| The Renaissance
Portsmouth Hotel was filled with creative minds and determined spirits as
this year's River Stars gathered there to be honored on January 20.
It's being called "The Year of Innovation" and businesses, industries and
organizations have the goods to back it up!
Rivers Stars in 2004 reduced pollution by
10.5 million pounds! And that didn't include an additional 11 million pounds
of material recycled. In addition, these Stars documented the conservation
or creation of 18 acres of wildlife habitat...a shining success for each of
them!
 Most Progressive Projects Yet Seen!
Note these outstanding "firsts":
ODU built Virginia’s first LEED certified higher
education building. LEED stands
for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a certification
program by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Atlantic Associates installed a 4,000 square foot vegetated roof
system on top of its offices. This
“green roof” is considered the first environmentally friendly roof in
Hampton Roads and is designed to reduce and improve stormwater runoff,
reduce heating and cooling costs, and extend the life of the roof.
CBN is experimenting with
“compost tea” which is compost manure wrapped in cheesecloth,
steeped in water and then sprayed on plants. The end result is that plants
treated with compost tea will often grow more vigorously and resist disease.
For the first time, a River Star has adopted a site for
habitat credit in the River Stars program.
US Maritime Administration, a.k.a. MARAD, adopted
The Elizabeth River Project’s Pescara Wetland located in the Berkley
section of Norfolk. Besides
quarterly cleanups, plans include restoring the walking trail, planting
native shrubs at the entrance, and creating an educational map for
visitors.
The
Hermitage Foundation is the first museum to join the River
Stars program.
The museum set aside 6 acres of riparian buffer in a Land
Conservation Understanding with The Elizabeth River Project.
Other wildlife habitat initiatives
include eradicating invasive Phragmitees as well as a planned wetland
restoration in partnership with The Elizabeth River Project.
St. Pauls Episcopal Church is the first
church to enter the River Stars program. As a River Star project, 25 adults
and children planted a butterfly garden in the churchyard.
Sunday school kids grew native plants from seeds
for the young volunteers to take home and also presented a puppet show to
educate congregation on value of butterflies.
See these and more of this year's River Stars by
clicking on the links below...and think about how YOU might shine
as a River Star.
|
