ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — The borough of Atlantic Highlands, once again, attained certification and this year received the Small Town Champion Award from Sustainable Jersey, a major accomplishment for the town.
Sustainable Jersey is a statewide organization that certifies municipalities who are the nation’s leaders in implementing solutions for challenges to reduce waste, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Municipalities also have to certify they have taken measures to improve public health, among other things, which also stimulates the local economy and offers grants to accomplish even more for a town.
Just about every municipality in New Jersey is registered with Sustainable New Jersey, but not many have achieved the successes that Atlantic Highlands has.
Enter Ellen O’Dwyer, the captain of the Green Team, who also chairs the borough’s Environmental Commission, a quiet but hardworking group of dedicated residents following O'Dwyer's penchant for getting things done. O'Dwyer is also one of the council candidates waiting to see what the final count will be for the close Nov. 7 vote, which is currently being reviewed.
The borough had first registered with Sustainable Jersey in 2009, earning several bronze certifications every three years, including the last recertification of Bronze in 2022. The certification expires after three years, so while the town did not have to go for silver, O'Dwyer said, “ I just knew we could achieve silver, and do it in about a year. So we forged ahead and did it in record time."
This year, in addition to achieving the Silver Award, this ambitious group were awarded the Champion Award for being the very best Small town (under 5,000 residents) for sustainability.
Sustainabile New Jersey, under the Sustainability Institute at The College of New Jersey, doesn’t make it easy to achieve their awards. They set a high bar and have an entire team of professionals who verify what each town says it has done.
The Awards were presented by Christine Guhl-Sadovy, President, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. Champions for each of the three groups, Atlantic Highlands for communities with populations under 5,000; Madison for population higher than 5,000 to 40,000 and Woodbridge, with populations more than 40,000.
O'Dwyer is passionate about the environment and served for one year on the Beautification Committee and Environmental commission before Mayor Loretta Gluckstein named her to the Shade Tree as well as the Green Team Committee, an advisory group to the governing body.
O'Dwyer said as an environmental commissioner and former Shade Tree Commissioner, it was important experience for her to have in order to achieve what she did with the Green Team.
In the past, the borough was interested in maintaining its certification as a member of Sustainable New Jersey, but O'Dwyer strove to go higher. She did a lot of research, and found that as far as recycling and reusing goes, the borough has done an awful lot over the years, thanks to a great Public Works Department and residents who take pride in their neighborhood. But moving even higher seemed like a better idea, so O'Dwyer did more research and documented all the accomplishments of the town, and memorialized them.
That earned the Bronze medal last year.
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This year, rather than simply being recognized for maintaining the bronze status, taking the silver award also enabled the borough to receive the Best award for small municipalities.
“We could have rested on our laurels for three years, but we didn’t,” she said. “Atlantic Highlands deserves the credit for all the work that it is already doing, and with a community whose heart is in it. We went for Silver, and achieved it in one year by completing some innovative projects, like being the first community to adopt a ban on plastic straws and bags, and partnering with a local company on biodegradable packaging solutions." O'Dwyer continued, "We applied for and received two grants, educated on native species, shared wildflowers and milkweed, and encouraged green solutions to anything and everything.”
At the League of Municipalities annual conventionin Atlantic City, Sustainable New Jersey had a luncheon to honor all the municipalities who received honors. In her acceptance talk, in which she praised both Sustainable New Jersey’s efforts and her own team and borough residents, O'Dwyer said, “We’ve got a real “walking” town where the sidewalk outside your door can lead you to anywhere you would want to go in the borough, and our tree-lined streets are the result of our Tree City USA commitment of 42 years. We also established new and innovative ways to reach and educate the public, having a column in the local Atlantic Highlands Living magazine, hosting our first “Envirossance Faire” and an “Earth Day Walkabout” where visitors walked to various "Green Stops" throughout town.
She explained that with limited resources, "we networked beyond the borough teams and commissions to collaborate with the local arts council, the library, the schools, Scouts, Chamber of Commerce, Garden Club and even the Historical Society. With a new organization called “Wild About Atlantic Highlands,” the entire town is a Certified Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation. This involved 100 residential and business gardens."
O'Dwyer said with other programs like “No Mow May,” “Grass – Cut it and Leave It,” “Don’t Spray” and “Leave the Leaves,” the group was able to get the public to learn, engage and commit to being stewards of the town.
Lest anyone think she is content with simply garnering the Best Small Town and silver swards, O'Dwyer put the League on notice that, “We are now aiming for “Gold Star,” which will set a new precedent for small, historic communities with classic infrastructure. I will leverage this status and other tactics to elevate Atlantic Highlands as a unique entity in order to preserve this unique ecosystem of mountains to bayside beaches to forested lands in the face of potential overdevelopment.”
Looking toward the future, another of Ellen’s aims, endorsed by the entire commission, is to save and protect the water utility through grants and other support. Municipalities can play a significant role in creating a holistic approach to the management of water, she said. Each municipality in New Jersey has its own water profile, shaped by its geography, infrastructure and local concerns. The Gold Star in Water identifies specific actions and level of performance for municipalities to achieve improvements in water quality, quantity and use.
“We can do this,” O'Dwyer said.
Currently there are only four municipalities in the state that have achieved a gold star: Maplewood, Princeton, Readington Township and Woodbbridge, which has earned it twice. All four townships are much larger that Atlantic Highlands.
Judging from O'Dwyer's energy level and the hard working members of the commission, together with residents proud of their community, it will not come as any surprise when Atlantic Highlands reaches the gold award next year.
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