Environment
Greening Our Communities
In many ways, PSEG invests in a greener, brighter future for the communities it serves.
Funding educational grants
Through the PSEG Environmental Education Grant Program, PSEG helps to inspire teachers of grades K through 9 to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to teaching about the environment. Since 1991, PSEG has awarded more than $296,000 to 130 teachers to support environmental education. Apply for a grant.
Building greener schoolsPSEG contributed $500,000 toward the construction of St. Philip’s Academy grammar school, the first building in Newark designed in compliance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Located in a rehabilitated chocolate factory, the school features radiant heating, low-emissions paint, a rooftop garden, operable windows and bike racks. Students breathe cleaner air while learning in classrooms filled with natural light. After vegetables and herbs grown by students in the rooftop garden are served in the cafeteria, kitchen waste is composted and used to enrich the garden soil. |
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| Newark residents such as Lula Gilyard, shown in her award-winning home garden, participate in the Greater Newark Conservancy's Community Greening program. See PSEG's 2007 Environmental Leadership Report. | ||
Funding exhibits and programs
The PSEG Foundation has provided support for many educational exhibits and programs:
- $500,000 to the New Jersey State Museum for a global warming exhibit, “The Rising Tide,” on the history of sea level rise along the New Jersey coast (This exhibit opened on April 18, 2009),
- A coastal wetlands curriculum developed by the New Jersey Academy for Aquatic Sciences, which brings school children to PSEG’s wetlands properties,
- “Deep Sea 4-D,” a multi-sensory theater experience at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, N.J.,
- Student scholarships and program funding for educational programs of the Delaware Nature Society.
Making cities more liveableFor years, PSEG has supported the Greater Newark Conservancy as it seeks to improve livability in New Jersey’s urban areas through community greening, job training and education. PSEG underwrites many of the Conservancy’s initiatives, such as its Community Greening and Education programs and Outdoor Learning Center in Newark. The Greater Newark Conservancy supports Newark residents as they strive to improve the city’s neighborhoods with gardens, street-side flower barrels and community gardens. |
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| Newark residents such as Lula Gilyard, shown in her award-winning home garden, participate in the Greater Newark Conservancy's Community Greening program. See the PSEG 2007 EnvironmentalLeadership Report. | ||
Promoting research
In 2007, the PSEG Foundation pledged $300,000 to Rutgers University toward the construction of a state-of-the-art Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences building in New Brunswick. This building will facilitate important interdisciplinary research and teaching, focused on complex issues such as global climate change and fisheries.
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Hands-on learning in the wetlandsFrom its inception, PSEG’s Estuary Enhancement Program has included environmental education as an integral component. Each year, students learn through hands-on, outdoor education and natural observation. In 2007, PSEG’s Estuary Enhancement Program sites were certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council’s new Corporate Lands for Learning program in recognition of their educational programming. |
| Together with a PSEG biologist, students use a seining net to discover what creatures live in a coastal wetland. | |
| In recognition of PSEG’s extensive work with local communities and schools, PSEG was awarded the Certificate of Recognition for Environmental Education Commitment by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. | |
Outdoor recreationThe public is invited to enjoy the beauty of the restored wetlands of the Delaware Bay Shore from the nature trails, boat launches, viewing platforms and boardwalks built by PSEG as part of the Estuary Enhancement Program. PSEG’s Estuary Enhancement Program (EEP) has restored and protected approximately 32 square miles of coastal wetlands and adjoining uplands along the Delaware Bay Shore. |
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| Boardwalks installed through PSEG's Estuary Enhancement Program offer prime birdwatching vantage points. | ||
Calculating community carbon footprints
PSEG provided funding for a Climate Change Planning Model developed by Clean Air–Cool Planet to help communities inventory their greenhouse gas emissions and reduce their carbon footprint.
Building a greener, stronger Trenton
PSEG is the lead corporate sponsor in the Trenton Green Initiative, a joint public/private effort to reduce carbon emissions, develop green collar careers, track and reduce municipal energy use, and help low-income residents make their homes more energy-efficient.
Green Solutions for Our Customers
Read about the PSE&G Energy Efficiency Economic Stimulus Initiatives and Carbon Abatement Programs.
