TCNJ students help Mount Holly move toward "Sustainable NJ" certification with completion of rain garden

Related Media

Completed Rain Garden

EWING, NJ (10/10/2011)(readMedia)-- As part of a Community Engaged Learning Day, four Bonner Scholars and 17 first-year students of The College of New Jersey went to Mount Holly and installed two rain gardens on Saturday, Sept. 17.

In addition to beautifying the municipality, the CEL Day project helped earn the Mount Holly "Green Team" an additional ten points towards the 150 points required for Bronze-Level certification from "Sustainable Jersey," a program of the College's Municipal Land Use Center (MLUC) that awards points to municipalities that choose to take concrete steps towards environmental sustainability.

This event marked one of the first environmental projects completed since a pilot partnership between Bonner Scholars and local municipalities commenced earlier this school year, bringing together college students and townspeople who want to improve the environment of New Jersey and its citizens' quality of life.

"TCNJ students not only helped Mount Holly to gain ten points toward Sustainable Jersey certification, they also helped to keep the waterways of South Jersey cleaner," said Dan Rita, a member of the Mount Holly Green Team.

According to Rita, one of the rain gardens that the students installed is now serving as a buffer between polluted runoff from an adjacent municipal parking lot, and the Rancocas Creek, which runs through the center of Mount Holly and cuts through this parking lot.

"The rain garden is a kind of water filter which diverts water into the aquifer instead of letting it flow directly into the creek through the storm drains," he explained. "Unfiltered water carries many pollutants that drip from the cars in the lots."

According to Rita, installing two rain gardens in one day was "no small feat," and required a good deal of determination on the students' part.

"The Green Team of Mount Holly couldn't have accomplished this task without the help of the students and that is no exaggeration," he said. "The students were determined to finish the second garden before they left Mount Holly... The existence of our rain gardens is a tribute to the determination of the (College) students who volunteered on that Saturday."

While the day's work was originally scheduled to last only from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., but the students "unanimously" voted to stay until the completion of the second garden, which kept them in Mount Holly until 5 p.m., said Heather Camp, senior program director at the Bonner Center.

"Originally, Mount Holly had planned to install the rain gardens in two separate Saturdays, but due in part to the assistance and dedication of TCNJ students, the rain gardens were completed in one day," said Camp. "Personally, I was extremely impressed by the students' determination to complete the project in one day. This is exactly what we hope for on days like this."

The success of this "Sustainable Jersey" project is hoped to be the first of many, as the Bonners will be working with several municipalities aiming for Bronze Level certification throughout the year.

In addition to working with the Green Team at Mount Holly, seven Bonner students leading the program will be collaborating with three other "green teams" from the municipalities of Trenton, the City of Burlington and Green Brook and Somerset counties, with the aim of helping these communities achieve sustainability certification by next year. According to statements made by members from each green team at a Sept. 7 meeting, the coming year's projects will include more community rain gardens, as well as green fairs, recycling campaigns and building weatherization.

According to Winnie Fatton, project manager of the MLUC's Institute for Sustainability Planning and Governance, the MLUC secured $25,000 from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to support this work this year.

"This is a pilot project. It's the first time we've ever done it. It's exciting," said Fatton. "The projects that (the municipalities) proposed were projects that we felt could be accomplished by students, and the students had interest in these projects."

The Bonners will also collaborate with other college students to help these communities achieve points, as well as teach students about sustainability. If successful, the project is expected to lead to the creation of a "Sustainability Service Corps" of students.

Launched in February 2009, Sustainable Jersey seeks to aid municipalities that want to "municipalities in New Jersey that want to go green, save money, and take steps to sustain their quality of life over the long term," according to its website. The organization is currently working with over 60 percent of New Jersey's municipalities. Of the 566 towns in New Jersey, 350 are already registered with Sustainable Jersey, and 74 are certified.

According to Fatton, communities that achieve 150 points, by successfully implementing several projects suggested by Sustainable Jersey on its website, will be awarded Bronze Level certification at an awards banquet during October of next year.

For more information on the Sustainable Jersey initiative, please contact Winnie Fatton at fatton@tcnj.edu, or visit www.SustainableJersey.com.