Water main break causing issue for some neighborhoods - boil water advisory remains in effect until test results can insure safety for residents. More information here - http://www.unitedwater.com/jerseycity/Newscenter.aspx?id=8840
Here's the article link by Matt Hammer - thanks again Matt ! http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2013/07/08/sustainable-jersey-city-takes-a-grassroots-approach-to-organizing-and-action/
Below are my re-posted comments to Matt's article, highlighting ways to become involved with SJC and my perspectives on funding opportunities for sustainability initiatives in Jersey City. These follow some of my initial thoughts shared in response to Andy Velwest's June Letter To The Editor post in the Reporter re: the City's budget challenges (budget gap now escalated to $21M ) - http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/22897379/article-Fill-the-police-budget-gap-with-plans-that-work-for-everyone?instance=secondary_stories_left_column
Innovative Funding Strategies for Sustainability Initiatives and Sustainability Focused Economic Development / Jobs Creation Opportunities are being implemented in many urban centers around the country - we can do the same here.
Thanks Matt - covered a lot of ground here.
Will offer 2 refinements that are relevant –
1) Getting Involved –
YES! SJC's ongoing educational outreach efforts are a great way for folks to get involved with Committee and Project Teams working together to build momentum for a citywide sustainability movement; it will also give those who join us an opportunity to learn about a variety of topics that will make Jersey City greener and more sustainable. Ongoing events like our monthly 3rd Thurs eve SJC Green Drinks + ART series (July spotlight on RTC's ARTfest! and WATER Day Theme with education partners Food and Water Watch, GRACE H2O Conserve and Highlands Coalition tabling) and new Experts Talk Series - Greener Buildings, Energy Efficiency & Water Conservation For Neighborhoods, 1st Tues eve of every month, are good examples of this and we can use more hands on deck to expand these activities.
2) Funding Sustainability -
SJC's Rain Garden + ART Campaign is an opportunity for known successful working model to be replicated here in Jersey City, i.e., an engagement strategy that brings committed local government, development / design and neighborhood stakeholders together. Our Innovative Demonstration Project focus is intended to highlight how sustainability programs can be citizen led, design / install opportunities that ignite private, public & philanthropic partnerships (P3), which is the basis for innovative financing solutions to be applied and which will bring needed investment and economic development opportunities to Jersey City . Mayor Fulop does not have to bear the burden of financially underwriting a greener future for Jersey City alone - P3 partnerships are the key. And finally, to the JCRDA ED’s point, having a Green Guide without teeth (targets, incentives and mandates, community benefit agreement process, etc.) is just window dressing. For example, not coalescing a policy and implementation strategy for the City on Green Infrastructure has already cost us on multiple fronts – a looming ~$60M tab to reinvent our stormwater management system and lost investment dollars by major corporate and philanthropic interests who will not bring their investments here until we substantially commit to 21st Century & Beyond Strategies for Sustainable Cities – for innovative approaches happening elsewhere, check out these articles Sustainable Cities Collective Designing Common Spaces and Portland's Green Streets initiative.
Debra A. Italiano, Chair & Cofounder SustainableJC.org
You can build your own raised bed garden box and this is a good solution if you aren't sure of the soil in your yard or area. Compost and garden soil can be added so you can be sure of the purity if you want to grow vegetables and herbs and keep it organic.
Here are directions to build your own 6' by 4' by 1' box. You can change the sizes to suit your own space. The box will be filled with soil, peat and manure. You can add whatever compost you have managed to collect to the box if it's ready. Here are the materials for the box: You can get these at a local home supply store like Home Depot. The store personnel will cut the wood to size for you too.
Wood - Pine for a 4' by 6' raised bed garden box: Two 12' long by 1' wide planks Cost: about 12.00 each Cut one into 2 pieces for two 6 ' long sides Cut the other one into 8 ' long and then cut in half for two 4 ' long end pieces 4' piece of pine is left over Wood lath bundle of aspen for the lattice about 7.00 1 can of water based polyurethane - about 10.00 (to seal the wood) Let it dry for a few hours. 1 wide brush: about 4.00, hammer and nails Black plastic liner with holes punctured. You can use weed cloth as a substitute. Total cost of wood and supplies is about 50.00 plus sales tax.
Soil 16 bags of top soil 2 to 4 cubic foot bags of peat to be mixed in 2 bags of manure to be mixed in 1 black plastic tub for compost (To use kitchen scraps to add nutrients to the garden) Total cost about 55.00 And there you have it. It takes about a day to complete this project. Your urban garden box can be planted with anything from flowers to vegetables and herbs.
Seeing the artwork and the artists performing at our monthly Green Drinks +ART inspired me to write this post.
I’m an amateur artist. I write songs about once every two year on average. Some are mediocre, some I really like. I also make tie dye shirts, which for me is a kind of art because with each shirt I’m thinking about what I want it to be, and how the colors will interplay, and also how it will be seen. I don’t like tie dyes because I’m some hippie dude (although my kids think I am), I just like patterns of bright or rich colors, and I like to see people wearing them. Finally, I write blog entries like this one, to express thoughts I think worth sharing.
So I make a dozen tie dyes every year or so, and record my songs, and write these short essays whenever they coalesce in my head, but I don’t sell them or promote them. I really admire artists who do.
Art, for me, is about reflection, optimism, and inspiration. An artist spends time reflecting on their experience of the world and society around them, and tries to make it mean something. That’s where the optimism comes in. When we look at the entire universe, and what happens in it, there really is no meaning to it all: it simply happens. The most vital gift of humanity is that we try to find patterns, and meaning, and beauty in the world around us, and we succeed! The meaning really comes from within us. And so meaning is clearly individual. And amazingly we often find meaning that others share as well.
Our lives don’t need to have meaning. We are born, we have children, we die. We perpetuate our species, in competition with other species. This happens on a cooling ball of lava in a universe of incomprehensible size. That can be all there is, or we can choose for it to be more.
A work of art (written, visual, performance, etc.) creates something of meaning in a meaningless world, and so inspires us. It inspires us to see that meaning elsewhere. It inspires us to do work of value, that helps ourselves and others to not just exist, but exult in the experience of life. It inspires us to change what we do to promote what we value.
We should all be amateur artists. We all experience the world in our own way, and have perspectives and values that carry us through our lives. We should share them with others, and be willing to adapt or expand our own views in response to others artistic views. And as a viewer, or reader, or audience, we should not be passive. Our personal interpretation of others artistic work is an essential part of the creation of meaning.
A professional artist does something more. By their example they are saying that meaning is not just something you have in your head, it is something you create in the world around you. They are stating that this creation of meaning is important, and though it takes time and practice, it is worth the effort. And finally, they have the courage to say “my interpretation of the world has value”, and are willing to share it. They do this knowing that what they create is of immeasurable worth, and yet its monetary value will probably be small.
We can’t all create artistic works all the time. We need time to prepare food and eat it, we need clothes to keep us warm, we need shelter to keep us safe and dry. We need time to create these things, or we need to do work of some value to others to acquire them. And we all need time to nurture children, reflect on our lives, help others in need, and, of course, to sleep.
But I salute those that commit to self reflection and the creation of art full time. They inspire us to see the meaning in our lives, encourage us to keep it present throughout the day, and make life the fulfilling, exciting, and beautiful experience it ought to be.
Sustainable Jersey City is a catalyst organization that educates, empowers and activates community stakeholders, to make Jersey City NJ a more sustainable place to live and work.
Our vision is for Jersey City to become the greenest and most sustainable city in New Jersey, with community stakeholders that are educated about and committed to environmental, economic and social justice.
