ENCINITAS — The Environmental Commission is waving its green flag in search of nominees for this year’s Encinitas Environmental Award Program.
The fourth-annual contest has two award categories: one for businesses and one for individuals or nonprofits. Candidates can be self-nominated or recommended by a third party. Nominations will be accepted until Sept. 7.
The winners will be honored on Oct. 7 with environmentally themed plaques at the Surfing Madonna Beach Run at Moonlight State Beach.
Co-sponsored by the Environmental Commission and Coastal SAGE Landscape Architecture, the nomination form states, “The purpose of this award program is to highlight, recognize, and congratulate Encinitas residents, organizations, and businesses that have achieved exceptional environmental goals. By their efforts, these parties promote proper stewardship of the precious environment with which we are blessed.”
The 2017 winner in the individual/nonprofit category was Mim Michelove, co-founder of the nonprofit Healthy Day Partners. Michelove, through Healthy Day Partners, runs school garden and other wellness and environmental programs that help students make informed decisions about health — their own and the planet’s.
Rich Risner, owner of Grounded Landscape Architecture, took home the top honors in the business category in 2017. Risner’s company uses drought-tolerant plants and environmentally sensitive landscapes in the belief that “landscape architecture is the marriage between architecture and nature.”
The idea for the award program came from James Wang, now the chairman of the Environmental Commission.
Wang hopes the awards will highlight and inspire green practices as well as call attention to Encinitas as a proactive, environmentally friendly city.
Nominations can be submitted online at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYoB2kTOcIX-p4iklHtqmkZJ7j3TVncvRODfYm03riOJV_HA/viewform
