The City of Lambertville Environmental Commission will host an event called T-Shirts to Totes on Monday, June 24^th, from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Lambertville Public School Gymnasium.  Funded by the PSEG Foundation and the Sustainable Jersey Grants Program, the public is invited to join in on an evening of up-cycling old t-shirts into reusable shopping bags. This event is one of a series in the Ditching Disposables project, an initiative aimed at engaging the community in efforts to build a greener, more sustainable Lambertville.  T-Shirts to Totes is a wonderful opportunity to craft as a community, talk about sustainability, and support the transition away from disposable bags.

Attendees are asked to bring old t-shirts and a pair of scissors that can cut fabric in order to participate.  T-Shirts to Totes will feature up-cycling sewing demonstrations, projects to equip the Lambertville Food Pantries with sustainable t-shirt bags, and opportunities to join in on the crafts. Make your own reusable bags in numerous styles to take home or donate to the Lambertville Food Pantries. Attendees of all ages are encouraged to attend, but children must be accompanied by an adult.

In May 2019, the Sustainable Jersey Grants Program awarded the Lambertville Environmental Commission a $20,000 grant, one of just four in the state at that level.   The Lambertville Environmental Commission, chaired my resident Liz Magill Peer, sought this grant to support its Ditching Disposables initiative. The Ditching Disposables project was developed to support the implementation of the City's ordinance limiting the use of single-use plastic bags, plastic straws, polystyrene foam and Styrofoam containers by businesses in the City of Lambertville, passed in September 2018.  The goal of the Ditching Disposables initiative is to assist residents in the adoption of this ordinance via education, communication, workshops, and certifications.  The City of Lambertville also aims to celebrate those local businesses who most exemplify the goals of a greener Lambertville with the Sustainable Business Awards.

The PSEG Foundation has contributed 1.9 million dollars in funding to the Sustainable Jersey grants program for municipalities and schools. “Supporting local municipalities in their efforts to build sustainability programs puts resources where they’re needed and aren’t always available, and PSEG is proud to do so,” said Barb Short, president of the PSEG Foundation. “Sustainable Jersey helps bring real change and has a lasting impact to neighborhoods throughout New Jersey.”

For more information about the Ditching Disposables Initiative, please follow the Lambertville Environmental Committee of Facebook at or visit the website.

ABOUT THE LAMBERTVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION

The Lambertville Environmental Commission (LEC) serves the city in its efforts to protect the environment, providing innovative, cutting-edge recommendations to the Mayor and Council and educating the public about the environmental challenges facing the City.

The Environmental Commission was the driving force behind the City Third Can Recycling Program, targeted at the 15% of the waste stream that is comprised of food waste and organic material. Taken together with the City’s single-stream recycling program, more than 1,000 tons of recyclable materials are removed from the waste stream each year. The LEC was also essential to the adoption of the dedicated Open Space Fund that has enabled the City to purchase and protect its natural beauty and its environmentally-sensitive areas as well as maintain and upgrade its parks and hiking trails.
 

ABOUT SUSTAINABLE JERSEY

Sustainable Jersey is a non-profit that provides tools, training and financial incentives to support communities as they pursue sustainability programs. Currently, 80 percent or 450 of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities are participating in the municipal certification program and 323 school districts and 843 schools are participating in the Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification program. In 2019, Sustainable Jersey is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with a year-long program that will include special events to educate and engage the Sustainable Jersey community and create a vision for the future.

Sustainable Jersey’s partners include the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, Sustainability Institute at The College of New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Clean Energy Program. Program underwriters include the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Clean Energy Program, the Surdna Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the PSEG Foundation. The Sustainable Jersey Grants Program for municipalities is funded by PSEG Foundation and the Gardinier Environmental Fund. Platinum sponsors are South Jersey Gas (10th Anniversary Sponsor) and New Jersey Natural Gas (10th Anniversary Sponsor). Silver Sponsors are NJM Insurance Group, Bayshore Recycling (10th Anniversary Sponsor), Elizabethtown Gas (10th Anniversary Sponsor), New Jersey American Water (10th Anniversary Sponsor), Jersey Central Power and Light (10th Anniversary Sponsor) and Northfield Bank (10th Anniversary Sponsor). The Bronze Sponsors are Covanta, Greener by Design, Good Energy, Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Cappelli LLC, First Environment, Roux Associates, Republic Services and Ørsted.

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