Energy Innovator Award

Saint Paul’s Creation Care Reusable T-Shirt Bag Ministry, led by Anne Wilde, received the Business/Organization award. Saint Paul’s Creation Care facilitates a group of volunteers who make over 1,800 t-shirt bags annually. Each month, Anne and her team deliver these carefully made bags to the Manna on Meridian food bank, where hundreds of individuals receive them full of produce. By teaching people that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, the reusable bag ministry gives participants a first hand look at what sustainable upcycling is all about. 

Linda Young received the Individual Energy Innovator award. Linda Young is an environmentalist that leads by example from living in an all solar home, growing her own organic food and driving a hybrid car. By creating the Florida Clean Water Network, Linda has informed Floridians about hearings affecting the state’s environment, and has urged citizens to testify at the Department of Environmental Protection, to oppose fracking and changes to FL surface water rules. Linda has spent most of her life  moving others to action through education, demonstration and leadership to save Florida’s environment.  

Charlotte Stuart-Tilley received the Youth Energy Innovator award. Charlotte, a homeschooled Tally middle schooler, has shown that activism is ageless. She is the leader behind the Tallahassee School Strike for Climate Change, an effort that involves her and other students doing their schoolwork on the front steps of the historic capital every other Friday to encourage elected leaders to make more environmentally conscious decisions. Charlotte has promoted these peaceful demonstrations through social media since the strike began in January. Charlotte also uses social media to promote ideas and give tips to be more eco-friendly. Charlotte has shown that young people have the power to make changes that make a difference. 

Third Wave Volunteers received the Statewide Energy Innovator award. Third Wave Volunteers, led by Dr. Alison Thompson, has a mission to light up the darkest places in the world using solar energy as over 1.6 billion people in the world live without electricity or light. Each town, village or school this organization visits is given a solar lights demonstration to show crowds what a future using free energy from the sun can look like. Their main goal is to educate and prepare Floridians for future disasters at a grassroots level by achieving energy independence in the war against climate change.

Lonnie Draper, M.D. and Oscar Psychas received the President’s Choice Award.

Dr. Lonnie Draper, M.D. is an ER doctor and engineer that applies his knowledge and passion for energy reduction to promote the use of alternative energy sources. As a past president of the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), he has used PSR’s reach and influence to educate his colleagues and community members on sustainability issues, specifically energy consumption. Dr. Draper presents at medical forums, for the state legislature, has created a project to urge utilities to retire coal-based energy plants, has worked to explore new uses and designs for batteries and has worked to design solar powered vehicles for public use. As a respected member of the medical and business communities, Dr. Draper takes advantage of the appointments he receives to boards and community leadership committees to promote his ideas on how to more aggressively seek alternative sources of energy.

Oscar Psychas, a Gainesville native and Middlebury College sophomore, is a young environmentalist that has committed his time and efforts to empower young Floridians to explore and protect the state’s natural areas and resources. He has been part of several initiatives to promote sustainability that included his 2017 Walk for Wild Florida campaign, a 280 mile hike from Gainesville to Tallahassee that drew attention to the government’s need to protect Florida’s natural spaces. Oscar was also part of a student based podcast that discussed sustainability and energy issues, and participated in a summer camp where he worked to educate students on environmental issues. Currently, Oscar and seven other individuals ages 10-20 are working with Our Children’s Trust to sue the state of Florida for its promotion of the fossil fuel industry and lack of climate change reform. Oscar looks to push environmental change through youth engagement and political activism.

Bryana Burnham and Madison Geiger received the Youth Energy Innovator award for their achievement in early adoption of sustainable practices and leadership.

Bryana Burnham is a passionate and driven environmentalist, and at 10 years old she is one of the youngest of our finalists. After the Mosaic Sinkhole, Bryana started the only Earth Guardian Crew in Polk County, and has attended meetings with her local commissioners to discuss ideas and goals related to the Earth Guardian organization. Bryana avidly opposes the phosphate industry mining and has attended protests and demonstrations to bring attention to phosphate contamination. She has also been a part of a documentary on phosphate mining, created by Emma Green. Currently, she is gathering petitions to ask her school to add environmental and climate change issues to its curriculum and will later go forward with this appeal to her school board. Bryana feels that there must been an added emphasis on educating the youth on the environment to increase the youth involvement in efforts to remediate environmental issues.

