2011 KAB Award Winners were recognized and awarded at the KAB Annual Award Luncheon, Thursday, October 27th!!

 

2011 KAB Award Winners:

 

Best of the Best Winner: Richard Craig with Pease Park Conservancy

After years of overuse, extreme soil compaction due to heavy foot traffic, severe drought, intense winds, hail, and flooding Pease Park was in an extremely degraded state. Richard Craig, a life long park user and retired attorney from the State Comptroller’s Office, recognized the urgency of the situation in Pease Park and saving it became his top priority and full-time job. Richard started the Trees for Pease project to save the park. Beginning in 2008 and over the next two years Richard collected over $115,000 from friends and neighbors and organized over three-dozen volunteer workdays. Trees for Pease has planted 438 trees of 29 different species, installed a drip irrigation system to ensure their survival, removed tons of storm debris and trash from the park and Shoal Creek, pruned and fertilized the 18 heritage live oaks in the park, spread tons of compost and mulch throughout the park to improve the soil, removed invasive species plants, preserved the historic Tudor Cottage by giving it a new cedar shake roof and repainting the trim, and landscaped the area surrounding the new splash pad with large shade trees and limestone blocks for seating. Richard galvanized over 2,000 volunteers to help one of our most prized parks during 48 different work days. From this work, the Pease Park Conservancy was born in 2010, and has continued the amazing work of caring for Pease Park. Since it’s inception, $55,000 more dollars have been raised, and 3,000 volunteers have assisted with 12 work days to continue the efforts of our 2011 Best of the Best winner, Mr. Richard Craig!

 

 

Beautification Winner: City of Austin Watershed Protection Department 

The Sand Beach Biofiltration Pond is an attractive landscape feature intended to treat polluted storm water runoff from the nearby Gables Park Plaza development as well as surrounding roads and pavement.  The project site is located in the southwestern corner of downtown Austin at the intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and West Cesar Chavez St.  This area was previously underutilized but is currently undergoing substantial renovation and improvement.  The project is the result of a public/private collaborative effort between the City of Austin (CoA) and Gables Residential.  The pond serves as a storm water treatment device that captures litter and prevents pollution, attractive landscape feature that welcomes both visitors and residents, and tool to involve the community and educate the public regarding water pollution and sustainable urban development.

 

 

 

Beautification Runner up: The Trail Foundation

Norma Gillingwater and family, The Trail Foundation, and Ten Eyck Landscape Architects worked on a project in memory of Austin citizen Barry Gillingwater that turned into the beautiful Pfluger Circle improvement.  The group planned a peaceful gathering spot and a design that reflected Barry’s personality emerged – it includes native palmetto palms, flowering perennials and native trees, limestone blocks etched with X’s and O’s signify a circle of hugs and kisses, vertical flowing walls of silver pony foot to stabilize terraced beds, and gutters that channel water to landscaping. The Pfluger Circle transformation enabled a previously unused space in a core area of Austin to become a destination and gathering space. Most recently, the space was utilized as a venue in the ‘Play Me I’m Yours’ piano art installation. Over 200 people gathered in this special space to watch the closing finale performance on multiple pianos on the ramp surrounding the garden where a baby grand piano played the starring role. Hundreds of runners, walkers, and sight seers are able to enjoy the Pfluger Circle on a daily basis while using the wonderful trails throughout downtown Austin and around the beautiful Lady Bird Lake thanks to the collaboration of the Gillingwater Family, the Trail Foundation, and Ten Eyck Landscape Architects.

 

Community Involvement Winner: Entrepreneurs Foundation 

The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas is a community of entrepreneurs.  They work to amplify the philanthropic efforts of our member companies, their entrepreneurs, boards and employees who invest equity, time and talent to make Central Texas an even better place to live, work and play. This community offers businesses a chance to come together on service days to make a larger impact in their community. Because of the service days, these small, tech companies are able to volunteer more and are able to unite their efforts with other small companies to have a big impact. The most recent service day boosted the most highly attended service day to date with 450 employee volunteers attending from 25 different companies, logging 3150 volunteer hours in one day! Service days are organized a few times a year to give smaller companies a chance to make a bigger impact!

