Sustainability Award Winners 2021

Congratulations to all the individuals and organizations working to build sustainable communities. The award winners were honored at the 13th Annual Leadership in Sustainability Awards Celebration on September 22nd, 2021.

AgLantis: CoCo San Sustainable Farm & Co-Founder Carolyn Phinney

CoCo San Sustainable Farm – a project of AgLantis – is located on one of 15 acres of Central Contra Costa Sanitary District buffer land and provides free, sustainably grown produce to schools, food banks, and other nonprofits that feed the hungry. It is a model for local, fresh, healthy, and affordable produce, community education, environmental protection, and the creation of green jobs. By growing and delivering food locally, the farm dramatically reduces its carbon footprint. Using recycled, agricultural-grade water that would otherwise be discharged into the bay, it eliminates major costs in food production. This recycled water, which is high in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients, provides free fertilizer and is approved by the State of California for organic agriculture. 

Since 2010, Aglantis’ co-founder and volunteer Director Carolyn Phinney and her collaborators have steadfastly maintained their vision and navigated many obstacles. The farm offers hands-on classes in organic urban farming and gardening. Participants have opportunities to build planting beds, grow fresh vegetables from seed, learn about healthy soil, and test water chemistry. They also learn about food justice, nutrition and health, and how food systems affect bees, weather, and the environment. The farm rebuilds barren soil, plants crops that sequester carbon and clean the air, and increases the hydrologic cycle.

The Watershed Project

For many years Richmond-based nonprofit The Watershed Project has been the driving force behind programs to educate local communities about the importance of watersheds and the need to protect them. Working in partnership with local organizations, with a focus on underserved communities, they have provided place-based environmental education to some 7,000 teachers and 30,000 students since 1997. Their coordination of annual Coastal Clean-up Days has involved over 50,000 volunteers. In 2020, during the heart of the pandemic, they modified Clean-up Day to encourage folks in Contra Costa County to pick up trash in their own neighborhoods. Their month-long advocacy included a free screening of “The Story of Plastic.

Heather & Grant Hamilton – EcoMulch & Hamilton Tree Service

Grant and Heather Hamilton own EcoMulch and Hamilton Tree Service, and provide high quality mulch to farms, cities, and other non-profits to help reduce their watering needs and restore the hydrology of their lands. The Hamiltons are generous contributors to their community, and thousands of people have been fed from food grown due to their donation of materials, equipment and time. For over three years they have donated approximately 30 acre-feet of mulch to cover the 15-acre CoCo San Sustainable Farm two feet deep in mulch. if purchased, this would be the equivalent of a million dollars worth of mulch. Without this incredible donation, the farm would not have been able to donate over 37,000 pounds of produce to feed a hungry community. They collaborate with many others in the community and are especially supportive of projects that teach environmental protection and feed our community. Heather teaches gardening  to school children with her mother, Brenda. The Hamilton workplace regularly hires those with challenges and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Ray Harts – Healthy Hearts Institute

Ray Harts built and designed Healthy Hearts Institute as a two-acre community garden in the El Pueblo subsidized housing in Pittsburg where he grew up. He is committed to helping eradicate food deserts and empower individuals and the community. Ray believes access to healthy, affordable food is a right and should be available to everyone. Growing crops in this community garden provides the opportunity and space for neighbors to interact with each other and build healthier outcomes. Over the years, Ray has provided classes in nutritional cooking, exercise, strength training, yoga, and stress management. He employs locals to work alongside him and partners with the County Housing Authority, the UC Master Gardeners, and the “Growing Healthy People for Pittsburg” group, among many others. Healthy Hearts Institute practices sustainability through regenerative agriculture, equity for the local economy, sequestering carbon on former waste land, and bringing health and happiness to a local underserved population. He makes a difference in the lives of all who visit.

Devin Joseph Guilford Jackson

Middle school teacher Devin Jackson is the lead Sustainability Coordinator for the Environmentally Concerned Kids Club at Foothill Middle School in Walnut Creek. This Club of over 40 students from all grades promotes environmental awareness around campus, especially during brunch and lunch, reducing the school’s ecological footprint, and reaching 80+ plus waste diversion. Under Devin’s guidance, and with the help of school administrators, Foothill Middle School was awarded a Bronze-level Green Ribbon School award by the California Department of Education and received a Waste-Busters award for 75% waste diversion in 2018. He has developed an energy plan for Foothill and implemented a number of school-wide practices to help staff, students, and parents reduce their carbon footprint through recycling, composting, and reducing landfill waste.  By making sustainability an integral part of Foothill Middle School’s day-to-day operations, Devin Jackson is helping students understand the importance of caring for the environment now and in their future adult lives.

Lifetime Achievement – Jack Dice & The Muffin People

Jack Dice is a true community treasure and environmental hero. For over 17 years, Jack and The Muffin People have been bringing healthy groceries to St. Mary’s Center, Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program and St. Vincent de Paul. Six days a week, The Muffin People volunteers load up their own vehicles in the early morning with leftover food donated by Lamorinda and Walnut Creek grocery stores and make the trip to Oakland. Jack, now in his 80’s, continues to schedule the volunteers and work a weekly four-hour shift. The Muffin People not only promote social justice but also keep hundreds of thousands of pounds of food out of the landfill annually. By reducing methane-producing food waste, they are helping California meet its goals of greenhouse gas reduction. Jack and the  team make sustainability a practice, including developing new members so the work can continue. The total value of the food they prevent from being wasted exceeds $1.4 million per year.

Rising Star – Devon Bradley

Devon Bradley is a Miramonte High School senior who founded his school’s Environmental Solutions Club in his sophomore year and continues to head the group. Recognizing the impact of the pandemic on his community’s small businesses, he led the club in creating Project HEART, a unique effort to help local restaurants survive while addressing environmental sustainability. Project HEART, which stands for “Help the Environment and Assist Restaurant Takeout,” used social media to promote takeout and to raise funds to purchase compostable takeout containers. The Environmental Solutions Club also worked on passing an Orinda polystyrene ban and educating Miramonte students on lunchtime recycling. Devon was instrumental in conducting a multi-high school virtual Earth Day Summit in April 2021 when he was a RecycleSmart intern during the 2020-21 school year.