Stewardship, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is:

1. the office, duties and obligations of a steward
2. the conducting, supervising or managing of something especially:  the careful and responsible management of something trusted to one’s care

It gives an example of the usage of the word: stewardship  of natural resources.

Then, Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary goes on to describe good stewardship:

“When stewardship first appeared in English during the Middle Ages, it functioned as a job description, denoting the office of a steward or manager of a large household. Over the centuries, its range of reference spread to the oversight of law courts, employee unions, college dining halls, Masonic lodges and many other organizations. In recent years, the long-established ‘management’ sense of stewardship has evolved a positive meaning, ‘careful and responsible management.’ This sense is commonly found nowadays in contexts such as ‘stewardship’  of the environment, the family business,’ etc. It also occasionally appears as an adjective in phrases such as ‘stewardship fundraising’ (that is, fundraising aimed at building good relationships with donors in order to keep them loyal).”

The DEP – in seeking ways to encourage New Jersey’s businesses to go above and beyond what was expected by following the minimum requirements of environmental laws and regulations – created a stewardship program 12 years ago.

And now, a look at 2008 …

In January 2008, DEP launched an Environmental Stewardship Program offering public recognition to businesses that chose to go beyond minimum environmental requirements.

“This is a sensible and long overdue approach to environmental protection that meshes corporate responsibility with public transparency,” said then-DEP Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson. “I strongly believe that such stewardship practices can reduce a company’s costs, foster goodwill within their communities and result in a cleaner environment for everyone.”

Created by the DEP’s Compliance and Enforcement program, the initiative allowed DEP personnel on routine enforcement inspections to document and acknowledge when members of the regulated community voluntarily engaged in positive activities that benefited the environment.

Examples of stewardship activities include having a corporate environmental policy; implementing energy and water efficiencies; providing programs to reduce employee commuting trips; and engaging in reclamation projects, such as habitat restoration or installation of a rain garden.

“The environmental cop always stands ready to catch people when they do something wrong,” Jackson said. “But think of the potential rewards from catching someone when they do something right.”

More kudos: The New Jersey State Park Police, in 2008, earned accreditation from the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, the state’s top professional law-enforcement organization.

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