Join us at these monthly CGC Meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of each month @ 6:30pm [except during July & August when we take a Summer break !].
Zoom details will be emailed to you in your registration confirmation and also again shortly before the meeting. Typically these meetings go for 60 – 90 minutes, depending on Q&A.
This community collaboration welcomes individuals and community orgs, including neighborhood associations, and other stakeholders to a monthly presentation and discussion on various topics that matter to making Jersey City a more sustainable and resilient city. We also cover important policy developments and climate change related news relevant to NJ statewide and our Northeast Region.
UPCOMING MEETING DETAILS BELOW . . .
This season’s 3-part series (Oct, Nov, Dec) on Environmental Justice (EJ) will dive in to discussions about EJ Legislation in NJ and upcoming EJ Legislation in Jersey City, to help the community better understand opportunities for a better quality of life for everyone who lives and works here in Jersey City.
Tuesday October 13th Meeting details…
Special Guest Brooke Helmick, Policy Director NJ Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA)
This month’s meeting topic:
Environmental Justice Overview – NJ Legislation and Update on the Van Keuren Trash Facility Proposal in Jersey City
This session will focus on unpacking the NJ EJA Toolkit and will walk you through the NJ EJ Law and the RULES that govern these protections and how the law is intended to be applied. This is a foundation discussion intended to ground you in your understanding of how this is being applied to the proposed Van Keuren Trash Facility in Jersey City, which is an environmental justice issue that will be assessed by NJ DEP and potentially decided in the courts.
PREVIOUS MEETING DETAILS BELOW …
June 17th Meeting details…
This month’s meeting topic is:
Rethink Disposables + Skip the Stuff Legislation
Confronting Single-Use Plastics, Both At the Policy and Local Level
Plastics are everywhere, entwined with our lives at many levels. We can no longer talk about a “Just Say No” approach. Now we must learn to live with plastics–replacing them where we practically can, and accepting them where we have (as yet) no substitutes. This is not a binary choice. Yes-No gets us nowhere.
One low-hanging branch is Single Use Plastics. For some of these, we have a library affordable and available reusable alternatives. Here we must push to grow adoption, however we can. We’ve tried this, in many parts of our society, and can point to some limited success. But disposable plastic use grows rapidly.
It is time, we feel, to Rethink Disposables, and to explore ways of otherwise reducing our habituated dependence on convenient, but ecologically harmful, plastics of all sorts.
Ms. Marta Young of Clean Water Action leads us to Rethink Disposables and introduces efforts like the proposed Skip The Stuff Legislation.
All are welcome at these meetups which are intended to bring individuals and community orgs, including neighborhood associations, together in discussion about topical sustainability and resiliency matters here in Jersey City.
In case you missed this meeting here is the recording
Here are the presentation materials from Marta Young
May 20th Meeting details …
This month’s meeting topic is:
Oppose the Van Keuren Waste Facility
There is currently a proposed Van Keuren Transfer Facility / Material Recycling Facility (TF / MRF) at 25 Van Keuren Avenue in Jersey City, NJ. This facility will bring in tons of solid waste from the entire tristate region, dramatically increasing pollution from diesel truck traffic in the area.
This CGC Meeting will feature the following guest speakers, who will discuss the effects of implementing this facility and how we can all work together to push back :
- Maggie Broughton (they/them/theirs, she/her/hers) – Environmental Justice Staff Attorney at the Eastern Environmental Law Center
- Brooke Helmick (she/her) – Director of Policy at the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
The Van Keuren Facility has no material benefit to our community, and it is time we act now by educating ourselves and raising awareness. Join us at this CGC Meeting to learn more and oppose this facility! #ZeroMustMeanZero #CleanAirNOW
March 18th Meeting details …
This month’s meeting topic is:
Learn About How To Change The Rules Of The Game: How To Participate in Jersey City Policy Decisions & Green Civics
Join us for a Community Policy & Advocacy discussion with special guest Ben Dzobiek, Founder and Executive Director of Climate Revolution Action Network (CRAN)!
Ben leads policy programs that help individuals and organizations build confidence and skills to participate in the public policy process. Ben is a lifelong environmental justice organizer dedicated to building youth power and advancing bold, equitable climate solutions. A proud Stockton University graduate, he’s committed to fighting for a future where communities lead the way on climate action.
SJC is proud to be working with Ben on our new Policy Advocacy Initiative for Jersey City stakeholders, which will include a special carve out related to our Youth Eco Ambassador Program – stay tuned !
February 18th, 2026 Meeting details …
Topic teaser – “Show Me Something You’d Love To Do For A Living, And I’ll Show You A Way To Make It A Sustainability Career.”