 

Community Involvement Runner up: Grow Together

Grow Together is a project aimed to empower those involved through gardening. Austin's local homeless population and international refugees are working together on a gardening project to gain a sense of community. The participants benefit from getting a hand up instead of a hand out by learning how to garden, learn a trade, and create a basic purpose by providing food. The garden has been tended by International Refugees living in Austin, Gateways Food Pantry, Horizon Bay Retirement Home, and Mobile Loaves and Fishes. This garden serves the community in many ways and continues to grow day by day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applied Materials Education Winner: Austin Resource Recovery

In 2009, Austin City Council adopted a Zero Waste goal to reduce the amount of waste sent to area landfills by 90 percent by 2040. The Austin Resource Recovery Department set out to develop a creative way to educate Austinites about Zero Waste. The result was the Zero Waste reality TV show: Dare to Go Zero. Dare to Go Zero debuted on Earth Day, April 22, 2011 and followed four Austin families as they tried to reduce the amount of waste they generated in their everyday lives. Dare to Go Zero was produced entirely in-house by City staff and aired on the City’s government access TV station and YouTube. The show was covered in more than 230 media outlets and has received numerous watches and hits on the TV City’s government access TV station and YouTube. As a long-term effort, the Austin Resource Department is combining all five episodes onto one DVD and will be distributing them to all City libraries and working with local school districts, businesses and other groups for use in classrooms, at neighborhood meetings and other functions. Keep a look out for the DVD so that you too can Dare to Go Zero in your home!

 

 

Applied Material Education Runner up: Travis Audubon Society and Environmental Survey Consulting

TAS, a chapter of the National Audubon Society, founded in 1952 and Environmental Survey Consulting, founded in 1984 teamed up to bring the "Explore and Restore" program to Norman Elementary School.  This East Austin School was selected to receive the “Explore and Restore” program that includes hands-on exploration of nature, including the study of birds, botany, soil and wildlife, and participation in the restoration of Blair Woods Sanctuary.  The "Explore and Restore" program has been found to meet the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) requirements by local school administrators, specifically principal, Floretta Andrews of Norman Elementary School.  Additionally, 24 of the 26 students who participated in the spring, 2010 Explore and Restore program improved their standardized test scores. It’s this type of detailed and extended education that makes a lasting difference in the lives of our youth.

 

 

Dennis Hobbs Individual Achievement Winner: Jerry Levenson 

Jerry has been involved with environmental stewardship for many years starting with invasive plant removal efforts at the Bull Creek Greenbelt about 10 years ago.   He is still going strong on the front lines of ecological restoration and invasive plant removal.  He has been a key volunteer is assisting the City Parks and Recreation Department with removing invasive plants species that choke out native plants and significantly disrupt  the eco-balance in our parks. Acres of parkland have been cleared of invasive plants by Jerry and his passion for removing Ligustrum is known and respected by many.   In the last two years, Jerry has logged a total of 1550 hours. In 2011 alone, Jerry has logged 612 hours and is on a 103 day straight stretch of invasive removal.  Jerry continues to work on invasive plant removal in our city parks and has no plans to stop anytime soon!

 

 

Dennis Hobbs Individual Achievement Runner up: Buster Ferguson

In 2009, Buster Ferguson was the lone volunteer to show up at a work day at Ponds Spring Historical Cemetery and saw the need to assist the area. The over growth was beyond belief. Weeds were head tall and in some areas the trees and vines were taking over and encroaching upon many graves which were also hiding an abandoned homeless camp. Buster began mowing where he could and then came back after mowing to start chopping out the vines, brush, and small trees. In January of 2010, Suzanne McAlpin approached Buster to assist with clearing the north fence line of the cemetery. After clearing all fence lines and mulching the cuttings, they went on to improve the cemetery in many ways. Mulch was used to level sunken gravesites and protect trees; headstones were leveled, cleaned, repaired, and restored and new stainless sheet metal makers were placed where there were none. Buster has spent the last two years working at least 20 hours per week to continue the care of the Pond Spring Historical Cemetery. Currently, work is being done to restore historical information to the grave sites that were unmarked, as well as the continued care for the grounds of Pond Spring Cemetery.

