Week four of Theo's internship with Sustainable Princeton

The fourth week of my summer internship at Sustainable Princeton began with work on an application for a grant from the state of New Jersey. The grant program in question is called the N.J. Clean Construction Program and it was established with the express purpose of funding the retrofitting or replacement of off-road construction equipment so as to reduce harmful emissions. The grant program prioritizes construction equipment that meets one or more of the following criteria the construction equipment is old, the construction equipment is highly used, and the construction equipment is being used in sensitive or urban areas. To complete this grant application, I used the data I gathered from calculating the emissions and fuel usage of the Municipality of Princeton’s vehicle fleet for the Sustainable Jersey recertification.

The other major thing that happened this week was the grand opening of the dual port electric car charging station in the local parking garage. There was a ribbon cutting by Princeton’s mayor and there was a ceremonial charging of an electric car. I was there to both take pictures and videos of the event for publication and to help out with the reception afterwards. Personally, I’m really happy about this charging station and hopefully it will make the purchase of electric cars in Princeton a more feasible choice in the future.

Next week will most likely involve three primary tasks. Firstly, the finalized versions of the plastic film recycling FAQ will be completed and sent to the Princeton Merchant’s Association, the Municipality of Princeton for publication on their websites in addition to Sustainable Princeton’s own website and Facebook page. Secondly, we will be attempting to expand the reach of the BYOB plastic film recycling program by increasing the number of drop off points. Our targets for the increase in drop off points around town will be the various religious institutions in Princeton. Finally, I will be doing online outreach with regards to the electric car charging station so that more people know about its existence.