More Than 50 Organizations and Individuals Receive Outstanding Environmental Leadership Awards
October 3, 2007—Denver—Governor Bill Ritter today
recognized more than 50 companies for their outstanding
environmental achievements that help keep Colorado a popular
place for people to live and work. The annual Colorado
Environmental Leadership awards recognize environmentally
responsible businesses and organizations that are committed
to environmental stewardship and the creation of healthy,
livable communities. The Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment’s Environmental Leadership Program
was created in 1998 to encourage pollution prevention and
environmental responsibility among businesses,
municipalities and organizations throughout the state. “I
am pleased to recognize the businesses and organizations in
Colorado that have demonstrated leadership in helping to
protect Colorado’s environment,” said Gov. Ritter. “These
companies’ efforts go beyond mere compliance with the
state’s air, water and waste management regulations. The
measures they have undertaken help to reduce energy use,
conserve water and eliminate waste products - all steps that
improve Colorado’s environment for our people.” Three
companies were inducted into the Environmental Leadership
Program as Gold Members during today’s ceremony at the
Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The three are
- Boulder Community Hospital
- General Services Administration Public Buildings
Service-Denver Federal Center and
- Rocky Mountain National Park-Xanterra Parks and Resorts
The efforts of these organizations resulted in reduced
waste and fewer environmental emissions, as well as the
implementation of a variety of pollution prevention
technologies that benefit the environment. Each of the three
organizations has created environmental management systems,
identified environmental improvement goals, completed
community outreach efforts and completed an audit of their
environmental programs. These three environmental leaders
join 18 other organizations in the Environmental Leadership
Program’s gold tier. The Environmental Leadership Program
is a voluntary program that is open to all Colorado
businesses, industries, offices, educational institutions,
municipalities, government agencies, communities, nonprofit
organizations and other groups. Currently, the program
consists of three tiers: gold, silver and bronze.
Businesses, community groups, government agencies and other
organizations can be nominated for a bronze award in
recognition of one or more significant environmental
achievements or apply to the gold and silver levels of the
program. In addition to recognizing the three new Gold
Leaders, one new silver member, Saddle Rock Golf Course, was
inducted and 27 organizations received bronze-level
achievement awards at the breakfast ceremony. The
department’s Sustainability Program, in conjunction with the
Colorado Environmental Partnership, presented the first
annual Sustainability Champion Award to six individuals or
teams. This new award replaced the Pollution Prevention
Champion award and was created to recognize individuals or
teams who push beyond pollution prevention and address
environmental sustainability. The six award winners include
Elisa McKee of the 18th Judicial District; Denise Rayborn of
NREL; David Schaller of EPA Region 8; Aggregate Industries -
Reclamation Team; Denver Recycles - City and County of
Denver Team; and Vickie Massam and Loraine Torres of Smart
Growth Advocates. Several state employees were recognized
for their work to promote the goals of Gov. Ritter's
"Greening Government" Executive Orders by helping state
government be more efficient in its usage of energy and
resources. The existing Colorado Environmental Leadership
Program Gold Leaders are:
- Aeroflex Colorado Springs
- Aspen Skiing Company
- Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp.
- Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp.
- Denver International Airport
- Forever Resorts
- IBM Corp.
- Intel Corporation
- Kodak Colorado Division
- Lockheed Martin Space Systems Astronautics Operation
- Majestic Metals Inc.
- Management and Engineering Services
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Raytheon-Aurora Campus
- Raytheon Polar Services Company
- Roche Colorado Corp.
- Sanmina-Sci Corporation-Plant 432
- Vail Resorts
For contact information about any of today’s awardees
and their efforts, or for information about the
Environmental Leadership Program, please contact Lynette
Myers at 303-692-3477. --30-- |
