Pattie Baker and the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper are being awarded for their dedication, service, and leadership in sustainable practices.
Dunwoody, GA – April 14, 2021 – The City of Dunwoody is pleased to recognize Pattie Baker and the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper as recipients of the 2020 Sustainability Hero Awards. Initiated in 2012, the Sustainability Hero Award program celebrates exemplary individuals and organizations to recognize their dedication, service, and leadership in sustainable practices. Nominations for the awards were open to the community; the winners were selected by members of the Dunwoody Sustainability Committee.
“The pandemic has encouraged us to better appreciate our natural world and the interdependence of our lives,” said Nathan Sparks, chair of Dunwoody’s Sustainability Committee and the operator of a supply chain consulting practice called SEE Sustainable Solutions. “Our heroes provide great examples of how we each may take part in protecting our natural resources and improving our community.”
Pattie Baker is a passionate leader in Dunwoody for her tireless efforts to promote sustainable actions and improvements in the Dunwoody community. She is a vocal advocate for alternative forms of transportation within the city, leading by example by using her bicycle as her primary form of carbon-free transportation. Baker served on the Sustainability Commission during Dunwoody’s initial years of cityhood and ensured that bicycling and pedestrian-friendly policies were priorities for the group. Baker also promotes urban harvesting and served as a founder of the Dunwoody Community Garden and the food pantry garden at Malachi’s Storehouse. More information can be found on Baker’s website: www.travelingatthespeedofbike.com.
“This award is a really lovely surprise,” Baker said during Monday night’s presentation before City Council. “I want to personally thank all of you at City Hall for everything you’re doing to make our City more resilient. Now, more than ever, we can see how important that is. It’s really great to see how the seeds we’ve planted over the years have grown. A special thank you for the Sustainability Committee for keeping this effort going and this focus over the years.”
The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper was selected as the organization recipient of Sustainability Hero Award for its work educating the community and protecting our vital water resources. For the past three years, the nonprofit has partnered with the Sustainability Committee and local volunteers to perform weekly water quality testing of Dunwoody’s watershed to keep residents safe and protect clean water in the Chattahoochee River. The test results can provide early signals of a problem and have helped to successfully identify and resolve at least three sewer leaks.
Juliet Cohen, Executive Director of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, accepted the award on the organization’s behalf during Monday’s City Council meeting. “This is such a great honor as we celebrate our 27th year,” she said. “You should know that Dunwoody is part of a basin-wide, weekly water-testing program. We’re testing at 195 stream and river locations from Clarksville to Columbus. We test nearly 250 miles of the Chattahoochee Watershed and lots of tributaries and lakes in between.”
The City of Dunwoody Sustainability Committee meets monthly and serves to encourage the city and the community to reduce its environmental impact by improving resource efficiency. Public education and outreach on sustainability is central to this mission. Nominations for the annual Sustainability Hero awards are solicited from the public and reviewed by the committee every winter.
“In honoring our heroes’ dedication to reducing our community’s environmental footprint, we can be inspired to start our own new sustainable practice, like walking, biking, recycling, and composting,” Sparks added. “And April 22 is Earth Day – a perfect day to celebrate nature and begin a new sustainable habit.”
For more information regarding the City of Dunwoody, please contact Jennifer Boettcher, Communications Director.
