 This is the sixth time the county's Department of Natural Resources has presented the Green Globe Awards. The biennial award was first given on Earth Day 1997. All recipients excel in leadership and activities that foster environmental stewardship by protecting the environment, managing natural resources and benefiting the community.
Nominees are participants in various programs sponsored by the County. Currently hundreds of businesses actively participate in County programs and thousands of citizens work hand-in- hand with us to protect our environmental legacy.
King County Executive Ron Sims presented the 2007 Green Globe Awards at the Mountaineers Club on April 13, 2007.
Award Winners
Environmental Catalyst
Congressman Norm Dicks
Leader in Biosolids Award
Boulder Park, Inc.
Leader in Climate Science Award
The Climate Impacts Group (CIG)
Leader in Forest and Wildlife Protection Award
Doreen Johnson
Hazardous Waste Reduction and Sustainable Business Practices Award
Haven Illustrated LLC
Leader in Industrial Waste Reduction Award
Mikron Industries, Inc.
Leader in Market Development of Recycled Materials Award
Recovery 1, Inc.
Leader in Open Space Conservation Award
Mark Sollitto
Leader in Reclaimed Water Award
GE Water & Process Technologies
Leader in Waste Prevention and Recycling Award
Sea-Dru-Nar Recycling
Leader in Resource Management Award
Murray LLC
Leader in Sustainable Schools Award
Federal Way Public Schools
Leader in Sustainable Building Award
The Cottage Company
Leader in Water Quality Protection Award
Terry Lavender
Environmental Catalyst
Congressman Norm Dicks
 Congressman Norm Dicks has earned the Environmental Catalyst Award, which is King County’s highest honor, for his extraordinary efforts to bring people of diverse interests together to solve environmental problems.
Throughout his long career in the House of Representatives, Congressman Dicks has been a strong and consistent advocate for federal environmental protection efforts and federal wildlife conservation programs. Though he has represented the Tacoma, Bremerton and Olympic Peninsula areas of Western Washington, he has a long record of support for land conservation and environmental protection efforts across the State of Washington.
In his first term in Congress, Representative Dicks was named to the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. This January, he assumed the role of Subcommittee Chairman. He supported the original Superfund legislation to clean up our nation’s most polluted lands.
Representative Dicks has made protecting Puget Sound a top priority, including restoration of its salmon runs. He helped create the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund in 2000, which has since delivered $590 million to salmon recovery efforts for Puget Sound and other Pacific waters.
Most recently, Representative Norm Dicks (external link) has worked to improve water quality and other problems that threaten the health of salmon and other marine life in Puget Sound. In 2005, he helped launch the Puget Sound Program, a new initiative within the EPA to address the health of the entire marine environment in western Washington, and elevates the regional recovery effort to national significance with a more urgent mandate for action.
He also helped launch the new Puget Sound Partnership, created by Governor Gregoire and the Legislature, to develop and implement an action plan to recover and protect Puget Sound by 2020. As Chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, he is working to assure this effort has the resources it needs. He also continues to use his leadership to keep the Endangered Species Act strong.
Leader in Biosolids Award
Boulder Park, Inc.
 Boulder Park, Inc. receives the Leader in Biosolids Recycling Award for managing the largest farmer-owned and operated, multi-farmer biosolids recycling project in the United States, with more than 100 participating farmers and 65,000 acres approved for application. Certainly, it is one of the most successful long-term, community-supported biosolids operations in the U.S.
Since 1992, Boulder Park, Inc. has provided biosolids application and haul services to King County and many other wastewater agencies throughout the state and maintained an excellent reputation with its customers and regulators. They operate a reliable year-round project by taking deliveries 24/7, 365 days a year in Douglas County.
Leader in Climate Science Award
The Climate Impacts Group (CIG)
 The Climate Impacts Group (CIG) receives the Leader in Climate Science Award for its work in the field of climate science in the public interest, working to understand the consequences of natural climate variability and human-caused global warming for the people and resources of the Pacific Northwest.
CIG’s unique focus is on the intersection of climate science and public policy – performing basic research aimed at understanding the consequences of climate fluctuations for the region, and promoting application of this information in regional decisions. Through research and interaction with regional stakeholders, the Climate Impact Group (external link) works to increase the resilience of the Pacific Northwest to fluctuations in climate.
Leader in Forest and Wildlife Protection Award
Doreen Johnson
 Doreen Johnson earned the Leader in Forest and Wildlife Protection Award for her local and regional guardianship of our forests and wildlife. For fifteen years the health of King County forests benefited from Doreen’s tireless troubleshooting of proposed timber harvests. As Washington Environmental Council’s King County representative for Timber Fish and Wildlife, Doreen reviewed all forest practice applications for the county and participated in interdisciplinary teams, requiring many hours as a volunteer in the field.
