Environmental Management Council Environmental Excellence Awards - Past Winners

2025 Environmental Excellence Award Winners

The Great Lakes Beach Sweep: This long-running volunteer initiative focuses on removing debris from local shorelines to improve the health of Lake Erie.
Town of Hamburg Conservation Advisory Board: The "What's a Tree Worth Project" uses public tree tags to educate residents on the carbon sequestration and stormwater benefits of trees.
Village of Alden: The village protected aquifer recharge land through the Northwoods Nature Preserve and organized volunteers to constructed a new trail.
Wheels for Workers 716: This volunteer nonprofit repairs and distributes donated bicycles to provide sustainable transportation and promote equity for residents in need.
Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA): The NFTA launched a battery-electric bus conversion project to reduce emissions and establish a cleaner transit fleet.

Monarch of Infinite Possibilities LLC, Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, and NAACP Buffalo Branch: These groups organize the annual MLK Jr. Day of Service to improve the environment and strengthen community relationships.
Frontier High School Ecology Club: This club has worked for seventeen years to teach the importance of trees through presentations and seedling distributions.
Omega Mentoring Program: The "Climate Connections" project enables youth to learn about and participate in climate actions supporting the county's climate plan.

Niagara River Greenway: The Environmental Ambassador Summit funded and showcased student environmental restoration and education projects from local high schools.
Providence Farm Collective: This collective supported community-rooted agriculture and food systems for under-resourced populations through farming and marketing programs.
Stitch Buffalo: Programs like the Refugee Women's Workshop reduce textile waste while providing social and economic empowerment to refugee women.
Buffalo Freedom Gardens: This initiative provides materials and support for home vegetable gardens to build urban food resiliency in under-resourced neighborhoods

Black Rock Riverside Alliance: This alliance led "The Habitat Project," resulting in the certification of the City of Buffalo and Erie County as National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Habitats.
Town of Grand Island: The town established a network of land and water trails to provide public access to natural places and national trail systems.
Buffalo Zoo, Erie County DEP, and Buffalo Museum of Science: This collaborative program educated thousands of students on plastic pollution through the creation of recycled art.

Buffalo Heritage Carousel, Inc.: The solar-powered KeyBank Roundhouse features educational design elements focused on renewable energy and conservation.
Buffalo Sewer Authority, CAO of WNY, and Joy Kuebler Landscape Architect: The Water WORX program utilizes green infrastructure projects as living laboratories to educate youth.
Imagine Hamburg: The Butt Kickers Committee engages the community to prevent plastic pollution caused by cigarette butt litter.

Cornell Cooperative Extension: This program provided technical assistance for the "Home for the Gnomes" campaign to promote pesticide-free lawn care.
Green Springville: The Solarize Southtowns campaign successfully helped dozens of homeowners install solar systems and reduced regional greenhouse gas emissions.
Erie Community College and Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper: This partnership established the Water Academy to provide field-based environmental education to students and citizens.

Buffalo River Remedial Advisory Committee: This group coordinated the massive clean-up and monitoring effort required to restore the Buffalo River Area of Concern.
Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance (LEWPA): This alliance fostered regional collaboration to address water quality concerns through bank stabilization and invasive species prevention.
WNY Youth Climate Action Summit: This annual event engages students in climate change awareness and empowers them to take environmental action.
Buffalo Sewer Authority: The authority developed the Rain Check 2.0 Opportunity Report to prioritize green infrastructure and manage stormwater citywide.

Village of Springville: Heritage Park was enhanced with green infrastructure, including a rain garden and riparian buffer, to prevent runoff.
WNY Sustainable Business Roundtable: This collaborative network of regional businesses successfully implemented a large-scale solarize campaign.
Buffalo Zoo: The zoo launched a composting and waste reduction program that included educational initiatives to reduce plastic bag use.
Occupational Training Center: This organization was recognized for providing exceptional recycling services within the community.
Village of Williamsville: The village executed the East Spring Street Improvements project featuring permeable paving and tiered bioretention systems.
Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper: This group managed restoration projects along the Buffalo River, including the Ohio Street boat launch habitat project.

GObike Buffalo: This organization produced and collaborated on the adoption of two major infrastructure plans, the Complete Streets and the Buffalo Bike Master Plans, to transform the city's environment.
Natural Habitat Pocket Parks: Erie County restored four pocket parks along the Buffalo River to improve water quality and provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators.
WNY Earth Day: For over 15 years, this group of volunteers has educated the community on resource conservation through their annual "Party for the Planet" event at the Buffalo Zoo.
WNY Sustainable Business Roundtable: This business-driven organization provides members with tools to reduce waste and pollution while protecting regional waterways.

Village of Depew: The village invested in automated flow monitoring systems to proactively track and understand sanitary sewer overflows.
Village of Hamburg: This municipality developed a Tree Management Plan to maintain a healthy and functional urban forest on village-owned property.
Town of Tonawanda: The town partnered with the county to distribute rain barrels and composters while providing environmental stewardship education.
Tifft Nature Preserve: Over 2,100 native trees were planted to replace an aging tree canopy and establish a resilient floodplain forest community.
Buffalo Central Terminal Restoration Corporation: The Urban Habitat Project restored abandoned industrial land by utilizing natural processes to regenerate soil and manage stormwater.

City of Buffalo: The city established a permanent drop-off center and implemented ordinances to divert electronic waste from landfills.
Town of Aurora: The highway department reconfigured road ditches to reduce soil erosion, sedimentation, and future maintenance costs.
Town of Grand Island: This project implemented a riparian planting and no-mow buffer strip to stabilize stream banks and create wildlife habitat.
Village of Williamsville: The village transformed an underutilized road into a green corridor featuring permeable paving and bioretention planters to manage stormwater.

Changed

04/23/2026 - 4:14 pm