Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission

News & Events

East Brunswick Community Garden Plots available for 2018 - click here for information and registration Our community garden is the subject of the latest episode of the web series Destination EB.
SUBMIT A VIDEO ON REDUCING PLASTIC BAG USE FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PRIZE! The Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission is launching a township-wide campaign, “Plastic-Free EB: One Bag at a Time” to encourage township residents to reduce their use of plastic bags by bringing reusable bags whenever and wherever they shop. We ask you to help get the word out and challenge you to make a video public service announcement (PSA) highlighting the issue and embracing the theme of reducing plastic bag use in East Brunswick. For more information click here The new deadline to submitting a video is April 15
Option Green - Intelligent Recycling, Supply Chain Archaeology and Urban Agriculture In a world of over 7 billion people, can individuals really make a difference in combating climate change and other environmental impacts? Dr. Kevin Lyons of Rutgers University, who studies the local and global impacts of how products move from raw materials through consumption, will discuss his research on supply chain archaeology and the practical solutions that can be implemented on the local level. Lyons is an associate professor of Supply Chain Management and director of Public-Private Community Partnerships at the Rutgers Business School in Newark. He also is associate director of the Rutgers Energy Institute and the Rutgers EcoComplex. He developed the Supply Chain Environmental Archaeology research program and lab at Rutgers, which studies the entire life of a product from its creation to consumption and its contribution to climate change. April 19, 7pm at the East Brunswick Public Library. Click for more information
The Salamanders are coming! Join us at Beekman Road to salamanders and frogs cross to the vernal pools. Information on road closing and how to safely watch the migration visit the Salamander Page.
Freecycling - April 21, 9am-2pm NEW LOCATION - Community Arts Center, 721 Cranbury Rd, East Brunswick (map) Click here for more information Facebook event Flyer
Plastic-Free EB: One Bag at a Time Plastic-Free EB is a program promoting the use of reusable shopping bagsand reducing the use of disposable plastic. Discarded plastic bags threaten wildlife everywhere, suffocate our wetlands, and pollute our oceans. The good news is that plastic bag pollution is preventable, and you can be part of the solution. If each of us use reusable bags when shopping we will eliminate the accumulation of plastic bags in our environment. If you are ready to say NO TO PLASTIC BAGS sign the online pledge - click here More about the program on the Plastic-Free EB page.
The 'Friends EBEC' is looking for new board members! If you are interested in working with us please join us at our next meeting on November 1st, 7pm, Meeting Room 1 at the East Brunswick Public Library. Click here for the Facebook event
The Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission and East Brunswick Public Library have been awarded a 2017 Environmental Achievement Award by the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) for their jointly sponsored Option Green lecture series. The award was presented at ANJEC’s Environmental Congress at Mercer County Community College on Oct. 13. Read more
Are you a Friend? It's time to renew your Friends membership! If you became a Friends member before May 2017 we ask the that you fill out the new form - click here. Not a member? Join the Friends EBEC Be the first to get information on events, projects and volunteer opportunities. To fill out the form - click here. As always - membership is Free, and your contact information will never be shared or sold. Thank you!
East Brunswick Town-wide Butterfly Survey The Friends are launching the first town-wide East Brunswick Butterfly Survey to better understand our butterfly fauna. We are calling on everyone in town (and anyone else that wants to visit) to become Citizen Scientists and help us document what butterflies occur in East Brunswick and where and when they were found. We have set up an iNaturalist project called "East Brunswick Nature" for everyone to post their photos. We are interested in any sightings anywhere in town, from backyards to our amazing parks. Read more
T-shirts and other products with the Friends logo Available on RedBubble. Your purchase helps support the Friends EBEC and we thank you for it.
County's Acquisition of 76-acres in East Brunswick On February 16, the County completed the purchase of the Ireland Brook-Tamarack Hollow Extension from Freedom Run, LLC. The Board of Chosen Freeholders authorized the use of $1.3 million from the Middlesex County Open Space and Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund to purchase the property. The land is located along the Ireland Brook on the East Brunswick-South Brunswick border. It connects 1,400 acres of County, state and local parkland, including the Ireland Brook Conservation Area, Tamarack Hollow Preserve and the Tamarack Golf Course. Read more
EAST BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY GARDEN Registration for 2018 is ongoing for returning gardeners. New gardeners registration will open after January 1st 2018. More information about the garden at www.ebcommunitygarden.webs.com

