Zingerman’s among 2017 Washtenaw County Environmental Excellence Award winners

Three Washtenaw County businesses and one government department were named winners in the 20th annual Environmental Excellence Awards, sponsored by the county’s Water Resources Commissioner’s Office and the county Board of Public Works.

The awards are given to area businesses and nonprofits that show excellence in the areas of waste reduction and recycling, water quality protection, and pollution prevention initiatives and compliance. This year’s awards were presented at a March 16 ceremony held at Weber’s Inn.

County water quality specialist Catie Wytychak serves on the awards committee. She says that when the committee selects winners each year, they try to look for an organization that has done outstanding work but hasn’t already been honored.

The award for “Waste Reduction and Recycling” went to Ann Arbor-based The Betty Brigade, which provides relocation and organization services. Wytychak says the business stood out because when its employees are providing decluttering and moving help, they sort out items to be recycled or home toxics to be brought to the county for proper disposal rather than just sending all unwanted items to the trash.

The “Water Quality Protection” award went to the Saline Environmental Commission. Wytychak says the commission has been doing good work for a long time, including giving away rain barrels and hosting a comprehensive recycling program at Saline City Hall. But the commission also recently completed a major project to label 100 storm drains with markers reading, “Don’t dump, drains to river.”

“They got the whole neighborhood involved,” Wytychak says.

The “Pollution Prevention” award went to Ann Arbor-based machine shop Lambert Industries, Inc. Wytychak says pollution prevention is a mandatory program for companies that store toxic waste on their property, and an environmental health employee visits these businesses to make sure none of the toxic chemicals are making it into storm drains or rivers. Lambert Industries won for going above and beyond in this category.

The “Overall Achievement” award goes to a company that is involved in environmental efforts in all three categories: waste reduction and recycling, water protection, and pollution prevention. Wytychak says this year’s winner, Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, was outstanding in all those areas.

“They have been doing so many good practices since the very beginning, but what brought them to our attention recently was that a master rain gardener built a rain garden at one of their locations to absorb runoff from the parking lot,” Wytychak says.

Information on the county’s other Environmental Excellence programs is available at the county’s website.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.

All photos courtesy of Washtenaw County Environmental Excellence Partnership Program.