By Matthew Hersh
Sustainable Princeton has released its 2025/26 Impact Report, highlighting work ranging from electric school buses and vehicle charging stations to food scrap collection, native plantings, and a planned community solar program for low- and moderate-income households.
The report documents the Princeton nonprofit’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect the local ecosystem, and strengthen the community’s resilience to climate change.
The report, according to Executive Director Christine Symington, illustrates the organization’s ongoing sustainability efforts.
“I think our role has evolved into being a trusted, independent partner that helps turn sustainability ideas into action,” Symington said.
Sustainable Princeton, founded in 2012, works with the Municipality of Princeton and Princeton Public Schools on sustainability initiatives. The organization provides technical expertise, grant support, project management, and strategic guidance to the Municipality, which has maintained Sustainable Jersey certification since 2014 and earned a Gold Star for Health in 2025.
The Municipality received 810 points in its most recent certification, ranking first in Mercer County and fourth statewide, according to the report. All six Princeton public schools have achieved Bronze certification for sustainable actions, with two working toward Silver.
In its work with the schools, Sustainable Princeton helped secure $680,000 from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for two electric school buses and $100,000 from the state
Board of Public Utilities for charging infrastructure. It also secured a $92,000 Trees for Schools grant that supported the planting of 90 trees across the district.
Sustainable Princeton also helped secure funding and coordinate the installation of five dual-port electric vehicle charging stations, which includes one at the Spring Street Garage and four at 400 Witherspoon Street. The stations have recorded more than 17,000 charging sessions, which the organization estimates have resulted in 260 metric tons of carbon dioxide savings.
The Municipality’s food scraps drop-off program now includes nine sites serving about 600 households. Since its inception in 2023, roughly 80 tons of organic material have been diverted from landfills, according to the report.
Another project in development is a community solar program intended to serve 1,200 low- and moderate-income households. Sustainable Princeton has partnered with the Municipality and local affordable housing providers on the initiative, which would allow residents who cannot install rooftop solar, including renters and households with unsuitable roofs or insufficient financial resources, to benefit from a shared solar array.
Symington said that collaboration is particularly important because environmental issues often involve competing priorities and experiences.
“Sustainability is complicated,” she said. “The challenges we’re trying to address are interconnected, the solutions are rarely perfect, and people can come to the same issue with very different experiences, priorities, and concerns.”
The organization also emphasizes environmental equity in its work. Its report highlights the installation of 30 downspout planters containing 90 native plants in neighborhoods that have historically experienced disproportionate environmental impacts. The planters are designed to capture rooftop runoff before it reaches storm drains; Sustainable Princeton estimates they can filter 2,340 gallons of water during a rain event.
The organization uses the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Justice, Mapping, Assessment, and Protection Tool, or EJMAP, along with Princeton’s Racial Equity Toolkit, to consider who benefits from projects and whose voices may be missing from public discussions, Symington said.
“Traditional public engagement tends to favor people who have the time, flexibility, confidence, and familiarity with civic processes to attend meetings, write letters, or advocate for what they want,” she said. “Those voices are important, but they don’t necessarily represent the whole community.”
Other initiatives highlighted in the report include the revitalization of more than 1,000 square feet of garden beds at Monument Park, where 33 New Jersey native plant species and 1,300 plants and shrubs were planted with the participation of 100 volunteers. Sustainable Princeton also reports 210 members and 886 loans through its Lending Library, which provides residents with free access to tools and equipment intended to encourage reuse and more sustainable practices.
The report comes as towns in Mercer County and throughout the state face challenges related to development, energy demand, and climate resilience. Symington said the organization is focused on preparing for climate impacts that are already occurring while continuing to reduce emissions through more efficient buildings, cleaner transportation, stormwater management, and protection of natural systems.
She also sees the region’s housing shortage as connected to sustainability.
“Princeton and the region will grow, particularly given the housing shortage,” Symington said. “That growth can be part of the sustainability solution.”
More compact housing, smaller homes, and development located where people can walk, bike, or use public transportation can be more energy- and resource-efficient than traditional development patterns, she said.
“The question is how we accommodate growth in ways that reduce environmental impacts and bring meaningful benefits to the broader community,” Symington said.
She said the organization’s short- and long-term success depends on cooperation among residents, institutions, and government.
“Meaningful progress rarely comes from one person or organization having all the answers,” Symington said. “It comes from collaboration and from building enough trust that people can work through disagreements and keep moving forward together.”