Several community members, businesses, schools and groups recently received recognition through the 2022 Keep Delaware County Beautiful Awards, including:
The Recycling Award, which recognizes an outstanding effort or action that contributes significantly toward the success of recycling in Delaware County, went to two different recipients – Genoa Township and local high school student, Rowan Herring.
Genoa Township held a latex paint collection event for residents and township staff. Over 200 cars brought in 23,500 pounds of latex paint for recycling.
Rowan Herring, as a junior at Hayes High School, held a residential polystyrene (Styrofoam) drop-off event last spring as part of her Eagle Scout project. The collected materials were taken to a special recycling drop-off location in Hilliard.
The Business Award recognized Del City Farm for being as environmentally friendly as possible by reusing or buying recycled and sustainable packaging products as a part of their baked goods business model. Owner Angie Lilly works to reduce her use of virgin plastic packaging and takes back glass jars, clamshell containers, boxes, packaging, and grocery bags to reuse for future orders.
The Environmental Educator Award went to Delaware Area Career Center Wildlife and Resource Management instructor Dona Rhea. As part of her job in preparing students for careers in the environmental field, Dona engages her students both in and out of the classroom. Activities include conducting experiments, earning credentials, and participating in community service activities. Such activities included preparing rain barrels for the Olentangy Festival, building squirrel boxes for the Ohio Wildlife Center, helping with the maple sap collection at Camp Lazarus, and releasing pheasants at the Wildlife Area.
The Community Stewardship Award, which recognizes individuals and groups for their effort in improving the environment of their neighborhood or community, went to two different recipients – the Village of Ashley and Ohio Wesleyan student Savannah Domenech.
The Village of Ashley received a grant from DKMM to collect old tires from village residents. The village worked with a local scrap dealer and provided dumpsters for residents to use, which resulted in 3.67 tons of tires and 7.2 tons of material in residential cleanups.
Ohio Wesleyan University sophomore Savannah Domenech started the Adopt-A-Drain program in the City of Delaware. Keeping the storm drains clean protects our waterways and prevents trash or debris to flow directly into streams and rivers. These pollutants can harm wildlife and the quality of our drinking water. So far, 38 drains have been adopted and an estimated 36 pounds of trash and leaves have been collected. Savannah manages the program and website, handles outreach, and organizes the data.
The Litter Prevention Award recognized Boy Scout Troop 428 for collecting 50 bags of litter with Powell Mayor Daniel Swartwout the day following the Powell Festival.
The Garrison-Brown Award, named after Charlotte Garrison and Janet Brown who by their own initiative formed a planning committee to beautify the village of Ashley. This award is given to recognize initiative and significant environmental contribution to the community. This year, this award recognized CJ Young a local youth who kicked off the Great American Clean Up by picking up trash and litter in the woods in his neighborhood – on more than one occasion.
Led by the Delaware Public Health District, the Keep Delaware County Beautiful coalition provides recycling and litter prevention programs and environmental education activities to the residents and businesses of Delaware County. For more information, visit DelawareHealth.org/ recycling-litter-prevention.
Source: Delaware Public Health District; Photo: Creative Commons License
