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Association of West Virginia Solid Waste Authorities 2009 Volunteer of the Year
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| VOLUNTEER OF YEAR AWARD FOR 2010 Announcement by Mark
D. Holstine Ladies and gentlemen, guests, (Mr. or Madam) Chair,
good evening. In my short tenure as Executive Director for the WV Solid
Waste Management Board, I have met some of you and have learned through
our Board Members and staff the invaluable contributions that every one of
you make as volunteers. As
part of my early indoctrination into the job as Executive Director, I
learned that I am granted this unique privilege of honoring the
Association of WV Solid Waste Authorities’ Volunteer of the Year for
2010. Being nominated by your peers for this prestigious award is in, and of itself, truly an honor. The State of West Virginia and its county and regional solid waste authorities are fortunate to have so many worthy volunteers who serve with distinction. Tonight, we are going to recognize one special person
that is being recognized for their many years of achievements and
accomplishments in volunteer service to their county.
This individual has been a county solid waste authority member
since the early 1990s serving as the Chair of that solid waste authority
for the past 10 years. Throughout
this time they have spearheaded numerous efforts to expand recycling,
initiated clean-up efforts, educated the public on the importance of
recycling and championed the benefits of maintaining a clean and healthy
environment. Back in
2000, under this individual’s direction, the county solid waste
authority introduced a mascot to serve as the face of the authority
helping to promote environmental and solid waste programs. To this day,
this mascot appears in the newspaper weekly with a different message
promoting recycling, litter control and solid waste disposal.
Under
this volunteer’s leadership, the authority’s accomplishments are many.
They include: ·
Working cooperatively with
their county commission to improve the countywide recycling program. As a
result, a new Recycling Ordinance was adopted that includes twice monthly
pickup of curbside recyclables, commercial recycling of fluorescent bulbs,
recycling of plastic and aluminum containers at community events,
requiring multi-family dwellings to participate in recycling and giving
enforcement power to the local solid waste authority. ·
Committing time, money and
personnel to participate in an electronic recycling pilot project. At
their first event, over 60 thousand pounds of electronic waste was
collected and recycled. Since
that time, the county has held numerous e-Cycling events and removed over
200 tons of electronics from the waste stream. ·
Establishing
a Trash Assistance Program to assist low-income citizens that are dealing
with the cancellation of their solid waste collection service.
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Organizing
major community cleanup events and the regular use of work release road
crews for litter cleanup. Our 2010
volunteer of the year also serves as a volunteer member of the
Recycling Coalition of West Virginia, Inc., a non-profit environmental
organization whose mission is to promote the effective and sustainable
reduction, reuse and recycling of materials otherwise destined for
disposal. This
individual is also a key player in this organization, the Association of
West Virginia Solid Waste Authorities.
As
Chair, he was successful in bringing together representatives from local
solid waste authorities across our state, growing the association’s
membership and helping to make this annual educational conference on solid
waste management an invaluable resource to all of the solid waste
professionals and volunteers across the State. Because
of his commitment to the environment, recycling and litter control, he has
unselfishly dedicated much of his life to keep West Virginia healthy,
clean and beautiful. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honor to
introduce to you the Volunteer of the Year for 2010, the Chairman of the
Harrison County Solid Waste Authority, Mr. Michael Grunau (Grew-Now).
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