|
2003 Environmental Initiative
Awards Finalists
Environmental
Education
Environmental Management
Excellence -Public Sector
Environmental Management
Excellence – Private Sector
Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
Land Use
Environmental Education
Model Schools in Urban Environmental Education are teams
of teachers (4 or more) in 5th – 8th grade classes
throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul who partner over
two years plus with Eco Education. We work with between
700-1,000 students each year. Students are often involved
for consecutive years, receiving consistent environmental
education that builds a progression of knowledge and
skills for meaningful and long-lasting impact. The Model
School approach allows for the development of a support
network of peers within the school, and allows the Eco
Education staff to become an extension of their teaching
team, supporting their work
on multiple levels.
Increased student awareness
and knowledge of the environmental issues in their neighborhood
- Introduction and development
of environmental problem solving skills in young
people
- Expanded capacity of students
and teachers to access community resources and develop
partnerships
- Support for teachers in using
experiential methodologies to provide guiding
opportunities for students
to practice environmentally responsible decision-making
and behavior to benefit the local community
Beginning September 2002, District 196 began a pilot project
lead by Dakota County and Minnesota Waste Wise (MWW) to
compost the entire district’s organic solid waste.
This district-wide project will be the first of it’s
kind nationally. MWW, Dakota County and the School
District set up the internal infrastructure to help
with source separating the school waste so that it can
be sent to a local composting facility instead. By sending
the waste to the NRGPS composting facility, the district
is not only saving on disposal costs, it is creating
a reusable resource (compost) instead of incinerating
the solid waste.
In order to make this project successful, the schools
set up different sets of collection bins in the lunchrooms
to help separate the compostable waste from the non-compostables.
To source separate the waste, the students were educated
to place their trash into the appropriate bin as they
exited the lunchroom. Volunteer monitors and colorful
signs aided in the separation process and to help students
learn how to divide up their waste properly.
The compostable waste is delivered to the NRGPS composting
facility. Once there, the waste will be hand sorted
by their employees, to remove any remaining noncompostables,
and then the compostable trash will be converted into
rich, organic soil. This soil is high-grade and can
be used as a soil amendment for city landscaping projects.
On April 27, 2002, the first Living Green Expo featured
information, ideas, technologies, products, services
and motivation to help Minnesotans reduce the environmental
impact of their day-to-day lives. Over 5,000 eager attendees
interacted with over 159 exhibitors and all but a few
of the 35 workshops were overflowing with participants.
The even exceeded the expectations of nearly all exhibitors
and attendees, as well as the sponsors.
The 2002 Living Green Expo was sponsored and organized
by a coalition of governmental agencies, non-profits
organizations, environmental professional associations
and small businesses. The even features exhibitors and
workshops in the areas of transportation, energy, home/building,
food, yard and garden, and other household products
and operations. Exhibitors included large and small
product – or service-oriented businesses, non
profit organizations raising awareness about specific
issues and encouraging alternatives, government organizations
providing information and services. Workshops emphasized
a “how-to” aspect of reducing the environmental
impact of a specific day-to-day activity or decision.
Environmental Management Excellence
– Public Sector
Since 1993, Pelican River Watershed District has been
a leader in identifying and remedying water quality problems
in the city of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Using Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency grant funds, the district analyzed
water quality impairments in the lakes and streams of
its watershed and then developed numerous partnerships
to implement self-sustaining solutions. These included
partnering with the City of Detroit Lakes Wastewater Treatment
Plant and the Detroit Lakes School District for water
quality analysis; establishing a stormwater utility district
to pay for infrastructure to reduce runoff from the city
to the lakes, and a community-based phosphorus reduction
campaign. The Pelican River Watershed District’s
approach – good science, cost-effective solutions
and partnerships at every step of the process –is
a model to other communities in Minnesota.
