January 29, 2025
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Nominations open for DeKalb environmental award

DeKalb STARR Award nominations open through March 3

By Kelsey Rettke
Shaw Local 2024 file – Former Citizens’ Environmental Commission Chair Steve Honeywell (center, right) presents a P.R.I.D.E. Award to Greg Romaneck for his work cleaning up the Kishwaukee River by kayak. The award was renamed STARR for the 2025 recipient.

Shaw Local 2024 file – Former Citizens’ Environmental Commission Chair Steve Honeywell (center, right) presents a P.R.I.D.E. Award to Greg Romaneck for his work cleaning up the Kishwaukee River by kayak. The award was renamed STARR for the 2025 recipient. (Photo provided by city of DeKalb)

DeKALB – A newly renamed DeKalb city award that celebrates local efforts to champion environmentalism and sustainability is accepting nominations through March 3.

The DeKalb STARR Award, formerly called the DeKalb PRIDE Award, recognizes that sustainability is happening in many ways in the DeKalb community. New this year, the award will be accepted in five categories, according to a Monday news release from the city of DeKalb.

“The Citizens’ Environmental Commission encourages everyone to nominate their neighbors, local organizations and favorite businesses for the DeKalb STARR Award,” DeKalb Citizens' Environmental Chair Julie Jesmer said in a news release. “Every effort to enhance sustainability locally, regardless of size, deserves to be recognized. We hope this acknowledgment encourages more people to join the effort to address climate change.”

The five categories of the DeKalb STARR Award are called: Individual Sustainability Champion, Green Business of the Year, Sustainable Community Project, Corporate/Institutional Environmental Leadership and Youth Sustainability Leader, which will be awarded to a nominee younger than 18.

The city’s Citizens’ Environmental Commission revised its annual environmental award and renamed it as the DeKalb STARR (Sustainability Through Action, Resiliency and Responsibility), according to the release.

To select the award winners, community members are encouraged to nominate individuals, businesses and organizations for their impact in one or more of five focus areas that align with the city’s revised Sustainability Plan.

These areas are ecological impact, community engagement and education, environmental leadership and advocacy, innovation and green technology, and economic contribution to the green economy.

Nominations can be made through a simple four-question, online form on the city’s website at cityofdekalb.com/1544/DeKalb-STARR. Anyone can submit a nomination. Nominations are due by March 3.

The winners will be selected by the commission and recognized in April.

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