The Sustainable Santa Fe Commission and Youth Advisory Board has awarded Sustainable Santa Fe Awards in 12 categories.  The awards went to projects completed during 2008 that demonstrate innovation and leadership in the areas covered by the Sustainalble Santa Fe Plan.  This year the categories include a Special Achievement Award and a Lifetime Recognition Award to recognize the contributions of two Santa Feans who have demonstrated outstanding leadership over time in sustainability. A document summarizing the 2008 award winners can be downloaded here.

Seventy percent of the water used at Luna Laundry is filtered and recycled on the premises. This mostly commercial laundry washes linens from several local hotels, restaurants, doctors offices, and even offers a diaper service. The installation of the state-of-the-art water recycling equipment has saved 3.8 million gallons so far.

Recycle Runway combines couture fashion made from trash and environmental education to change the way the world thinks about the environment. Elegant garments created from recycled materials are exhibited in high-traffic airports to grab travelers’ attention and inspire personal action. Community-based presentations and workshops launch young peoples' imaginations while providing information on how to conserve resources.

What was a deeply eroded dirt canyon just a few years ago has been restored to a meandering stream with gently sloped banks. Over 400 cottonwoods, 3000, willows and 1000’s of seeds for apache plume, four-wing salt bush and native grasses have been planted with lots of help from local environmental and youth groups.

The Santa Fe Farmers Market began with a handful of farmers in the late 1960s and now represents over 100 active vendors. Its mission is to provide opportunities for farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers while providing consumers opportunities to buy locally grown produce directly from farmers. Its new home in the Railyard provides over 9000 s.f. of bright non-toxic space to fulfill this mission year round.

This house moves a step greener than Habitats usual green home. The City leased this infill site in the historic district and the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association used it to demonstrate that affordable housing can also be very green with high quality insulation, an hydronic hot air system heated by a solar panel, and a back up tankless hot water heater.

Dan Baker converted an old car from gas-to-electric as a follow-up to installing Photovoltaics to demonstrate the practicality of a plug-in auto using 'old technology' to solve modern transportation and ecological issues. Pairing of distributed Photovoltaic power generation (PV) with all-electric vehicles (EV) can be a major component in urban/suburban solutions for power and transportation.

Dave Weininger decided to make his home and business carbon neutral, including the transportation requirements. He installed 33.12 kilowatts of photovoltaics and uses two electric vehicles that are charged by the PV. All of the energy from his business, Free to the Earth Music, a studio and distributing company, is completely offset.

Started in September of 2008, this project integrates themes of sustainability and the environment into the general curriculum in an academically rigorous and meaningful way. The project focused on the transformation of Capital’s outdoor courtyard through large mural, green landscaping projects, and dozens of research projects focusing on climate change and environmental sustainability.

Through Youth Allies for Sustainability he researched conventional vs. local organic agriculture and developed a peer education demonstration for Santa Fe public schools, the All Color’s Youth Summit, and Fiesta Verde. He trained over 150 youth on the consequences of large-scale global food production and how we can reduce our ecological footprint by growing food locally. His project culminated in the installation of an artistic container garden.

The local edition of an international phenomenon that facilitates conversation, networking and inspiration about evolving green ideas, techniques and policies. Locals involved in green activities present at monthly events held at various local restaurants that have sustainable business practices in place, such as commercial recycling.

Local architect Ed Mazria imagined what it would take to meet the greenhouse gas reduction needed to stem the impacts of climate change. He issued an international challenge to the architecture and building community to reduce the energy demands of new buildings to zero by 2030. His challenge has sparked a wildfire and will be key to meeting this critical challenge. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.

Honored as a Santa Fe Living Treasure in 1994, Santa Fe native John Stephenson created the Santa Fe Community Garden where 5-acres grow fruit and vegetables that are distributed to over 30 different agencies in Santa Fe that serve the homeless, hungry, disabled and children in need. The farm has served as a local agricultural educational center for over 40 years producing local food for local charities.