Four businesses and one municipality are doing their part in clearing the air over Central Alberta.
As part of Clean Air Day, the Parkland Airshed Management Zone handed out five Action Hero Awards to a cross section of organizations/businesses in Central Alberta at City Hall on Wednesday.
Action Hero stands for Action for a Healthy Environment by Reducing Ozone.
The awards recognize businesses and individuals that are taking that action to improve air quality in their community through various initiatives.
In last year’s inaugural awards, the City of Red Deer was the sole recipient for its idle-free campaign.
This year, the city received the award for incorporating air quality targets in its recently adopted environment master plan.
Kevin Warren, executive director of the Parkland Airshed Management Zone, said this is a good sign that the city is continuing to be progressive and its leading example is trickling down to the community and industry.
Warren said there were several nominations and they wanted to ensure the recipients captured the full spectrum of sectors.
For their idle-free policies and operations, the Red Deer operations of ATCO Gas and Lafarge Canada Inc. received awards.
Bonavista Energy Corp. was selected for its work to reduce the emissions from its dehydration units, and Berry Architecture and Associates of Red Deer was awarded for its green approach to building designs and renovations.
Warren said by recognizing these groups and individuals and putting their names out there, they hope to educate others about things they can do that are air quality friendly.
While this year the recipients were businesses and municipalities, Warren hopes in the future the PAMZ will recognize the effort of individuals in the community.
The awards are handed out annually on Clean Air Day on June 8.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com