Press Releases

WMEAC Honors 2010 Triple Top Line Award Winners

GRAND RAPIDS—April 16, 2010—The West Michigan Environmental Action Council tonight honored three local organizations with its Second Annual Triple Top Line Awards this evening as part of the annual EcoAction Expo and Concert at Fountain Street Church. 

First introduced as part of WMEAC’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, the TTL Awards honor projects, programs and concepts emerging from the West Michigan community that have or will soon contribute to the region’s rich tapestry of sustainable progress.

 

“This year’s class of honorees embodies the personal and community commitment to the Triple Top Line that has helped make West Michigan one of the nation’s sustainability capitals,” said Rachel Hood, WMEAC executive director. “All of these projects share a passion for making our home a better place. Entrepreneurs, municipal leaders and private citizens are all making important contributions.”  

 

Winners in each category included (percentage of votes in parentheses):

 

Sustainable Business Leadership

 

Top Prize (62%)

Clothing Matters is a Grand Rapids retailer established in 1996 that hopes to make West Michigan become the most sustainably dressed region in the nation. Clothing Matters supports practices that conserve natural resources, reduce pollution and promote social justice through the sale of apparel made from organic cotton, silk, soy, tencel, wool, hemp, recycled fibers, and bamboo for women and men.

 

Runner-up (38%)

Founded in 2008, Eden Environments is a design center in Grand Rapids that sells sustainable building materials, finishes, and furnishings for homes and offices, as well as offering sustainable architecture, interior and landscape design services. Owner Denise Hopkins says a primary goal is making sustainable and healthy living and work spaces accessible to everyone.

 

Community-Based Achievements toward Sustainability

 

Top Prize (38%)

Friends of Grand Rapids Parks is an independent, citizen-led, nonprofit enterprise founded last year to protect, enhance and expand parks and public spaces in Michigan's second largest city. A primary goal of the organization is protect and create vibrant parks and public spaces that are essential to support the community's economic competitiveness, environmental health and cultural wellbeing.

 

1st Runner-up (36%)

Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids conducted a sustainability assessment last year and implemented a plan to make the church's historic center of faith environmentally sustainable through mortar, study and social action. The church is using green cleaning, energy efficiency investments and stormwater capture at the church as learning opportunities for the congregation's youth and adults.

 

2nd Runner-up (26%)

Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance is a statewide coalition of individuals and organizations working cooperatively to protect and preserve the natural geography, historical heritage, and rural character of the Saugatuck Dunes coastal region in the Kalamazoo River Watershed, beginning with the former Denison property near Saugatuck. The grass roots organization has reached out to the entire state to protect the coastal dunes of Lake Michigan and the Kalamazoo River Watershed.

 

Governments Implementing Sustainable Change

 

Top Prize (58%)

Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds (LGROW) was established last year by the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council to oversee restoration, protection and enhancement activities in the Lower Grand River drainage basin that encompasses more then 3,000 square miles starting at the confluence of the Grand and Looking Glass Rivers in downtown Portland in Ionia County through metro Grand Rapids to Lake Michigan. The watershed covers 10 counties and includes the Thornapple River, Flat River, and Rogue River watersheds

 

Runner-Up (42%)

Spring Lake Township near Grand Haven has taken on the challenge of ensuring good development by shaping the Sustainable Community Assessment -- the tool is a part of the township's zoning ordinance and measures the long term sustainability of new developments in the Township. The tool borrows from the US Green Building Council's LEED accreditation, but tweaks that process to focus on the community's goals: Watershed, Scenic Landscape and Wildlife Corridor Protection.

 

Nominees are judged on their commitment to balance environmental protection, economic success and social equality. Finalists were chosen by a panel of local sustainability advocates with winners determined via an online vote. Honorees demonstrate a significant, positive impact on West Michigan’s Triple Top Line — Environment, Economy and Social Equity — a sustainability philosophy commonly known as the Triple Bottom Line.  Past TTL honorees include Metro Health Hospital, Inner City Christian Federation and the Green Grand Rapids initiative. 

 

The EcoAction Expo is a showcase for local non-profits and businesses with an environmental focus. The annual exhibition is one of West Michigan’s preeminent Earth Week programs and the only event officially sponsored by WMEAC. The award ceremony was followed by a concert by the popular alternative rock band, the Fiery Furnaces.