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PR 10 STUDENT GROUPS RECEIVE PRES. ENVIR. YOUTH AWARDS

Release Date: 11/29/94
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PR 10 STUDENT GROUPS RECEIVE PRES. ENVIR. YOUTH AWARDS

For Release: Tuesday, November 29, 1994

10 Student Groups Receive President's Environmental

Youth Awards at White House Ceremony

10 groups of students from around the nation -- including a group of Madison, Ga., teenagers who reduced the amount of solid waste in their county landfill by more than 300,000 pounds after they built the area's first recycling center -- were honored with the 1994 President's Environmental Youth Awards, presented today at a White House ceremony by Vice President Al Gore, Jr., and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner. The awards, established in 1971 by EPA as part of the Agency's environmental education activities, were created to encourage students from kindergarten through 12th grade to protect public health and the environment through community-based projects.

Citing the students' "common sense solutions to environmental problems," Administrator Browner said, "This award honors the innovation, energy and ingenuity of young people and their ability to protect the environment and change the way we live in our communities."

The 10 recipients were honored for projects of their own design that advanced environmental protection in their communities. Winning groups came from Presque Isle, Me.; Elbridge, N.Y.; Wilmington, Del.; Madison, Ga.; Eldorado, Ill.; Austin, Texas; Aurora, Neb.; Hygiene, Colo.; Kaula, Maui, Hawaii; and Seaside Ore. to accept their awards. One winning group constructed a new 3.1 acre wetland in cooperation with private, corporate, and governmental agencies. Another award winner planned and coordinated a state-wide environmental conference for high school students.

Other winning projects included a group that constructed a pool digger as part of a project to build new habitat for stream trout at a nearby fish hatchery; 18 elementary students who formed an alliance with local senior citizens to plan and implement nine projects to benefit their neighborhood's environment, including construction of an aquaculture pond in the school garden; and a Girl Scout Troop that restored a portion of a wildlife sanctuary used by both native and migratory waterfowl.

To be eligible for the President's Environmental Youth Awards, a young person or group of young persons, between kindergarten and grade 12, must have completed a project intended to improve their environment. The project must be sponsored by at least one adult representative from the applicant's school, camp, youth group, or public interest group.

To participate in the annual awards competition, applications must be mailed to the appropriate EPA regional office and be postmarked by July 31 of the award year. For more information on next year's awards competition, contact the nearest EPA regional office.

(A list of this year's winners is attached.) 

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