UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A joint project sponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was awarded the 2002 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence for outstanding commitment to environmental stewardship.

The Backyard Composting Education and Bin Distribution Project was one of 41 Governor's Award winners recognized at a special awards ceremony and reception convened by Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker.

"We're very proud of the exceptional accomplishments of this year's winners," said Gov. Schweiker. "They've shown through their example that it is not only possible, but beneficial to our commonwealth to conserve natural resources and to protect our environment."

The Penn State/DEP project offers county-based training workshops on the composting of yard trimmings, leaves and food scraps. Workshop participants receive a free composting bin. Composting workshops are being offered this fall in 52 counties. For more information, visit its Web site at http://backyardcompost.cas.psu.edu/.

"The primary goals of the backyard composting program are to increase public awareness of composting as an effective means of recycling organic waste and to build public support of composting at the individual and municipal or commercial levels," says Richard Stehouwer, Penn State assistant professor of environmental soil science and one of the program's coordinators. The project also increased the amount of organic materials diverted from municipal waste streams and recycled into productive use, thereby helping the state to achieve its goal of a 35 percent reduction in municipal solid waste generation by 2003. Penn State Cooperative Extension taught the educational components of the program, and DEP provided funding for program support, composting bins and logistical support. To date, 21,200 citizens have attended about 600 composting education workshops offered in 62 counties. The program has distributed more than 20,000 composting bins.

"It is the dedicated work of more than 200 Penn State Cooperative Extension county agents and Master Gardener volunteers statewide that make this education program possible and successful," Stehouwer says.

Collectively, this year's award winners have eliminated 2,192 tons of air pollutants; reduced solid waste disposal by 607,530 tons; conserved 7.9 million gallons of water; and reduced energy consumption by 20.8 million kilowatt hours while saving $12.8 million annually.

Since 1996, the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence has honored individuals, businesses, municipalities and institutions working to benefit Pennsylvania's environment and economy. For more information about the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence, visit DEP at http://www.dep.state.pa.us.

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EDITORS: Contact Richard Stehouwer at 814-863-7640 or rcs15@psu.edu (e-mail).

Contact: Gary Abdullah gxa2@psu.edu 814-863-2708 814-863-9877 fax #277