Red Bank Regional Students Assist In Branding For Green Group

RED BANK, NJ - Little Silver resident Jennifer Borenius and her grassroots group is committed to preserving and protecting the environment and her enthusiasm was catching.

“I did not want to be one of those people whose grandchildren look up and say, ‘You knew about this? And you did nothing?’" she said in a release. "After all, we are leaving them this planet.”

Her group is " We are S.U.R.E.! " and stands for single use reduction effort. The Little Silver S.U.R.E. decided to work with the Little Silver Environmental Commission to reduce the single use of plastic bottles and bags. To accomplish this, they reached out to Red Bank Regional Visual & Performing art teacher Claudia O’Connor for help with a branding campaign resulting in four RBR art students’ logo design creations. The art work was posted on the campaign’s Facebook page and displayed at the Little Silver Kitchen tour. With voting from both venues and input from the committee, the logo designed by junior Sophie Navarro of Little Silver was chosen to brand the campaign. In Navarro 's design the S from the acronym encircles the earth and incorporates the recycling sign substituting leaves for arrows.

The contest results were announced at the November Little Silver Environmental Commission meeting. Bonnie Winter Akey, the committee chairperson, collaborated with S.U.R.E. to bring awareness to the community on the importance of recycling and avoiding single use plastic items.

RBR’s VPA studio art program is styled on the model of an advertising company serving the art needs of a business client. For that reason, O’Connor said “We were delighted to be able to assist the S.U.R.E. campaign which gave our students a real-world project to work on and for such a worthy cause. It is one of the ways students can utilize their artistic talent to promote causes that are close and important to them that provide a positive message and could leave a lasting legacy.”

Junior Katherine Smith’s submission was chosen as a runner-up. Seniors Kathy Trevino, Red Bank, and Morgan McIntyre, Little Silver, both earned honorable mentions. Smith is from Spring Lake.

Borenius also has worked with the RBR Environmental Club. Student members Jay Izzo and Paul Schoening, both of Little Silver, created a public service announcement to further the campaign’s awareness.
Navarro's logo will soon demark S.U.R.E. brochures, the Facebook page and even reusable cloth bags that the Little Silver Environmental Commission is giving out to township residents.

RBR installed water filling stations throughout the school building to discourage students’ use of plastic water bottles in school in a project S.U.R.E. could use in local elementary schools.

Water purification tanks at soda plant. Photograph by Michael Stravato/Associated Press.