For the ninth year, Lakewood celebrated the enormous strides and innovation accomplished in the area of sustainability with the Lakewood Sustainability Awards on April 25."We have a great opportunity to honor folks in our community who take time out of their busy schedules to try to make the community a better place," said Mayor Adam Paul during the awards ceremony. "It's amazing to listen to what's going on in our community and how people are just doing little things to improve their world."The city receives nominations for businesses, organizations and individuals who are working to make their community healthier. A committee then considers nominees based on the project's overall scope, how innovation was embraced and challenges overcome, and transferability to other communities and initiatives."Each of these recipients had innovative and beautiful ideas in sustainability," Ward 1 councilwoman Ramey Johnson said. "My hope is you will look at what some of these folks have done, copy it in your area and maybe improve on it."
The Action Center
WHAT: Community Sustainability Award
PROGRAM: Food Rescue Program
WHAT IT DOES: The Action Center's Food Rescue program collects leftover, high-quality food items from community grocers and restaurants and provides them to individuals and families in need.
The program has helped provide fresh food to families while helping address the country's food waste issue.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "We take sustainability and the utilization of best practices very seriously. For every vendor that participates in this program, we have more healthy foods that we can provide for the hungry in our community and decrease the amount of waste going to landfills."
-- Mag Strittmatter, Action Center executive director
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "We are so thrilled to be recognized for this award by the City of Lakewood. It is a win-win all the way around," Strittmatter said.
Green Mountain Area Homeschoolers
WHAT: Defender of the Planet Youth Award
PROGRAM: Habitat Awareness and Action
WHAT IT DOES: Green Mountain Area Homeschoolers used their service-learning project to improve local habitat and spread sustainability awareness throughout the community.
The students demonstrated leadership abilities by coordinating with city and county officials and other community agencies, including the Jane Goodall Institute, to complete their project.
Students pulled invasive weeds, planted thousands of wildflower seeds and built nest boxes. They also made an educational exhibit that was on display at the Belmar Library.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "Sustainability is important because we want future generations to enjoy the same wildlife that we have today."
-- Wyatt Gorner, fourth-grade homeschool student
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "We hope that it makes other kids think of doing similar projects to improve our community," Gorner said.
Jovial Concepts
WHAT: Community Sustainability Award
PROGRAM: Jovial Gardens
WHAT IT DOES: Jovial Concepts has brought together 14 Lakewood homeowners and more than 200 Lakewood volunteers to address hunger, health and education through the Jovial Gardens Project. Volunteers transform their neighbors' yards into productive, organic gardens to feed themselves and others in need.
Using the gardens as classrooms, participants learn principles of sustainable agriculture, environmental awareness, nutrition and food systems. The project focuses on low-income neighborhoods, increasing access to nutritious food, combating chronic diseases and empowering the community.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "At this time, while we are being so politically divided, sustainability offers a unique opportunity for communities and neighborhoods to come together by taking ownership of our own local needs. We are able to use sustainability as a platform to work together to lower our carbon footprint and to preserve ecosystems and biodiversity for generations to come."
-- Kristina Welch, executive director of Jovial Concepts
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "This award means that our community is aware, involved and appreciative of the work that we have been doing. We hope, as Ward 1 councilwoman Ramey Johnson mentioned, that these awards inspire others in our community to create their own sustainability initiatives or to improve upon the current work being done," Welch said.
Lindsey Rankin
WHAT: Community Sustainability Award
PROGRAM: TerraCycle School Recycling Program
WHAT IT DOES: Lindsey Rankin, a mother of two and avid recycler, discovered there was a program that would recycle difficult items like tape and pens, and launched the TerraCycle School Recycling Program at Hutchinson Elementary.
By working with the school to place a variety of collection bins in the facility, and through education and training of students and teachers, Lindsey's personal initiative has kept more than 50 pounds of writing utensils, 2,500 ink and toner cartridges and more than 544 baby food pouches out of the landfill.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "Sustainability has always been important to me. I am so sad what we're doing to our poor Earth. I'm dedicated to doing something, even if it's tiny."
