At its recent presentation to the Village Council, the South Orange Environmental Commission demonstrated that a tiny budget can sometimes go a long way.
The Commission is asking South Orange leaders to allocated $5,000 for its work in its 2026 budget, to continue work in green infrastructure and education, recommendations for increased energy, stormwater management, ordinances, and climate circles. “It’s strategic for us to try and educate our residents about what we are doing, and also gain support for the different projects,: said Kathleen Grant, chair of the South Orange Environmental Commission.
“For our children to really have a future that is safe and secure, we need to be making rapid and stringent cuts to our emissions,” Grant continued.
Towards the end of last year, the commission planted a rain garden behind South Orange Middle School. A rain garden is a shallow planted area that collects rainwater runoff, in this case from the parking lot, and purifies the water before it moves to the Rahway River. Grant reported, “We’ve installed technology that will monitor how much water is being diverted from the river, and south orange middle school students will be monitoring that.” Grant further states “we are looking for how to have more projects like this because it really seems to resonate with the community.”
The South Orange Rain Garden planting crew from left: Jessica Miller, Bill Haskins, Chris Black, Elizabeth Payne, Daniel Wright, Kirk Barrett (not shown: Tekla Pontius-Courtney).(Photo by Andy Stone)
Village Councilwoman Olivia Lewis-Chang, who is liaison to the Environmental Commission, told Village Green, “The Village will support efforts to have more rain gardens where appropriate. The Environmental Commission is always seeking ways to advise and support increasing our town’s green infrastructure. The rain garden at the middle school was a long time coming.”
When asked if the commission is still bringing in grants, Grant told the Council that the Commission received three grants this year: “We’ve received an energy grant, which is helping us have consultants in terms of energy expenditure. We also have a couple smaller grants, [of] a couple thousand dollars each, which we have used for the rain gardens.”
Grant said that the Commission’s “Electrify SOMA” program, which is an educational campaign that helps residents in both Maplewood and South Orange understand the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in local communities, specifically “getting us off fossil fuels and towards renewable sources of energy” — has gained traction through local press, further exemplifying their goal of helping organizations and residents come up with electrician plans.
For South Orange specifically, 40% of carbon emissions are from “on road vehicles.” To reduce those emission, Grant stated, “The South Orange Environmental Commission really supports the work of Walk Bike Ride South Orange and the Greenway Project.”
After the presentation, Lewis-Chang stressed the Commission’s work, stating, “The work of the Commission isn’t just for ‘tree huggers.’ Without their work, there isn’t a planet.”
South Orange Village Council will be introducing its 2026 budget at its March 9, 2026 meeting. Find out more about the South Orange municipal budget here.
Story by Celia Mann, an 11th grade Columbia High School student, who is working with Village Green as a paid freelancer through a grant from the NJ Civic Information Consortium.
