E3 Washington Showcase News Articles (Newest to Oldest)
E3 Washington Accepts the John Stanford Education Award
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- Grant from The Seattle Foundation Advances Work of E3 Washington in Puget Sound Area
- 11th Annual Chehalis Basin Student Congress
- White House Summit on Environmental Education
- E3 Washington Board Member Receives Washington State LASER Science Education Advocate Award
- TRANSIT HONORED FOR GREEN PRACTICES
- New Partnership with Earth Day Network-Engaging Students to Make A Difference.
- Washington Dairy Wins Sustainability Award
- Four Washington Schools Nominated for National Award
- E3 Washington Community Member Places 1st in the Association of American Geographers “Geography Matters” Video Competition
- Two Puget Sound Transit Systems First in Nation to Earn “Gold” Standard
E3 Washington Accepts the John Stanford Education Award 
E3 Washington has been selected to receive the John Stanford Education Award from Forterra, formerly the Cascade Land Conservancy. Mr Stanford was an influential and inspirational superintendent for the Seattle School district who died in 1998 from complications of Leukemia. Forterra offers the John Stanford Education Award to celebrate organizations that exemplify stewardship, conservation and community building. E3 Washington is excited to accept this award and join others who have accepted this highly coveted award. Past award winners include: Friends of the Cedar River Watershed Pierce Conservation District Stream Team Yakima Waters Project Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center Forterra has been a partner of E3 Washington from our early days. Their annual breakfast and awards program is being held at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center on May 17th and E3 Washington would love to have support and help celebrating this great honor and success by having people join us at our table. Space is limited. If interested in attending this event, please contact Jennetta Nye jnye@e3washington.org or call 360-943-6643 for more information.
Washington State Trade and Convention Center
E3 Washington recently received a grant from The Seattle Foundation to advance E3’s mission and goals. E3 will use this source of funds to support environmental and sustainability education throughout the Puget Sound region; and will build on this recognition to attract additional support from other donors. Founded in 1946, The Seattle Foundation is one of the nation's largest community foundations and possesses an unrivaled reputation within the community at large. The Foundation works side by side with donors as well as hundreds of King County nonprofit organizations to gain an understanding of the most effective programs and strategies. Today, The Seattle Foundation is leading a countywide philanthropic agenda—A Healthy Community—which supports a complex fabric of issues including arts and culture, basic needs, economy, education, environment, health and wellness, and neighborhoods and communities. E3 Washington is extremely pleased to receive funding support from The Seattle Foundation—and honored by the association with this premier organization. We will use the resources to impact environmental and sustainability learning in K-12 and higher education, parks, museums, nature centers, tribal agencies, and other organizations throughout the region.
11th Annual Chehalis Basin Student Congress Story submitted by Kathy Jacobson of Chehalis Basin Education Consortium/Highly Capable Program On March 29th, guided by master of ceremonies Tom Hulst, former assistant superintendent of ESD 113, and president elect of E-3 Washington, our 11th annual Congress Basin Student Congress was conducted at Centralia College in Centralia. More than 275 student delegates from throughout the Chehalis Watershed -- Montesano, Elma, McCleary, Rochester, Centralia, Chehalis, Onalaska, Tenino, Wishkah met with resource professionals to share and analyze their water quality data, participate in hands-on workshops, and to develop plans to improve the health of the watershed. In the opening event, student delegates were captivated by stories told by master storyteller, Curtis Dupuis, a Chehalis Tribal member. Masters in Environmental Studies students from Evergreen State College and Resource professionals from the City of Centralia, Washington State Departments of Ecology, The Chehalis Basin Partnership, the Chehalis River Council, the Heernett Foundation, the Pacific Education Institute, The United States Fish and Wildlife Services, and Thurston County facilitated the “State of the River” sessions as well as the hands-on workshops. The workshops included a field trip to O’Neill Natural Area, building rainsticks, bird boxes and mason bee houses; learning about salmon and salmon habitat through a salmon dissection, salmon lifecycle bracelets, benthic macroinvertebrates, Japanese Fish Printing, and others. Thanks to all of our project partners for their help in providing an exceptional learning experience for our local youth! Here are a few comments from students when asked about what they learned from the congress: I learned that we need to take care of our waters, and how everything that we do could affect the water. I learned not to litter and to pick up after my animals and to try to check the water every week. The water can be clean if we all work together. To pick up trash Our watershed is important. Nature is the most important thing is your world. Nature is a lovely treasure for everyone to enjoy, so keep it clean!
