2008 eco-Excellence Award Winners

To reach any of the people shown below, please contact Shelley Dunn via dunn@ecomaine.org or 207-773-1738.

View winners by town:
Baldwin   •   Bridgton   •   Cape Elizabeth   •   Cornish   •   Cumberland
Falmouth   •   Freeport   •   Gorham   •   Gray   •   Harrison   •   Hiram   •   Hollis
Limerick   •   Lyman   •   Monmouth   •   Naples   •    North Yarmouth   •   Ogunquit
Portland   •    Pownal   •   Saco   •   Scarborough   •    South Portland   •   Standish
Waterboro   •   Yarmouth

Town of: Baldwin
Presented to: Paul Cote

Each week he collects all his plastic, paper & cardboard and takes it to the transfer station, and when told he could no longer recycle plastic, he called to ask why and for information as to where he could take it. He now takes it to a neighboring town. He continues to voice his objection to limiting materials to the transfer station. Though it would have been easy to give up, he did not. He also encourages his town to recycle all materials.

In addition, he is a master at creative re-use of materials: teapots become planters, baby food jars become a workshop storage rack, and a wooden barrel becomes a cistern with a pump for watering plants in summer.

Town of: Bridgton
Presented to: Mahlon Johnson

Passionate about his beliefs and a man of principles, he continues his pursuit of having all towns implement the single sort program. He became the ambassador and educator for single sort recycling in his town; he has worked with town officials and citizens to explain the benefits, including reduced volume of municipal solid waste and a net financial savings.

He is studious, judicious, and inextricable to the belief that all citizens are responsible for their solid waste reduction and for increasing their own recycling. He takes on the role of volunteer with youthful, passionate vigor and sets the standard for others to meet.

Town of: Cape Elizabeth
Presented to: Jeff Van Fleet

He was an active member of the C.E. Recycling Committee from 2000-2006, raising awareness of the benefits of recycling; he undoubtedly contributed to raising the town’s recycling rate. His actions included:

• Calculating and publicizing the incremental cost of sending refuse to the incinerator rather than recycling it.
• Developing and posting a very visible “percent recycled” sign.
• Developing “Recycling A to Z” pages for the town Web site, including information on household hazardous waste disposal.
• Wrote articles for the local newspaper.

Town of: Cornish
Diane Harrington

She was instrumental in moving the town to single sort and was a driving force to have collection containers retro-fitted for that purpose. She monitors the location of containers to ensure they are not overflowing. She kept the single sort program alive.

Town of: Cumberland
Presented to: Michelle Dubey

She is a technology coordinator at a middle school and is a member of the school recycling committee. When she discovered that cardboard from the cafeteria was not being recycled, she decided to collect it herself; three times a week she loads her pick-up truck and delivers it to the transfer station. As technical coordinator, she collected all old CDs for five years until a place to recycle them could be found; the number of CDs were in the thousands. When she noticed that students dumped perfectly good school supplies from their lockers in June, she created a system for collecting them. The items are donated to an organization that assists children who live near the Guatemala City Dump.

Town of: Falmouth
Presented to: Falmouth Recycling Committee

The Town recycling committee members have been persistent in advocating for curbside recycling, beginning in 1990; when single sort made it more viable, the group lobbied their town council and the public works department. They researched data from around the country, worked with the Town budget analyst, and interviewed the South Portland Public Works Director for more information. In August 2007 they succeeded in getting approval, but continued to closely monitor council meetings for any signs of reversal. They overcame councilor’s doubts about cost and the new single sort process and were finally victorious through compromise. Recycling is now collected once every two weeks (rather than weekly) and the program has raised the recycling rate from 35% to 55% - the highest rate among all ecomaine towns.

The committee also worked with teachers at three schools to formalize a recycling program.

Town of: Freeport
Presented to: Russell Dupree

He is a retired, long-term employee of the school system where he was an avid recycler. Whenever possible, he inspected trash receptacles for any sign of recyclable materials and would remove paper and cardboard for recycling. He spent many summer hours processing discontinued books for proper disposal. He now regularly visits the Town recycling center, encouraging people to recycle and promoting the swap area. He adds his previously-read books to the swap area and exchanges them for books he has not read. His example as a recycler has been an inspiration for others to be conscientious and involved citizens.

Town of: Gorham
Presented to: Chris Crawford

She is a school librarian who shares her passion for the environment with her students. She has been an avid promoter of recycling in the community and at the school for many years. For at least three years, she has recycled school “techno garbage” and has collected: laser cartridges, ink jet cartridges, laptops, digital cameras, cell phones, ipods, DVDs, video games, videos, and gaming systems. Collection boxes for these materials have been made available to the public, as well.

