Welcome to Clean Water on the Move, your monthly update from Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund. Take a look at what our amazing staff has been up to and what is coming in the month ahead. Thanks for your ongoing support for our work towards a healthy environment for all.
ReThink Disposable Saves Money Big Time
At the beginning of June, Clean Water Action donated nearly 100 reusable water bottles to St. Mark’s Center for Community Renewal food pantry and soup kitchen in Keansburg, NJ as part of our ReThink Disposable program. Marta Young, our Zero Waste Specialist, and St. Mark’s found a way to stop using plastic disposable water bottles and single use cups for their hot and cold beverages.
St. Mark’s offers outreach to its neighbors and surrounding Bayshore community. Amongst other services, they provide a hot noon-time meal seven days a week. The new reusable water bottles will save St. Mark’s much needed funds to help their clients. They will eliminate over 10,000 single use disposables from going into the waste stream every year. Clients and volunteers will now be able to use reusables instead of the plastic disposable water bottles and cups that create unnecessary waste going to incinerators, landfills, or litter neighborhoods and nearby Keansburg beach.
To learn more about Rethink Disposable, contact myoung@cleanwater.org.
Governor Murphy - Stop the Greenwashing!
On June 5th, during a Week of Climate Action, Marta Young, Eric Benson, Kim Gaddy and Dave Pringle from Clean Water Action attended a climate justice rally along with other environmental groups and local residents calling on Governor Murphy to uphold NJ’s landmark Environmental Justice law and stop two gas plants from advancing (NJ Transit and the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission) in Newark and Kearny, respectively. Clean Water Action and over eighty organizations and supporters marched and gathered for “Our Planet Our Future” at Riverfront Park in Newark, organized by the Empower NJ coalition. Governor Murphy has made big environmental commitments but needs to be held accountable for the actions he is taking. There were powerful speakers at the protest, including our very own Kim Gaddy. Together, we drew attention to NJ Transit and PVSC’s attempts to “greenwash” dirty gas plants, misnaming their polluting technologies as “net zero carbon”. For more information, contact njcwa@cleanwater.org.
Join Clean Water for a Warehouse Convening!
On Saturday, June 24, Clean Water Action will be hosting a Warehouse Convening at the Princeton Senior Resource Center in Princeton, NJ from 9:30am to 2pm. This is a free event with breakfast and lunch included.
Over the past few years, online shopping has become much more prevalent, causing a dramatic influx of large warehouses and corresponding truck traffic from port to warehouse to doorstep across the Garden State. These warehouses have significant negative impacts on air quality, public health, and safety in our communities, making conditions in already overburdened port-adjacent neighborhoods and environmental justice communities even worse.
The Warehouse Convening will bring people together from all over NJ to learn about the various strategies and tools that can be implemented to best protect communities in close proximity to warehouse facilities, and warehouse workers who are being negatively impacted from all components of the freight and goods movement in NJ: from the ports, to trucks, to warehouses to final delivery! Come learn about the various ways to take action in your own community and how to get involved to make a long-lasting impact to stop warehouse proliferation across the state.
For any questions, comments or concerns about this event please contact Zero Emissions & Warehouse Organizer Tolani Taylor at ttaylor@cleanwater.org or 609-549-9390.
Meet our new Environmental Justice Organizer!
In June, Clean Water Action will be welcoming a new NJ Environmental Justice Organizer, X Braithwaite!
X is a recent graduate of Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, with degrees in Community & Justice Studies and African & African American Studies. With a strong background in community service, including their involvement as a Bonner Scholar, they have developed a deep understanding of restorative justice practices and collaborative justice campaigns. Hailing from Newark, NJ, X has a unique passion for social justice. They have experience in social media management and enjoy engaging in creative pursuits such as writing poetry and crocheting. X is eager to make a meaningful impact in their new role, fostering inclusive communities and driving positive change.
To learn more, contact xbraithwaite@cleanwater.org.
