Three Oregon companies and a high school will be honored today for their commitment to sustainable business practices at the Northwest Environmental Conference and Tradeshow.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski created the Sustainability Awards in 2006 to promote sustainable practices in the private, non-profit and government sectors. The Northwest Environmental Conference, the region’s largest environmental tradeshow, is presented by Northwest Environmental Business Council and Associated Oregon Industries.
Here’s a list of the 2015 winners and highlights of their sustainability work:
Deschutes Brewery: Deschutes Brewery, the nation’s seventh-largest craft brewery, won the Business Award. To offset water used to brew beer, the Bend company restores one billion gallons of water into the Deschutes River every year. The company also recycles all spent brewing materials for feed, nutrients or compost.
Vernier Software & Technology: Vernier Software & Technology of Beaverton won the Technology Award. Vernier makes software and sensors to improve science education. Vernier has roof-top bat houses and a bee hive to help struggling species and has a 2,500-gallon tank to capture rainwater for landscaping.
Jesuit High School: Jesuit High School of Portland won the Non-Profit Award. The school’s newest building, the Elorriaga Center for Science and Mathematics, has Variable Air Volume Units that control the amount of fresh and heated air delivered to each room. The sale of plastic water bottles is banned from the school’s cafeteria and vending machines.
Fishpeople Seafood: Fishpeople Seafood won the Rising Star Award. Fishpeople is a B-Corp where company decisions are made with three metrics: community, habitat and profits. Fishpeople focuses on 12 sustainable fish species to focus on species that will thrive under careful management and to remove pressure from species in decline.
Ryan Frank, 971-804-2530, ryan.frank@oregon.gov
