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White Plains Among Earth Day Award Winners

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino recently announced the 2014 Westchester Earth Day award recipients, recognizing leaders from government, business, community and education for their outstanding contributions in protecting and preserving the environment.

The county’s annual Earth Day celebration, will be held Sunday, May 18 at Croton Point Park.

The county’s annual Earth Day celebration, will be held Sunday, May 18 at Croton Point Park.

Photo Credit: File

The awards will be presented at the county’s annual Earth Day celebration, taking place on Sunday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Croton Point Park, rain or shine.

Awards in various categories include the following:

Municipal Excellence

Rye City, Bronxville, Rye Brook, Hastings-on-Hudson and New Castle: For having the highest recycling rates in 2013. These municipalities outpaced all other communities in their total collection of curbside recyclables (which includes paper products, plastic, glass and metal containers). Rye City led the county with a 30 percent rate on curbside recycling, followed by Bronxville (29 percent), Rye Brook (28 percent), Hastings-on-Hudson (27 percent), and New Castle (27 percent).

Rye City and the City of White Plains: These municipalities produced comprehensive solid waste and recycling informational material for their residents. The City of Rye provides residents with a comprehensive recycling informational packet. The City of White Plains provides residents with a comprehensive and user-friendly recycling Web site.

Town of Cortlandt: For hosting the Northern Tier Recyclables Transfer Station since 2001, where Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton, Ossining (town and village), Yorktown, Peekskill and Cortlandt Manor bring their paper and commingled recyclables directly rather than piecemeal to the county’s Material Recovery Facility in Yonkers, saving time, money, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Community and School Based

Stefanie Simmons of Eastchester Middle School: Fifth-grader Stefanie Simmons, under the direction of her teacher Mr. Marshall, for thought provoking research into closed landfill management and investigating process improvements to benefit Westchester County.

Croton-Harmon High School Advanced Placement Environmental Science Class Students: Teacher Laurel Cardellicho and her students Douglas Mangano, Jesse Attias, Alana Matzkin, and Maggie Pozenel for their extensive research into closed landfill management, and their investigative work towards process improvements to benefit Westchester County.

Peekskill Middle School Environmental Club: Advisers Elizabeth Damiano, Scott Tabone, and the Environmental Club for examining the effect development has on the Hudson River Estuary Watershed and how these activities have altered the local water quality and ecosystems.

Hastings High School Students: Ms. Melissa Shandroff and her class for advancing and demonstrating their knowledge of five environmental topics: soils, aquatics, forestry, wildlife and current environmental issues by participating in New York State’s Envirothon, which encourages students to learn about the natural environment and to become good stewards of the land.

Business Green Initiatives

Stop & Shop Food Rescue Initiative: For implementing trailblazing food recovery initiatives in Westchester’s retail grocery industry. Stop & Shop has been a part of the Food Bank for Westchester’s food recovery program for several years and was one of the first major grocery retailers to sign on.

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture: For implementing a successful composting and educational operation, and providing locally sourced food.

White Plains Linen in partnership with Wheelabrator Westchester: For initiating a first-of-its-kind renewable energy partnership in Peekskill, enabling the county’s largest commercial laundry operation to reduce its carbon footprint by 90 percent.

Westchester Winners of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Recycling Calendar Poster Contest

DeAndre Banks, 1st Place, Cross Hill Academy, Yonkers Jeffrey Fukushima, 2nd Place, Paideia School 15, Yonkers Malcolm Cole, 3rd Place, The Clear View School, Briarcliff Manor Lavone Mott, Runner-up, Cross Hill Academy, Yonkers

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