Madison Geiger is the president of Leon High School’s PeaceJam club. As president, her most salient platform has been to educate students on how to reduce, reuse and recycle. She has led several sustainability workshops and created a Plastic Awareness Campaign at Leon to make a statement about the school’s plastic use. The Plastic Awareness Campaign offers peers the opportunity to sign a pledge that details the individual’s’ commitment to limiting their plastic usage. This year she had the opportunity to present her school’s service projects at the 10th Annual FSU PeaceJam Conference to Kailash Satyarthi, the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Madison’s commitment to increasing sustainability at her school has led to an improved effort by students to recycle plastic and reduce their overall carbon footprint. Her Plastic Awareness Campaign is expected to grow as she and her peers continue to push for more eco-friendly school environments. 

Green4Tally recieved the Organization Energy Innovator award in recognition of its valuable contributions to a more sustainable Earth. Green4Tally is a local Tallahassee organization that aids businesses in making sustainable choices, specifically setting goals for recycling and waste reduction. Each Green4Tally business commits to ongoing efforts to meet or exceed the organization’s guidelines for reducing waste, conserving resources and educating their employees on sustainable practices. This organization has developed sustainable educational materials that include best practices through monthly meetings and “Best Practices Workshops”. Green4Tally has also created a Charter Committee that actively works with local business owners and community volunteers to identify and tackle existing challenges related to sustainability. By directly working with the Tallahassee business community to develop appropriate ecological practices and engage business owners and their staff in adopting change, Green4Tally has broadened the corporate scope on sustainability.

Dr. Bruce Strouble recieved the Individual Energy Innovator award for exhibiting energy innovation in life and in the community. Dr. Bruce W. Strouble has dedicated the past six years of his life to increase awareness around sustainability and environmental justice throughout Florida. As the executive Director of Citizens for a Sustainable Future, he has organized workshops, and multiple community events, as well as participated in national awareness campaigns to increase attention on various issues that impact the environment and public health. As the research coordinator for FAMU’s Sustainability Institute, he promotes initiatives that look to advance sustainability efforts and environmental justice causes. Dr. Strouble also serves on the Advisory Board of The Moving Forward Network, a national environmental justice coalition. Dr. Strouble wears yet another hat as member of the Leon County Affordable Housing Advisory Council, where he pushes for sustainable and equitable housing development in vulnerable communities. Through his many roles, Dr. Strouble works to raise awareness around sustainability, environmental justice and energy issues that individuals, especially underprivileged groups, in Florida face.

Leon County of Sustainability The Leon County of Sustainability is a great resource for the community helping to broaden residents’ views on sustainability issues. This office regularly goes above and beyond what one would expect from a government agency, and promotes sustainability in name, practice, and community value. 

Water Wagon Project Since the unveiling in December of 2016 by the City of Tallahassee, the Water Wagon Project has provided reusable bottles and great tasting City water to the community, free of charge. Water Wagon is an innovative opportunity to educate the community about the public water system available to them, and how carrying a reusable water bottle or tumbler can significantly reduce the number of disposable, single-use bottles consumed by the community. The long-term impact of educating the community, promoting tap water, and using reusable drinkware benefits the local environment for future generations.

Florida School of Holistic Living North Florida Branch

The Florida School of Holistic Living (FSHL) is an educational organization which cultivates sustainable community by empowering individuals through philosophy-in-practice education that promotes holistic living. FSHL has been a driving force towards environmental consciousness and conservation, offering education on herbalism and gardening, as well as contemporary technologies that foster living in harmony with the natural world. 

Treehouse Permaculture Center

Treehouse Permaculture Center (TPC) is dedicated to providing healthy and sustainable food options to the community while simultaneously restoring biodiversity on the land the center occupies. TPC inspires community members to implement sustainable designs into their own living spaces. By lending hands on permaculture workshops, TPC helps facilitate community powers of observation, arming people with the ability to see the resources available to them within the community and their space.

