The Green Dream Team

In the past, Wyckoff has worked to make the town environmentally friendly, but thanks to two new ordinances, the town is about to get greener. At a meeting last week the Wyckoff Environmental Commission/Green Team Task Force was officially formed with the intent of helping the township comply with Sustainable Jersey requirements.

Sustainable Jersey is a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to "go green, save money, and take steps to sustain their quality of life over the long term." It includes working to help municipalities gain access to grants, and identifies existing and new funding opportunities.  

Township committeeman Tom Magidan, liaison to the Green Team, said he was pleased with the unanimous vote to create the committee.  Madigan said Wyckoff’s Environmental Commission, “under the leadership of Harriet Shugarman and Brian Bigler, along with fellow members Randy Hoogerhyde, Peter Weiderhold, Alex Cascado, Cathy Runge, and Doug Macke, has formed an official ‘Green Team’.”

“This just reaffirms Wyckoff’s commitment to the environment which was established in the town Master Plan,” said Madigan. He said this helps the best interests of the town to continue to master the environment responsibly.  Thanks to this new group Madigan expects Wyckoff will be eligible for grants from the State’s environmental programs.

“Two benefits of this program is that we are doing the right thing for the environment and second, thanks to the grants, the tax payers will be able to reap the benefits,” said Madigan. 

Shugarman explained the first step was to see where town was currently in relationship to the Sustainable New Jersey requirements.  The next step is to implement new programs to make Wyckoff even greener. 

 “We have to first see the baseline on where the township is going,” she said. “Once that is completed, we will see what is needed next.” 

 Shugarman added in order to help implement environmental concerns, the town established a sub-committee to help execute the plans.

“We have a subcommittee with 40 residents who have come forward from the town and offered to help,” said Shugarman.

“For the township to embrace sustainability is very positive,” she said. “It shows the town is environmentally conscious and continuing to become more so.”