"Sustainable Princeton," an initiative of the Princeton Environmental Commission, is accepting nominations for its second annual Sustainable Princeton Leadership Awards, to be given on April 21, Earth Day weekend.
Sustainability, often defined as meeting our needs while letting future generations meet theirs, is "like a Calder mobile," said Wendy Kaczerski, Sustainable Princeton’s chair. "It’s a strategic balancing act between human activity and the natural environment. We act sustainably when we balance our responsibilities to protect the environment, promote social fairness, and increase the community’s economic prosperity."
Nominees for the 2007 awards should promote sustainability by both their actions and their example. They can be individuals, organizations or businesses.
"That’s the leadership component of our awards," said Anne Waldron Neumann, Sustainable Princeton member. "We’d like to recognize not just groups but also people who demonstrate realistic ways to act sustainably at home, at work, in the car, or at the store."
According to Lexi Gelperin, a recent university graduate and Sustainable Princeton’s youngest member, "We hope to give several 2007 Leadership Awards for energy saving specifically. Global climate change will affect my generation particularly. We’d like to reflect the issue’s greater visibility in this year’s awards."
Nominations can be made by e-mailing [email protected], by calling (609) 921-1359, or by writing the Princeton Environmental Commission, 400 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. Nominations must be received by April 16.
The six winners of the 2006 awards included Dorothy Mullen who started an organic vegetable garden at Riverside Elementary School and helped add similar gardens to other Princeton schools; Peter Soderman, who planted and tends the Princeton Community Garden on Paul Robeson Place and originated the idea of Writers’ Block and landscaped both it and Quark Park; the D&R Greenway Land Trust, which helps acquire, preserve, and maintain open space; Princeton Future, which advocates for developing Princeton according to principles of social and economic sustainability; Whole Earth Center, a locally-owned, nonprofit cooperative founded more than 35 years ago; White Lotus Futons, a manufacturer of futons in New Brunswick.

