Congratulations to our 2024 Award Winners

On June 12, 2024, Aquarion Water Company proudly honored the four winners of New Hampshire's 2024 Aquarion Environmental Champion Awards. The celebration took place at the Seacoast Science Center in Odiorne Point State Park, Rye, New Hampshire. Annually, the Environmental Champion Awards recognize organizations and individuals in the business, non-profit, adult, and student categories.

Headquartered in Hooksett, New Hampshire, Apparel Impact was established in 2014 to combat America's fastest-growing waste stream—clothing. As a rapidly expanding textile recycler, the company has diverted over 10 million pounds of textiles from landfills, saved 5.3 billion gallons of water, and removed 175 million pounds of CO2 from the air.

However, Apparel Impact's efforts don't end at waste reduction, as it has provided over 4,000 families with clothing and shoes and raised more than $15k for veterans and their families.

After expanding its service area across the Northeast, the company has grown to over 1,210 recycling sites and hopes to reach 1,500 sites by 2025. To create a fun and engaging educational tool, Apparel Impact recently developed "Team Impact!"—a comic book series designed to educate young people about the importance of textile recycling. The comics are available free of charge to any school that wishes to host an Apparel Impact recycling bin on their campus.

Although it's based in the United States, the company's reach transcends borders with its Vision International Missions partnership, which provides orphans at the Ti Palmiste Children's Home in Haiti with caretakers, meals, education, life skills, and more. Apparel Impact truly understands the value of giving back and supporting its communities while having a primary mission to reduce waste and improve the environment.

Established in 2015, the Seabrook-Hamptons Estuary Alliance's mission is to protect coastal and aquatic resources and preserve the Seabrook-Hamptons estuarine system through education, community outreach, and research.

Flooding is an ongoing concern for the estuary, so in 2019, SHEA established the Coastal Hazards Adaptation Team (CHAT), which has developed 19 flooding adaptation strategies. SHEA also created the Coastal Resilience Team in 2022 to address dune erosion and other coastal issues.

SHEA offers several programs to educate the public, including a series of Flood Smart Workshops, Birds of the Estuary, and a History of Salt Marsh Farming.

Additionally, it has helped create the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary Collaborative, which works in conjunction with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, US Fish and Wildlife, The National Oceanographic, the Atmospheric Administration, and others to promote awareness and maintain the health of the estuaries.

Just as important, SHEA has worked closely with the University of New Hampshire's College of Engineering and Physical Science to provide students with hands-on experience and support student research projects.

For nearly 30 years, Joe Stieglitz has dedicated his time to conservation efforts at the Great Bay Stewards organization and Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Joe has been a significant donor and contributor to Great Bay Stewards' events and campaigns. He has given back to his community through countless volunteer work, including educating the community, leading outreach programs, and fighting to prevent Great Bay from becoming an oil refinery.

Joe has held multiple positions within the Great Bay Discovery Center, including as an education program volunteer, exhibit room guide, board member chair, and secretary.

Education is at the forefront of his many environmental pursuits, as he intends to spark curiosity and strengthen the next generation's environmental literacy. Joe accomplishes this by volunteering as an educator for elementary school field trips and instructing squid dissections for high school classes as a University of New Hampshire Marine Docent. Joe Stieglitz is an instrumental player in conserving the Great Bay Estuary and an indispensable figure in his community.

Maggie Maloney is a recent graduate of Winnacunnet High School in Hampton. She has shown an exceptional commitment to environmental stewardship and has been an outstanding role model for her peers.

Maggie embraced the "Forest Friend" role at YMCA Camp Nokomis, where she facilitated sustainability efforts and educated campers on the importance of conservation. Due to Maggie's efforts, Camp Nokomis now has solar panels on their office buildings and has implemented a comprehensive composting system. Both projects have made the camp more sustainable and served as educational tools for the campers.

She also led workshops for campers ages 7 to 15, sharing her passion for sustainable living and environmental conservation with younger generations. Maggie's environmentalist efforts have demonstrated her exemplary leadership and organizational skills, further promoting Camp Nokomis's values of respect, responsibility, and community to the young campers.