Doreen is also known for her open space and water quality contributions, notably in her own community – the Green River basin. She was instrumental in calling attention to the potential surplusing of O’Grady farmlands, leading to its subsequent acquisition and foundation of the 1,000-acre Green River Natural Area. She drew attention to the importance of protecting the Kanasket Reach of the Green River, leading to 200 acres being protected in perpetuity. Doreen was on subcommittees for both Water Resource Inventory Areas 9 and 10. She had been an early reviewer of Tacoma Public Utilities proposed Pipeline 5 project.
Leader in Hazardous Waste Reduction and Sustainable Business Practices
Haven Illustrated LLC
 Haven Illustrated LLC , a landscape design and install business, receives the Leader in Hazardous Waste Reduction and Sustainable Business Practices Award for applying the principles of environmental stewardship to the creation of private gardens and public spaces, including bus stops, city parks, P-patches, parking strips and traffic medians. Haven Illustrated is a 5-star EnviroStar business.
Jennifer Carlson, owner of Haven Illustrated (external Acrobat file), uses her own yard to illustrate the sustainable practices promoted in her business. Eye-catching demonstration beds educate passersby that drought tolerant, low maintenance plants are also beautiful and interesting. She teaches courses in chicken husbandry, organic garden design and sustainable landscape practices and interfaces with public sector programs, including Seattle Tilth, Seattle Public Utilities, City of Seattle and King County Metro.
Leader in Industrial Waste Reduction Award
Mikron Industries, Inc.
 Mikron Industries, Inc. , a leading manufacturer of vinyl and composite window and door systems, Mikron has earned the Leader in Industrial Waste Reduction Award for efforts to voluntarily implement innovative pollution prevention strategies and help other companies comply with industrial pretreatment regulations.
Located in Kent, WA, Mikron Industries (external link) has worked to prevent pollution by instituting a companywide pollution prevention training program, establishing environmental performance standards, and using an in-house software program to monitor environmental compliance. The company is participating in the Washington State Department of Ecology's Technical Resources for Engineering Efficiency Program that helps businesses reduce waste, increase efficiency and save money.
Leader in Market Development of Recycled Materials Award
Recovery 1, Inc.
 Recovery 1, Inc. , a construction and demolition waste recovery and processing facility, receives the Leader in Market Development of Recycled Materials Award for making strides in expanding existing and developing new markets for recycled construction and demolition material resources.
To create new markets for urban wood from the construction and demolition waste stream, Recovery 1 sought out and secured an arrangement to supply an Oregon mill with material to make the first 100 percent Forest Stewardship Council-certified, post-consumer recycled pulp for making paper. Recovery 1, Inc. (external link) is also working to develop a new panel board product made from urban wood, and is one of few local companies to recover carpet, developing a system to identify, segregate, bale and ship three types of carpet for recycling by carpet mills.
Leader in Open Space Conservation Award
Mark Sollitto
 Mark Sollitto received the Leader in Open Space Conservation Award. He leads King County’s Transfer of Development Rights program, which is the most successful TDR Program in the United States since its inception in the late 1990’s. With over 92,000 acres protected, King County has preserved nearly twice the acreage of any other TDR program in the country. The TDR program is a voluntary land use incentive which provides financial incentives for willing landowners to sell development rights in exchange for a permanent conservation easement.
Mark has worked collaboratively with cities, developers and private landowners to facilitate the transfer of more than 500 private development rights which total over $33 million in King County TDR certificates issued. He has also secured more than 1,090 development rights in the TDR Bank. Development rights are a major asset to King County, since the proceeds from such sales are then used to preserve additional valuable farm, forest and open space land.
Leader in Reclaimed Water Award
GE Water & Process Technologies
 GE Water & Process Technologies received the Leader in Reclaimed Water Award for providing efficient, reliable water treatment technologies that lessen demand on fresh water sources, protect public health, and preserve the environment, to hundreds of municipalities, industrial sites and commercial developments. The company offers the world's most advanced water and wastewater treatment and water reuse technologies that help to solve pressing water challenges.
GE's ultra-filtration membranes are at the core of both the Brightwater and Carnation wastewater treatment plants, and mark the beginning of a new long-term relationship with King County to produce high quality reclaimed water. For the past year, staff at King County’s South Treatment Plant have been working with a demonstration unit to become familiar with and test the new system. High quality reclaimed water from the pilot plant was used to irrigate plants in a local greenhouse – providing just a glimpse of the benefits this technology will soon bring to our region. Visit the GE Water & Process Technologies (external link) Web site for more information this innovative group and its capabilties.
