The Town of Orangeville handed out a total of three Environmental Sustainability Awards to different individuals and groups on Monday (May 2).

Receiving the 2011 awards from Coun. Sylvia Bradley, chair of the Orangeville Sustainability Action Team (OSAT), were Ann Fenton, Trish Bradley of the Highland Restoration DKI, and the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB), represented by school board chair Bob Borden, teacher Jill Fendley-Legge and child and youth counsellor D’arcy Litchti.

Fenton, who accepted the award for an individual, has been instrumental in a greening initiative at Montgomery Village Public School through a walk to school program. Working with the UGDSB, Orangeville police and Green Communities of Canada, Fenton has helped students understand it’s cool to walk to school.

The award for a business was given to Highland Restoration Disaster Kleenup, a company owned by Trish and Shane Bradley, which has reduced the amount of material heading to landfill by restoring 80 per cent of damaged household contents.

The company has introduced green technology to restore items from fire and flood, rather than replacement — even salvaging damaged clothing, leather goods and stuffed toys, among many other household items.

Last but not least, the UGDSB was recognized for its green bin program, which has it partnering with Dufferin County’s waste management division to pilot an organics bin program at Montgomery Village Public School. By the winter of 2011, all schools in Dufferin will participate in the program, where students and staff will divert food wastes from landfill by creating compost.