CAMDEN ‘— Camden Select Board Member Alison McKellar has received an ecomaine eco-Excellence Award in the Individual category.

"Behind every recycling statistic is a person who makes a difference," said Lissa Bittermann, ecomaine business development manager, during the Waste Watchers citizen advisory committee meeting Jan. 11. "Through the ecomaine eco-Excellence Awards, we celebrate each of our winners for leading their communities, businesses and their families to make more sustainable choices about both consumption and waste generation."

McKellar as nominated for the ecomaine award by Select Board Member Owen Casas, of Rockport, Anna Sideris, of Lincolnville, and Jim Guerra, director of the Midcoast Solid Waste Corporation based in Rockport. She was selected among 17 award recipients in total, from 10 ecomaine member communities.

McKellar  was nominated for her work as a self-proclaimed "waste geek" to learn everything there was to know about the town's options in the face of the MidCoast Solid Waste Corporation's contract with Penobscot Energy Recovery Corporation (PERC) expring in April 2018.

She advocated for what she believed in, rallying unprecedented participation from her fellow Camden residents to attend town meetings, write letters, film PSAs, blog, Facebook, Tweet, etc., according to a news release. She also put together the "Waste Watchers" committee of concerned citizens that has earned advisory group clout with the MidCoast Solid Waste Board of Directors.

McKellar has also reclaimed six overseas containers worth of materials that would otherwise have been waste, and successfully delivered these materials to Syrian refugee camps providing comfort and desperately needed supplies, to these Syrian families. This has included sheet plastic, medical aids such as walkers, crutches, canes and even prosthetic devices and braces, as well as hundreds, perhaps thousands of buckets useful to haul water. She has lobbied the local hospital for its defunct examination tables as well as many other medical items that would have entered the waste stream.

"We are lucky to welcome you to the ecomaine family, Alison, and proud to present you with the eco-Excellence Award for your tenacious contributions toward sustainable waste management - in and well-beyond your community," said Bittermann, as she presented an award of a lunch tote and T-shirt made from recycled PET plastic and reusable bamboo utensils.

Additional 2017 eco-Excellence Award winners included:
Patti Wininger, Community H.E.L.P, Bridgton
Laura Summa, staff member at Chebeague Island School & community activist, Chebeague Island
Cathy Nichols, Recycling and Energy Advisory Committee, Falmouth
OceanView at Falmouth, Falmouth (Overall Winner – Business Leadership Category)
Kari Sawyer and students, Sacopee Valley Middle School, Hiram
Wayside Food Programs, Portland (Overall Winner – Community Leaders Category)
Celeste Bard & Pamela Moulton, Portland Greenfest's Upcycled Art, Portland
Wynne Wirth, volunteer at Reiche Community School, Portland
Dr. Carrie Gordon, Maine Medical Center/ Maine Medical Partners, Portland
Gabriel Nichols, Gabe's Grab & Go, Portland
Anna Sommo, Jake Hanin and Chris Malmberg, Maine Tool Library, Portland
Stuart Axelrod, Division General Manager of Pine Tree Waste, Scarborough
Laura Turner, Wild Birds Unlimited, Scarborough
J.B. Kavaliauskas and the South Portland High School Beekeepers Club, South Portland
Ken Kunin, Superintendent of South Portland Schools, South Portland
Jennifer Ocean and students, Manchester Elementary School, Windham

ecomaine, the Portland-based nonprofit recycling and waste-to-energy operation, serves more than 70 communities, or a third of the state's population. The eco-Excellence Awards is an annual program organized by ecomaine to recognize businesses, schools or individuals in any of ecomaine's 73 member communities. Winners are selected based on the effectiveness, increased awareness, community impact, and ease of replication of their sustainability programs or initiatives.