Yesterday evening I attended a reception at the Conservation Minnesota Voter Center (CMVC)
. They gave out their 7th annual conservation leadership awards. If you are a regular reader of this site you may remember that I served in the Minnesota Legislature for some years, and received their leadership award in 2003. I greatly value all that Conservation Minnesota does and genuinely appreciate the work of their entire staff and board.
Representative Kathy Tingelstad, shown at left, and Melissa Hortman were recognized for their work advancing various environmental initiatives. I worked with both of them on various plans in the legislature and am pleased that they were recognized in this manner. Best Buy Company was also recognized for the tremendous work they are doing with electronics recycling. This
has turned into a major action item for Best Buy. Laura Bishop was there accepting the award. I had a chance to visit with her and learn about how the ‘e-waste’ take back plans are performing. It is not without challenges due to the high transportation costs, but Best Buy is truly committed to making this work. Finally, CMVC recognized meteorologist Paul Douglas for his work making people aware of climate change issues. He has been a consistent commentator on this issue for a long time.
Recycling products is such an important component of most work areas today. The construction industry faces higher and higher general debris rates every day, so anything we can do to reuse, recycle or re-fabricate material is a wise plan.