GOOD NEWS: This morning, at the first-ever White House Summit on Environmental Education, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the formation of an interagency task force on Environmental Education, to be co-led by EPA and the U.S. Departments of Education and Interior. Many in the environmental education community—including hundreds of members of the national No Child Left Inside Coalition—have previously encouraged the Administration to create such a taskforce, particularly in light of budget cuts to key federal environmental education programs in fiscal year 2013. In another positive move, Administrator Jackson also committed $5 million in EPA funds for environmental education in next year’s budget, to include money for teacher professional development, grants to schools, and funding for the National Environmental Education Foundation. Few details regarding the newly formed taskforce are immediately available, but sources at the Summit say participation is likely to be at the Deputy Secretary level, indicating the Administration is giving high priority to a coordinated and cohesive plan for increasing environmental education opportunities and expanding the role of the Department of Education in achieving that goal. Stay tuned for more details as they emerge!
E3 Washington congratulates one of its board members and teacher extraordinaire Mike Town for receiving the Washington State LASER 2011-2012 Science Education Advocate Award. This award recognizes outstanding individuals, organizations, and/or project teams who exhibit exceptional support and advocacy for science education in the state of Washington. Mike Town and the other recipients who include Senator Maria Cantwell, Kelly Edwards (Associate Professor, University of WA), Delta High School, and North Olympic Library Systems received $5,000 (provided by The Boeing Company) to the nonprofit public education entity of their choice to be used towards efforts of science education. The recipient of Mike’s award donation was the Lake Washington School District. Each awardee will be recognized at various Washington State LASER local and statewide events.
Intercity Transit recently received a top honor for its green business practices as part of the fifth annual Thurston County Chamber of Commerce Green Business Designation Program. Story submitted by Nancy Trail, Development Assistant for Intercity Transit Intercity Transit recently received a top honor for its green business practices as part of the fifth annual Thurston County Chamber of Commerce Green Business Designation Program. Intercity Transit won in the large business category, sharing the honor with O Bee Credit Union. The transit agency was recognized for meeting requirements in multiple categories including: waste reduction; transportation and commute trip reduction; water conservation; energy efficiency; pollution prevention; and buying/selling green. The award is based on efforts made prior to March 9, 2012. Intercity Transit has participated in the Green Business Designation Program every year since the program’s inception in 2007. This is the first time they have received the highest honor in their size category. More than 40 businesses received designations this year – the most in the program’s history. Top honorees are selected in small, medium, and large-business categories. The Thurston Green Business honor falls directly after Intercity Transit received the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Gold-level award for their significant efforts in support of the public transportation industry’s Sustainability Commitment. Intercity Transit, along with Sound Transit, is the first in the nation to receive this high honor. Intercity Transit has a history of practicing sustainability and places a strong emphasis on integrating sustainable practices into its organizational culture. The agency’s sustainability activities include: establishing a Sustainability Committee; implementing programs that reduce staff drive-alone commuting; expanding its recycling and conservation program; implementing anti-idling and operator training initiatives that reduce fuel use; and introducing the first hybrid, diesel-electric buses in the South Sound region. Intercity Transit was among the very first transit agencies in the nation to power its entire bus fleet with an eco-friendly biodiesel (B20) blend over a decade ago. Intercity Transit’s sustainability work relies on analysis and tracking of environmental metrics. Between 2007 and 2010, the agency’s initiatives saved 2700 metric tons of harmful CO2 emissions. In recent years, Intercity Transit’s sustainability efforts have: • Cut the agency’s total waste output by 5,480 pounds, a 4.8 percent reduction; • Cut total water us by 500,000 gallons, a 5.5 percent reduction; • Reduced Energy use per bus trip by 8 percent; • Reduced greenhouse gas emissions per bus trip by 5.4 percent; and • Increased ridership by 1.2 million boardings, a 31.9 percent increase. For more information about Intercity Transit’s sustainability efforts, visit www.intercitytransit.com or call 360-705-5842. To learn more about Thurston Chamber’s Green Business program, visit www.thurstonchamber.com. Contact: Meg Kester, 360.705.5842 www.intercitytransit.com Intercity Transit is a mid-size transit agency providing a diversity of public transportation services to the residents and commuters of Thurston County, Washington. Its mission is to provide and promote public transportation choices that support an accessible, sustainable, livable, healthy and prosperous community.
