PARSIPPANY — Would you like to have more control and influence over the future you and your children will share? By engaging in local projects and decision making you can make a positive impact and improve the quality of life in our town, in our state, and in the world. If this sounds interesting, the Parsippany Green Team offers an opportunity for you to apply your passion and skills to make this happen.
As you can see on the Facebook page (Click here), the mission is to collaborate with the residents, town government, and business community to identify and implement programs that improve our quality of life and the physical, environmental and financial sustainability of our community. In Oct 2019, the Parsippany Town Council adopted Resolution 2019-192, supporting participating in the Sustainable NJ municipal certification. Forming a Green Team of interested residents and municipal employees is part of this process.
They are looking for individuals who have ideas on how to improve life in Parsippany. Chances are those ideas may fall in one of the Green Team’s existing areas of interest. You may also propose that the Green Team add your “innovative project” to their list. Their current areas of interest include:
- Improving animal/human interactions in the community
- Bringing arts and creative culture to the community and municipal activities
- Addressing the problems and opportunities of brownfields
- Creating community partnership and outreach to improve sustainability
- Improving diversity and equity in municipal operations and decisions
- Improving emergency management and resiliency to protect citizens from climate change and other risks
- Reducing energy usage, improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing use of green energy technologies, transitioning to electric vehicles
- Increasing availability and quality of food
- Incorporating green design principles in all forms of construction
- Ensuring health and wellness issues are incorporated in all municipal actions
- Ensuring land use and transportation plans support all stakeholders, including stormwater management and historic preservation
- Increasing and recognizing green business actions and improving the local economy
- Protecting and improving the use of natural resources including water, open space, trees/woodlands and increasing consideration of environmental issues in local developments
- Adopting green policies in purchasing, operations, and maintenance activities
- Improving public information and engagement in municipal activities
- Measuring and reducing municipal and resident carbon footprints, developing climate and sustainability action plans
- Reducing waste and improving management including composting, recycling, and reuse programs.
You can find more details about each of these areas by clicking here.
“The existence of a municipally sanctioned Green Team makes it much easier for anyone who joins to implement a program since it will have the support of both the experienced members of the team as well as the township government and administration,” said Matt Kavanagh, leader of the PGT. “We are looking for people who want to make a difference, no experience necessary. All you need is a desire to improve life in Parsippany and a willingness to take action,” he added.
“Local action is incredibly important if we are going to improve our environment and increase our sustainability,” said PGT co-leader, Judy Hernandez. “With this initiative, we all have an opportunity to participate to improve the common good. We have an abundance of talent in our town and every action, no matter the size can have a ripple effect. I encourage anyone who wants to be a part of this positive mission to join our team.”
Interested residents can contact the PGT at parsippanygreenteam@gmail.com.
