STAR Actions
The following action items were designed to make your neighborhood a STAR Neighborhood: Sustainable, Together and Resilient.
Action items are organized within one of of Sustainable Princeton’s pillars: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Protecting the Local Ecosystem, and Strengthening Resilience to Impacts of Climate Change
These actions are simply suggestions. You are more than welcome to propose any other action that meets a pillar area goal.
Finally, remember that every STAR action is eligible for mini-grant funding. All participating neighborhoods are encouraged to apply!
Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Goal: To transition to energy use that is efficient, affordable, and/or renewable.
These action items primarily focus on energy-efficiency initiatives. By reducing energy needs, a homeowner reduces monthly utility bills and lowers their carbon footprint.
Promote Home Energy Audits
Home energy audits are designed to identify the many ways your home could be made more energy efficient. Work with Sustainable Princeton to learn about best audit program for your neighborhood, and share the money-saving opportunities with your neighbors. Potential expenses include fees for home energy audits.*
Analyze Home Energy Usage
Check out a wattmeter from Sustainable Princeton so you and your neighbors can learn about the energy used by your appliances, then make a plan to reduce your home energy use. No estimated expenses.*
Organize a Weatherization Workshop
From smart thermostats to duct sealing, invite a local hardware store or contractor to showcase products and projects to insulate homes against temperature extremes so your neighbors can work to lower their energy bills. Potential expenses include home weatherization materials.*
Host an Energy 101
Community solar, geothermal energy and green-e providers, oh my! Host an educational seminar about NJ’s energy system, and the latest opportunities to bring renewable energy to your neighborhood. Potential expenses include speaker fees.*
Lead an Energy Star Campaign
Encourage your neighbors to take the Energy Star Pledge to change energy behaviors, install energy-efficient appliances, and track energy usage, so everyone uses less energy and spends less money. No estimated expenses.*
Arrange a Green Building Seminar
Any type of building has the potential to become a green building, including those in your neighborhood. Host a speaker to educate your neighbors about the amazing technologies that allow homes to become carbon-free. No estimated expenses.*
Distribute Our Energy Incentives Catalog
Share Sustainable Princeton’s list of discounts, rebates, low-income programs and other financial incentives for making energy-efficient improvements. No estimated expenses.*
Walk for Efficient Light Bulbs
Go door-to-door educating your neighbors about the money saving advantages of LED over conventional light bulbs. Potential expenses include LED light bulbs.*
Host an Electric Vehicle Showcase
Invite a speaker to explain the benefits of electric transportation, while others display their electric cars, bikes, or scooters. Potential expenses include speaker fees.*
Build a Car Share Program or a Carpool Network
Enjoy the benefits of using or riding in a car, without the cost of ownership! Invite a speaker to discuss carshares and carpools have already been brought to Princeton, and how they might work for your neighborhood. Potential expenses include speaker fees.*
Launch an Anti-Idling Campaign
Did you know that idling for more than 3 minutes is prohibited within NJ? Not only that, idling is unhealthy and “fuelish” — you may as well be burning dollar bills! Build a campaign to educate about these issues. No estimated expenses.*
Coordinate an Electric Lawn Equipment Demo
Invite neighbors to check out electric lawnmowers and help educate the community about landscaping companies that use electric equipment and the benefits of going electric. Potential expenses include lawn equipment and/or speaker fees.*
Establish Bike to Work/School Days
Work with your neighbors to designate more “Bike to School or Work Days” for your neighborhood. No estimated expenses.*
Participate in a Carbon Footprint Challenge
Research carbon footprint challenges and select one for your neighborhood. Establish goals and monitor your progress along the way. No estimated expenses.*
Determine Your Neighborhood’s Walkability and Bikeability
What could be done to increase your willingness to walk more or bike across our town? Consider your neighborhood for its ability to meet the town’s walking and biking goals and share your results with town leaders. No estimated expenses.*
* Note: All action expenses are eligible for our mini-grant program. This includes the expenses noted above plus potential printing fees for any promotional flyers.
Protecting the Local Ecosystem.
Goal: To promote sustainable landscaping practices.
These action items are designed to support our local ecosystem. Some actions offer money-saving potential in surprising ways.
