The Environmental Club at Scarborough High School, also known as ECOS, has taken top honors in ecomaine’s annual eco-Excellence contest.
Award winners were announced at a special ceremony held March 23. Ecomaine is a municipally owned, waste-to-energy company based in Portland, which has a mission of providing sustainable, environmentally responsible waste management solutions.
In a press release, Kevin Roche, chief executive officer at ecomaine, said his company was proud to recognize the Scarborough High students for their “notable commitment to environmental sustainability,” and to leaving “the smallest carbon footprint in their paths.”
ECOS consists of 25 students, who split into five recycling teams each week taking assigned routes and going room-to-room throughout the high school, collecting bottles, cans and paper recyclables.
The teams then reconvene to collectively empty, sort and bag the materials.
“The work is dirty and smelly, but highly rewarding to these dedicated students,” the press release said.
In addition to all the paper material it recycled this past year, the club also recycled nearly 30,000 returnable bottles, resulting in $1,400 of revenue. In the past, ECOS has used this money help purchase a bike rack at Scarborough High, to build raised garden beds for the school garden and to install a water bottle refilling station in the school’s front lobby.
“The Scarborough High School ECOS club has (also) influenced the (entire school system) to adopt recycling and composting practices by (committing) to reduce, reuse and recycle in every way possible,” said Erik Street, chairman of the Recycling Committee at ecomaine.
“For their dedication to educating their peers about the waste hierarchy, and for rolling up their sleeves and volunteering their time to walk the talk of their ECOS mission, we are proud to honor the Scarborough High School ECOS club with the 2016 eco-Excellence Award for overall excellence in the community,” Street added.
Other eco-Excellence award winners this year included Cape Elizabeth Town Councilor Jamie Garvin, the Friends of the Scarborough Public Library, South Portland’s Sustainability Coordinator Julie Rosenbach and the city’s Afterschool Adventures group and the Verbena eatery on Ocean Street in South Portland.
The Environmental Club at Scarborough High School has won top honors in ecomaine’s annual eco-Excellence contest. Pictured from right are club officers Brendan Fleming, Sarah Mulligan, Stephen Blackie (seated), Alyssa Doherty and Brian Sassano, along with Mike Shaw, ecomaine board member and Kevin Roche, ecomaine’s chief executive officer.
The Environmental Club at Scarborough High School has won top honors in ecomaine’s annual eco-Excellence contest. Pictured from right are club officers Brendan Fleming, Sarah Mulligan, Stephen Blackie (seated), Alyssa Doherty and Brian Sassano, along with Mike Shaw, ecomaine board member and Kevin Roche, ecomaine’s chief executive officer.
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