Fort Lee Councilwoman Takes Lead on Green Initiatives, Plans Green Fair

Fort Lee Councilwoman Ila Kasofsky, council liaison to the borough’s newly formed environmental and beautification committee, believes there’s a lot more local residents can do to make Fort Lee a “greener,” more environmentally aware community.

In honor of Earth Day, Kasofsky spoke with Patch about a slew of initiatives the committee is working on to accomplish the goal of conserving energy and resources but also saving costs.

“We all could,” Kasofsky said when asked if there’s more residents can be doing. “My mission right now is to raise awareness. I next want to save money, and third to stimulate the Fort Lee economy.”

Kasofsky’s big project right now is planning what she’s calling a “green fair” as part of the ninth annual Fort Lee Arts & Music Festival, which takes place on June 5 on Main St. between Lemoine and Center Aves. and in the municipal parking lot.

"[Festival organizer Tom Meyers of the Fort Lee Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs] has been absolutely my biggest supporter, embracing this initiative to take up almost a block with my green initiatives,” Kasofsky said. “I’m envisioning a lot of community outreach, and I also hope to educate a lot of the people who will be there. ‘Green’ is just a buzz word.”

Some of the vendors Kasofsky said she’s already invited to participate on June 5 are the following:

• United Water

“When [a representative from] United Water spoke to my environmental committee, he told us that less than five percent of water goes to drinking and cooking, and 95 percent of water that we use goes to watering lawns and cars,” Kasofsky said. “We have one system. We would love a dual-system. We use all the cleaned water to water our cars and lawns. And if we saved water, we would save on sewer charges.”

Kasofsky said the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir is pumping more than 100 million gallons of water a day.

“There is also a water conservation program that teaches people to use xeriscape gardening, which uses less water than traditional gardening,” she said. “It just teaches you to use plants that are drought-tolerant. It will save on controlling costs for the whole town.”

• PSE&G

“They will come with a list of things to do like unplug certain things overnight,” Kasofsky said. “Or if it’s snowbirds, who leave their apartment for four months, they can unplug a lot of appliances.”

• Jared Koch, author of Clean Plates Manhattan

“He’s written a book about what dishes are the most healthy in what restaurants, and he’s into local nutrition and farmers markets,” Kasofsky said. “He’s going to be talking about nutrition and local markets, and he’s going to have his book.”

• Greg Pinkwater

“He sells only eco-friendly, green cleaning supplies,” Kasofsky said.

The Fort Lee councilwoman and passionate environmentalist is also planning what she’s dubbed a “shred-a-thon,” or a community-shredding day.

“Everybody can clean out their old files and bring it to this truck the town will bring in that shreds it and takes it away,” she explained, adding that the shred-a-thon was originally intended to be part of the “green fair,” but will now take place on a day and at a time that’s yet to be determined.

“I’m trying to figure out a place that will be easy access for everybody,” she said.

Other initiatives environmental and beautification initiatives

• Fort Lee High School recycling

“They’re recycling at the high school,” Kasofsky said. “They have extra recycling bins, and they’re getting extra pickup from Waste Management. I have two very active teachers at the high school—Nicole Booth and Barbara Pastore—and they’re helping me do this. The kids have wanted to recycle, but they didn’t have the adequate pickup and they didn’t have the adequate bins, but now they do.”

Kasofsky said she’s planning a press conference after the Easter holiday at the high school announcing the new initiative.

• The Department of Public Works recycling dumpster for TVs

“People can drop off their old TVs. At DPW on Main St.,” Kasofsky said.

• Composting

The next meeting of the environmental and beautification committee will feature a speaker from Bergen Public Utilities, which has also been invited to the green fair, to talk about composting. The meeting is May 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Borough Hall.

• Clean Communities Program

Thanks to a grant the borough received, “we’re going to have a group of local kids to cleanup” this summer, Kasofsky said.

• Two clothing recycling bins at Fort Lee Fire Co. No. 2

“People’s clothing is just cluttering up our landfills. There are tons and tons of used clothes just littering up the environment, so this is a wonderful thing,” Kasofsky said, noting that the two bins are targeted to be on the ground at the firehouse in two weeks. “And with these bins, there’s three places the clothing ends up: The good stuff they can sell at a secondhand store, it gets sent to a third world country and third, they make stuff out of it. They recycle it.”

Kasofsky also said that after the green fair she would like to organize a day when community members “get together, cleanup, plant and make the community clean and warm,” something she’s seen done in other towns.

Kasofsky said her mentor and the person she draws inspiration from when it comes to such environmental initiatives is Fred Profeta, Deputy Mayor for the Environment in Maplewood, a co-founder of Sustainable Jersey.

“I am passionate about [environmental issues],” Kasofsky said. “It just feels meaningful.”