-- Lindsey Rankin
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "I was quite surprised about by this award, especially because I'm a very private person. It's wonderful to listen to what other people are doing to help the environment. I'm proud to be part of this community."
Micro Farms Colorado
WHAT: Community Sustainability Award
PROGRAM: Yard Partners Program
WHAT IT DOES: The company takes underutilized space, such as lawns and backyards, and transforms them into vegetable gardens. It brings fresh, local food to the community, using food to connect people to nature.
The Micro Farms model uses biointensive, chemical-free gardening practices to produce food that is sold in shares through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "Colorado's population is forecasted to increase approximately 60 percent by 2035 and double by 2050 with most forecast to occur along the Front Range. The state projects a significant future water supply gap, beginning to develop in 2014 and growing to 1,000,000 acre feet by 2050. Furthermore, according to the USDA, consumer demand for organically produced goods continues to show double-digit growth."
-- Micro Farms Colorado website
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "We are dedicated to sustainably strengthening our community through healthy food accessibility, outreach and education."
Rachel Griffin
WHAT: Bruce Peoples Eco-Employee Award
PROGRAM: Employees' Committee for a Sustainable Lakewood
WHAT IT DOES: In 2008, Rachel Griffin became one of the founding members of the Employees' Committee for a Sustainable Lakewood. The committee established a mission of encouraging the coordination of sustainability across city departments, establishing outreach programs and exploring opportunities to enhance sustainability through policy.
Griffin was influential in creating the Sustainability Awards program as a way to recognize innovations and advancements by the local business community.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "Sustainability is more than just 'being green.' It's being efficient and effective, with a long-term strategy for viability.
"Economic sustainability ensures quality long-term development and growth and it keeps money in the Lakewood community. For every dollar the city or local businesses spend on energy costs, that's one less dollar recirculating in Lakewood."
-- Rachel Griffin
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "City council and leaders in city staff recognized that due to the overwhelming success of our volunteer group's programs, such as the sustainability awards, sustainability fair, educational events and more, our small volunteer-based group morphed into a staffed division that works to integrate the principles of efficiency, education, cost savings, long-term vision and sustainability into all departments and divisions citywide," Griffin said.
South Lakewood Elementary
WHAT: Defender of the Planet Youth Award
PROGRAM: Kids Working Towards a Better Environment
WHAT IT DOES: Student leaders at South Lakewood Elementary took a holistic and comprehensive approach to thinking about sustainability by developing an outreach and education plan that covered renewable energy, water conservation and waste diversion.
The students spent time with the school's building engineer to learn about the amount of energy saved through the school's solar panels, as well as how weather affects energy use. They also learned about smart irrigation systems, water conservation and how to expand recycling to each classroom.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "This year in student council, our students have been working diligently on the School Improvement Committee. Together with Blaine Myers, our building engineer, they have been working on ways to beautify our school facility. One of their projects has been learning that South Lakewood Elementary has solar panels and how they help save both money and energy."
-- Connie Ranker, digital teacher librarian
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "The purpose is to honor the Lakewood community and encourage working together to improve our neighborhoods while preserving our natural resources both in the natural world and in our people," Ranker said.
Sustainable Southern Gables
WHAT: Community Sustainability Award
PROGRAM: Kids Leaf Composting Project
WHAT IT DOES: In 2015, building off of the success of the previous year, Sustainable Southern Gables held its second annual leaf collection composting day. This time, it expanded operations by providing volunteers who made themselves available to assist neighbors who couldn't easily rake, collect and transport the leaves themselves to the collection site.
WHY SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT: "The Sustainable Southern Gables group believes sustainability is important because our actions today set the stage for the future of our community and our world; we want our actions to help create a positive future."
-- Christy Cerrone, neighborhood leader
WHAT THE AWARD MEANS: "It is a great way to recognize the contributions of our volunteers and our partners in our leaf-composting event. We could not have done it without the work and dedication of each and every one of our volunteers," Cerrone said.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Sustaining-the-Lakewood-community,213047
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