The Texas Environmental Excellence Awards is an annual awards program that honors achievements in environmental preservation and protection. There are ten diverse award categories that provide citizens, communities, businesses, and organizations an opportunity to obtain the state’s highest environmental honor and be recognized for their environmental projects. The deadline for submission is September 27th.

Since 1993, they have honored more than 250 successful environmental projects and efforts. By honoring these winners, the TCEQ hopes to encourage others to initiate like-minded projects and reinforce a spirit of environmental stewardship. These are the categories:

• Agriculture
• Civic/Community
• Education
• Environmental Educator of the Year
• Individual
• Innovative Operations/Management
• Pollution Prevention
• Technical/Technology
• Water Conservation
• Youth

The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. is sponsoring a FREE Going Green Sustainability lecture: “Mycophile or Mycophobe–we all need mushrooms” with guest speaker, Teri MacArthur, Certified Texas Master Naturalist. This event is free and open to the public.

Celebrate Texas Arbor Day with a tree planting demonstration and receive a complimentary tree sapling while supplies last. Visit the outdoor library corner to find books on trees and how to care for them at Mercer’s West Side Arboretum. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, FACE PAINTING, HISTORICAL TREES, CHILDREN’S CRAFTS

Time to get rid of those tires, mattresses, paint, motor oil, antifreeze and other hard to recycle items. Keep Pearland Beautiful is hosting Pearland Recycles Day on Saturday, November 16th from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. This is the only day that the Stella Roberts Recycling Center will accept tires and mattresses for recycling. Pearland residents and non-Pearland residents can recycle up to 8 tires ($2/each) and up to 3 mattresses ($5/each). We are only accepting car & light truck tires off of the rim. KPB received a grant from Keep America Beautiful of 9-Volt batteries.  We will be distributing them to residents on this day to educate about the importance of replacing your smoke detector batteries and recycling all batteries properly.

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) including paint, motor oil, antifreeze, etc. is accepted year-round at the Recycling Center during normal operating hours of Tuesday – Friday 8 AM – 5 PM and Saturday 9 AM – 1 PM. Brazoria County residents can recycle HHW at the Recycling Center for free with proof of residency and non-Brazoria County residents can drop-off HHW for a $1/pound donation to KPB.

Tires and mattresses were chosen to be collected on this day for several reasons. Used tires can be a threat to the environment because they hold water, serving as a breeding space for mosquitos. They can also become a fire hazard, emitting harmful toxins into the environment. Used tires will be sent to Liberty Tire Recycling, where they will become rubber mulch and tire derived aggregate. Mattresses are bulky, hard to compress, and tough on machinery when taken to the landfill. Mattresses collected from the event will be sent to Houston Furniture Bank, which will reuse, if possible, or recycle up to 90% of the material.

Keep Pearland Beautiful offers this program in conjunction with Texas Recycles Day and America Recycles Day. Please go online and take the pledge to recycle more at americarecyclesday.org. For more information about this event call (281) 489-2795.

Join the prairie community of southeast Texas and coastal Louisiana as we celebrate the great work happening locally to save, restore, and teach prairies. We will present awards to prairie champions and enjoy a delicious potluck dinner. Register today!

Going Green in Houses of Worship – Learn from Others!

The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston invites you to learn how houses of worship in Houston are going green and consider what you could do in your own house of worship. Join speakers of a variety of faith backgrounds who will discuss work in their houses of worship to go green in their building, grounds, worship services, community service projects, advocacy, educational programs, and more. After each speaker presents on their work, we will have break-out sessions where you can discuss your challenges in going green in your house of worship and get tips from others. People of all faiths are encouraged to attend, as are representatives of local environmental non-profits that would like to work with people of faith on environmental issues. Please join us! The Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston acts to empower the faith community in the greater Houston area to act and advocate on behalf of the environment. For more information about this event, or the Interfaith Environmental Network of Houston, please contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com.

On Jan. 26, from 9:45-11 a.m., Christ the King Lutheran Church will host a presentation by Dr. Stephen Long, a public health physician, on the EAT Lancet Commission on Food, Planet & Health: Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems report. This study, compiled by 37 scientists and other experts from 16 countries, aims to establish a global food economy that could combat chronic diseases in wealthy nations like ours and provide better nutrition for poor ones, all without destroying the planet. For more information, see the Facebook event.

Raise funds for the Lawther-Deer Park Prairie Education Program, honor Susan and Peter Conaty, participate in auctions, and test your prairie knowledge with this fun program.

On May 18, Kinder will offer the same great program spotlighting Stephen Klineberg and his transformational Kinder Houston Area Survey, along with insights from Rice University and community leadership. Proudly, they will also honor Rev. William A. Lawson for his many years of service to Houston and its people. All will be offered online for our entire community to enjoy freely, safely and comfortably.

Registrants will receive instructions via email on how to access the program closer to the program date.

11:30 a.m. Digital Registration

2020 Kinder Houston Area Survey and other materials made available to access online and download

12:00 p.m. Lunch-Out Program

Grab your lunch, and from the comfort of your preferred location, explore findings from Stephen Klineberg’s 39th Kinder Houston Area Survey, with insights from Rice University President David Leebron, Houston Education Research Consortium Director Ruth N. López Turley, and Kinder Institute Director Bill Fulton. The Lunch-Out will also honor Rev. William A. Lawson for his 60+ years of service to Houston and its people.