E3 Washington is excited to share a great resource for you in partnering with Earth Day Network. Earth Day Network is a global leader in promoting environmental education and green schools. Their Educators’ Network is award-winning and provides resources and support to more than 30,000 teachers who are teaching sustainability education. In honor of the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day, Earth Day Network invites you to participate in their “Know Green, Go Green” campaign. An initiative that helps kids across the country, grades K through 12, promote environmental awareness and develop a greater appreciation for nature throughout the month of April. The “Know Green, Go Green” campaign asks teachers to incorporate environmental lesson plans into their curriculum. The purpose of the campaign is twofold: to educate youth about the environment, and to mobilize them to create a more sustainable Earth. Earth Day Network has organized a variety of lessons plans for a variety of subjects that relate to the environment for grades K-12 from their Educators’ Network. In addition to lesson plans, there are a number of resources designed to help educators across the nation encourage their students to take action and protect the environment. All of the necessary program materials to run the campaign have been developed and are completely FREE to use. To become a partner of “Know Green, Go Green” or to learn more information about how you can get your organization involved, please visit www.earthday.org/knowgreen and contact Deon Jackson at jackson@earthday.org.
Story Submitted by Mark Leader Lynnwood, WA - The Werkhoven Dairy in Monroe (Wa.) has won the Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability Award in the inaugural U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards. The dairy, along with Northwest Chinook Recovery, and the Native American Tulalip Tribes, formed Qualco Energy, a nonprofit that operates an anaerobic digester near the Werkhoven Dairy. The digester utilizes cow manure and co-digests pre-consumer food waste to produce methane that fuels a generator. The electricity created goes on the local grid. This process also creates Grade A compost. Both electricity and compost sales help keep the dairy viable while preserving air and water quality and protecting salmon streams. "We commend Werkhoven Dairy for the leadership role they took in developing this unique and collaborative partnership with a focus on resource conservation and preserving the environment in a way that makes good business sense," said Erin Fitzgerald, senior VP of sustainability for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. In addition to the Werkhovens, Darigold Inc.® won the Outstanding Dairy Processing & Manufacturing Sustainability Award. The U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards recognize dairy farms, businesses and collaborative partnerships for practices that deliver outstanding economic, environmental and/or social benefit. Photo: Andy Werkhoven receives his award from Kevin Ponticelli, senior executive vice president of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. Links to pertinent organizations or resources: www.havemilk.com
Story submitted by Nathan Olson, OSPI Communications Manager Three Washington state public schools and one private school were nominated for the U.S. Department of Education’s new Green Ribbon Schools Award, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction announced. The nominations, which were sent to the Department of Education on March 22, 2012, include Camelot Elementary School (Federal Way School District), Tahoma Junior High (Tahoma School District), Secondary Academy for Success (Northshore School District) and The Overlake School (a private school in Redmond). The award recognizes public and private schools that excel in the areas of environmental impact and energy efficiency, healthy school environments, and environmental and sustainability education. “All schools went through a rigorous application and review process for this award,” said Randy Dorn, superintendent of public instruction. “I’m very proud of the teachers, staff, students, and parents in all of the buildings. Their enthusiasm, hard work and creativity demonstrate that we can provide an excellent environment for a well-rounded education with an emphasis on addressing the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.” [More …]
E3 Washington would like to extend congratulations to E3 Washington community member, Kieran O’Mahony for winning first place in The Association of American Geographers "Geography Matters" video competition, with his video "Geography Matters: Today More than Ever". The Association was looking for videos that highlighted the difference that geography has made in: one’s life, career, community, the world, etc. Entrants were told that videos submitted would be used to enlighten others on the importance that geography has in our world today. Kieran’s video stemmed from his work on the Elwha Dam Removal Project and will hopefully open the eyes of the public to sensing the connection between them and their surroundings. Kieran won $250 dollars, a complimentary New York Meeting Registration for the 2012 Annual Meeting and a free one-year AAG membership.
Sound Transit and Intercity Transit Recognized for Sustainability Leadership Story submitted by Nancy Trail, Development Assistant for Intercity Transit
Intercity Transit has a long history with sustainability, including being one of the first transit systems in the nation to fuel its entire fleet of buses with clean-burning biodiesel in 2001 and more recently, to introduce hybrid electric buses to the South Puget Sound region. The system has a reputation for its innovative partnerships, which currently focus on transit-supportive land use, congestion mitigation, and K-12 youth education. The agency has a robust recycling program, as well as an idle-reduction and driver efficiency training program, and is opening its newest park and ride lot atop a portion of a former landfill near Interstate-5. The system has seen ridership jump over 80 percent in the past decade and witnessed its highest ridership in its 31-year history in 2011. About one-fifth of all Intercity Transit employees use the bus or another transportation option to get to and from work. Sustainability at Sound Transit Sound Transit continues to advance the agency’s work by focusing its efforts on achieving its 2012 Sustainability Targets including: • Incorporating sustainability considerations into early planning processes • Integrating sustainable design criteria into major capital projects • Enhancing “best practices” for sustainable construction
Bruce Gray, (206) 398-5069 or bruce.gray@soundtransit.org Meg Kester, (360) 705-5842 or mkester@intercitytransit.com
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