In December, Sustainable Cherry Hill rebranded into Sustainable South Jersey and is rolling out new initiatives to widen its reach.
Over the past decade, sustainability has gone from a fairly new term to many people in South Jersey to becoming a major issue discussed on a global, national and local scale.
In 2009, Sustainable Cherry Hill was formed as one of the first South Jersey-based sustainability organizations. Now, with the growth of the sustainability movement, Sustainable Cherry Hill is evolving.
In December, Sustainable Cherry Hill changed its name to Sustainable South Jersey. The change was made to transform the organization into a regional entity where the organization could host programs and spread its message across a wider area.
Ed Cohen, board president for Sustainable South Jersey, is one of many people from outside Cherry Hill who joined Sustainable Cherry Hill a number of years ago. A Mt. Laurel resident, Cohen talked of how Sustainable Cherry Hill helped get people from across South Jersey interested in the sustainability movement in recent years. He credited Sustainable Cherry Hill founder Lori Braunstein for mentoring numerous people who went on to start green teams and other organizations in their own towns. Because of the organization’s work as well as greater global awareness about the importance of sustainability, Cohen said the movement has grown exponentially.
“Now, people are recognizing sustainability doesn’t stop at your town border,” Cohen said.
The newly named Sustainable South Jersey has created goals focused on spreading the message about sustainability to a wider audience. The organization’s goals include increasing the number of people in South Jersey aware of sustainability, increasing the number of people that prioritize sustainability, and increasing sustainability projects, programs and efforts in the region to address various environmental issues.
With the new name and new goals come a few new initiatives. Sustainable South Jersey is focusing on spreading its programming across the region. Every other month, the organization is hosting a meet-up event. The meet-up events include three speakers Cohen referred to as “lightning speakers.” Each speaker will pick a topic and discuss it for about 10 minutes. Cohen also described the events as networking opportunities for those who are already involved in the sustainability movement or people looking to get started.
“We’re making an effort to move these meet-ups across South Jersey, mostly in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties,” he said.
Sustainable South Jersey will continue to host Earth Festival at Cherry Hill Township’s Croft Farm. The organization plans to continue partnering with Cherry Hill organizations, the township and Cherry Hill Public Schools, but the organization is also looking to attract more people and organizations from outside of the township.
“We’re going to reach a broader audience,” Cohen said.
Finally, Sustainable South Jersey is introducing a new, mini-grant program. The organization will be issuing grants for up to $5,000. The organization’s website lists nonprofit organizations, government entities or green teams, schools, religious organizations and volunteers as eligible to enter. More information on the program can be found at https://sustainablesouthjersey.org/grants.
In addition to moving forward with its own initiatives, Sustainable South Jersey is partnering with other local organizations such as the Tri-County Sustainability Alliance to sponsor and promote other events. Some upcoming events include several information presentations at local libraries and an outdoor family event to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters in Southampton on March 2.
Sustainable South Jersey has benefitted from its changes so far. Cohen said more volunteers have gotten involved with the organization over the past few months.
“We’ve attracted a number of new board members,” he said. “We have a new group of recruits that we’re signing up as well.”
For more information and a full list of upcoming Sustainable South Jersey events, visit https://sustainablesouthjersey.org.
