10/30/1998

Environmentalists honored

By JESSICA BRIGHENTY
Modified (links and graphics added) by Tony Mitchell

BURLINGTON - Local environmental do-gooders were honored on Thursday, along with more than 90 of their statewide colleagues, by the state Department of Environmental Protection at Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area.

It's called the GreenCircle Awards, a two-year-old program that pays tribute to private citizens and businesses that take it upon themselves to clean up the environment, create wildlife habitats, or run educational programs.

``The one thing they all have in common is they benefit us all with improved quality of life,'' said David Leff, assistant commissioner of the DEP who presented the awards.

From teachers who put together envirothon teams to compete in environmental olympics, home owners who turn their front lawns into a wild flower garden to attract birds and butterflies, and businesses that put up retaining walls to protect wetland areas, the list of environmental accomplishments was a varied one.

``We professionals can't do the job alone,'' said Leff to the winners. ``Without people like you we would not be able to pass on a liveable planet.''

Susan Fritch and Hanada Carbone, teachers at the Connecticut Junior Republic in Litchfield, were presented a GreenCircle Award for their work during the past school year.

The two teachers put together an environmental jeopardy game for the school, taught about recycling, embarked upon saving-the-earth-awareness programs, and raised butterflies from cocoons.

``Hopefully these boys will understand the importance and carry it out on their own,'' said Carbone about why they wrote environmental awareness into the curriculum.

Along with the recognition, the DEP also gave the honorees a book filled with more earth-saving ideas.

``We're already thinking about what we want to do next year,'' said Fritch.

The other local recipients included Tony Mitchell and Andrew Ipkovich, teachers at Lewis Mills High School; attorney Michael Zizka of Burlington who donated more than $50,000 worth of legal time to write a law book used free of charge by environmental agencies; the Cornwall Conservation Trust; Watershed Alliance of South Kent; and Connecticut Conservation Education Firearms Safety Program, of Burlington.