Gabrielle Maynard Gaby believes that no one in the Tallahassee community should go hungry if there is available food. She innovatively contributes to sustainability by preventing food waste by recovering leftovers at large events. Gaby has also educated the community on the best techniques and materials to use in order to recover food from an event in order to grow towards a sustainable, humane future. 

Kayana Gaines Kayana Gaines has spearheaded innovation via her role as coordinator of the FAMU RYS Ecolab, which produces fresh produce for the community. She has utilized her platform at the FAMU Sustainability Institute to further campus greening via her role as FAMU Green Coalition Co-Adviser. Kayana has led several initiatives to educate the community on sustainability and energy issues and has assisted with on-campus indabas, workshops, and annual earth week festivities.

Len Adams Len is a leader in the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) Tallahassee Group that empowers and supports others to dream big and use creative techniques to reach the local Tallahassee community. Len recognizes the potential of community outreach in realizing future opportunities of sustainable growth, and uses the CCL Tallahassee Group as a platform to regularly share information about climate change and spread CCL’s message of active citizenship and engagement with our members of Congress.

Lauren Corey Lauren has organized rallies throughout the year for environmental causes through the FSU Environmental Service Project. She was the initiator of the Climate Rally in Tallahassee, in which she found partners who put her on a path towards success with various speakers and over 200 attendees. 

Richard Silvestri  Richard is a retired fire fighter who is constantly educating the public through emails, reports to Coalition, and others as he travels the country making a difference on Clean Energy issues. When the Professional Firefighter Association came out in favor of Amendment 1, the sham solar amendment, he was instrumental in convincing them to withdraw their support, which contributed significantly to the defeat of the Amendment. He traveled to Pennsylvania to document the depth of fracking destruction and shed light on harm to residents.

Sarah Younger Sarah Younger wrote “Ode to Amendment 1”, built the now famous Monopoly Man, a giant paper mache head, and corporate fat cat suit. It was performed as street theater under her direction at the Everglades Benefit Concert. She provided demonstrable leadership in the community with creative programming to promote the pro-solar energy agenda, leading workshops and organized art builds for protests and rallies such as People’s Climate March and FPL protests throughout South Florida. She co-founded ongoing educational programming for community-led development of the “Kinetic Art Project”, a public art piece demonstrating alternative energy and re-purposed materials. 

Cierra Williams Cierra has volunteered with the French Town Community garden for over three years as an iGrow Youth Farm Leader and persistently pushed her family and friends to “go green.” Cierra has been instrumental in educating on the importance of energy independence and sustainability. She has promoted healthy eating, composting as a solution to damaged soils, and local businesses to stimulate the local economy. Cierra starts college at Florida A&M University in the fall and will major in Biology.

Toko Nakamura Toko Nakamura is a Japanese Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) student visiting the United States for one year. Toko’s leadership in sustainability has extended to her impact with her RYE peers from all over the world, fellow high school students, and other Rotarians. She personally takes short showers, line dries her clothes, and seeks opportunities through the use of environmentally-sound personal, public and shared transportation resources. She practices sustainability in her everyday life and urges her peers to do the same.

Will Sheftall received the President’s Choice Award.  Will has created many courses and training days on ecology, but always ensures to focus on individual energy consumption and how individuals can make changes. He spearheaded the energy retrofit of the Leon County Extension Office, which now has solar panels as well as the instrumentation & data to use it as an educational resource.

Kelly Dozier received the Individual Energy Innovator award. As Chair of this year’s Chain of Parks Art Festival, Kelly Dozier implemented the tagline: “Going Green in 2016.” Under her leadership, the planning committee partnered with Sustainable Tallahassee and incorporated the elimination of Styrofoam, recycling education, “green” education exhibits, and collection of the used cooking oil from the food trucks for biodiesel conversion for city trucks.

The Rags2Bags Committee of Sustainable Tallahassee promotes the usage of reusable bags in the place of plastic bags. Its members, lead by Peggy Sanford, have sewn and given away almost 1,000 reusable cloth bags this year.

