New Jersey Sustainable Business
Cherry Street Kitchen has been designated as a New Jersey Sustainable Business by The New Jersey Sustainable Business Registry, a project of Rutgers' New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration. More information about The Registry is available at NJ Business Registry.
Cherry Street Kitchen has taken the following steps towards sustainability and resource conservation
- Reused a 1952-era building that was partly vacant and not optimally utilized.
- Invested significantly in this building to make it suitable for new use as a food building with kitchens.
- Incorporated use of natural light, including new energy-efficient windows in the kitchen.
- Replaced inefficient fluorescent T12 lights with brighter, efficient LED light tubes throughout the kitchen and storage areas, saving approximately 40% in lighting electricity.
- Installed auto-off light switches in the entrance foyer, the cooler/storage area, and the main bathroom to avoid unnecessary electricity usage.
- Installed an automatic air hand dryer in the main bathroom without a paper towel dispenser, saving paper towels, energy, and extra garbage while maintaining a sanitary condition.
- Installed a water filter to ensure water quality.
- Provides washable towels and clean mop heads to maintain cleanliness while avoiding unnecessary waste.
- Recycles paper, cans, cardboard, and plastic and glass bottles. Encourages and facilitates the recycling of cooking oil.
- Supplies and provides cleaning products from Greening The Cleaning, a project of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center in partnership with Hackensack University Medical Center. Our goal is to eliminate cleaning agents that contain hazardous ingredients and replace them with environmentally responsible, less toxic products.
- Vegetable food waste is picked up regularly for "hot" composting. This is a first for the area.