The applicants and nominees listed below were recognized by the Governor in 1996 for their efforts to protect and enhance the environmental quality of Vermont by conserving natural resources and preventing pollution before it is generated. Where there are multiple award recipients in a single category, the panel of judges did not make a distinction between first, second, and third place winners. Thus, the award recipients are listed alphabetically.

Business/Industry/Trade/Professional Organizations

Large Businesses:

NYNEX - NYNEX began using 100% post-consumer content recycled bill-remittance envelopes for its telephone customers following a successful pilot project conducted in Vermont in October of 1995. The 100% post-consumer content envelopes contain a minimum of 50% content from old telephone directories collected and recycled into envelope grade paper. The envelopes are unique in that the post-consumer paper is pulped without removing the ink, dyes, and other materials that were contained in the original paper. This prevents the generation of hazardous waste and gives the envelopes their unique coloring. The billing envelopes mailed in Vermont, all 9.8 tons of them, are recycled again into new envelopes. In addition, NYNEX was the first to duplex its billings - reducing paper consumption for its telephone bills by 32%, and by reducing the size and paper weight of its directory NYNEX saves 5% annually on paper required for production of directory.

International Business Machines (IBM Chemical/ Environmental Programs) (Essex Jct., VT) - IBM manufactures semiconductor memory and logic components for computers. A fourth-time award recipient, IBM is recognized this year for the reduction of toxic chemicals in its metal etch process. Acting once again on its commitment to pollution prevention and to environmental protection, IBM engineers formed a partnership with a research corporation to improve the productivity of its metal etch process, to eliminate the use of three toxic chemicals, and to reduce the use of two others. Besides source reducing the use of toxic chemicals, redesign of the metal etch process improved worker safety by reducing the handling of chemicals in line, reduced ozone depletion since fluorinated compounds were eliminated, and takes IBM well beyond present state and federal requirements limiting air emissions. Total cost savings accruable to the chemical reductions is $148,000. Once again, IBM serves to remind us that pollution prevention pays -- both environmental and economic dividends.

Small Businesses:

Hubbardton Forge - Hubbardton Forge, formerly Glennbrook Manufacturing Corp., employs 42 people to manufacture fine quality hand-forged wrought iron lighting and home accessories. A second-time recipient of a Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence in Pollution Prevention, Hubbardton Forge is recognized for its efforts to reduce waste wash water and to design an environmentally-friendly process for parts cleaning. The Hubbardton management team researched and selected the cleaning chemicals and then sent Material Safety Data Sheets and other process information to be reviewed by staff at the Agency of Natural Resources and at the Town of Casteleton’s waste water treatment plant. An agreement was reached, based on this review and on discharge procedures for this chemistry. A custom built batch washer, little more than a giant dish washer, completes the parts cleaning system. On line by August of 1995, the project cost $60,000. Efficiency analysis indicates a 50% reduction in cleaning labor, a 97% reduction in process water discharge, $2,700 savings in chemicals, and an $800 dollar savings in compressed air. These savings should allow the system to pay for itself in less than 2 years.

Vermont Country Soap - Vermont Country Soap in Middlebury makes gentle, all natural soaps without artificial colors, fragrances, or preservatives. In just 4 years, this small company has dramatically increased production and sales -- and decreased waste generation nearly 80%. Through innovation and attention to detail, this small Vermont manufacturer has demonstrated that the same characteristics that result in a superior product can result in significant waste reduction. According to Vermont Country Soap owner, Larry Plesent, waste reduction is as simple as "...looking in the trash can, identifying what’s there, and finding a way to get it out." The company has source reduced much of its packaging offering un-packaged soap and soaps sold with a simple paper band. Shipping containers are reused as are the stainless steel production tables purchased at food service auctions and the ventilation ducts fabricated from steel drum shipping containers. As he puts it, Larry Plesent sees any challenge as having many solutions, and waste prevention is like, "...picking money up off the floor".

Individual Citizens

Carol Merrill - Carol Merrill is a hairdresser at Sylvia’s Gallery of Style in Montpelier. Carol has, for all intents and purposes, reinvented hair care at Sylvia’s. Carol offers the usual range of hair care services, including perms and dyes, but she has shunned the typically harsh and sometimes toxic hair care products used by many and uses instead only products made from natural botanical substances and least-toxic alternatives. Although these products cost a bit more, Carol feels the additional cost is justified in terms of the environment and in terms of health concerns and she absorbs this additional cost herself by not charging any more than other beauticians in the shop. Carol is a strong advocate for environmental responsibility. She practices what she preaches, promotes her philosophy to customers and to other beauticians, and exemplifies how it is that individual actions on behalf of the environment can make a big difference.

Public Agencies

Vermont Army National Guard - The Vermont Army National Guard has nine maintenance facilities located throughout the state. At these facilities heavy equipment gets maintained and serviced often leading to the generation of wastes that are difficult to reduce at the source. Going for the low-hanging fruit first, the Guard has established a protocol for changing lubricating oils only when analysis indicates it’s necessity. Spent antifreeze is recycled on-site, reconstituted with additive packages, and reused, and the Guard is experimenting with aqueous jet-spray washers and less toxic parts cleaning chemicals. Glass, plastics, cardboard, paper, metal, and wood are all recycled or reused where possible and energy conservation efforts have made many of the buildings both warmer and brighter. Vermont Army National Guard efforts to improve energy efficiency, to reduce waste generation, and to recycle wastes produced a cost avoidance savings of more than $55,000 and the diversion of 165 tons of materials from landfills, sewers, and incinerators.

VTANR Award for Exemplary P2 Planning

Gadue's Dry Cleaning Inc. - Gadue's Dry Cleaning has four locations in the greater Burlington area. All Vermont dry cleaners and the vast majority of dry cleaners nationwide use perchloroethylene, or "perc" to clean clothes. Perc is a halogenated solvent widely preferred by the industry because of its aggressive solvent capabilities, chemical stability and non-flammability. However, perc is also a toxic chemical which becomes a toxic air emission and a hazardous waste. As a hazardous waste generator, Gadue's Dry cleaning is subject to the pollution prevention planning requirements of Act 100 passed by the Vermont General Assembly in 1991.

While state statute does not require pollution prevention plans to be submitted directly to the Agency of Natural Resources, Gadue's Dry cleaning voluntarily submitted both its Plan, and its Plan Update for Agency review. Both the Plan and its Update were developed by Mr. Gadue, Company President. The Plans are exemplary. In fact, the Pollution Prevention Plan, drafted in 1993, was distributed with Mr. Gadue's permission as a model for other Vermont dry cleaners to use in writing their own facility Pollution Prevention Plans.

The Management Policy at Gadue’s states that, "It is the policy of Gadue’s Dry Cleaning in all our operations to strive for the least impact on our environment possible." Gadue's employs three of only five individuals in Vermont that have passed a comprehensive exam designating them as "Certified Environmental Dry Cleaners" by the International Fabricare Institute and Mr. Gadue is himself the only "International Fabricare Institute Certified Professional Dry Cleaner" in the State. Regardless of the size of the business, this level of management commitment is essential to the success of any pollution prevention program.