The Grand Rapids Public Utilities Commission (GRPUC) has
designed and implemented a program to assist small businesses
in Grand Rapids with environmental compliance and waste
management. The program, named “Grand Rapids Environmental
Outreach Program” (GREOP), is offered free to businesses
in the city of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Program participation
is voluntary and confidential. Participating businesses
are assessed by GREOP staff. The goal is to identify
ways to improve waste management practices. Consideration
is given to storage, reuse, recycling, material substitution
and process change. The assessments have helped establish
a hazardous material/waste profile within the city.
GREOP is currently working with 135 companies.
> In addition, GREOP provides environmental educational
resources and has created an information clearinghouse
of relevant pollution prevention information. GREOP
also provides technical assistance to business and residents
through workshops, newspaper articles, bill inserts,
and a Waste Disposal and Recycling Guide.
GREOP is providing tools to help businesses recognize
economic savings while at the same time supporting environmental
improvement in the community. An extensive database is
being used to track the metrics of the program, help measure
success, and help program continuity. The PUC has partnered
with several agencies/organizations to achieve the goals
of the program.
Ramsey county has been a leader in pushing the envelope
to find new and innovative ways to reduce, re-use and
recycle. The recent deconstruction of a 1940’s era
ammunitions building is the latest success story for the
County. Building #576 was a 600,000+ gross square foot
structure located on a portion of the Twin Cities Army
Ammunitions Plant, in Arden Hills. The building needed
to be removed in order to build the County’s new
Public Works facility. Bid specifications allowed contractors
to propose standard building demolition (knock down, haul
to landfill) or deconstruction of the building with a
goal of recycling or reusing 80% of the building. Veit
Companies provided a deconstruction bid of $183,109. By
comparison, the high bid for standard demolition with
some recycling was $737,630. Veit Companies, working
closely with the County, partnered with several local
and out state firms to achieve the deconstruction goals.
In fact, this project re-used or recycled 87% of the
building materials, leaving only 13% to be removed to
the landfill. End markets have been identified for ALL
the re-used/recycled building materials.
Environmental Management Excellence
– Private Sector
Engineers are trained and disciplined to be conservative.
It is unusual to find an engineering firm that is innovative,
environmentally conscious and at the same time willing
to take risks. North American Wetland Engineering, P.A.
(NAWE) is such a firm. Formed in 1997, NAWE set out to
develop and perfect cold climate wastewater systems that
are friendlier to the environment and result in low operation
costs. Constructed wetlands fit this goal. NAWE constructed
the first subsurface flow horizontal wetland and the first
vertical flow wetland in Minnesota. Constructed wetlands
are a favored technology for small communities, nature
centers and cluster housing developments because of their
low operating cost and simplicity. Constructed wetlands
represent the natural way to treat wastewater without
the complication normally involved in mechanical and physical/chemical
wastewater technologies. NAWE has cast aside centuries
of conservative engineering tradition and has taken risks
to make this a better world through the application of
low energy input and environmentally friendly constructed
wetland technology. It is no coincidence that NAWE has
been associated with Minnesota Environmental Initiative
awards 4 out of the last 5 years. These award winners
include Rahr Malting, Fields of St. Croix, Forest Lake
Schools and Jackson Meadows.
During the summer of 2002 the University of MN College
of Architecture and Landscape
Architecture (CALA) was bidding on workstations for their
students. At this time CALA
had been in contact with Baltix Furniture, Inc. regarding
the possibility of working
together on some furniture designed using sustainable
materials. Baltix and CALA
collaborated on a design that would meet the functional
needs of the students and then
Baltix proceeded to use their knowledge of sustainable
materials to create a desk that was
not only functional and affordable, but contained a high
percentage of sustainable
materials. The frame of the desk is made from extruded
aluminum containing at least
75% industrial scrap, the highest content commercially
available. The work surface,
deck, and walls of the workstation were made from wheat
board, a material made from
wheat chaff. This material is manufactured with processes
that are efficient in the use of
energy, water and material while containing no VOC’s
or formaldehyde. The surface of
the desk is linoleum, which is a sustainable material
made from linseed oil and also very
durable and long lasting. The first shipment of over 80
workstations were delivered
within 7-8 weeks of the project starting, to the delight
of CALA.
