Governor honors facilities that put community and environment first

Washington State Department of Ecology

Department of Ecology News Release - September 18, 2002

02-173

Governor honors facilities that put community and environment first

OLYMPIA - The tenth annual Governor's Awards for Pollution Prevention & Sustainable Practices were presented at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle today.

The awards were given to businesses and a government agency that have found innovative ways to offer services and make products while reducing or eliminating hazardous and toxic waste, and to conserve vital resources such as energy and water.

Six businesses and government facilities were honored for preventing pollution and using business practices that are "sustainable" - those that support the vitality of the economy, the environment and the community. Gov. Gary Locke presented the awards along with Department of Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons.

The winners of the 2002 awards are:

Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters - Olympia, for commitment to renewable and sustainable-energy production and agriculture.
Columbia River Carbonates - Woodland, for developing an innovative system that re-uses production-process water and eliminates wastewater discharges.
Madison Carnolia Cleaners - Seattle, for reducing the use of perchloro-ethylene, a potential carcinogen, and conserving energy.
Watson Furniture Group - Poulsbo, for reducing the use of toxic substances, using recycled and reclaimed materials, and protecting water quality at its facility.
The Wenatchee World newspaper - for redesigning products and its production facility to conserve resources and energy and to reduce the use of toxic substances.
City of Seattle - for a city-wide commitment to sustainability in business practices and reducing the use of toxic substances.

In addition to these efforts, all the award winners reached out to their customers and other businesses to promote pollution prevention and sustainable practices.

Fitzsimmons noted that the companies and city had demonstrated that efficient use of resources is good for business, the environment and the community.

"These exemplary winners made comprehensive efforts to prevent pollution and support sustainability," said Fitzsimmons. "They went above and beyond simply producing goods and services in an environmentally sound manner by looking at the effect their work will have on the condition and availability of future resources."

The judges who selected the winners included past award winners, pollution-prevention experts, and representatives from labor, business and environmental groups.

The judges evaluated the entries on their innovative efforts to reduce the use of toxic materials and the amount of waste created, to increase the use of renewable and recycled materials, to reduce energy use or use renewable energy sources, to reduce water consumption, and to minimize the environmental effect of a product throughout its life cycle.

Locke applauded the winners for their hard work, saying, "Those of you receiving this award today are leaders and role models, showing us that we can use our resources more efficiently and use less-harmful substances in production systems."

Locke further showed his support for sustainable practices and the role state agencies can play in modeling them by signing an executive order on sustainability. In it he asked state agencies to establish objectives and incorporate sustainable practices into their operations.

Contact: Mariann Cook Andrews, award coordinator, 360-407-6740; Caitlin Cormier, public information manager, 360-407-6149

Governor's Award Web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/sustainability/GovAward/gov_awards.htm