Cornerstone Learning Community (CLC) 5th Grade Class– Every student in CLC’s 5th grade class wrote a personal letter to every Florida Senator, urging them to ban fracking and vote against SB 318. The entire class attended the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee meeting, where they had one elected student testify on behalf of the class. The sponsor of the bill “credited” the 5th grade class for the rejection of the fracking bill.

City of Tallahassee Your Own Utility received the Municipality award. City Electric Utility is currently developing a 20 megawatt Solar Farm for production in 2017. They intend to follow this up with a second 20 megawatt Solar Farm a year or so afterwards. This will increase the solar power in Tallahassee by 24 times the current amount. They continually work to attend local meetings and explain future plans for cleaner energy in Tallahassee.

The Alan Williams Youth Award was presented to the sibling team of Delawn, Clarenia, and Cierra White, who worked with the Leadership Corps of iGrow “Whatever You Like,” a Frenchtown-based youth empowerment and urban agriculture program of the Tallahassee Food Network. Delawn, Clarenia, and Cierra are the backbone of the youth farm. Their work has made food accessible to neighbors in Frenchtown’s D-Block, one of Tallahassee’s food deserts.

The Business Award was given to Bing Energy International for their production of core components for NextGen Hydrogen fuel cells. Bing’s core technology was developed at, and patented by, Florida State University. Bing holds the worldwide license to commercially develop this exciting technology.

The winner for Organizations was the FAMU Green Coalition for their work towards sustainability. Florida A&M University’s Green Coalition is a student-led organization dedicated to promoting sustainability in the greater FAMU community. GC has also worked with the City of Tallahassee to distribute more than 6,000 free CFLs to south side residents.

Public Official award was given to Jackie Pons for his advocacy for efficient energy in school and buildings citywide. Superintendent Pons advocates for green schools and for smart energy efficient buildings. He is in support of more fuel efficient bus fleet for Leon County Schools. More schools now recycle since he has been superintendent and more start to recycle each year.

The Winner for individuals was John Sojat for his instrumental contributions in advocating for the installation of solar photovoltaic and geothermal systems on the Leon County Extension Office’s Climate Advisory Committee.

The Community Carbon Fund received the Business/Organization Energy Innovator award.  and their projects work with the non-profits, Bethany Family Apartments, Grace Mission Episcopal Church, Big Bend Homeless Coalition, and The Alford Arm Greenway.  Steve Urse, the driving force behind the CCF, has managed to leverage its funds by procuring items at cost, getting contractors to donate labor, securing City of Tallahassee energy rebates, all while reducing energy demand, reducing C02 emissions, and saving non-profits money to put into programming and services.

Representative Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda received the Publicly-elected Official Energy Innovator award. Representative Rehwinkel Vasilinda has a JD and studied environmental law, and is currently a member of the Florida House of Representatives and a professor at Tallahassee Community College.  As a Representative, she co-authored a landmark recycling bill, has sought to close the tax loophole on bottled water, and has consistently supported Florida Forever, the state’s conservation land acquisition program.  She is a person who is vocal in her support of Florida becoming a leader in promoting renewable energy and protecting our environment.

Karen Loewen received the 2012 Individual Energy Innovator award. While Karen rides her bike to work, shop and run errands and burns less than 5 gallons of gas a month, she also helped start Bike Eat Shop Tallahassee BEST, a member organization where members receive discounts from shops, restaurants and businesses for riding their bike instead of driving.  Karen also serves on the Committee for a Bikeable Community, the bike advocacy program under the Capital City Cyclists which advises City/County planners on bike facilities to make riding in traffic easier and safer.

Ryan Mitchell received the 2012 Individual Energy Innovator award. As the Senior Environmental Specialist at FAMU, Ryan is responsible for many of FAMU’s on-the-ground environmental changes, such as the campus recycling program. He oversaw the grant to establish a rainwater-collection system and green space on campus. He’s a member of the FAMU Environment and Sustainability Council, the director of the Tallahassee Area Association of Environmental Professionals, and co-chairs the FAMU Green Coalition. He was a board member of Sustainable Tallahassee and is CEO of ISIS Energy Trinidad.