The nominations are in for the Second Annual Rye Sustainability Leadership award! Rye City Councilwoman Sara Goddard announced the nominees at the March 14 Rye City Council meeting. The winner(s) will be announced at the April 25 City Council meeting.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
RSC Award and Announcement of Nominees - 2018
““Recognize significant environmental achievements made by citizens, organizations or the business community through an annual sustainability award.””
As part of its mission to implement the Rye Sustainability Plan, the Rye Sustainability Committee has created a Rye Sustainability Committee Leadership Award. This award honors individuals, organizations or the members of the business community that have made significant environmental achievements and demonstrated excellence in leadership for the health of our community and planet.
The 2018 RSC Leadership Award Nominees are as follows:
Nominees
Rosemary and Vine Berj Yeretzian and Tania Rahal relocated to Rye after living in the Mediterranean for a number of years. The husband and wife team co-founded Rosemary and Vine to bring a comfortable, casual place to enjoy savory vegetarian fare with a nice glass of wine or beer to the downtown area. Rosemary and Vine has been a model of sustainable restauranteering ever since it opened its doors in 2015. The restaurant composts all of its food scraps via Fairfield-based Curbside Compost and many of its ingredients are organic and locally sourced. Rosemary and Vine was one of the first establishments to sign Rye Sustainability Committee's 'Sound Shore Last Shore' pledge to only provide straws upon specific customer request in order to reduce the amount of single-use, disposable plastic entering the waste stream. Over the years, Tania and Berj have supported Rye Sustainability through their generous donations of delicious food and beverages to numerous Rye Sustainability events.
Denise Woodin and Rye YMCA Derby Goes Green In celebration of the 30 year anniversary of the Rye Derby in 2018, Denise Woodin, Rye YMCA Director of Community Impact and Social Responsibility, created an initiative to reduce the carbon footprint and local environmental impact of the event. Woodin recruited other Y staffers and community volunteers - including representatives from Rye Sustainability, Rye Country Day School and Rye City Schools to help her find sponsors to underwrite the effort and to brainstorm specific ways to make the race greener. As a result, this year's event has eliminated plastic water bottles and balloons, incorporated recycling and composting stations, and switched from disposable plastic tablecloths to reusable tablecloths.
Scott Nelson and Rye Country Day School for consistent and generous support of the RSC/RCDS Green Screen film series. At Nelson’s direction, RCDS has partnered with Rye Sustainability Committee, promoted and underwritten the entire cost of the Green Screen program so that the general public can attend, learn about important sustainability topics, and enjoy delicious refreshments, all free of charge. In addition, Kerry Linderoth, Director of Sustainability and Science Teacher, Upper School & Middle School, and the Parents Association Environmental and Wellness Committee have helped coordinate logistics and collaborate with Rye Sustainability Committee to make Green Screen a long-running successful enterprise. Nelson and RCDS' support of Green Screen allows the message of sustainability to reach so many more members of the public who would otherwise not be able to learn about it.
Carolyn Cunningham, Chair, City of Rye Conservation Committee/Advisory Council Carolyn Cunningham has been a lifelong advocate and crusader for environmental causes. After graduating with a law degree from Pace University in 1988, she practiced environmental law for the National Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group headquartered in New York City. She has been an environmental consultant and was Executive Director of Federated Conservationists of Westchester County for five years where she now volunteers as a board member. Cunningham has served on the City of Rye Planning Commission, the Conservation Committee/Advisory Council and served two terms after being elected to the Rye City Council. She currently serves as Chair of the CC/AC and is a staunch advocate of Rye Sustainability and its efforts.
Bill Lawyer, Assistant Director, Rye Town Park Development; Freelance Writer, Rye Record Bill Lawyer developed an interest in sustainability as a young child while spending summers on his grandparents' farms in Iowa and Pennsylvania learning about the importance of sustainable agriculture. From there on out, he got involved with clean water issues in high school, sustainable forestry and forest management in college and as a member of the Peace Corps, and researched land use management and politics in graduate school. As a teacher at Rye Country Day School, he established an ecology club on the first ever Earth Day and organized school recycling efforts. He was Executive Director of the Greenburgh Nature Center for thirty years and spent ten years as a board member of the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County.