PHS Students Win Eco-Excellence Award
The Portland High School Environmental Club has received the 2007 eco-Excellence Award for outstanding contributions to recycling and energy conservation from ecomaine, the municipally-owned solid waste disposal organization in southern Maine. Out of 21 projects honored, Portland High won the grand prize.
Students in the club have advocated for increased recycling and energy and water conservation measures in the Portland Public Schools, with a particular focus on Portland High School. Their efforts resulted in improved recycling at the school and the removal of classroom lights deemed unnecessary.
The Environmental Club also filmed a public service announcement about recycling for access television, researched installing hallway sensors to eliminate unnecessary lighting at Portland High, identified drafty windows and faulty bathroom faucets needing replacement, planned an environmental fair for the school and presented “green lessons” to elementary and middle school classes.
Alfred Padula, chair of the Maine Green Campus Consortium, has donated $25,000 for additional energy conservation improvements at Portland High School, as identified by the Environmental Club. Padula also has contributed $15,000 toward the construction of a geodesic dome at Lincoln Middle School.
Ecomaine presented the Environmental Club with a plaque that now hangs in the main office of Portland High. The grand prize - an LL Bean Adirondack rocking chair made with 100 percent recycled materials - has been placed in the Portland High library.
Portland High students Brooke Welty, Dan Whitmore, Rachel Heasley and Bly Lauritano accepted the award at a luncheon on April 24. Troy Moon, an ecomaine board member and Portland’s manager of solid waste, described the students as “tireless advocates for the environment.”
