Pam Mount Recounts Recent Visit to Taiwan

Former mayor and current Lawrence Township Councilwoman Pam Mount and Ben Franklin Elementary School Principal Chris Turnbull were part of a five-member team from Sustainable Jersey that recently visited Taiwan, where they shared techniques on saving energy and minimizing negative effects on climate.

Sustainable Jersey is a fast-growing program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to "go green," saving money in the process, and take steps to sustain their quality of life over the long term. "Half the towns in the state are registered with Sustainable Jersey now," said Mount, who chairs Lawrence's Green Team and, with her husband Gary Mount, owns on Cold Soil Road in the northern end of the township.

The June 10-18 exchange trip undertaken by Mount and Turnbull to Taiwan was supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through an agreement with the American Institute in Taiwan.  A team from Taiwan visited America last fall.  "That team was very taken by Sustainable Jersey during a visit to Maplewood, which has been a leading municipality in the state in terms of being involved in Sustainable Jersey," Mount said.

While in Taiwan, Mount and the other members of the delegation "explored projects that Taiwan and New Jersey could collaborate on for mutual benefit," she said.  "The mission included meetings with various Taiwanese officials and visits to recycling centers, green buildings, and sustainable, or low carbon, communities.  The range of topics covered included greenhouse gases, sustainable energy, climate adaptation, and sustainable economic development.  We visited low carbon communities, where people are concerned about reducing their carbon footprint."

Mount said she was particularly impressed by one of the low carbon towns having a community garden, in which residents could grow their own vegetables.  The garden was near a public park.  "That town had its own Green Team and a recycling center, too," she said.

The exchange visit, facilitated by the EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs, included visits to a Material, Electronic, Green and Automation (MEGA) Demonstration House; the Industrial Technology and Research Institute in Hsin-Chu; and an urban Environmental Protection Bureau.

“One of the interesting things was that people wanted to learn from us how to build community involvement in sustainability issues,” Mount said. “Taiwan is a relatively new democracy. People are interested in ways to engage and organize people to get stuff done. They wanted to know how to build democratic grassroots activism.”

 She said Taiwan's essential character makes sustainable practices particularly important.  "It's a small island with 23 million people living on it," she said.  "Most of it is rocky hills, so most of the people live in big cities."

 She believes Sustainable Jersey is an important organizational effort toward making the most-efficient and environmentally-friendly uses of natural resources.

“Sustainable Jersey has harnessed the power of local communities in New Jersey to deliver measurable results in sustainable actions across the board,” she said. “The program is unique, and we increasingly realize it’s a useful model for others, both nationally and internationally.  We were pleased to get the invitation to go to Taiwan and hope to identify new funding opportunities.” 

Ben Franklin School Principal Chris Turnbull was the lone educator in the delegation. As part of the visit, his school has developed a sister school program with a school in Taiwan.