The Verona Environmental Commission won an Environmental Achievement Award for its successful video and program “Go Idle Free Verona” at the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions’ 39th annual Environmental Congress on Saturday, October 20.
This year, the VEC expanded its annual elementary school poster contest to middle school students and received more than 150 submissions. The video was aired on Verona municipal TV all summer long and it is posted on the VEC Web site. The VEC wrote, produced and taped this video with help from the H. B. Whitehorne Middle School Environmental Club. ANJEC described the project as “a perfect example of the scope a commission can achieve with enthusiastic volunteers!”
Nelson Dittmar Jr., president of ANJEC, presented awards to the VEC and the environmental commissions from Cranford, Hawthorne, Hightstown, Manalapan, Plumsted, Roxbury and Secaucus. The Kinnelon, Westville and Washington Township Environmental Commissions received honorable mentions and four nonprofit organizations received awards. Workshop topics for 2012 included Restoring Living Shorelines, Public Access to our Waterways, Recycling and Waste Reduction, Reducing Vehicle Emissions, Planning for Weather Extremes, Green Infrastructure, Open Space, Wastewater Planning, and Effective Environmental Commissions.