CRBI TO RECOGNIZE GREENIE AWARD WINNERS APRIL 19 DURING EARTH WEEK CELEBRATION
A Calhoun-based textile business, a Piedmont, Alabama land protection organization, Boys and Girls Clubs in Dalton and Rome, the Chatsworth Water Works Commission and Forsyth County will be recognized April 19 with the Coosa River Basin Initiative’s (CRBI) Greenie Awards for their outstanding efforts to protect natural resources in the upper Coosa River basin.
The Greenie Awards will be presented at the Dark Side of the Moon event space in downtown Rome as part of CRBI’s Earth Week activities. The organization will also sponsor a paddle trip on the Etowah River April 21 to celebrate Earth Day.
Tickets to the Greenie Awards ceremony are now available online at https://coosa.org/greenie-awards/. Tickets are $35 each, or $30 each for two or more. The event will include heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks along with an awards ceremony highlighting the work of the honorees and live rhythm and blues music from The Connection Band. The event begins at 6 p.m.
Each year CRBI recognizes outstanding achievement in water conservation, outdoor recreation, sustainability, land protection and innovation through its Greenie Awards. Winners must do business in or reside in the upper Coosa River basin and their efforts must have a direct impact on the Coosa and/or the rivers and streams feeding it.
This year’s Water Conservation Greenie will go to Boys and Girls Clubs in Dalton and Rome. The clubs implemented water conservation measures that reduced water use at club facilities by more than 70 percent, saving hundreds of dollars annually on water bills while setting an example for the youth they service.
Forsyth County Parks and Recreation will be recognized with the Outdoor Recreation Greenie. In 2008, Forsyth County voters approved a $100 million bond to develop more parks in the county. Among those now under construction is Eagle’s Beak Park that will become a key link in the 163-mile-long Etowah River Water Trail.
CRBI’s Sustainability Greenie will go to the Chatsworth Water Works Commission (CWWC). CWWC converted a vacant lot near their wastewater treatment plant into a one-megawatt solar farm that now powers the wastewater treatment plant and the CWWC’s main office.
The Georgia-Alabama Land Trust will be awarded the Land Protection Greenie. The Trust has worked with property owners throughout the region for years, assisting with the creation of conservation easements that have resulted in the permanent protection of more than 350,000 acres of land, including tens of thousands of acres within the upper Coosa River basin. The Trust also played a key role in helping preserve the City of Rome’s Burwell Creek property, once slated for development into a regional shopping center.
Paragon Wool Products in Calhoun will receive the Innovation Greenie. Makers of wool home insulation and other wool products, this upstart company sells high-end wool home insulation that is more efficient than traditional fiberglass and blow-in products while also being longer lasting, biodegradable, renewable and non-toxic.
The upper Coosa River basin includes the Georgia counties of Lumpkin, Dawson, Fannin, Pickens, Gilmer, Cherokee, Forsyth, Fulton, Cobb, Paulding, Polk, Bartow, Floyd, Chattooga, Walker, Whitfield and Murray as well as Cherokee County in Alabama.