Hosted by Sustainable Jersey City, this community meeting will explore opportunities for folks interested in the Sustainability and Climate Change Movement to hear about workplace opportunities you may consider, whether you are just entering the job market, trying to decide on a college major, or if you are someone thinking about a career change.
We will broadly discuss what is happening in the job market today, career paths, training requirements and employment opportunities, presented by Dr. Eban Goodstein, Bard College. “Goodstein will provide the community with a concrete strategy for landing a job in sustainability.”
This one-hour or so session (formal presentation + open discussion) is aimed at these four audiences and will introduce attendees to the rich range of possibilities working in the field of sustainability.
- Folks not driven to attend college, but passionate about sustainability
- Folks thinking about Undergrad OR Grad education, including opportunities for Graduate Degree in Sustainability offered at Bard College
- Early- AND Mid-Career professionals, looking to transform their existing careers toward a more sustainable orientation in their present workplaces
- Mid-Career professionals looking to change their career trajectories
In case you missed this meeting here is the recording
Here is Dr. Eban Goodstein’s presentation
SJC resources related to Sustainability Careers
January 21st, 2026 Meeting details …
We will explore –
How Can Govts & Communities Interact To Support Markets In A Green Transition ?
The role of governments (Federal, State, Local) in market economies encompases several emerging ideas including collaborative policy-making, innovative public-private partnerships and different forms of economic incentives. We will discuss existing models here and abroad, as well as new approaches in the making.
The discussion will be led by two SJC Board Members, Ash Vasishth and David Larrabee
Highlights from the series shared in blog posts by SJC Member Suhas Vittal here
And if you are interested to take a deeper dive, this Resilience.org webinar is coming up on Jan 29th @ 1pm EST, registration required – Nurturing A Bioregional Economy
In case you missed this meeting here is the recording
Presentation materials below –
Ashwani Vasishth presentation ‘Governments and the Public Sector in a Green Market Transition’
December 17th Meeting details … this meeting was rescheduled for January 21st, 2026 !
We will explore –
How Can Govts & Communities Interact To Support Markets In A Green Transition ?
The role of governments (Federal, State, Local) in market economies encompases several emerging ideas including collaborative policy-making, innovative public-private partnerships and different forms of economic incentives. We will discuss existing models here and abroad, as well as new approaches in the making.
The discussion will be led by two SJC Board Members, Ash Vasishth and David Larrabee
Wed November 19th Meeting details –
The Role of Businesses in Market Economies
- How Are Businesses and Firms Already Acting Sustainably?
- Decarbonizing Operations and Energy
- Adopting Circular Economy ModelsTransforming Supply Chains
- What Can We Do To Support These Ongoing Efforts?
- Close the Loop by Participating in the Circular Economy
- Amplify Your Voice and Demand Transparency
- Align Your Wallet and Your Investments
The discussion will be led by two SJC Board Members, Ash Vasishth and David Larrabee
We strongly suggest you review the background materials from the September and October CGC Mtgs as background for our November and December meetings.
Background Materials for November Meeting
*Recording – see Salon for Nov 17th here
Wed October 15th Meeting details –
We will continue with the theme from Sept where we provided a Primer for the context of “Can Market-Driven Economics Be A Partner In Sustainability And Climate Action ? ” and for October we will now dive into our PERSONAL relationship to MARKETS (of all kinds) -how we influence them and how they effect our lives, including whether they map to our values.
- Our exploration will include looking at the distinctions between WEALTH, MONEY and CAPITAL … and WHO CONTROLS WHAT ?
The discussion will be led by two SJC Board Members, Ash Vasishth and David Larrabee
We strongly suggest you review the background materials below which were presented at our September CGC Mtg as that will provide for a more robust exchange by those of you who attend our discussion 👍
In case you missed this Oct 15th Mtg here is the recording
David Larrabee October presentation materials here
Ash Vasishth October presentation materials here
Supplemental October materials here
See September Materials below as background …
Wed Sept 17th Meeting details –
Tonight we will do some level setting and introduce the theme for the season, “Can Market-Driven Economics Be A Partner In Sustainability And Climate Action ? “
The discussion will be led by two SJC Board Members, Ash Vasishth and David Larrabee, who will also be the moderaters this season for the rest of this series.
The discussion will begin to explore the distinctions between WEALTH, MONEY and CAPITAL, looking at the relationships to these from different sector persepectives – Personal, Business and Government … and WHO CONTROLS WHAT ? …
We will continue to unpack these concepts and the PERSONAL, BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT sector relationships to these over the rest of the season at our monthly CGC and Salong meeting series.
In case you missed this meeting here is the recording
Presentation materials for David here
Presentation materials for Ash here
Other reference materials here that address the questions from the audience, case studies, etc.