 

Industry Leadership Winner: Four Seasons

Since opening in 1986, Four Seasons Hotel Austin has prided itself on being an active member of the Austin community. Recently, the hotel has made Corporate Social Responsibility even more of a priority, partnering with a variety of organizations that work continuously to make Austin a better place. In an effort to encourage their guests to assist in CSR efforts, the “Pay It Forward” voluntourism package was born.  “Pay it Forward” invites guests to volunteer for a minimum of three hours during their vacation, in exchange for a dramatically reduced room rate. The primary motivation for offering nearly 50 percent off regular rates was a desire to promote local environmental and community initiatives in a way that allowed guests to familiarize themselves with Austin.  Since the Pay it Forward package started, 82 packages have been booked resulting in more than 500 volunteer hours (most packages involve 2 or more people, with the average volunteer experience spanning 3 to 4 hours). The program has been featured in numerous noteworthy publications such as the New York Post, Four Seasons magazine, the Dallas Morning News, Marie Claire, The Independent, National Geographic online, Texas Highways online and many others. Since then, every single Four Seasons hotel worldwide has created a local community service offering that guests can complete during their visit. Four Seasons is leading the way by example.

 

 

Industry Leadership Runner up: Organics by Gosh

Organics by Gosh (OBG) is a locally owned company that collects brush, yard trimmings, clean C & D waste and food scraps and turns it into compost and mulch. With a diversion of thousands of cubic yards from the landfill each year, they consider themselves a land RE-FILLING company! Along with various mulches and composts, OBG has dozens of soil blends that are used all over the greater Austin area.  Organics by Gosh is proud to see volunteers spreading their compost, planting in our soils and making their neighborhoods a lively and more sustainable place!  OBG has supported the goal of building a sustainable Austin with the help of hundreds of KAB volunteers and continues the sponsorship of beautification and improvement projects to this day.

 

 

 

Litter Abatement Winner: The Ghisallo Foundation

The Ghisallo Foundation is an a Austin based bicycle racing team that saw a need to improve the Lance Armstrong Bikeway at IH-35/4th street underpass. This is one of the main corridors between Downtown Austin and the East Side for bicyclists.  It has been a risk for cyclists to use due to the large amount of glass and litter on the road. Some cyclists had begun to avoid the pass through altogether because of the glass collection that flattened many tires and the litter that was an eye sore. The Ghisallo Foundation opted for a reoccurring clean-up effort with a bi-monthly cleaning schedule. In addition to sweeping up glass and dirt off of the pavement and picking up trash, they worked on basic landscaping as well; pulling weeds, edging, and shoveling the non-paved sections which were migrating into the bike lanes.  Upon seeing that the glass was not only on the road, but also collecting in gaps between pylons, The Ghisallo Foundation teamed up with the Neighborhood Connectivity Division of the Department of Public Works for the City of Austin. The gaps were power washed after a cleanup and then all of the gaps filled with caulk to fix this ongoing problem. The Ghisallo Foundation continues to work on a regular basis to keep this pathway clear. This pathway is now being used again by Austin cyclists as well as thousands of cyclists and pedestrians accessing events such as SXSW.

 

 

Litter Abatement Runner up: Austin City Limits Music Festival

Austin City Limits Music Festival is one of the nation’s premiere music events, presenting over 130 bands on eight stages, food, art, and more annually to over 200,000 fun, artistic, and engaged fans from all walks of life. In 2011, ACL Festival celebrates its tenth year, and from its inception has included environmental efforts from a production standpoint and in patron engagement.  Keeping Zilker Park and the planet healthy and around for future generations are key missions of the Festival.  ACL is committed to minimizing its carbon footprint through careful examination and planning of all production logistics, like biodiesel run generators and light towers, placing hundreds of recycling bins throughout the grounds, using biodegradable paper products, ensuring free water fountains are available to lessen use of water containers and purchasing renewable energy credits to make the event carbon neutral.

