Category: Awards & contests

Airports Going Green 2017 Award Recipients Announced

The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Airports Going Green Award. This prestigious award recognizes the contributions of each outstanding project, program, or person in pursuit of sustainability within the aviation industry. Made from reclaimed wood, these awards will be presented by CDA Deputy Commissioner of Environment Aaron Frame at the 2017 Airports Going Green Conference in Dallas, Texas, during the awards ceremony on Tuesday, November 14.

2017 Airports Going Green Award Recipients:
 
Sam Mehta, Environmental Services Manager

San Francisco International Airport
 
2017 James M. Crites Aviation Sustainability Pioneer Award
Denver International Airport
Hotel and Transit Center Project
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport/
Wayne County Airport Authority
Reconstruction of Runway 4L-22R and Associated Taxiways
Farmer’s Fridge

Chicago O’Hare International Airport
John Kulikowski, United States Air Force
Chief, Airfield Pavement Evaluation Team
London Gatwick Airport
Recycling and Renewable Energy Facility
Swedavia Airports
Sustainable Aviation Fuel & Fly Green Fund
Tampa International Airport
Be WELL Health and Wellness Campaign
Vancouver Airport Authority
Project Green YVR: Climate Smart Partnership

 

2017 Airports Going Green Award Honorable Mentions:
  • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Sustainable Food Court Initiative
  • Meacham International Airport, Fort Worth, Texas, Administration Building Renovation
  • Orlando International Airport Sustainability Initiatives, Under the Leadership of Judith-Ann Jarrette, Recycling Rangers; Airport Hyatt Regency Hotel
  • Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal F Baggage Claim Building
  • Port Authority of New York and Jersey, John F. Kennedy International Airport – TWA Flight Center Hotel Facility
  • JFKIAT, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 4 Sustainability Initiatives and Operations/Maintenance Practices
  • Rio de Janeiro International Airport, Organic Solid Waste Management
  • Sacramento International Airport, 7.9 MW PV Facility
  • San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Sustainability Initiatives, The Good Traveler Program; Green Concessions Program
  • Chicago Midway International Airport, Runway 13C-31C Rehab and EMAS Replacement
This year featured a record 27 nominations for consideration, showcasing how prominent the environmental focus has become within the aviation community. The Evaluation Committee included:
  • Paul Bowers, Publisher for Airport Improvement Magazine (AI)
  • Aileen Cho, Senior Editor of Transportation for Engineering News-Record (ENR)
  • Kris Russell, Environmental Program Manager, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
  • Denise Pronk, Program Manager, Corporate Responsibility, Schiphol Group
  • Melissa Solberg, Sustainability Manager, Tampa International Airport
  • Brendan Reed, Director, Planning & Environmental Affairs, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
  • Scott Morrissey, Senior Director, Sustainability, Denver International Airport
  • Lyne Michaud, Environment and Sustainability, Assistant Director, Aeroports de Montreal
  • Gene Peters, Director, Ricondo and Associates
  • Sara Christen-Hassert, Senior Managing Consultant, Landrum & Brown
The Airports Going Green Conference is the industry’s leading sustainability platform that translates relevant megatrends to the aviation sector in general and to airports in particular. Key concepts like value creation, impact measurement and activating purpose bring together aviation leaders, experts, and innovators from around the world.  The goal of AGG is to forge strong relationships and provide an exchange of knowledge between people and countries around the world in the area of sustainability in the aviation sector.
The 2017 Airports Going Green (AGG) Conference will be held Dallas, Texas at the Hilton Anatolehotel, and is jointly hosted by Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). Register today at www.airportsgoinggreen.org.

 

EPA Launches 6th Annual Campus RainWorks Challenge

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching its sixth annual Campus RainWorks Challenge, a design competition that is open to colleges and universities across the country. EPA seeks to engage with students to foster a dialogue about responsible stormwater management, and showcase the environmental, economic, and social benefits of green infrastructure practices.
Registration for the 2017 Challenge is open from September 1 through September 30. Student teams must register in order to submit their entries by December 15. Winners will be announced in the Spring of 2018. Each first-place team will earn a student prize of $2,000 to be divided evenly among student team members and a faculty prize of $3,000 to support green infrastructure research or training. Second-place teams will win $1,000 for student teams and a $2,000 faculty prize.
Water pollution associated with stormwater runoff requires infrastructure solutions that are innovative, resilient, and affordable. Today’s scholars are tomorrow’s design professionals. The Campus RainWorks Challenge will harness their creativity and knowledge to jointly advance the agency’s mission to protect public health and water quality.

2017 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention Awards Open for Nominations

The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable is accepting nominees for the 2017 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention (MVP2) Awards. The MVP2 awards are presented annually during National Pollution Prevention Week.  National Pollution Prevention Week is the third week of September, September 18th – 25th, 2017.

Awards are presented in seven categories, Project/Program, Best Multimedia, Champion, Ambassador, Volunteer, Educator and Student of the Year.

The MVP2 Project/Program, P2 Champion, and Best P2 Multimedia are open to all levels of government, industry, small business, non-profit, and academia.

The awards are designed to recognize outstanding and innovative P2 projects/programs. As in years past, awards are judged on the following five broad criteria: innovation, measurable results, transferability, commitment, and optimization of available project resources.

The deadline for applications has been extended to Friday September 8th, 2017

Information on past recipients and this year’s application are available at www.p2.org.