About the Friends

The “Friends” is a New Jersey and 501C3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to local environmental education and conservation. Projects initiated by the Friends have been widely recognized by the New Jersey Audubon Society, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Senate and General Assembly, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, United States Environmental Protection Agency, New Jersey Association of Landscape Architects, Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions and the East Brunswick Department of Parks and Recreation and Mayor and Town Council. These projects have also received extensive media coverage from local, state, national and even international press.The organization is run by an all-volunteer board. Our Board includes environmental consultants, educators and researchers and allows for a wide-diversity of experience and backgrounds providing an excellent foundation for environmental projects in our community.

Friends' events and membership are Free and open to all.

Past and present Friends projects include:
Community garden
Freecycling

East Brunswick Environmental Commission and Friends Awards/Recognition

The Friends' are funded only by private donations. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Click to learn How you or your company can Sponsor Friends Projects

To donate to the Friends using a credit card or PayPal account - Click the 'donate' button below.

About East Brunswick

East Brunswick is a fast growing suburban town in Central New Jersey, situated midway between New York City and Philadelphia. Close to 50,000 people call East Brunswick home.

Much has changed in East Brunswick during the past 80 years. With modern Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Digital Historical Aerial Photographs, we can glimpse back in history and make comparisons to current conditions in ways we never were able to do before. I have attached two aerial photographs of East Brunswick, one from 1930 and the other from 2007. They are both at the same scale and are high resolution, so they can be enlarged to take a closer look at details.

In 1930, East Brunswick was a patchwork of small farms interspersed by woods and streams. Extensive tidal wetlands were present along the South River and the Raritan River. It must have been incredible to see at that time. A real breadbasket of farms on some of the most productive farmland in the state and with vast natural communities that were at the intersection of northern and southern habitats. A few roads bisected the township linking the small areas of development with surrounding towns, but most (if not all) of these were likely dirt at the time. During the next 80 years, East Brunswick, like most of Middlesex County, would undergo significant suburban development altering the natural landscape in many ways. Extensive forests and farms were converted to housing, commercial development and other uses (landfill, golf course, the NJ Turnpike, etc.), streams were channelized, diverted or piped and wetlands and vernal pools were filled in. This is not to be critical of these changes, but simply to acknowledge that they occurred and to understand the changes to the environment.

We are very fortunate that remnants and even extensive portions of these original habitats remain in East Brunswick providing a glimpse, if not an even a wider view, of what East Brunswick used to look like. Stroll through the incredible Pine Barrens habitats of Jamesburg Park, or through Frost Woods, or hike into the tidal swamp along the South River at Keystone Park, or explore the southern portion of the township near Dutch Lane, Church Lane and Fresh Ponds where a number of farms have been preserved and woods still dominate much of the landscape. This is our natural history, and although much has changed, there are still many gems that remain. We can also use the aerial photographs to learn from our mistakes and from our successes in terms of conserving our remaining natural landscape as well as setting priorities on preservation and restoration. As the saying goes, "Think Globally, but Act Locally." If we aren't stewards of what is in our own town, you can be certain no one else will either.

Check out the Parks Guide on the Friends website at www.friendsebec.com/ebparks to learn where some of our best remaining natural areas are. They are well worth exploring. The Parks Guide is a work in progress and new Parks will be featured over the next few months. There are also high resolution aerial photographs www.friendsebec.com/salamandercrossing of the vernal pools along Beekman Road where we have worked so hard to protect our migrating salamanders and frogs.

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