Wed June 18th Meeting details –
We welcome special guest Chris Layton / Director of Eastman’s Circular Policy Strategy who will be updating us on Eastman’s breakthru ‘plastics chemical recycling’ process here. This will be a follow-up discussion to our May 20th SpeakEasy Salon on “The Future of Waste & The Circular Economy” and the April CGC Mtg when we hosted Beyond Plastics NJ cofounder Janet Spiezio.
This session will wrap up this season’s discussions on plastic waste and where we go from here.
In case you missed this meeting here is the recording
Chris Layton’s presentation materials here
Short video – Transforming Plastic Waste in the World’s Largest Molecular Recycling Facility | Eastman – YouTube
Wed April 16th Meeting details –
As an Earth Day topic this April, we will be discussing PLASTIC materials and the related public health issues … of particular concern is micro and nanoplastics – more information here.
In preparation for the meeting it would be useful to review the trailer for the film “We’re All Plastic People Now” – https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8lovpt
The PBS program provides an investigation into the hidden story of plastic and its effect on human health.The video link to the film can be found here: https://www.pbs.org/video/were-all-plastic-people-now-rkg2mq/
An additional great resource on plastic can be found here / BeyondPlastics.org and we are delighted to be by special guest Janette Spiezio, Co Founder and Co Chair of Beyond Plastics NJ, a chapter of Beyond Plastics, a national organization that is working to reduce the harms of plastics through education, advocacy and legislation.
- Janette is also an entrepreneur and owner of Sustainable Haus Mercantile, a large zero waste, refill shop in Summit, NJ founded in 2017. Janette is a designer and makes over 50 products in haus. With over 3000 more products in the shop, Sustainable Haus has solutions to most household challenges to allow for a plastic free, non-toxic, low waste lifestyle. The Sustainable Haus team works with customers for a personalized approach on their journey to reduce waste, toxins and plastic. Their tagline is: Healthy Home * Healthy People * Healthy Planet. Janette is also a Climate Reality Leader and has two eco minded adult daughters.
If you missed this meeting here is the recording
Janette Spiezio presentation materials here
Wed March 19th Meeting details –
The JC Tree Canopy will be the topic of this meeting with presentation by the University of Vermont Spatial Analytics Lab (UVM SAL) who just completed a study SJC commissioned analyzing trends over a 10-year period. They will present their findings and also share the story map we are developing for the public to better understand important aspects of the study. One of their lead analysts Max Solter (originally from Jersey City !) will be our guest speaker .
If you missed this meeting here is the recording
Wed February 19th Meeting details –
We are excited to welcome back Ron Petherbridge, Air Quality Expert and SJC Board Member, to provide an Air Quality Primer for the commuity and also update everyone on the US EPA supported Air Pollution Study underway, with that grant awarded to the City of Jersey City HHS and partners SJC, GNA, Rutgers EOHSI, Gensler and JCHA. One of the goals of the grant is to deliver community education about air quality conditions in Jersey City. This will help inform and protect residents with respiratory conditions and other related vulnerabilities. Please join us for updates on the grant activities and this Primer.
If you missed this meeting here is the recording
Here is Ron’s Presentation from tonite – Air Quality Primer 102
Here is Ron’s Presentation From 2024 – a more in-depth Primer, Air Quality 101
Flyers shared during the meeting – it would be great if you shared these with your circles !
- Overview – What JC Is Doing About Air Quality Issues !
- The Daily Breather (JC Alert System)
- JC Community Health Survey (Anonymous)
Wed January 15th Meeting details –
We are excited to welcome the NJ Highlands Coalition to speak with us this evening, with Executive Director Julia Somers and Director of Policy & Communications Elliott Ruga presenting about The Highlands and their importance to the rest of the state, including JC and to the region.
The Highlands Rediscovered in HDYouTube · Bob Szuter
4.5K+ views · 10 years ago… HIGHLANDS REDISCOVERED (2004) looks at both the science and the history of New Jersey’s portion of this heavily-forested region … 26:57
If you missed the meeting you can listen to the recording here
Wed Dec 18th Meeting details –
Affordable Housing in JC is the topic for this evening discussion with Guest Speakers Katie Brennan, Affordable Housing Professional. Candidate for Assembly, 32nd District and Michael Ehrmann who is affiliated with the JSqCA, both local advocacy leads for Affordable Housing in JC – stay tuned for more details !
Katie and Michael’s presentation here
In case you missed this meeting here is the recording and here is the chat exchange
- Special Notation re correction in comments made during the meeting by Michael – “I made one mistake in my remarks which I would like you to share with the others in attendance. The current small property rehabilitation program only has $250,000 on hand, which is enough for upgrades in 20 – 25 properties, not the 250 I was talking about! Sorry about my slip.”