above: PEC President Tom Gilbert and Secretaries Jessica Shirley and Cindy Adams Dunn present awards to The Nature Conservancy during the 2025 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence.
The Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence returned to Harrisburg on Tuesday, June 10, honoring 19 projects completed by schools, businesses, municipalities, and community organizations around the state.
The awards represent the highest statewide honor given to businesses and organizations for their innovative approaches to protecting and improving Pennsylvania’s environment, from cleaning up watersheds, saving energy, and eliminating pollution, to reducing waste and more. This year’s applicants were evaluated based on factors like environmental protection, innovation, partnership, economic impact, consideration of climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice, as well as the outcomes they achieved.
Alicia Richards, news anchor at abc27 news in Harrisburg, was the evening’s emcee. Featured speakers included Jessica Shirley, Acting Secretary of the PA Department of Environmental Protection and Cindy Adams Dunn, Secretary of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
“PEC is honored to partner with PA DEP and PA DCNR to provide a forum to recognize those who are demonstrating leadership and innovation on environmental protection and conservation throughout the Commonwealth,” said PEC President Tom Gilbert. “We recognize that progress on these issues depends on the efforts of many different public and private partners doing their part and applaud this year’s awardees for their efforts.”
Among this year’s award recipients was Upstream PGH, a Pittsburgh-based watershed organization working to improve the urban Nine Mile Run Watershed, a tributary of the Monongahela River. The award recognized the organization’s Dornbush Street Green Stormwater Infrastructure Project, a green stormwater initiative that installed a series of rain gardens with subsurface storage and an ADA accessible pathway on two vacant plots of land along one of the city’s — and the nation’s — steepest streets. The gardens will capture estimated 1.6 million gallons of stormwater each year while supporting native species and pollinators.
Green Allies, a Pottstown-based nonprofit, was recognized for its Althouse Arboretum. Led completely by high school students from five surrounding school districts, the outdoor education center saw 17,000 visitors in 2024. Last year, students also ran number of sustainability programs, including a community recycling day that collected 21 tons of electronics, appliances, and scrap metal.
The Luzerne County Courthouse Office of Solid Waste & Recycling Management received an award for its sustainably minded approach to renovating its Old Air Force Building office space. The carpet, for example, was made entirely from recycled fishing nets, and most of the ceiling tiles and stonework also came from recycled materials.
“The Environmental Excellence honorees embody the innovative thinking needed to protect our environment and shape a more sustainable future here in Pennsylvania,” DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a press release about the event. “Together, we will spur the next generation of environmental stewards. These projects showcase our ability to work collaboratively to preserve and protect Pennsylvania’s natural resources.”
To view a full list of this year’s winners, see DEP’s release.