Town of: Gray
Presented to: Joe DiBattista

He is responsible for recycling where he works. The business had been recycling cardboard when he arrived three years ago, but he has convinced the owners to include other materials: office paper, metal cans, plastic containers, and plastic bags and wraps. He has marked containers for each material and placed them in convenient areas. He and his employer (Gobeil’s Furniture) have also created a program that gives old furniture to families in need, through various non-profit organizations. The old furniture used to be thrown out as bulky waste.

Town of: Harrison
Presented to: Kim Thorpe (unable to attend)

She is an avid recycler dedicated to the environment. She assists with the “second chance” store in keeping it organized and clean and involves her whole family.

Town of: Hiram
Presented to: Jobs for Maine Graduates

Sacopee Valley High School
A high school teacher and his class have placed recycling bins at the municipal offices of three towns. The class returns weekly to collect the material, including shredded paper.

Town of: Hollis
Presented to: Leonard Van Gaasbeek

He has been nominated for his outstanding dedication and perseverance to his community. His efforts to provide recycling information and support to town officials has been unmatched by any other resident.

Town of: Limerick
Presented to: Adele Floyd

She is a librarian at an elementary school and over the past three years has had a recycling program for the school. She personally brings the OCC (old corrugated cardboard) and paper to the transfer station on the weekend. This has dramatically increased the recycling.

Town of: Lyman
Presented to: Nancy St. Clair (unable to attend)

She is a very conservative and conscientious recycler who has her husband deliver a truckload of recyclables to silver bullet each week.

Town of: Monmouth
Presented to: Herb Whittier

He is a Town employee and was responsible for installing a single-stream recycling system at the transfer station. In the first four months the system collected 106 tons of recyclables and saved the Town more than $2,800 in just the first three months. Projected annual savings are $11,000.

He visited the middle and elementary schools to teach the importance of recycling; he recognizes that he can reach the parents through their children. He writes a regular article for the local weekly newspaper that promotes recycling, keeps residents informed, and encourages donations to the volunteer-run thrift shop. Money collected from the shop is used to support scholarships and various non-profit organizations. His initiatives have proven to be very effective in saving the town money and in reducing the waste stream.

Town of: Naples
Presented to: Living Skills Class
Lake Region High School

This high school class of six students collects recycling from throughout the school at least once per week. The group also works to educate their peers about recycling. They are active and committed.

Town of: North Yarmouth
Presented to: Pay-To-Throw Committee

This committee reviewed existing waste disposal programs, and then developed a Pay-to-Throw system for the Town, and a curbside recycling program. Their complete dedication to improving the existing situation has produced real change in the face of the public’s skepticism. Based on their findings, however, these changes will save taxpayers money and increase recycling, too.

Town of: Ogunquit
Gorges Grant Hotel

This business has been a community leader in recycling and environmental preservation over the years. It continually searches for ways to improve in these areas, which has resulted in awards and certifications (Maine DEP, 2007). It was recognized by the Ogunquit Recycling Committee, Town of Ogunquit and the town transfer station as an “outstanding recycling business” in 2004. They participate in Conservation Commission meetings and, also, speak to other businesses about attaining similar goals.

Town of: Portland (Tie)
Presented to: Joan Bullock and Rob Lindsay

Joan Bullock is the founder, organizer and administrator of “Tenants Go Green” at an elderly housing complex where she resides. Tenants expressed a desire to recycle their paper and cardboard, but did not qualify for residential curbside pick-up. As a member of Portland Time Bank, she contracted for weekly recycling pick-up in exchange for Time Dollars (not cash); tenants earned their Time Dollars by cooking for Time Bank events. The Portland Time Bank organization was so impressed, it is now hoping to replicate her idea as a micro-enterprise both in Maine and nationwide.

Rob Lindsay is a middle school teacher who established a worm bin for composting as part of his curriculum for 6th and 7th grade students. In this, its second year, he and his fellow teachers have combined their students to write a guide for worm bin composting. The book is currently being printed. He also leads a student group called the Green Team. They research steps the school could take to reduce electricity consumption and conserve resources. They traveled to an elementary school and to USM for ideas and, then, purchased CFL lights to replace the school’s incandescent lights. Many more ideas have been generated that range from a marketing campaign to educate staff to raising money for solar panels. They have also worked in small groups to create presentations for the rest of their school community.

