November 21, 2007

PASADENA HONORS OUTSTANDING RECYCLERS

Outstanding Recycler Award winners in Pasadena for 2007 are Caltech, Vons, Kaiser Permanente, Kidspace Museum, St. Philip the Apostle School and Pasadena Police Cpl. Alejandro Peinado.

Awards are presented by Pasadena Public Works Department each fall to promote excellence in local environmental and recycling programs.

Winners were honored at the Nov. 19 Pasadena City Council meeting as a kick-off of Environmental Awareness Month.

Caltech won in the category of Sustainable Development Practices, exemplifying sustainable living in many new or improved areas including cogeneration programs that now provide 75 percent of the campus’s own energy; purchasing green power for graduate dormitories; and reorganizing the campus to integrate practices such as recycling, preserving natural resources, energy efficiency and water conservation.
St. Philip the Apostle School won in the category of Education Outreach that Inspires Environmental Stewardship for implementing an impressive recycling program by placing recycling containers throughout the school for use by students. The students’ efforts will help bring future generations into the workforce with knowledge and habits of recycling and resource conservation.

Kidspace Children’s Museum, winning in the category of Creative Use of Common Objects, has made a commitment to sustainable programming, cultivating a healthy environment for children and instilling ecological stewardship. Through innovative, playful projects, children discover a natural world where they learn about alternative energy sources, water conservation, composting and the importance of conserving natural habitats.

In the category of Voluntary Development of a Source Reduction Program, awards went to a nonprofit group, an organization and an individual.

Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit group, implemented an electronic waste recycling pilot program during Earth Day 2007. Employees donated more than 5,800 pounds of computers, printers, monitors and other electronics to Goodwill Industries, which repairs and sells the usable electronics and recycles the rest.

Vons, A Safeway Company, won as an organization for leading by example through its track record of ongoing recycling programs such as composting, cardboard recycling, and pallet and crate reuse and recycling. More than 90 percent of the grocery store chain’s waste is diverted from landfills. For example, floral, bakery, deli and dairy section waste is collected from 500 stores and composted to make a high grade natural product used on crops, gardens, parks and playing fields.

Police Cpl. Alejandro Peinado demonstrates how individuals can find opportunities within their immediate environment to practice the principles of source reduction. He partners with San Diego Police Department to distribute used and outsized uniforms to under-funded police departments in Mexico.