Leader in Waste Prevention and Recycling Award
Sea-Dru-Nar Recycling
 Sea-Dru-Nar Recycling , a Seattle-based non-profit, received the Leader in Waste Prevention and Recycling Award. Founded in 1968 by Nan Busby as the first drug treatment facility in the Northwest, Sea-Dru-Nar provides extensive drug and alcohol treatment services, and even operates a nursery for clients entering residential treatment with their children. In 1979, Sea-Dru-Nar established a recycling business to financially support its treatment operations, and also to provide its clients with a work therapy environment, where they could learn supervisory and general job skills and responsibilities. At the heart of Sea-Dru-Nar’s mission is its commitment to helping its clients – people recovering from addictions – rebuild their lives.
Today, Sea-Dru-Nar Recycling specializes in commercial paper recycling and also provides other recycling collection, serving more than 800 business and government accounts in the greater King County area. King County government offices and operations have used Sea-Dru-Nar Recycling (external link) as their recycling contractor for many years, as have the City of Seattle, Boeing, Wright Runstad and many others.
Leader in Resource Management Award
Murray LLC
 Murray LLC received the Leader in Resource Management Award for actively managing forests, agricultural lands and aquatic resources. The Murray LLC farm has been in the family since 1900, and is now one of the oldest and largest family farms in King County. The farm has earned many awards for their work including: Tree Farmer of the year for 1994 from the King/Pierce Counties Farm Forestry Association; Cattleman of the year in 1987 from King/Pierce Counties; Goodyear Conservation Award for outstanding accomplishments in resource conservation from King Conservation District in 1977.
The farm has been part of several King Conservation District educational tours and workshops. They have worked with a number of King County programs in the past including: Agricultural Cost Share Program, Forestry Program, Agricultural Drainage Assistance Program, Neighborhood Drainage Assistance Program, and Farmland Preservation Program. The Murray family is presently working together with Natural Resource Conservation Service on various projects, and is looking forward to taking care of the land for generations to come. See the Murray LLC (external link) Web site for more information about this family farm.
Leader in Sustainable Schools Award
Federal Way Public Schools
 Federal Way Public Schools received the Leader in Sustainable Schools Award for outstanding efforts to expand conservation strategies and to engage students and staff in stewardship practices. To reduce garbage and expand recycling, Green Schools Program experts visited each of the district’s 36 schools to assess waste management practices and set up improved recycling systems in each school. The City of Federal Way partnered with King County to provide recycling containers and assistance.
Most schools held ”recycling kick-off“ events to engage students and staff in learning how recycling benefits the environment, what materials can be recycled at their schools, and how to reduce waste and recycle. Dramatic results were noticed immediately. Garbage costs were cut significantly, and energy savings in excess of $75,000 have been identified. Federal Way Public Schools also established an “Environmental Purchasing” policy for purchasing green or environmentally friendly products. For more information, visit the Federal Way Public Schools (external link) Web site.
Leader in Sustainable Building Award
The Cottage Company
 The Cottage Company received the Leader in Sustainable Building Awardfor building mid-size and smaller homes, which reduce some the most significant environmental impacts associated with home building – the extraction, processing, transportation, maintenance and waste associated with building materials. Their homes also consume much less energy than the conventional single-family home built to code.
Since 1996, The Cottage Company has developed seven award-winning clustered communities, most of which utilize innovative land-use codes they helped create. The distinctive one-, two- and three-bedroom homes range in size from 700 to 1,800 square feet, and are typically grouped around a landscaped courtyard with garages clustered to the side, allowing homeowners to live on a park, not a parking lot. The Cottage Company (external link) has been honored nationally and is seen as a national leader in “smart growth.”
Leader in Water Quality Protection Award
Terry Lavender
 Terry Lavender has earned the Leader in Water Quality Protection Award for her efforts to protect the quality and quantity of our region’s lakes, creeks and groundwater. Her involvement ranges from leading regional committees, to organizing community groups, to being the eyes and ears of her local creek.
For more than a decade, Terry has been a board member and active participant of Water Tenders, a grassroots organization dedicated to the protection of the Bear Creek basin. Terry developed the “Meet the Salmon” program for Water Tenders by organizing and training docents to educate residents about local salmon and the importance of water quality and healthy watersheds. She has been a member of the Redmond Bear Creek Groundwater Protection Committee since 2002, served on numerous task forces and steering committees and received a King County Earth Hero Award in 2001.
Green Globe Award Winners from past years:
2005 Green Globe Award Winners
2003 Green Globe Award Winners
2001 Green Globe Award Winners
1999 Green Globe Award Winners
For information on how you or your business can get involved, or on any of the Green Globe Award Winners, call 206-296-8361. |
