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E.A.R.T.H. Awards
got an honorable mention...
Date: 6/15/2006 2:26:32 PM ( 18 y ) ... viewed 1439 times Found this on line while looking for something else:
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http://www.lightconnectiononline.com/article1.html
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11th Annual E.A.R.T.H. Awards
Recognize Environmental Efforts
by David Cohen
San Diego EarthWorks, the volunteer-based community organization that, for the past 17 years, has run the EarthFair in Balboa Park and promoted the development of a healthy, prosperous and sustainable future for the San Diego region, awarded its 11 th annual E.A.R.T.H. awards on Thursday, May 11, at its V.I.P. (‘Very Important Planet') Reception held at the City of San Diego Environmental Services ‘Green Building' in Kearney Mesa. Recognizing that people and groups who are making extraordinary efforts on behalf of the environment often go unrecognized and unappreciated beyond their small circle of associates, the awards are intended to give them the wider acknowledgement they deserve and to encourage others to follow their example. According to Carolyn Chase, the EarthWorks's CEO, who, along with husband Chris Klein and others, co-founded the organization in 1989, E.A.R.T.H. stands for Environmental Restoration and Action That Helps . “We are not pretending that this alone can save the world,” she says, “but as the name of the award implies, small things add up. These aren't glamour awards; they're more like workhorse awards!”
This year, six full awards and one honorable mention were given to “workhorses” whose efforts ranged from water conservation and innovative building design to recycling and the conservation of threatened environments and species. Presented by Councilmember Donna Frye and Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, the physical awards themselves symbolized the values that motivated their existence: Artist Ingrid Tighe's design used starfish-image-bearing, recycled-glass tiles from Oceanside GlassTile mounted with help from her woodworker husband Mark on a polished section of Manzanita root that had survived the 2003 Cedar Fire.
Two Community Awards were given. The Barona Band of Mission Indians was recognized for its comprehensive approach to water conservation and responsible resource management at its Barona Ranch Resort & Casino. A 100% reuse rate of all water includes the treatment of water with no chemical by-products, using an environmentally-friendly method of water reclamation that employs ultra-violet disinfection. Drought-tolerant plants and grasses are irrigated with a carefully-designed system of water management that allows for precise control and minimizes water waste. Throughout the resort property, the tribe places a high premium on the careful use of renewable and sustainable materials including energy-saving Solatubes in offices that eliminate the need for daytime electrical lights. The Urban Corps of San Diego is involved in a large-scale recycling project at PetCo Park . Since March 2003, after every Padres game, 35 Urban Corps youth are hired to collect recyclable containers that otherwise would be thrown in the trash, an estimated 1,350 pounds of plastic water and beer bottles. (In 2004 alone this amounted to the diversion of 149 tons of material.) Its success, which includes efforts to educate the owners of stadia and event attendees on the importance of recycling, has led to an expansion of the program throughout the County and its use as a model throughout California by other community-based organizations—and at-risk kids get valuable work experience, another shot at a high-school diploma, and important lessons in environmental sustainability.
Youth was also involved in a specifically-targeted Youth Award presented to Rancho San Diego Roots and Shoots , a San Diego branch of a global organization founded by primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall that embarked two years ago on a project designed to aid Barn Owls rendered homeless by the fires of 2003. Having read an article in a Project Wildlife newsletter about the owls' plight, the children found a design for owl boxes in an Audubon newsletter, called the author to get the template and installed forty-five of them around the county. They are keeping detailed statistics about occupancy rates, not only out of compassion for the birds but to demonstrate to property owners that pesticide use can be reduced significantly when owls move into the neighborhood. These kids are the environmental scientists (and voters) of tomorrow.
A Business Award was given to the Black Mountain Ranch 's Del Sur Ranch House, which is on track and very likely to be the first building in San Diego—and the seventh in California—to be granted platinum-level LEEDS certification (a designation by the United States Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design .) The welcome and information center for an 1800-acre planned community east of I-5 off SR-56, the Ranch House sets the tone for the wider community in ways that will multiply the positive effects of its careful use of sustainable or recycled building materials (ceiling trusses are actually reclaimed timbers from a pier in Portland), photo-voltaic energy systems (with the goal of producing as much energy as they use) and tankless water heaters, low-flow faucets and showerheads, dual-flush toilets and state-of-the-art satellite irrigation that tailors the day's watering to current climate conditions. Rapidly-renewable resources—organic materials that grow so fast they are considered more sustainable than traditional materials—include wheatboard in the cabinets, cork flooring in the kitchen, and sunflower husks in the countertops. Large flatscreen monitors will provide information about the sustainable features of the building and display the current and historical outputs of the photovoltaic system as well as other data that will add to a further mission of the site—to educate community residents and visitors about the meaning of—“green” building.
Two Individual Awards were also presented. Jim and Barbara Peugh of the Friends of Famosa Slough obtained a $400,000 Proposition 13 (Clean Water Initiative) grant for enhancement of the Slough wetlands area, which lies between Ocean Beach and Pt. Loma Blvd. Two years of careful planning (along with the obtaining of all the requisite approvals from the many agencies involved) resulted in the reclamation of over three acres of endangered land, the creation of wetlands with improved tidal circulation and an island that will become a nesting site for birds. The Peughs, also important in the Audubon Society, spearheaded the effort and that of the many volunteers who helped remove construction rubble and plant native vegation. Eric Bowlby was recognized for his tireless and effective work on behalf of San Diego's canyons. Under the aegis of the Sierra Club, he helped found Friends of the Canyon groups throughout San Diego County, playing midwife and nursemaid to their efforts to clean up San Diego's canyons, remove litter, get rid of dangerous and invasive plants and install native ones, and advocate for the preservation of the natural network of pathways and biways that San Diego's four-legged and avian species require for their survival. He is a lover of the natural world with a clear sense of the workings of the political world.
Honorably Mentioned were Leslie Goldman , the Enchanted Gardner, and Executive Chef Herman Schaefer of the Hilton San Diego Bay Resort for collaborating in the creation of a menu for the lunches at a three-day Feng Shui Conference at the Hilton in August 2005 that relied entirely on locally-grown organic or biodynamic vegetables and foods from natural foods companies. The larger goal of the project was to strengthen a relationship between the Hilton and local organic farmers.
These E.A.R.T.H. awards were drawn from a field of twenty nominees, a reminder that San Diego is home to many who devote themselves to environmental causes: seeking alternative fuels, attempting to educate and enroll business in ways to integrate their search for profits with sustainable, earth-friendly practices, cherishing San Diego's beaches and coastal areas by initiating community clean-ups. Nominations are accepted all year for the 2007 E.A.R.T.H. Awards, including self-nominations. More information about the awards and the activities of San Diego EarthWorks, now planning its September GreenBuilt Tour of homes and businesses that feature sustainable building practices, is available at their website (earthdayweb.org) or by calling (858) 272-7370.
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