FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2009
DHEC presents inaugural Earth Day Awards
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Winners of the first S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Earth Day awards were recognized during a ceremony held in Columbia today.
“Linda VanEpps, Riverside High School, the Marine Corps Air Station at Beaufort, Lexington Medical Center and Oakview Elementary School were honored for actively embracing the spirit of Earth Day,” said Bob King, DHEC’s Deputy Commissioner for Environmental Quality Control. “By developing sustainable programs that result in energy efficiency, cost savings, pollution prevention, waste reduction and other measurable environmental improvements and protections, they have each demonstrated meaningful ways that citizens – alone or as a group – can make a positive difference for our environment.
“The response has been outstanding for the first year of the program, which demonstrates just how much South Carolina citizens, schools, and businesses care about our state’s environment and natural resources,” he said.
Linda VanEpps won the individual award category for collecting and recycling old bowling balls into attractive artwork.
“Her artistic approach to a mundane material shows how creative one can be in repurposing something that most people would just send to the landfill,” King said.
Riverside High School won the small business/entity category for implementing a successful program of collecting and recycling plastic bottles.
“They expanded their original, small-scale operation to recycle 880 pounds of plastic from bottles discarded during school sporting events,” he said.
The winner of the medium business/entity award category was the Marine Corps Air Station at Beaufort, which instituted a multi-faceted environmental and energy conservation program.
“The air station recycled more than 50,000 tons of construction and debris material in 2008, which generated revenue they used to supplement their environmental program,” King said. “They also restored a contaminated area of the air station for housing and outfitted the new buildings with energy-saving compact fluorescent lighting, and energy-efficient geothermal heating and cooling systems. In addition, they converted their existing transportation fleet to flexible-fuel and electric vehicles.”
Lexington Medical Center (LMC) won the large business/entity award category for implementing a multi-media environmental awareness program.
“In 2008, LMC recycled over a million gallons of water, recycled more than 610, 000 pounds of material, reduced their municipal waste stream by 357,969 pounds, implemented a variety of air quality initiatives, and recycled expired and unused medical supplies by donating them to animal shelters and sanctuaries,” King said. “More than two thousand employees and customers participated in LMC’s Earth Day celebration and, in partnership with the South Carolina Hospital Association, LMC hosted the first “Green Cleaning” symposium for hospitals in South Carolina.
Oakview Elementary School won the award for the most innovative program for their “Kick the Bag” project.
“The school’s Earth Savers Club developed a program to teach the benefits of using grocery bags made of recyclable fabric instead of plastic,” King said. “Students worked with local grocers so fabric bags could replace plastic ones. More than 300 families participated in the program, which saved petroleum, energy, money and landfill space.
A complete list of entrants, as well as detailed descriptions of the winning projects, can be found on DHEC’s Web site at: http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/earthday/winners.htm.
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For more information:
Stacey Gardner – (803) 898-3300
E-mail – gardnesr@dhec.sc.gov
For media inquiries:
Clair Boatwright – (803) 898-4461
E-mail – boatwrc@dhec.sc.gov
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