The Restore Refill Station is a unique, patent pending,
point of purchase liquid refill system, placed in 6 Minnesota
grocery stores with Restore’s brand of plant based,
nontoxic cleaning products. The Restore Refill Station
provides a method of vending six
products into pre-labeled, reusable Restore Products bottles.
It reads the empty bottle’s
barcode and re-fills it with the correct amount of the
product specified on the label. Upon
completion of a refill, the machine prints out a coupon
worth one dollar, which is
redeemed by the cashier immediately rewards the customer
for lowering the retail price.
Competitive
advantages to the system are:
- Maintaining brand identity
of the product by reading labels and filling only
recognized bottles
- Creating immediate discounts
and price incentives
- Overcoming all safety, inconvenience
and labeling problems associated with liquid bulk
dispensers.
- Lowering retail pricing while
increasing gross profit margins by eliminating packaging,
packaging labor and shipping costs.
Developed with a $72,000 grant from the Minnesota Office
of Environmental Assistance
and over $250,000 in matching funds from the Restore Products
Company, sales at the
current stores have averaged a 62% increase over last
year, where manual bulk refill
systems were previously installed.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy
The General Mills Chanhassen Plant has a long history
of Environmental Excellence. A couple of examples are:
reducing 652.99 tons of waste annually through use of
bulk ingredient delivery systems. Reuse and recycling
has totaled 90% or more each year since 1995. Reducing
Chemical Treatment of Cooling Tower Water is only one
aspect of a comprehensive commitment of General Mills
and its Chanhassen Plant to prevent pollution and reduce
waste. The commitment consists of policy, values, goals
incentivization and measurement. Performance is tracked
and environmental incentives are established at all
levels within the organization. General Mills provides
planning, training meetings and support to implement
these policies. It is from one of these routine meetings
that this project was born. Mechanical Treatment through
use of VRTX technology has yielded the following benefits:
Chemical Use Reductions:
- Chlorine Solution–620
gallons
- Sulfuric Acid & Molybate
Solution–1,900 gallons
· Sodium Hydroxide
& Sodium Molybate–3,694 gallons
- Biocides & Algaecides–330
gallons
Water Use Reduction:
Electrical Consumption Reduction
was 1.8 million kilowatt hours and the following Emissions:
- Sulfur Dioxide–6,200
lbs.
- Nitrous Oxide–5,999
lbs.
- Particulates 400 lbs.
- Carbon Dioxide–2,455,000
lbs.
Other Project Results:
- Installation of mechanical
cooling tower treatment at 21 other GMI facilities
- Eliminates chemical use, handling
and response training for plant cooling towers
- Improved work environment
for employees
Facilities in other states that are not as water rich
as Minnesota could conserve these
scared resources for other uses while maintaining and
growing their output capacity. General Mills Inc.
has found this technology cost effective in a wide variety
of locations with different sewer, water and energy
costs as demonstrated by implementation of 21 additional
systems nationally.
Started in 2000. The One-Stop Efficiency Shop (One-Stop)
is an innovative, full service
lighting retrofit program designed to save energy in
the hard-to-serve small business
sector. Sponsored by Xcel Energy and administered by
Center for Energy and
Environment (CEE), One-Stop targets small businesses
(10-200kw demand). Small
businesses are difficult to serve with traditional lighting
rebate programs due to
limitations in financial resources, time, knowledge
of lighting products and access to
quality contractors. One-Stop is structured specifically
to address these needs and
concerns. One-Stop offers qualified business owners
a free, no obligation audit, lighting
rebates, and below market rate financing that is paid
on the owner’s utility bill, with loan
payments structured to match the owner’s monthly
savings so that a neutral cash flow is
maintained. Because One-Stop does not sell lighting
products, auditors are able to offer
customers unbiased recommendations yet, due to the collaboration
with local electrical
contractors, One-Stop is able to offer standard program
pricing quotes and a pool of
qualified contractors to eliminate the hassle of collecting
bids. This combination of
services brings education, financial resources, and
minimal time commitment directly to
the consumer.
