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Community Partnership & Outreach

Green Team

Variable Points: 10 - 15 points
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Introduction

**MANDATORY: **All communities seeking certification in the Sustainable Jersey program must establish a Green Team. 

The Green Team leads and coordinates the community’s sustainability activities such as, developing plans, implementing programs, recruiting volunteers and conducting community education and outreach. Municipalities earn 10 points for establishing a Green Team. An additional 5 points are available to previously certified municipalities that publicize their certification, completed actions, and future plans to the community.

Action Requirements

This section defines the eligibility standard of the action and what must be done in order to meet the requirements for approval. 

Establish the Green Team

The municipality must formally establish a Green Team by adopting a resolution or ordinance through the governing body. 

  • The resolution/ordinance must describe the purpose, roles, and responsibilities of the Green Team, include the date of adoption and be certified by the municipal clerk.
  • A pre-existing group (such as an Environmental Commission) may serve as the Green Team if the governing body officially designates it as such by resolution or ordinance. A nonprofit may lead the effort if the municipality adopts a resolution recognizing the collaboration and authorizing the nonprofit to pursue Sustainable Jersey certification on behalf of the municipality. See the Detailed Implementation Guidance section for more information.
  • Provide a list of current members and affiliations (remove personal contact information).
  • Include a summary of activities.

Certification Promotion - Previously Certified Municipalities Only (Additional 5 Points)

Provide two pieces of documentation that demonstrate the municipality publicly communicated its Sustainable Jersey certification, the actions completed, and the Green Team’s future plans to the community.  In the description of implementation, describe how the municipality promoted its certification with these materials. Acceptable formats include: municipal webpage screenshots or links; emails, announcements, or news articles to staff or residents; flyers or social media posts. Only one social media post will be accepted.

Look Back Period

The lookback period for an action determines how many years prior to the certification application submission date an action may have been completed to remain eligible for points.  

The lookback period for this action is the current or previous year. For example, if the application is submitted in 2028, documentation can be no older than January 1, 2027. An ordinance establishing the green team, can have been passed at any time.

Approved Action Expiration Date

Approved actions expire on December 31 two years following the certification cycle in which they are approved. For example, an action approved in the 2026 certification cycle will expire on December 31, 2028.

Implementation Guidance

This section provides guidance and recommendations for implementing the action based on the Core Requirements section.

How to Establish the Green Team

While passing a resolution OR an ordinance satisfies the Core Action Requirements, Sustainable Jersey strongly recommends an ordinance. It makes the Green Team a permanent institutional body, ensures continuity across administrations, and eliminates the need for renewal resolutions. See samples of ordinances and resolutions below.

Sample Green Team Ordinances

Sample Green Team Resolutions

Sample of Green Team Advisory Committees

A pre-existing group (such as an Environmental Commission) may serve as the Green Team if the governing body officially designates it as such by resolution or ordinance. A nonprofit may lead the effort if the municipality adopts a resolution recognizing the collaboration and authorizing the nonprofit to pursue Sustainable Jersey certification on behalf of the community. Some examples are below: 

The resolution or ordinance should define the team’s purpose, roles, and responsibilities. At early meetings, finalize meeting frequency and format, how the team communicates with the public and governing body, and how progress will be monitored. 

Member Recruitment & Kick-Off

Seek members who have both the influence to advance your sustainability program and the time and skills to serve. Prioritize diversity across demographics, geography, and sectors. For teams addressing municipal operations include representatives from facilities, maintenance, purchasing, planning, engineering, health/social services, and recreation. See the Who Should Lead and be Involved section for other suggestions. Once members are recruited, hold a kick off meeting.  Suggested items for the meeting include:

  • Member introductions and why sustainability matters in your community
  • Potential Green Team roles: education, advocacy, short and long--term planning, support project implementation, success monitoring, network-building
  • Roles of the group leader, members, and municipal staff
  • Available resources and existing community initiatives worth building on
  • Determine meeting schedule, location and decision-making process

Annual Review

Sustainable Jersey recommends the Green Team annually summarize its activities, evaluate progress, and set priorities for the coming year. Sharing this with the Mayor, Council, and relevant boards/commissions, and posting it publicly builds accountability and community awareness.

