Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tips for a greener lifestyle, free yoga and a reptile menagerie are all factors of this year's Green Fair of the Chathams.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Laura Silvius
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
This year, the annual Green Fair of the Chathams will feature old favorites and new additions for the entire family. The theme of this year's Green Fair, according to Green Initiatives Chair Cindy Steffens, "What You Can do to Live a Greener Lifestyle." John Bitar, the chair of the Green Fair of the Chathams Committee, said vendors at the fair will offer "'green' products" for the home and garden, "and other participants on hand [will have] ideas to help you live a 'greener' lifestyle." This year the fair added a free outdoor yoga lesson from Powerflow Yoga, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Rizzo's Reptiles, an animal menagerie from Dominic Rizzo, will show weird and wonderful animals from scorpions to snakes at 11:30 a.m. The reptile show is …
Monday, August 13, 2012
Chatham Borough became one of 10 towns certified as silver level sustainable town, thanks to the efforts of Cindy Steffens.
Chatham Borough Mayor Bruce Harris announced Monday that Sustainable Jersey has awarded the borough with Silver Certification for 2012. Harris was quick to credit Cindy Steffens with the credit the "significant achievement" of winning silver level certification. Steffens, who chairs the Green Initiatives Committee, was a "taskmaster," Harris said, who outlined all the projects and the work needed to win silver certification and made sure they all got done in time for the May 31 deadline. Only 10 towns were awarded silver level certification through Sustainable Jersey this year, Harris said. Councilman Len Resto said, "It was really a core group of six volunteers who made this happen," with Steffens taking the lead. "Other towns that got …
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Consolidated utility, water and fuel usage report presented to the borough council.
Cindy Steffens went before the Chatham Borough Council Monday with several ideas on how the borough can both save money and conserve water, electricity and fuel. Steffens, the chairwoman of the Green Initiatives Committee, presented a consolidated water, electric and fuel usage report to the council. The report pointed out usage habits over the years and contained several areas where Steffens said the borough could save money. Mayor Bruce Harris said "Former Mayor [Dick] Plambeck kept good track of water usage data," and he hoped to modernize the data and use it "to talk about water consumption in our homes." Nationally, Harris said, people use an average of 110 gallons per person per day. As water becomes "an increasingly scarce resource…
Sunday, June 10, 2012
"Volunteer of the Year" just isn't enough for Cindy Steffens, according to the borough mayor.
Despite the changeable weather, which threatened rain but never delivered, Saturday's Fishawack festival brought the community together for a day offun, community accolades, shopping and food. Mayor Bruce Harris awarded Cindy Steffens with the Sustained Service Award, a newly created award to recognize Steffens' continued volunteer efforts for the town. Steffens won Volunteer of the year at the 2011 Fishawack festival. Let Patch save you time. Get local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone each day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast, sign-up here.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Green Initiatives Chair hopes rain garden will inspire residents to start their own.
The demonstration rain garden at Memorial Park and Pool in Chatham Borough officially opened to the public Saturday. Borough Councilman Len Resto said the borough was turned down for a Walmart Sustainable Jersey grant to build the rain garden. "This being Chatham, private donors came through to make the rain garden possible,” Resto said. Sprout House Nursery School donated $5,000 to make the garden possible. Z-Tech Construction Inc., Scandic Builders and Green Path Landcare donated labor and materials to build the kidney-shaped garden. Resto thanked all of them for their donations. “The rain garden is a beautiful addition to Memorial Park,” Mary Keselica, president of the Town and Country Garden Club, said. The garden, a shallow depression…
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Memorial Park
N Passaic Ave & Center Pl, Chatham, NJ
/articles/rain-garden-tk
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/locations/7065926
Over 230 residents signed the Green Challenge Pledge.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
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Monday, May 21, 2012
The Chatham Borough Green Initiatives Committee awarded a backyard composter to Mary Keselica, the president of the Town and Country Garden Club. Keselica is one of 232 borough residents to took the Green Challenge Pledge, a promise to live sustainably, at the 2011 Fishawack Festival. The committee's goal was to sign up at least 225 residents, or 2.5 percent of the borough's population, to the pledge, with the chance to win the composter. The names were placed in a flower vase and Keselica's name was drawn at the E-Carnival at Chatham High School on April 28. Keselica said she was "excited" at winning the composter. "It will make great compost for my gardens, including my home rain garden," she said. Volunteers from the Town and Country …
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Chatham Borough won a grant to create a Complete Streets policy and plan.
- GOVERNMENT
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Saturday, October 1, 2011
Chatham Borough streets are about to become a little more friendly for pedestrians, cyclists and, well, anybody who uses them. The borough recently became the first New Jersey town to win a $7,500 grant from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) to develop a Complete Streets plan and policy. The grant is provided by by ANJEC's Sustainable Land Use Planning Grant program, which is funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. According to Cindy Steffens, the chair of the borough's Green Initiatives Committee, "The Complete Streets plan will lay the groundwork to help Chatham Borough develop a network of safer streets, crosswalks and pathways that will encourage more people to walk and bike all over town. Complete …
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Chatham Borough Council approved a resolution supporting the grant application through Sustainable Jersey
The Chatham Borough Council gave their support to a Sustainable Jersey grant application for a rain garden at Memorial Park. The grant, which is funded by Wal-Mart, totals $10,000. If the borough wins the grant, the money will go toward the installation of a rain garden at Memorial Park. Council Member Len Resto said that Cindy Steffens, the chair of the Green Intiatives Committee, has been working on the application as part of her efforts to gain Silver Certification in the Sustainable Jersey program this year. "We think we have a very good chance [of winning the grant]," Resto said, "and we've gotten some good cooperation from Stanley Church and Town & Country [Garden Club]." A rain garden is planted in a shallow or low-lying area, …
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Chatham Borough Municipal Building
54 Fairmount Ave, Chatham, NJ
/articles/borough-applies-for-sustainable-jersey-grant-for-rain-garden
26715
/locations/4929463
40.74225
-74.3808
Memorial Park
N Passaic Ave & Center Pl, Chatham, NJ
/articles/borough-applies-for-sustainable-jersey-grant-for-rain-garden
148502
/locations/4929464
R. Swanson
9:47 am on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Why should residents monitor their water usage, when good conservation efforts on the part of residents are rewarded with a huge increase in water and sewer rates? The Borough appears to be more concerned about revenues than conservation, so maybe residents should help out by opening up the garden hoses and letting the meters spin. Also, before hitting residents with the bill for the 25% of water… more ›