The Breck School Activity Center Addition is a multi-purpose
gymnasium designed to
minimize reliance on non-renewable resources, maximize
daylight potential, integrate
recycled content materials and maximize indoor air quality.
The project consists of an
activity floor area of 33,500 square feet; integrating
5 basketball courts, a 180-meter
running track, and space for gymnastics. Adjacent to
the Activity Center is a new
support facility of approximately 4,500 square feet
containing locker rooms, coaches’
locker rooms, and athletic trainer’s room and
the athletic store.
Land
Use
Administered by the Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) Central Region, Metro Greenways is an
innovative program that effectively increases community
interest and capacity to protect, connect and improve
regionally and locally significant natural areas. At
the same time, the program that fosters and relies upon
high levels of partnership with a wide range of non-profit
conservation organizations, institutions, government
agencies, private businesses, and landowners, encompasses
the seven-county region – assuring that individual
projects contribute to more naturally functioning ecosystems
and an expanded network of parks and natural areas and
their associated benefits.
There are three primary program components. Nearly
$900,000 in state funds has been granted for 60 planning
projects to conduct natural resources inventories and
land cover mapping and develop natural area and greenway
plans and natural resource management plans. $5.1 million
in state funds has leveraged over $12 million in other
funds for eighteen land protection/restoration projects.
Over 1000 acres has been or will be permanently protected
by March 31, 2004. In addition, a wide variety of land
conservation projects involving the DNR, other organizations,
and agencies are integrated in a coordinated manner
to effectively achieve a broader regional vision for
an interconnected natural area, park and open space
system.
The idea for the new Pierre Bottineau Library
grew out of a community initiative to replace the small
2,044 square foot existing library that had outgrown
its leased storefront quarters at 1224 NE 2nd Street.
A new 12,355 square foot existing library built on the
historic Grain Belt campus combines contemporary, environmentally
friendly architecture with two timeless buildings from
the turn of the century. The decision to restore The
Wagon Shed (1893) and the Millwright Shop (1913) came
from the Library Board’s strong commitment to
the preservation of historic spaces. The project also
reflects other Library top priorities such as the reuse
of existing materials, the incorporation of sustainable
green architecture principles, and meeting the highest
standards of environmental excellence. The project had
presented the Board with many ecological challenges
as the historic buildings evolved into a true neighborhood
treasure.
Glacial Ridge Conservancy is the largest prairie restoration
project in the U.S. history. Its plans for ecological
sustainability are important. But, Glacial Ridge Conservancy
is remarkable because it is also dedicated to economic
sustainability.The Nature Conservancy purchased the
24.270-acred former livestock and gravel pit operation
in August 2000. Working in alliance with all levels
of government, the nonprofit has created a model for
ecological restoration and economic revitalization for
Northwestern Minnesota.
More than 8,000 acres of wetlands and 14,000 acres
of tallgrass prairie are being restored for habitat
for prairie plants and animals, and connection to 10.000
acres of adjacent wildlife area. It is a new destination
for visitors.
But, it’s helping local communities, too. Four
miles of constructed ditches are being abandoned this
year, reducing flood damages potential at the downstream
city of Crookston. Revenue from agricultural lands pay
local property taxes of approximately $100,000. Gravel
sales pay for operations and development of the master
plan.
Glacial Ridge is a model of conservation that balances
ecological restoration with economic production. It
offers new directions to Red River communities looking
to enhance natural resources but reduce flood damages. |
|
|