 

 

 

Recycling & Waste Reduction Winner: University United Methodist Church Open Door 

UUMC is an urban church with a number of social justice ministries. One of its ministries is Open Door, a service that feeds breakfast and lunch each Saturday to about 400 homeless and needy people. For a number of years, the church relied on volunteers to carry home recyclables from Open Door; in 2008, the congregation expanded its trash contract to include pickup of the recyclables. Volunteers and clients saw the new recycling program as an opportunity to increase and expand the ministry’s conservation efforts. In 2010, the church contracted with Organics by Gosh to have composting services. Open Door developed a system to capture the food and paper waste created by 400-plus weekly meals. The waste-management program for UUMC’s Open Door ministry collects compostables and recyclables for two different meals each Saturday, beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 1:30 p.m. Volunteers, often guests of the Open Door ministry have wide ranging levels of experience and training, and the ministry’s focus is, of course, on feeding hungry people. Training volunteers to follow our protocols for waste management requires constant education to achieve our composting and recycling goals because of constant change. All of this planning, preparation, and work has resulted in weekly composting of 225 gallons of food and two 100 gallon containers which accepts cardboard, aluminum, steel, and plastic to be recycled. Open Door produces more recycled and composted materials than any other UUMC activity or ministry, and has been a great example the other ministries are following suit by recycling eye glasses, batteries, shoes, and more.

 

 

Recycling and Waste Reduction Runner up: University of Texas Division of Housing and Food Services 

The Division of Housing and Food Service (DHFS) houses approximately 7,300 students and operates two dining halls, three retail cafes and two convenience stores at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition, DHFS also operates its own facilities, IT, housekeeping and human resources departments. Over 5 years ago DHFS started the first institutionally-operated recycling program on the campus. With strong leadership and mix of policy and education, DHFS has transformed into an organization that truly embraces sustainability in its operations, its staff culture and its student residential life program.  DHFS has served as a leader to other departments of UT as well. The program has seen an impact in food waste decreasing by 48%, an 18.6% change in last year’s food budget being spent on local, organic, and sustainable foods, composting of 100 tons of food waste, 199 tons of paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum and steel being recycled, and over 9,000 customers used the Eco2Go container vs. disposable plates. The impact of living and working in an environment that shows a commitment to sustainability is hard to measure but  DHFS is continually realizing that we are changing their organizational culture in a very positive way by bringing in a new paradigm for operating their division and educating their students, and staff.

 

 

 

Freescale Youth Achievement Winner: Bowie High School Student Council

Bowie High School Student Council is not your typical Student Council. Like a typical student council, they organize and run school events. What’s not typical about this council is that each garden around the school is landscaped and maintained by members of the Student Council. The youth involved range from ages 16-18 and meet every Thursday after school to put in a few hours of work to keep the campus looking beautiful. In addition to just landscaping, Bowie Student Council also continually picks up trash around campus in order to help keep the school clean. Their work has been noted in the Oak Hill Gazette and a tree in one of their gardens was a finalist for this year’s Tree of the Year award.  By beautifying their school campus, they are creating an environment for everyone to appreciate and learn better in. Freescale Youth Achievement 

 

 

Runner up: Uplift Austin-Lounge 644 Project 

 

KIPP, an Austin Collegiate High School began a project as part of the Introductory to Sustainability course that UpLift Austin offers to high school students. After learning about the environment and current issues of sustainability, they were presented with a real-life design problem school: turn an underutilized, blank canvas of land into a vibrant outdoor environment for gathering, learning, and appreciating nature using recycled materials and the principle investigated in the first half of the course. Students worked with local designers to come up with a design for the space, broke ground on the project in March, and worked in class every other day, with support of community volunteers after school and over weekends to complete their project. Over 2,000 volunteer hours, over 100 volunteers, over $2,500 of in-kind donations for materials from over 45 local business, community and non-profit partners made this happen.  The most noticeable and positive impact of the project is student empowerment. The project is not entirely completed, but the student empowerment guarantees that future UpLift classes will have the opportunity to build upon this project by adding rainwater collection systems, potentially an educational water-feature, and more experimental gardening.

 

Want to win next year? Start working on and documenting your community projects in the categories of Litter Abatement, Industry Leadership, Education, Youth Achievement, Beautification, Recycling and Waste Reduction, Individual Achievement, and Community Involvement! Who will be the 2012 Best of the Best?