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Sierra Madre
Schools, Businesses and Non-profits Recognized at San Gabriel Valley
Environmental Awards
Pictures
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
By Bill Coburn
On Tuesday, May 6th,
six Sierra Madre organizations were recognized at the San Gabriel Valley
Environmental Awards, sponsored by the Los Angeles Regional Agency (LARA).
According to James Carlson, with SM Public Works Dept., the City is a member of
LARA. The membership is paid for by Athens, who provides the City’s waste
disposal services. Carlson said that AB 939, requires all Cities to divert
fifty percent of their solid fills from landfills. By virtue of its membership
in LARA, the City is able to pool/average its numbers so that if in some months
they don’t quite reach the required fifty percent, they won’t incur penalties.
Another benefit is shared funding to put on educational showcases and joint
events, as well as an opportunity for City staffers to discuss and consult about
ways to handle problems, or share success stories for possible implementation.
In the education category,
both Sierra Madre School and Sierra Madre Community Nursery School (SMCNS) were
recognized. At Sierra Madre School,
parent volunteer Susan Hoskins
and the
“Sierra Madre School’s Green Team” have contributed to source reduction,
recycling, and an enormous amount of education to our school age children in the
topic of environmental stewardship. The “Green Team” has just scheduled the
first “Waste Less” school dance, and has accomplished a Bottles & Cans recycling
program, “Cancel Catalogs for Earth Day” drive, a zero-waste auction fundraiser,
and hosted a free E-Waste collection event May 3rd and 4th.
SMCNS was recognized for its
continuing effort to create a community of environmental stewards in pre-school
children. It hosted a Los Angeles County composting workshop as well as a
“Families Helping Families Go Green” workshop. Waste Less Living specializes in
zero-waste party and composting services. Waste Less Living not only offers
compostable tableware like plates, cups and utensils made from sugar and corn
but also arranges for the pick-up and removal of the discarded waste items and
food scraps generated from various types of events. Parent volunteers who were
singled out at the awards were
Lisa Lewis & Christine
Lenches-Hinkel, Lewis for her work with composting, and Lenches-Hinkel, who is
founder of Waste Less Living.
E. Waldo Ward and Son was
recognized in the Commercial Manufacturing/Production category. Sierra Madre’s
oldest business is leading the way into the “Green” future by maintaining a
policy of environmental stewardship. They have several large recycling
containers which are designed to capture co-mingled recyclables derived from
their site. Currently they are recycling at a 75% rate. A majority of these
recycled materials are glass, plastics, and paper, which has a substantial
effect on diversion efforts.
In the Commercial /
Non-Profit category, recognition was given to three Sierra Madre
businesses/organizations: Café 322, Mailbox & Postal, and the Sierra Madre
Environmental Action Council. According to LARA’s Executive Director, Karen
Coca, who hosted the awards luncheon, “Small businesses like Café 322 in Sierra
Madre set the example for other small businesses to follow.” Café 322 pays for
a separate recycling dumpster, with pickup twice a week. The dumpster is filled
with plastic, foil, bottles, cans, paper and cardboard, and the recycler
processes the recyclables at a Materials Recovery Facility. Café 322 also
contracts for a 50-gallon barrel so that they can recycle kitchen grease. The
recycler collects the barrel every two months or so for a small fee.
Café 322 supports a
citizen-based advocacy group called Environment California with a monthly
donation of $75.00 to promote environmental protection. They buy recycled
paper, paper towels, and bathroom tissue, and they try to conserve water by
offering water to guests, which they can either accept or deny.
Mailbox & Postal
participates in the Green Earth recycling program designed to help reduce
pollution and they also developed protocols to reduce excess bubble wrap and
“peanuts” that are used in packaging. Through the vigilant efforts of owner
Armen Khourdajian, residents and businesses are encouraged to bring their
packaging materials to Mailbox and Postal for reuse.
The
Sierra Madre Environmental Action Council (SMEAC) was formed in 1971. SMEAC has
been very active in the community, educating the public on all topics concerning
environmental stewardship with a newsletter and articles in local papers. The
dedicated group of volunteers organizes clean-up days for the community’s Bailey
Canyon Park, ensuring that green waste is not disposed of in a landfill. Each
year, SMEAC organizes and conducts, on one of the trails above Bailey Canyon
Park, a nature awareness program for all third grade students in Sierra Madre.
Non-Sierra Madre organizations recognized at the luncheon included the Duarte
Unified School District, Ganesha High School, and the Rosemead School District
in the Education Category. In the Commercial / Manufacturing Production
category, Halex Corporation, Royal Cabinets, Vertis, and Pregis Corporation were
singled out. And in the Commercial / Non-Profit category, Beacon Property
Management, Cal Poly Pomona, Panda Restaurant Group, Cal Poly Pomona, Lanterman
Development Center, City of Hope, In-n-Out, and Pomona Valley Hospital received
awards.
Fittingly, the award presented to each winner was made of recycled glass.
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Armen Khourdajian of Mailbox & Postal (left) joins other winners in his
category |
Illiana Lalli of Cafe 322 joins the group |
Pat
Birdsall accepts the award for SMEAC |
Birdsall, left, Lalli, and Khourdajian |
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Winners in the Commercial / Non-Profit category |
Ditto |
The
Duarte contingent |
The
Sierra Madre contingent Dory Megaro, Illiana Lalli of Cafe 322, Albert
Metzger, Midge Morash and Pat Birdsall of SMEAC, Council Member Joe Mosca,
James Carlson of Public Works, and Armen Khourdajian of Mailbox and Postal
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Ditto |
Recycled glass award |
Armen Khourdajian of Mailbox & Postal |
Pat
Birdsall |
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