Town of: Pownal
Presented to: Solid Waste Reduction & Recycling Committee and Shawn Bennett

This group of dedicated volunteers has made a positive impact on the community, along with Road Commissioner Shawn Bennett who has benefited the Town’s environmental goals by working closely with the Solid Waste Reduction & Recycling Committee on the following actions:

• Research/development of a pay-per-bag ordinance
• Reduced hauling fees by use of signage, compaction and full-load hauls
• Researching the town’s monetary obligation to another town’s landfill
• Working with the elementary school to increase recycling and obtaining a silver bullet for it
• Looking for grant opportunities for backyard composters
• Discovering double-entry billings from the Town’s hauler over years and obtaining a refund
• Installing programmable thermostats at Town Hall
• Increases awareness through articles, web pages, signage, publicity, and participation in special events
• Monitored and scheduled pick-ups for single-sort roll-offs, and handled compaction; reduced the number of hauls by 50%
• Schedules drop-offs and pick-ups of roll-offs at events and organizes curbside pick-up of used metals
• Provides continual roadside clean-up of randomly dumped waste
• Created a storage pad to collect materials that can be re-processed and used to build roads; in 2007 he recycled 500 yards of crushed aggregate and mixed it with gravel to resurface gravel roads; in fall he recycled 1,000 yards of ditching and shoulder material from the Maine DOT for future use in town projects
• Purchased and installed spreaders that reduced the amount of road salt from 900 tons to 600 tons per year
• Shares equipment and resources with other communities to reduce our impact on the environment

Town of: Saco
Presented to: Eric Cote, Chris Jacques, and Mark Johnston

These city officials have shown great environmental leadership and commitment with two major energy-reduction projects:

• Electric car purchase – The vehicle runs only on electricity and is charged by plugging into a normal outlet; the cost is about two cents per mile. Traveling at a top speed of 25 MPH, the car will be used for routine city services (e.g.: code enforcement) in place of gasoline cars that produce harmful emissions and noise. The City will save an immense amount of money on both fuel and maintenance. In addition, the City’s purchase makes a statement and commitment about changing our lifestyles and taking responsibility for global climate change.
• Windmill power generation – One residential-sized windmill was installed a year ago at the City’s treatment plant and plans are underway to install a mid-sized wind turbine at the future Transportation Center. The mid-size wind turbine will be 100 feet tall with a 50-foot rotor blade that can generate 50 kilowatts. It is expected to have a 30-year life-span and a pay-back period of just 10 years. Geothermal heating and cooling are in the works for the Chamber building and all materials will be from Maine.

Town of: South Portland
Presented to: Jane Martin

She is an elementary school Ed Tech who is committed to recycling. She has placed a recycle bin in every classroom and enlisted third grade students to take turns emptying them into the large collection barrels. She has also worked to convince the janitorial and kitchen staff to recycle more materials, even though it takes more time. She has also established recycle bins at her church and collects returnable bottles from trash to help finance a high school robotics club. At home, her trash fills only a small grocery bag. Her principal calls her the Queen of Recycling.

Town of: Standish
Presented to: Virginia Day

For the last five years, she has involved all teachers and students in three elementary schools in recycling. All K-3 students attend assemblies with speakers from the Town’s Recycling Committee and outside professionals. She has included master composters and began a compost piles for the third grade students, which subsequent classes used for gardens at the schools. She also has Trash to Treasure craft projects and aluminum collections, and helps with the Standish Recycles calendar.

Town of: Waterboro
Presented to: David Woodsome

He has been nominated for his ongoing education work via local cable access and on-site demonstrations. He has also re-organized the transfer station to make recycling more accessible and easier to understand. He is a teacher and joined the Town recycling committee in 2003 in the hopes of saving the town money by increasing recycling. He has served as committee chair twice and persevered through the rage of the institution of and, then, rejection of the pay-per-bag program. He created forums, did local access TV programs demonstrating single-sort, and stood by the silver bullets to answer questions from and educate citizens. When he began his involvement the town’s recycling rate was 6% and it has now risen to 19.9%; the adjusted recycling rate has moved from 21.8% (1999) to 65% (2007) greatly through his efforts.

Town of: Yarmouth
Presented to: Mary Jo Moore

She is a 4th grade teacher who, two years ago, worked with a Town staff member to arrange an assembly for all 4th grade students. This year she persuaded all the 4th grade classes to participate in the SPO calendar contest. She also had students create a display about recycling and created a student project that recycles milk cartons. Currently, students are recycling 20 pounds of milk cartons per week; they measure and graph their progress as part of the project. She has also begun recycling other items in her classroom.

To reach any of the people shown below, please contact Shelley Dunn via dunn@ecomaine.org or 207-773-1738.