2009 News

August 12, 2009

Commissioners’ Bucks Employees Green Initiative (BEGIN) Committee Wins State Award

Each year, the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP), the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association (PWIA) and the Keystone Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) recognize exemplary recycling and waste reduction achievements throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, during the Board of Bucks County Commissioners’ annual business meeting at the Middletown Grange Fair No. 684, Commissioners Charles H. Martin, chairman, James F. Cawley, Esq. and Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, LCSW proudly accepted the 2009 “Pennsylvania Waste Watcher Award” on behalf of the two dozen employee and citizen members of the Bucks Employees Green Initiative (BEGIN) Committee.

“It is important for us to recognize those organizations and programs which make reducing, reusing, recycling and composting top priorities throughout the year,” noted PROP Board President Lori Robson upon notifying the County of Bucks and Recycling Coordinator Art Feltes of the honor. “It is our hope that you can continue these award-winning practices and aim for even greater achievements within your programs in the coming years.”

Formed during 2007, the goal of the BEGIN Committee is “to make recommendations to the county commissioners on what county employees can do to implement greener operations and facilities and promote policies of environmental sustainability.” Co-chaired by Consumer Protection Director Michael Bannon and Planning Commission Senior Environmental Planner Dennis Livrone, it consists of subcommittees dedicated to Employee Education, Energy/Green Building, Grants, Information Technology, Landscaping, Recycling and Transportation.

“I am thrilled that our county’s ongoing efforts to conduct business in an environmentally friendly, cost-effective manner have received statewide acclaim,” praised Commissioners’ Chairman Martin. “We will continue to look forward to the recommendations of the BEGIN Committee, implementing them when it is practical.”

In supporting its mission, the BEGIN Committee has made a significant impact on reducing consumption, increasing recycling, and eliminating county government-made pollution while reducing overall operational costs. By switching to more energy efficient lighting in the Doylestown courthouse, BEGIN has triggered an estimated annual cost savings of more than $15,000. A plastic and aluminum recycling program has produced an additional 13 tons of waste was recycled. In addition, significant changes in landscaping and fleet practices have resulted in emissions and cost reduction.

In recognizing more than 70 municipalities, counties, private businesses, individuals and community organizations from around Pennsylvania, the Waste Watcher Award singles out those who have gone “above and beyond what is mandated under Act 101 for their communities and/or programs.”

Act 101 – also known as the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act – has helped generate significant economic and environmental benefits for more than 20 years. Recycling has become a billion dollar industry in Pennsylvania. Every year, there is a steady increase in the amount of collected recyclables and the number of jobs created by the industry. Recycling has saved precious resources and energy and limited greenhouse emissions and other air and water pollutants.

During April, 2008, the current Board of Bucks County Commissioners became the first county board among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties to commit to the Sierra Club’s Cool Counties Initiative. With that pledge, Bucks County joined the ranks of counties across America pledging to reduce global warming emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Since 1990, Bucks County has preserved 129 farms totaling 11,188 acres, and continues to preserve municipal open space and parkland through the support of a 10-year, $87 million open space referendum that was passed overwhelmingly during the November, 2007 election. To view the BEGIN Committee’s April 2009 Annual Report, please visit the Planning Commission page on the official county Web site, www.BucksCounty.org.