WHAT WE DO
All of SJC’s Projects Roll Up To 3 Hubs of Activity - Emissions Reduction, Green Infrastructure and Waste Streams.
Not only are ALL of our project activities related to one or more of these, but these three core centers of activity are interconnected.
Scroll down to learn more about the various projects we are working on!
SJC’s Environmental Health & Justice Stewardship Program for a #healthierJC
Building on the success of our previous Heat Watch & Air Quality Campaign in 2021 (UHI + AQ1, Sustainable Jersey City’s latest initiative will target environmental health educational outreach across the City, and in particular focus on those communities considered part of Jersey City’s EJ (environmental justice) corridor.
Overview / Outcomes We Are Seeking Through SJC’s EHJ Stewardship Program For A #HealthierJC
Extreme heat and the Urban Heat Island Effect, worsens air quality, impacting people with respiratory ailments and cardiovascular health issues. Jersey City has the highest adult asthma rates in Hudson County.
Sign-up For The Daily Breather - know about air quality conditions in JC each day !
SJC’s 2022 Trees & Trash Action Campaign
Building on SJC’s Citizen Science Tree Mapping Census we are launching an environmental stewardship initiative intended to get people mobilized in neighborhoods to care for existing Trees and attend to Trash, including cleaning up local Catch Basins to prevent flooding. SJC has partnered with Clean Green Jersey for this campaign. Join the campaign here.
SJC 2020 - 2021 Tree Mapping Census campaign
Beginning April 2020, SJC is embarking on an ambitious project to map all of Jersey City’s Trees using SJC’s NEW OpenTreeMap platform , but we need help! Sign Up to become a Citizen Scientist Tree Mapper in your Neighborhood here.
SJC’s Heat Watch and Air Quality Campaign
This campaign is focused on reducing the impacts of extreme heat and understanding its relation to air quality in Jersey City. On July 24 2021, 45 volunteer citizen scientists collected thousands of temperature and air quality data points along predetermined routes across Jersey City using sensors affixed to their vehicles. Learn how extreme heat, air quality, tree canopy and environmental justice are related, what SJC is doing to address these issues, and how you can be a part of the solutions.
Green Infrastructure Program
This initiative showcases how natural elements can be incorporated into Jersey City’s hardscape to mitigate some of the environmental issues residents face. Supporting Jersey City’s tree canopy, along with rain garden and green building installations, is a cornerstone of integrating more Green Infrastructure (GI) in Jersey City.
In 2013, SJC installed its first rain garden, illustrating how rain gardens and bioswales can be an effective storm water mitigation tool. Since then we have spearheaded a number of GI projects as well as advocated for GI to be an official development policy of Jersey City.
Tree Speech Project
In the summer of 2016, environmental artist Anne Percoco launched a Twitter-based project, recruiting Jersey City residents to tweet, in the first person, from the perspectives of trees in their neighborhoods. These “tree stories” started a citywide conversation about expanding and maintaining the City's deficient tree canopy.
This project was a vehicle for environmental activism, education, and community engagement and dovetailed with another SJC initiative to create a tree inventory using the Jersey City OpenTreeMap, an open source mapping tool.
Community Solar Program
There is a lot of opportunity for Solar installations in Jersey City. On rooftops big and small, parking lots, empty lots, sides of skyscrapers. Right now there are almost 100 buildings with solar panels in Jersey City, but that's less than 1% of what is possible - and it can be a profitable return on investment!
Eco-ambassador Program
The objective of The Eco-Ambassador program is to empower and educate the Jersey City community about topics that include resource recovery, resiliency, and how to support waste prevention and diversion. We will be educating and training participants on how to be environmental stewards in their community!
Go Green Business Campaign
The objective of this campaign is to build a robust network of local businesses interested in environmentalism while also meeting their business goals. This program aims to encourage the community to implement green initiatives such as reducing energy and streamlining waste.
Community Composting Program
The objective of the SJC Composting Team is to create awareness around reducing food waste and to promote composting at home, schools, and other public institutions.
We host education workshops and coordinate outreach between community gardens, the city and residents so that composting opportunities are not only accessible, but integrated into the fabric of the community.
Plastic & Materials Recycling Project
SJC is launching a Community Education Initiative to help alleviate the confusion and to mobilize citizens to take action and change our habits around plastic!
Greener Building & Energy Efficiency Project
A primary focus of this project will be to educate Neighborhood Associations and other community stakeholders about the opportunities for Green Buildings across Jersey City. These include Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Municipal, Universities / Colleges, Schools and Hospitals. There are emerging models for this right now in Jersey City and many more across the Region that we can all learn from!
Check out what the US Green Building Council / NYC Chapter published just before the last Mayoral election across the Hudson - why can't we pick up this roadmap for Jersey City?
CSC - Community Sustainability Curriculum Program
Sustainable JC would like to see a learning community evolve that includes the school district, municipal employees and other community stakeholders participating together - on both planning and implementing projects which impact the future sustainability of Jersey City neighborhoods.
By collaborating with an array of education partners, we are creating a more informed public that includes representative voices from across all Wards of Jersey City.
MAPS WE’VE BUILT
SJC believes maps are an invaluable way to communicate the story of Jersey City, from our sewer system, to accessibility of fresh food, to green spaces and community gardens.
If you have experience working with GIS or have an idea for a map, contact us. Click to see some of the maps we've built!
SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS PROGRAM
Sustainable JC (SJC), supported the roll-out of the Sustainable Jersey For Schools (SJ4S) statewide certification program by partnering with JC School District Champions to plan, design and help fund demonstration projects at our schools, and in surrounding neighborhoods.
If you would like to work with SJC on school district projects, please fill out our Welcome Survey and let us know more about you! This includes Teachers, Parents and others seeking to work with students to expand sustainability activities in Jersey City.
GOOD FOOD NOW! PROGRAM
SJC's Good Food Now! initiative began in 2015 as a Jersey City food systems networking and education project to help improve access to local and healthy foods across ALL Wards of Jersey City through community gardening projects, farmers markets, CSAs, and healthy retail establishments.
In 2020 the project shifted to food rescue, specifically connecting those in Jersey City with food insecurity to leftover meals from restaurants, corporate cafeterias, and catering companies that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
Jersey City Network of SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY GARDENS PROGRAM
The Community Gardens Network project grew out of SJC's 2015 Good Food Now! initiative with a goal of connecting the people behind Jersey City’s urban ag movement and to provide more opportunities to exchange know-how, seeds, success stories etc.
We strove to collect important data and map the activities of ALL JERSEY CITY GARDEN SITES, building a compelling narrative of what’s happening at these gardens, and informing SJC's educational outreach efforts.
