New Sustainability Program for Maplewood

On June 22, Maplewood was one of 14 state municipalities to win a $10,000 grant funded by Walmart and awarded through the Sustainable Jersey program. Like other successful proposals, Maplewood’s project is intended to conserve energy and lessen its carbon footprint. The project the Township is undertaking is unique in that it is intended as a model for other municipalities to follow.

“If this program could work in Maplewood, it could work all over the state,” Maplewood Deputy Mayor Fred Profeta, who wrote the grant, said.

Maplewood is using the money to fund an internship program that will have Township teens disseminate information about how lower income families can take advantage of free energy efficiency services. The plan takes advantage of the Comfort Partners Program, an energy saving and energy education program offered through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

“The program, although well-conceived and well-financed, is very poorly publicized,” Profeta said. As such, the free service is underutilized even though the income threshold is high; it is available to families whose incomes are 225 percent of the federal poverty line, which Profeta estimates to be between $40,000 and $50,000 total household income or less.

“We estimate that one in eight families in Maplewood qualify for the program,” Profeta said.

To get the word out about the under-utilized program, the Township will employ a three-tiered team of interns, with one group tasked with analysis of the Township’s energy needs, another with outreach into the community and the third with education. The third group, Profeta said, would work closely with the Maplewood youth organization Youthnet.

“It’s always important to involve young people in environmental causes,” Profeta said. “They tend to be the most enthusiastic.”

Profeta was a founding member of Sustainable Jersey, but was not involved with selecting the grant.