Certification Promotion (Additional 5 Points)** **

Previously certified municipalities can earn an additional 5 points towards certification if they demonstrate they publicized their Sustainable Jersey certification, the actions completed to achieve certification, and their future plans and activities to the community. Use at least two different types of promotion (e.g., webpage, email, flyer, social media, green team annual report). One social media post maximum. 

Examples of New Jersey Team Websites 

What to Submit to Earn Points

To earn points for this action, the following documentation must be submitted as part of the online certification application to verify that the action requirements have been met.

Public Access Notice

  • All approved action documentation is publicly viewable.
  • Do not include information or documents that are not intended for public release.

Lookback Period: All documentation must be from the current or previous year.  For example, if applying in 2028, documentation can be no older than January 1, 2027. An ordinance establishing the green team, can have been passed at any time.  

Green Team (10 Points)

  1. Description of Implementation: Write a** **short narrative (300 words or less) describing when and how your green team was formed along with a summary of current activities.
  2. Upload: Municipal resolution or ordinance formally establishing the Green Team that includes the date of adoption and clerk’s signature. 
  3. Upload: List of current members and affiliations (remove personal contact information). 

Certification Promotion - Previously Certified Municipalities Only (Additional 5 Points)

  1. Description of Implementation:** **Add a short description of how your previous Sustainable Jersey certification was publicized to the community.
  2. Upload:** **At least two different types of documentation showing you publicized your certification, completed actions, future plans, and any green team member recruitment efforts (optional). Only one social media post will be accepted.

File Upload Limits

  • Maximum of six documents per action; each file must not exceed 50 MB.
  • Please upload excerpts of relevant sections from larger documents.

Why is it Important?

A Green Team is the catalyst for community sustainability. It builds a shared local understanding of what sustainability means, coordinates action across departments and community groups, and ensures the community’s efforts are inclusive from the start. A Green Team that reflects the full range of community demographics is more likely to develop programs that work for everyone and endure over time.

Who Should Lead and be Invovled?

The mayor and city council should formally establish a green team and appoint members by resolution or ordinance. Members of the green team may include municipal staff, elected officials, and volunteer representatives from community boards and commissions. Below is a list of community representatives that green team members can consider reaching out to.

Municipal Government

  • Mayor and Council/Committee
  • Business Manager
  • Purchasing, Buildings & Grounds
  • Planning, Zoning, Engineering
  • Parks & Recreation, Transportation
  • Health & Social Services, Utilities

Community Partners

  • Environmental Commission, Planning Board
  • Shade Tree
  • Schools: Educators, PTOs, students
  • Businesses, Chamber of Commerce
  • Civic, Faith-based, and Nonprofit orgs
  • Residents including seniors, youth, local artists

Timeframe

Recruiting and appointing members typically takes one to three months. Allow an additional 2–3 months if adopting an ordinance. Staff capacity and the complexity of local approval processes are the main variables.

Project Costs & Resources

Startup costs are minimal. Primary expenses are staff time to recruit members and prepare the resolution or ordinance, and attorney time if an ordinance is drafted. The governing body should identify available staff time and any funding to support the Green Team’s ongoing work. Once implementation begins, costs for consultants (planner, engineer, sustainability consultant) may arise. Volunteers contribute the bulk of time and effort.

Spotlights

Bordentown City (Burlington County)

The Bordentown City Environmental Commission website was updated to include a dedicated tab for the City’s participation in the Sustainable Jersey program. This information is also shared on the BCGT Sustainable Jersey Facebook page and includes a link to the City’s 2022 Sustainable Jersey report via the Green Team’s Linktree, which can be found here.

Hillsborough Township (Somerset County)

The Sustainable Hillsborough page on the Township website includes committee member names, photos, information, and links to their Sustainable Jersey profile and reports, and is updated regularly. A presentation was also made at a Hillsborough Township Committee meeting highlighting the Green Team’s accomplishments.

Resources

Examples of Pre-Existing Groups Serving as the Green Team

Examples of Green Team Advisory Committees

Organizing Green Teams

Green Team Municipal Resolutions

New Jersey Green Team Websites

Sample Green Team Ordinances

Sample Proclamation supporting the Green Team