Southern Environmental Law Center Calls for Submissions for Phil Reed Environmental Writing Awards

The Southern Environmental Law Center is now accepting submissions for the 2018 Phillip D. Reed Environmental Writing Awards. Nominations are welcome from anyone, including readers, authors, and publishers.

Presented each year during the Virginia Festival of the Book, the Reed Awards recognize outstanding writing on the southern environment in two categories: Book, for works of nonfiction (not self-published) and Journalism, for newspaper, magazine, and online writing published by a recognized institution (e.g. a news organization, university or nonprofit group).

  • All submissions must have been published between October 1, 2016, and September 30, 2017.
  • Submissions must relate to the natural environment in at least one of the following states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia.
  • Submissions are due October 1, 2017, at  SouthernEnvironment.org/submit.
  • Journalism entries must be at least 3,000 words.

There are three options for submitting entries: electronic copy, hard copy, or a website link where the submission is available for sale. Hard copy submissions will not be returned.

The Reed Award celebrates writers who achieve both literary excellence and extraordinary insight into the South’s natural heritage. Past winners exemplify the quality and diversity of contemporary environmental writing. They include:

    • Eminent biologist and Alabama native E.O. Wilson, the “father of biodiversity” and a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner;
    • Veteran environmental journalists Charles Seabrook, a longtime contributor to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Ben Raines, an accomplished filmmaker as well as an award-winning reporter on the Gulf Coast;
    • Writer, poet, and NPR commentator Janisse Ray, author of the celebrated Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, a New York Times Notable Book and the winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award;
    • University of the South forest biologist David Haskell, a Guggenheim Fellow, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature; and
    •  Author Deborah Cramer, visiting scholar at MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative, whose books on the sea have won awards from the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Academy of Sciences.

As in past years, the winners will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges that includes leading environmental writers, journalists, and advocates. The awards honor the late Phillip D. Reed, a distinguished attorney, a committed environmental activist, and a founding trustee of SELC.

Please contact Chris Reiter, Reed Award Coordinator, at creiter@selcva.org, or 434-977-4090 for any additional questions.

Nutrient Sensor Action Challenge

The Nutrient Sensor Action Challenge builds upon the 2014 Nutrient Sensor Challenge, which helped develop affordable, high-performing, continuous nutrient sensors and analyzers. The 2017 challenge calls for demonstrations showing:

1) the effective use of low-cost continuous sensors,

2) innovative partnerships to pilot the sensors and manage data, and

3) how collected information can be used in state and local decision-making

By building successful strategies for incorporating nutrient sensors into existing water monitoring efforts, the Challenge can help states and local communities overcome barriers to preventing and reducing nutrient pollution.

Stage 1 – closes September 20, 2017

In Stage 1, teams will submit action plans describing an approach for sensor deployment and use, and how they will meet challenge goals.

The plans will be judged and up to 5 winning applications will be selected. The top entries will be awarded cash prizes totaling $50,000 and invited to participate in Stage 2.

Stage 2 – Spring 2018

In Stage 2 of the Challenge, teams will deploy the sensors and collect data as they compete for a share in $100,000 in prizes.

2017 Champions of Toxics Use Reduction Recognized at State House

Read the full story from the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute.

State legislators joined the Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA) program to recognize 2017 Champions of Toxics Use Reduction at the Massachusetts State House. The annual event recognizes outstanding leaders who are making the Commonwealth a safer place to live and work. For details about the winners, visit the TURI web site.

EPA Announces Student Award Winners

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the winners of the 2016 President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA). The program recognizes outstanding environmental stewardship projects by K-12 youth. These students demonstrate the initiative, creativity, and applied problem-solving skills needed to tackle environmental problems and find sustainable solutions.

Fifteen projects are being recognized this year, from 13 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

“Today, we are pleased to honor these impressive young leaders, who demonstrate the impact that a few individuals can make to protect our environment,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These students are empowering their peers, educating their communities, and demonstrating the STEM skills needed for this country to thrive in the global economy.”

Each year the PEYA program honors environmental awareness projects developed by young individuals, school classes (kindergarten through high school), summer camps, public interest groups and youth organizations.

This year’s PEYA winners conducted a wide range of activities, such as:

  • developing a biodegradable plastic using local agricultural waste product;
  • designing an efficient, environmentally friendly mosquito trap using solar power and compost by-product;
  • saving approximately 2,000 tadpoles to raise adult frogs and toads;
  • implementing a hydroponics and aquaculture project in a high school;
  • repurposing over 25,000 books;
  • creating an environmental news YouTube channel;
  • organizing recycling programs to benefit disaster victims and underserved community members;
  • reclaiming and repurposing over 4,000 discarded pencils within their school;
  • promoting food waste reduction;
  • creating a small, portable tool to prevent air strikes of migratory birds;
  • engaging their community in a program to save a threatened bird, the Western Snowy Plover;
  • testing grey water to encourage water conservation;
  • promoting bee health;
  • uniting their schools to address local environmental issues.

The PEYA program promotes awareness of our nation’s natural resources and encourages positive community involvement. Since 1971, the President of the United States has joined with EPA to recognize young people for protecting our nation’s air, water, land and ecology. It is one of the most important ways EPA and the Administration demonstrate commitment to environmental stewardship efforts created and conducted by our nation’s youth.

For information on environmental education at EPA, visit:
https://www.epa.gov/education.