LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In honor of Earth Day 2017, California Safe Schools celebrates all of the heroes who strive every day to protect our environment. This year, CSS is honoring the following 2017 Earth Day Heroes with awards and commendations for their exceptional efforts to protect human health and Mother Earth.
Founded by Robina Suwol in 1998, California Safe Schools (CSS) is a children’s environmental health and environmental justice non-profit. CSS achieved national and international prominence by spearheading the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Policy, as has since been a leader in protecting children’s environmental health.
2017 Earth Day Heroes:
Sandra Schubert, Esq. – Sacramento, California:
CSS celebrates Sandra for more than two decades of public service, beginning with helping to craft the LAUSD IPM Policy, followed by her work as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California, counsel to U.S. Senate Leader Harry Reid from Nevada, her role as the State of California Food & Agriculture Undersecretary, and all of her volunteer efforts working with California’s groups which have led to greater protection for children’s health and the environment.
Stephanie J. Harker & Cathy Blaivas – West Hollywood, California:
For their passionate community campaigns and tireless efforts to protect historic Plummer Park in West Hollywood, California Safe Schools celebrates Stephanie J. Harker and Cathy Blaivas co-founders of Protect Plummer Park. Their hard work prevented the destruction of 56 heritage trees and the demolition of nationally designated Great Hall/Long Hall, originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937.
Douglas Anderson – Area Facilities Service Director, Los Angeles Unified School District, California:
CSS celebrates Douglas Anderson for his enormous efforts working with LAUSD’s exceptional Maintenance & Operations staff, whose meticulous work ensures the successful implementation of LAUSD’s groundbreaking IPM Policy in place for almost twenty years. LAUSD’s IPM Policy is the most stringent pesticide policy in the nation for K-12 public schools and the first to embrace the “Precautionary Principle” and “Right to Know”, and includes a 15-member oversight committee to ensure implementation. The success of the policy in the 2nd largest school district, which spans 740 square miles, 28 cities and more than 1000 sites, led to California’s Healthy Schools Act of 2000. Today the LA Unified IPM policy serves as an international model for school districts’ and communities’ pesticide management programs.
On October 6, 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 405 (Montanez) sponsored by CSS, which strengthens The Healthy Schools Act. The bill bans experimental pesticides, whose health effects are unknown, from California K-12 public schools. As a result, more than six million California children and hundreds of thousands of school children are protected from experimental chemicals whose health effects are unknown.
“In honoring these outstanding, committed individuals, we are acknowledging the hard work and collaboration that has enabled us to protect not only current generations, but future generations to come,” said Robina Suwol, founder and executive director of California Safe Schools.
For additional information:
California Safe Schools
818-785-5515
http://www.calisafe.org/
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