

Lori Braunstein, chairwoman of the advocacy group Sustainable Cherry Hill, said Platt turned out to be an easy sell on the goal of reducing and even mitigating carbon emissions, which scientists say lead to global warming.

The 10-point plan the township developed calls for modest measures like annual tree-planting, and ambitious ones such as exploring offering builders incentives to do earth-friendly construction.

There are some environmental concerns in Cherry Hill that might be harder to fix because of the spread-out nature of a suburb built for people expected to commute by car.

"One of the challenges still faced is being able to define green broadly enough," said New Jersey Future's Kasabach. "How people use their land, and get around your town."

His ideal would be relatively dense, walkable villages surrounded by farms and green space and linked by mass transit. That does not describe present-day Cherry Hill, or many of the suburbs that sprung up across New Jersey at the same time.

"Previous planners in Cherry Hill have to take almost all the blame," Mayor Platt said. "We inherited this sprawling suburban community."

Platt says he's seeing progress on the land-use front. There's a building boom going on at the former site of the Garden State Park horse track. While part of the development consists of big-box stores in a sea of parking lots, Platt likes to point out that it's bringing homes and offices within walking distance of a train station.

"It's sort of ironic to green one of the biggest examples of suburban sprawl in the country," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the Sierra Club in New Jersey. "If you can do it in Cherry Hill, you can do it everywhere."

[cozzmo5]

All this bull about availability and demand, politians are all about scandals, lying , and profit. Dirty rats! Why do people vote for these people; can''t they see the truth behind their stories/

[michellem99-2009]

I use clothe bags to have the lady bagging my items use when I go to stores,the Post Office, use a cloth bag for dirty clothes. Maine is the reason and when we moved to Seattle, Ye can''t put yer old TV and the like in the trash. Have 2 trash cans 1 for trash and the other for recyle.

[rf35]

Since the federal government is unwilling to take any steps to clean up the environment, it''s up to these local governments to get the job done. You can be sure there will be no progress made at the national level until at least 2009.

[observer2020]

I''ve been recycling in NJ for years, 15+, and we certainly don''t get "gifts" for doing it. However, if we don''t recycle, we get fined. AND, we have to pay to have the recycling guys come around and pay for the recycling can. So where''s the savings other than the self-satisfaction of saying that I recycle? I would love to have solar panels installed on my house, but, the price of solar panels need to come down so the normal home owner can afford it...and with the economy nowadays, it''s just not on the list of needs; like food, gas (including NJ car insurance), etc.

[zen55]

I live in Cherry Hill. Only a few people are involved now in the program. I''ve tried to sign up. As of yet, no one called me. As I know it, you receive payment, or reward for using this service. But, a town as big as this there''s only 900 on the program and they are all in the Barclay Farms division of Cherry Hill. No letter have been issued to Cherry Hill residents about this program. The only way I find out about this was by reading articles in newspapers.

[zen55]

I live in Cherry Hill. Only a few people are involved now in the program. I''ve tried to sign up. As of yet, no one called me. As I know it, you receive payment, or reward for using this service. But, a town as big as this there''s only 900 on the program and they are all in the Barclay Farms division of Cherry Hill. No letter have been issued to Cherry Hill residents about this program. The only way I find out about this was by reading articles in newspapers.

[zen55]

I live in Cherry Hill. Only a few people are involved now in the program. I''ve tried to sign up. As of yet, no one called me. As I know it, you receive payment, or reward for using this service. But, a town as big as this there''s only 900 on the program and they are all in the Barclay Farms division of Cherry Hill. No letter have been issued to Cherry Hill residents about this program. The only way I find out about this was by reading articles in newspapers.

[naucoming4u]

They say "all politics is local", and apparently the same can be said for all "green" initiatives.

Local "green" initiatives are always a good thing, because all combined, they will have a positive global effect. (And it can be done without destroying the economy as the Neo-Con fear mongers lead many to believe).

[r9119111]

I would not consider buying a house today that was not green friendly. Every new house built should be green. Many standing houses aren''t worth the ground they are on because they should be torn down and replaced. If it isn''t green friendly, I don''t want it.