HAMPTON — Aquarion Water Company recently hosted a special ceremony at the Seacoast Science Center in Odiorne Point State Park to honor the 2024 Environmental Champion Award winners.
Since 2013, Aquarion has recognized organizations and individuals in the business, nonprofit, adult, and student categories that have shown a commitment to preserving New Hampshire’s natural resources and employing sustainable practices within their communities.
“These four award recipients have shown a deep dedication to the environment and their communities,” said Carl McMorran, New Hampshire operations manager at Aquarion Water Company. “Building a more sustainable state is a collective effort, and these environmental champions have been instrumental not only through their own efforts but in their commitment to environmental education as well.”
The winners of the 2024 Aquarion Environmental Champion Awards are:
Headquartered in New Hampshire, Apparel Impact was established in 2014 to combat America’s fastest-growing waste stream – clothing.
Apparel Impact has diverted over 10 million pounds of textiles from landfills, saved 5.3 billion gallons of water, and removed 175 million pounds of CO2 from the air. Additionally, the company has provided over 4,000 families with clothing and shoes and raised more than $15,000 for veterans and their families.
Since its inception, the company has grown to over 1,210 recycling sites and hopes to reach 1,500 by 2025. To create a fun and engaging educational tool, Apparel Impact recently developed “Team Impact!” – a comic book series designed to educate young people about the importance of textile recycling. The comics are available free of charge to any school that wishes to host an Apparel Impact recycling bin on their campus.
For nearly 30 years, Joe Stieglitz has dedicated his time to conservation efforts at the Great Bay Stewards organization and Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Stieglitz has been a significant donor and contributor to Great Bay Stewards’ events and campaigns and has given back to his community through volunteer work, including educating the community and leading outreach programs. He has held multiple positions within the Great Bay Discovery Center, including as an education program volunteer, exhibit room guide, board member chair, and secretary.
Education is at the forefront of his many environmental pursuits, as he intends to spark curiosity and strengthen the next generation’s environmental literacy. Stieglitz accomplishes this by volunteering as an educator for elementary school field trips and instructing squid dissections for high school classes as a University of New Hampshire Marine Docent.
Established in 2015, the Seabrook-Hamptons Estuary Alliance’s mission is to protect coastal and aquatic resources and preserve the Seabrook-Hamptons estuarine system through education, community outreach, and research.
In 2019, SHEA established the Coastal Hazards Adaptation Team (CHAT), which has developed 19 flooding adaptation strategies. In 2022, it created the Coastal Resilience Team to address dune erosion and other coastal issues.
SHEA offers several programs to educate the public, including a series of Flood Smart Workshops, Birds of the Estuary, and a History of Salt Marsh Farming. Additionally, it helped create the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary Collaborative, working in conjunction with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, US Fish and Wildlife, The National Oceanographic, the Atmospheric Administration, and others to promote awareness and maintain the health of the estuaries.
Margaret Maloney is a recent graduate of Winnacunnet High School in Hampton who has shown an exceptional commitment to environmental stewardship. She embraced the “Forest Friend” role at YMCA Camp Nokomis, where she facilitated sustainability efforts and educated campers on the importance of conservation.
Due to Maggie’s efforts, Camp Nokomis now has solar panels on its office buildings and has implemented a comprehensive composting system. Both projects have made the camp more sustainable and served as educational tools for the campers. She also led workshops for campers ages 7 to 15, sharing her passion for sustainable living and environmental conservation with younger generations. Maggie’s environmentalist efforts exemplify Camp Nokomis’s values of respect, responsibility, and community to the young campers.
To learn more about Aquarion’s 2024 Environmental Champion Award winners, please visit www.aquarionwater.com/awards.