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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 15, 2012 Contact: Michelle Ruiz: michelle@sustainableseattle. WINNERS OF THE SUSTAINABLE SEATTLE'S 2012 SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP AWARDS Sold out Crowd Gathers to Celebrate Accomplishments of the Local Environmental Community During Annual Fundraiser SEATTLE, WA-- Sustainable Seattle announced the winners to the Sustainability Leadership Awards, Thursday evening November 15, at their annual fundraiser dinner. Eight community nominated businesses and organizations and one individual was recognized for their leadership, innovation and commitments to sustainability. "It's an honor to be Mayor to people like you," said Mayor Mike McGinn to the sold out crowd at Daybreak Star in Discovery Park. Mayor McGinn attended the event and praised those who are changing business not only for the environment but also the economy. Attendees included Councilmember Mike O'Brien, Keynote Chris Rogers, co-founder and CEO of Point32, and founders and members of the thirty-eight local businesses, organizations and individuals that were nominated.
Two winners were announced in the categories of Change Agent, Vitalizing Local Sustainable Economies, Stewards of Healthy Ecologies, Human and Livable Urban Communities; one for larger and smaller entities. And one winner was announced as Sustainable Hero. The winners are as follows:
Change Agent GridMobility BEST (Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking) Alliance 3TIER Fresh Bucks
Stewards of Healthy Ecologies and Humans Cascade Harvest Coalition/Farm-to-Table Trade
Livable Urban Communities 2030 District Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Diana Vergis Vinh, the founding spirit behind launching of community kitchens in Seattle. Award categories were defined as follows: Change Agent: During the past year, helped change the conversation among businesses and/or communities about a sustainable future, through direct actions, leadership, or encouragement of others. Can include work in any field including (but not limited to): community, social equity, environmental justice, natural environment, built environment, economic, education, environmental health, or spiritual. Vitalizing Local Sustainable Economies: During the past year, helped forge the path towards a sustainable local economy, through direct actions, leadership, or through encouragement of others. Stewards of Healthy Ecologies and Humans: During the past year, helped restore or preserve the health of the natural environment and/or of human health (environmental health), through direct actions, leadership, or through encouragement of others. Livable Urban Communities: During the past year, helped create a healthier urban built environment, transportation innovation, or positive community resource through direct actions, leadership, or through encouragement of others. Sustainable Hero: During the past year, made impressive progress for sustainability, through direct actions, leadership, or through encouragement of others. Can be in any field or sector.
Sustainable Seattle initiated the annual awards celebration in 2001, formerly known as the Sustainable Community Outstanding Leadership and Innovation Awards, to recognize those making the Puget Sound a more sustainable and livable place. For more information on this event visit http://bit.ly/QojYfV or contact Michelle Ruiz at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ### About Sustainable Seattle Sustainable Seattle provides inspiration and education to the city's neighborhoods and local businesses, accelerating adoption of sustainable practices. We have a 20 year history of bringing groundbreaking ideas and methodology to the sustainability movement. Today there is as great a need as ever to revitalize our environment, build community, and be an advocate for fair distribution of resources. Our goals are collaboration, stewardship, and social justice. For more visit sustainableseattle.org. *******************************************************************************
************************************************************************************* FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Sustainable Seattle Announces 2011 Annual Award Winners Seattle is a hotbed of sustainable innovation and leadership
Seattle, WA – Sustainable Seattle announced the winners of their Sustainable Community Outstanding Leadership and Innovation Awards at their annual dinner last night. Local individuals, businesses, organizations, and public agencies were nominated in one of four categories: Personal Environment, Built Environment, Social Environment, and Natural Environment. Each category has two winners: one nominee recognized for their leadership in sustainability and one nominee recognized for their innovation in sustainability. This year, a new category was added this year in honor of the Happiness Initiative, the Happiness Award. All of our nominees are listed on our website, sustainableseattle.org and are highlighted in the attached PowerPoint. The winners were selected by a panel of 12 independent judges who have significant experience and involvement in the sustainability movement and the local community. The 2011 winners are: Social Environment Leader in Sustainability: Community Kitchens NW Innovator in Sustainability: West Seattle Tool Library Personal Environment Leader in Sustainability: Pomegranate Center Innovator in Sustainability: Sarah Elwood Built Environment Leader in Sustainability: Charlie Cunniff Innovator in Sustainability: Green Plate Special Natural Environment Leader in Sustainability: Stewardship Partners Innovator in Sustainability: Reed Painting Happiness Award: Cathy Tuttle Founded in 1991, Sustainable Seattle is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in the Central Puget Sound, nationally, and internationally. Sustainable Seattle creates cutting edge programs, processes, and leadership that propel people and communities forward in reaching sustainability. Sustainable Seattle’s “flavor” of sustainability comes directly from the people of the Central Puget Sound. To learn more about Sustainable Seattle, please visit www.sustainableseattle.org. ### *******************************************************************************
FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 10/25/11 CONTACT: Amy Waterman 206-719-0534
SUSTAINABLE RAIN PROGRAM OFFERS TRAINING AND FUNDING THROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD WORKSHOPS ON RAIN GARDENS
Seattle, WA- Sustainable Seattle is celebrating the installation of five new rain gardens through its Sustainable Rain program. This important milestone means they now have demonstration gardens at businesses and organizations in the Central District, White Center, West Seattle, and two different locations in Beacon Hill.
