Green Team Eyes Bigger Twp. Presence in 2012

The Washington Township Green Team, which participated in the Washington Township Committee roundtable this week, is continuing its efforts to raise public awareness and to encourage environmentally-friendly practice throughout the township.

Green Team chairman Tracy Tobin, who represented the group at the roundtable discussion, stated that the Green Team is in the process of utilizing a wide variety of mediums in order to get its message out to the public.

“The website is up, and we’re connecting with other green teams around the county and state,” said Tobin. “We’re working on cooperation with schools and with other green teams. We’re not above swiping their ideas and sharing what we have.”

The Green Team has already cooperated with Benedict A. Cucinella School on a couple of different occasions. Those include the Green Team’s next electronics recycling event, at the school, as well as participating in the school’s recent science fair.

“We got a lot of traffic through there,” said Tobin. “A lot of the kids’ projects fell right into our usage.”

The organization hopes to further establish its presence as 2011 gives way into 2012. Tobin hopes that, in addition to staying involved in community affairs, it will have a greater impact on the way people within Washington Township use their energy.

“We want to get more and more people aware of energy savings just by going through a second supplier for distribution, as opposed to taking everything through (Jersey Central Power and Light),” said Tobin.

Tobin also hopes that the Green Team and local businesses will be able to cooperate on environmentally-friendly projects that will also attract more business to local shops.

“We do plan to work with the downtown business group in terms of can we do some things, whether it be bicycle trails or something else that would support getting more traffic into our business establishments,” said Tobin.

In order to do all of this, public communication will be key for the Green Team in 2012. It is also something that hasn’t always been easy for the group, despite utilizing local media and other means of public notification.

“The town really needs some sort of municipal bulletin board,” said Tobin. “When we have an event, we’re out there begging and pleading with whoever has a sign.”