Congratulations to the 2024 Leadership in Sustainability Award Winners

[Sustainable Contra Costa]

Sustainable Contra Costa will present the 16th Annual Sustainability Awards Gala on Wednesday, September 18th. Each year we honor the sustainability heroes in our community. Congratulations to this year's winners.

Amy Golan
Amy Golan is the proud owner of Planet Renu in Walnut Creek. This zero-waste refillery is a vibrant hub for sustainable living practices and eco-friendly products and also serves as a community gathering space where individuals can learn, engage, and collaborate in environmental initiatives. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phillip Cao, "Rising Star"
Phillip Cao is 18 and a recent graduate of Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, where he has been an advocate, practitioner, and educator of sustainable practices through thrifting. He completed a hands-on experiential project in the community, where he donated clothing to thrift stores, volunteered his time, and spearheaded reusable clothing collection drives, including one at Trinity Center in Walnut Creek. 

 

 

Sustainable Walnut Creek

Since its founding in 2008, Sustainable Walnut Creek has worked to foster city-wide sustainability through events, programs, and advocacy that promote environmental health. The all-volunteer group was influential in developing the community-wide Recycle Compost and Waste Ambassador program and contributed to the City’s Sustainability Action Plan, among many other achievements. Sustainable Walnut Creek has made a substantial contribution to the environmental health of our community.

 

 

 

Kristin Bowman, EBMUD

Kristin has spent the last eight years as a Water Conservation Representative at East Bay Municipal Utility District. She leads the Landscape Advisory Committee, supports the creation of water-saving demonstration gardens, always with an emphasis on community engagement, and works with many of EBMUD’s large landscape customers and HOAs, including Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, helping with the transition from lawns to gardens and assisting with irrigation upgrades.

 

 

 

 

 

Contra Costa Fruit Rescue
Contra Costa Fruit Rescue is an all-volunteer gleaning program of Forestr.org that rescues food that would otherwise go to waste. This food is mostly from homeowners as well as commercial orchards and is upcycled to local food distribution partners. They currently operate in fifteen cities within Contra Costa County and support twelve food distribution partners. 

  

Mighty Market
Mighty Market is a women- and family-owned business that, since its opening in downtown Martinez in 2020, offers locally sourced products, including pantry items, brushes, containers, skin care products, kitchen supplies, cleaning products, and much more. Their focus on reusable and sustainable alternatives helps residents replace toxic products with environmentally-friendly- and safe alternatives.

 

 

Sustainable Move Out - St. Mary's College
For the past two years, Saint Mary’s College, Republic Services, Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery, and RecycleSmart have collaborated in a partnership that:

• Places ten large donation bins near residence halls during Move-Out week for 1300 residents
• Conducts marketing and outreach through flyers, live presentations, emails, and news articles and events on SMC website
• Sorts and organizes the donation bins
• Manages a campus “Free Store”

The program has been extremely successful and shows how different stakeholders can come together to reduce waste and positively benefit the environment.