The next step is holding workshops in each of the neighborhoods to spread the word about the project in the neighborhood and how residents can install their own rain garden. They will be announcing a rain garden "scholarship" to help fund more rain gardens in these neighborhoods. Workshops will be hosted by Sustainable Seattle and some of their partners and colleagues will give presentations, including Stewardship Partners, Sustainable West Seattle, and local rain garden expert and Central District resident, Paul Crane. Topics will include storm water pollution and Puget Sound, training on how to build your own rain garden, pictures and stories from the Sustainable Rain project, as well as information on the rain garden "scholarships." The workshops are being held either near or at the locations where the Sustainable Rain gardens were installed this summer. The workshop dates and times are:
? West Seattle: November 9th at C &P Coffee Company from 6:30-8:30 PM 5612 California Avenue SW 98136 ? Beacon Hill: November 12th at El Centro de la Raza, from 10:00-Noon 2524 16th Avenue S 98144 ? Central District: November 14th at 2100 Building from 6:30-8:30 PM 2100 24th Avenue S ? White Center: November 16th at Big Al Brewery from 6:30-8:30 PM 9832 14th Avenue SW 98106
Please visit brownpapertickets.com to register for one or all of the workshops. Rain gardens are attractive landscape features that remove pollutants from storm water runoff before it reaches Puget Sound. These shallow depressions are designed to absorb and treat rainwater from paved surfaces such as roofs, parking areas, and sidewalks. A rain garden has rich soil and usually native plants adapted to changing water levels. The soil and plants remove pollutants slow down the runoff, thus reducing flooding and overflow in the sewer system.
"We designed our rain gardens to be more than this," explained Amy Waterman, project lead of the Sustainable Rain program. "They will be a demonstration, an inspiration for businesses and community members to take the next steps in sustainability." The following organizations or businesses participated in the project:
? Big Al Brewery in White Center ? El Centro de la Raza, Latino cultural center in Beacon Hill ? Helen B. Ratcliff, a Department of Correction's woman's transitional facility, also in Beacon Hill ? Green Plate Special, a hands-on cooking and gardening education site for middle school kids in the Central District, and ? Alexandria Melchior's residence/commercial property in West Seattle.
Creatives4Community trained youth at their Yesler Community Center site to recruit businesses and organizations to participate in this project, as part of their "green" job training. Each organization owner that hosted a rain garden also participated in sustainability assessments where Sustainable Seattle staff reviewed their practices and recommended other sustainable ideas, including ideas on employee well-being and community engagement.
Reaching out to the community through these educational workshops and funding of additional rain gardens is another "next step" for these neighborhoods. More information about the project can be found at http://bit.ly/ssrain. The Russell Family Foundation funds Sustainable Rain and our partners are Homegrown Organics, Alleycat Acres, Stewardship Partners, Rain Dog Designs, and Ground Up/Creatives4Community. Founded in 1991, Sustainable Seattle is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in the Central Puget Sound, nationally, and internationally. Sustainable Seattle creates cutting edge programs, processes, and leadership that propel people and communities forward in reaching sustainability. Sustainable Seattle's "flavor" of sustainability comes directly from the people of the Central Puget Sound. To learn more about Sustainable Seattle, please visit www.sustainableseattle.org. ###
******************************************************************************* FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 10/20/11 CONTACT: Terri Butler 206-622-3522 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
WORLD-RENOWNED AUTHORS TO SPEAK:
"THE END OF AN ECONOMY BASED ON CONSUMPTION" Seattle, WA -- Paul Gilding, author of "The Great Disruption" and local Seattle author John de Graaf, author of "Affluenza" and "What's the Economy For, Anyway?" will speak on how our current economic policies threaten both social and environmental collapse in a timely talk on November 12, 2011. The event is scheduled from 7:00-9:30 in Kane Hall Room 210 at the University of Washington, Seattle campus.
"It's time to stop worrying about climate change," says Paul Gilding. "We need instead to brace for impact because global crisis is no longer avoidable." Gilding will also discuss how he believes old industries will collapse, and, in the aftermath of what he calls "The Great Disruption," how the term "growth" will come to mean happiness and quality of life, rather than the our current measurement of gross domestic product. Gilding is the former International Director for Greenpeace and a long-time noted advocate for sustainability. Local author John de Graaf will be joining Gilding for this event. de Graff believes that it's time to stop chasing economic growth as our highest goal and concentrate instead on the pursuit of happiness. He will outline an economic model based on "the greatest good for the greatest number over the longest run," and call for an emphasis on quality of life, social justice and ecological sustainability. de Graff will also speak about his work with the local non-profit Sustainable Seattle's Happiness Initiative project, a national project originating in Seattle which has drawn interest from more than 25 American cities and over 100 colleges and universities, with those numbers growing every day. It is a comprehensive assessment of well being and engages and inspires people, organizations, and policy makers into action. The idea originated in Bhutan where they called on the world to consider gross national happiness as a measurement of success, rather than gross domestic product.
Founded in 1991, Sustainable Seattle is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in the Central Puget Sound, nationally, and internationally. Sustainable Seattle creates cutting edge programs, processes, and leadership that propel people and communities forward in reaching sustainability. Sustainable Seattle's "flavor" of sustainability comes directly from the people of the Central Puget Sound. To learn more about Sustainable Seattle, please visit www.sustainableseattle.org. ### |
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