Increase your Neighborhood’s Low-Maintenance, Low-Mow Areas
‘Low mow zones’ are mowed only a few times a year, allowing native plants and grasses to grow, saving you time and money while supporting wildlife. Potential expenses include native seeds or seedlings.*
Ask Your Landscaper to Make a Sustainable Switch
Encourage your neighbors who employ a landscape company for lawn mowing and/or landscape maintenance to have a conversation about sustainable lawn care practices with their landscaper. Some examples of sustainable switches include planting native groundcover, plants, or trees, mulching leaves, and building a leaf corral. Potential expenses include native seeds or seedlings or leaf corral supplies.*
Distribute Our Sustainable Landscaping Conversations Resources
Share Sustainable Princeton’s landscaping resources such as the Toolbook for Sustainable Landscaping Conversations which includes discussion points for your neighbors to share with their landscapers. Encourage your neighborhood to hire landscapers who value sustainable services and the health and safety of their workers. No estimated expenses.*
Pilot a ‘Leave Your Leaves’ Campaign
By leaving leaves on your property, you can enrich your soil, reduce water pollution, and prevent the town’s costly operation of picking up leaves. Encourage your neighbors to make this simple, cost-effective switch. Potential expenses include leaf corral materials.*
Create Wildlife-Friendly Yards
Rally your neighbors to enact wildlife-friendly yards that meet the goals of Certified Wildlife Habitat, Monarch Waystations, or a similar program. Potential expenses include native seeds or seedlings.*
Host a Backyard Compost, Gardening, or Homesteading Workshop
From victory gardens to honey bees to hens, host a seminar to explore the many ways to transform yards and community spaces into a source for delicious foods, or how you can turn your leaves and food scraps into nutritious fertilizer. Potential expenses include compost bin materials, garden seeds or seedlings, or other homesteading supplies.*
Compile a Neighborhood Tree Inventory
Compile a tree inventory, indicating plants on the “Do Not Plant” or “Native Tree” lists, to better appreciate the value of your neighborhood trees, identify current tree infestations, and be prepared for the next one. No estimated expenses.*
Establish an Invasive Removal Team
Identify NJ’s top ten invasive plants, determine where they exist in your neighborhood, and work with your neighbors to remove them. Potential expenses include any equipment needed for invasive removal.*
Alternative Pest Management
Host an educational workshop to inform neighbors of alternative, safe methods to pest management methods for both home and yard. Potential expenses include gardening supplies.*
Neighborhood Tree Planting
Hold an event for neighbors to work together to plant trees in yards or along the street to improve air quality and reduce stormwater runoff. Potential expenses include tree saplings.*
Tour Local Green Infrastructure Examples
By retaining rainfall from small storms, green infrastructure reduces stormwater discharge and mitigates flood risk. Arrange to tour local rain gardens and other green infrastructure examples. How can your neighborhood or a local park incorporate these ideas? No estimated expenses.*
River-Friendly Neighborhood Drive
Encourage your neighbors to join the Watershed Institute’s River-Friendly Certification Program. Learn how to reduce pollution, conserve water, restore habitat for wildlife and become better environmental stewards. No estimated expenses.*
Establish Healthier Stream Banks
Learn how you can protect vegetation and prevent erosion around neighborhood waterways and then organize your neighbors to act. By reducing flooding impacts, you can prevent damage to nearby homes. Potential expenses include native plants or seeds.*
Adopt Neighborhood Storm Drains
Identify your neighborhood’s storm drains and work together to rake the leaves and other debris away from the drain year-round. No estimated expenses.*
Sponsor a Rain Barrel Workshop
Free water for your neighborhood’s lawns! Hold a workshop to inform residents on how to install and maintain rain barrels, so your neighborhood gets to enjoy this benefit. Potential expenses include rain barrel kit supplies.*
Create a Clean-Up Crew
Every time it rains, litter and other unwanted debris wash into our streams, creating a rather undesirable mess in certain areas. Neighbors can help by committing to regular cleanup of a local waterway, field, or park. Potential expenses include gloves or other litter collection supplies.*
* Note: All action expenses are eligible for our mini-grant program. This includes the expenses noted above plus potential printing fees for any promotional flyers.
Strengthening Resilience to Impacts of Climate Change
Goal: To prepare neighbors for climate change.
These action items build and strengthen a neighborhood community. Some actions strengthen social bonds. Others prepare the community to withstand the extreme weather events that are predicted with climate change.
Join the Neighborhood Buddy Initiative
Identify neighbors at risk and encourage members of the community to take on the task of checking in with these neighbors during emergency events, providing support, and connecting them as needed to professional services. Learn more. No estimated expenses.*
Make Your Neighborhood Emergency Responsive
Encourage all of your neighbors to register to receive alerts about emergencies and other important community news, while also identifying those who may need assistance in the event of a major disaster through the Princeton Prepares’ Extra Assistance Registry. No estimated expenses.*
Gain a CERT-Trained Neighbor
Support at least one member of your neighborhood in attending training to learn emergency preparedness skills so that person can assist our first responders as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member. No estimated expenses.*
Prepare and Distribute Resiliency Kits
Experts recommend that every resident store water, canned foods, a battery-operated radio, flashlight, first aid kit, and more. To help all of your neighbors be better prepared, compile and distribute resiliency kits. Potential expenses include resiliency kit supplies.*
* Note: All action expenses are eligible for our mini-grant program. This includes the expenses noted above plus potential printing fees for any promotional flyers.
DON’T SEE THE SOLUTION YOU HAVE IN MIND?
Remember, these are only suggestions. You are more than welcome to create any other action items that meet any of the three pillars.
Sustainable Princeton is here for you! We want to see your neighborhood succeed and achieve certification, so please ask for support and guidance at any step along the way. We can help brainstorm actions, find resources, and organize tours and speakers – just ask!
