ISTC now accepting applications for 2009 Governor’s Sustainability Awards; New category added for media outlets
The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (formerly the Waste Management and Research Center) is accepting applications for the 2009 Governor’s Sustainability Awards. Applications must submitted by May 29, 2009 for consideration.
ISTC has changed the name of the award from the Governor’s Pollution Prevention Award to the Governor’s Sustainability Award. The new name better fits the mission and goals of the agency (ISTC) and of the State. In addition, we have updated the award criteria to better coincide with the variety of sustainable activities and projects that improve our environment that applicants may have implemented.
There is also a new category for media outlets this year. If your company has either done a project to make your business operation more environmentally sustainable or your station or paper has reported on sustainability issues in your community, then please consider applying in the media category.
Any Illinois public or private organization is eligible to apply for an award. Only one application for a Governor’s Award will be accepted per facility. Each application will be judged on its own merit and not in direct competition with other applications.
To be considered for an award, projects must meet the description of sustainability and must have been implemented within the 2008 calendar year. The most widely quoted definition internationally is in the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development – that sustainability means “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The US EPA says sustainability efforts “create and maintain conditions under which [humans] and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.”
Activities that will be considered for a Governor’s Award may include, but are not limited to:
- Improved operating practices (e.g. material handling, inventory control, and waste stream segregation for resource recovery)
- Technology changes (e.g. layout changes, improved equipment, new process)
- Input material changes (e.g. material purification, substitution of less toxic materials)
- Product Changes (e.g. redesign for less environmental impact, increased product life)
- Energy conservation