Gray Recycling Committee Chair Jonathan Hedman receives 2018 ecomaine eco-Excellence Award

photo of Deborah Cabana, Jonathan Hedman, Lisa Wolff, and Kevin Roche

PORTLAND, MAINE – (March 6, 2018) Jonathan Hedman, chairman of the Gray Recycling Committee, received an eco-Excellence Award in the Individual category at the 2018 ecomaine eco-Excellence Awards ceremony here March 6. Hedman was one of 18 award recipients in total, from 11 ecomaine member communities.

“Behind every recycling statistic is a person who makes a difference,” said Kevin Roche, chief executive officer of ecomaine, during a special awards luncheon in ecomaine’s community room here March 6. “Through the ecomaine eco-Excellence Awards, we celebrate each of our winners for leading their communities, businesses and their families to make more sustainable choices about both consumption and waste generation.”

Jonathan Hedman has been chair of the Gray Recycling Committee since 2013. During his time on the committee, Hedman has been a stable force of continuity among the committee’s ever-changing membership. He has been instrumental in bringing about programs that increase awareness of recycling and the waste reduction such as introducing a clip card program to put limits on free bulky waste disposal and staffing an annual hazardous waste collection event. He helped to organize a recycling-themed booth and children's sorting activity at the Gray Blueberry Festival in 2017.

He also procures food donations from the local Hannaford supermarket to keep the Gray Community Food Pantry on Brown Street well stocked. He organized a donation box for clean shopping bags at the Gray Transfer station, which he uses to collect the food donations that would otherwise have gone to waste from the local supermarkets. He has also been known to recover items from Gray's wood scrap pile to repurpose and use at home.

“For being not only an avid reducer, re-user and recycler himself, but also for inspiring more residents in the community to recycle and reduce food waste while supporting community members in need, we are proud to present Jonathan Hedman with this 2018 eco-Excellence Award,” said ecomaine’s Board of Directors Chairman Troy Moon, who presented the award to Hedman yesterday.

The additional esteemed 2018 eco-Excellence Award winners are:

  • Cape Elizabeth Recycling Committee, Cape Elizabeth
  • Adriane Herman, artist & MECA professor, Cape Elizabeth/Portland/Yarmouth
  • Kevin Howell, Town Manager, Carmel
  • Cumberland Food Company, Chef/Owner Bryan Dame, Cumberland
  • Lamey-Wellehan Shoes, Falmouth
  • Kimberly Darling, Sustainability Coordinator, Falmouth
  • Robert J. Burns & Alisha Barrows, Gorham Department of Public Works, Gorham
  • Garbage to Garden’s Phoebe Lyttle, Portland
  • Allagash Brewing Company, Portland
  • Ruth’s Reusable Resources, Portland
  • Laura Graves, Howard C. Reiche Community School, Portland
  • Marjorie “Maggie” Timmerman, “Keep Rockport Beautiful,” Rockport
  • Ryan O’Leary, Ecology Club of Scarborough, Scarborough
  • Debra McDonough, Scarborough Energy Committee, Scarborough
  • Jane Eberle, Director of Business Partnerships for South Portland Schools, South Portland
  • David Pope, Massabesic Elementary School, Waterboro
  • Waterboro Elementary School, Principal Christine Bertinet, Waterboro
     

About ecomaine and the eco-Excellence Awards

ecomaine, the nonprofit, recycling and waste-to-energy operation that serves a third of the state’s population, is located in Portland, Maine. The eco-Excellence Awards is an annual program organized by ecomaine to recognize businesses, schools or individuals in any of ecomaine’s 73 member communities. Winners are selected based on the effectiveness, increased awareness, community impact, and ease of replication of their sustainability programs or initiatives.

Photo (left to right):  Gray Town Manager Deborah Cabana, Jonathan Hedman, ecomaine Communications Manager (and Gray resident) Lisa Wolff, and ecomaine Chief Executive Officer Kevin Roche. Photo by Fred Field.