Environmental Awards

2026 Sacramento Environmental Commission Awards

​​Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates  

SABA believes that bikes can change the world and have been working to increase bicycle ridership across the SACOG region for the past 5 years through the May is Bike Month campaign, which is an encouragement campaign to get people to ride their bike for short trips around town to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled and carbon emissions. They promote the use of ebikes and were instrumental in implementing the statewide ebike voucher program as a partner of Ca Air Resources Control Board. SABA also upcycles over 2000 bicycles a year, keeping them out of landfills, and into the hands of people who rely on a bicycle for daily transportation.

SABA mechanics provide pop-up bike repair throughout the city, completing basic repair on bicycles for free. They attend over 80 events a year, keeping bicycles on the road. SABA might be best known for its bike valet services. They park over 10,000 bicycles a year at over 200 events, offsetting GHG emissions, helping to have a cleaner environment, and encouraging healthy activity.  

North Natomas Jibe   

Jibe is a Sacramento-based nonprofit that helps our community choose greener ways to get around, advancing both sustainability and community vitality.  

Jibe’s Walk and Bike to School program partnered with 11 schools in 2024, engaging over 1,700 students in weekly walking or biking. The initiative is powered by parent coordinators and more than 55 volunteers, with daily and weekly Walking School Buses helping students stay active. Events like the Polar Paws Challenge, Bike Month, and International Walk to School Day kept students motivated throughout the year. Jibe also offers educational programs such as Bike Tech and Bike Club at Inderkum High, Project Ride Smart for fifth graders, and pedestrian safety lessons for second graders.  Jibe promotes biking across the community through free bike repairs via Bike Doc, ride-matching services with Navigate Natomas, and family-friendly events like the Kids Bike Party. Programs like Earn a-Bike and Summer Bike Camp encourage people of all ages to replace car trips with bike trips, while classes such as Ready to Ride, Basic Bike Care, and Adult Learn to Ride provide essential skills for new and experienced cyclists alike. 

Jibe also supports local businesses and community development through grants, events, and advocacy. In 2024, they awarded nearly $7,000 in grants for bike rack installations and promoted sustainable travel through campaigns like Saddle Up Saturdays and the California Clean Air Campaign. Jibe’s advocacy includes subsidizing vanpools, offering free transit fare, and participating in local planning efforts.   

Sacramento Valley Conservancy   

The Sacramento Valley Conservancy was founded in 1990, and is a nationally accredited nonprofit land trust dedicated to permanently protecting the natural beauty, biodiversity, and character of the Sacramento Valley. As the region’s first local land trust, the Conservancy has led efforts in land conservation, habitat stewardship, and public engagement for over three decades. To date, the organization has secured the protection of more than 18,000 acres across six counties, preserving vital landscapes such as vernal pool preserves, working ranchlands, riparian corridors, and oak woodlands that support hundreds of native species, including several that are threatened or endangered. 

Their conservation strategy includes partnering with public agencies, private landowners, local tribes, and nonprofits to acquire high-priority lands and establish conservation easements that promote responsible urban growth and reduce habitat fragmentation. The Conservancy actively manages 80 protected properties, implementing restoration practices such as invasive species removal, native vegetation planting, grazing, erosion control, and prescribed burns. These efforts are especially visible at Deer Creek Hills Preserve, a 4,500-acre working cattle ranch in Sloughhouse, where the Cosumnes Ladder Fuel Reduction Project is underway to mitigate wildfire risk and enhance ecosystem resilience. Beyond land protection, the Conservancy fosters deep community connections through public access, education, and volunteerism. 

Sites like Deer Creek Hills and Camp Pollock offer daily opportunities for hiking, biking, equestrian activities, and river access, while hosting over 8,000 visitors annually for educational programs and events. Collaborations with organizations like Sierra Nevada Journeys bring science-based outdoor learning to more than 1,800 students and educators each year.

SACBreathe

Breathe California Sacramento Region’s (SacBreathe) Food Scraps & Recycling Program demonstrates how local action can drive measurable environmental impact while fostering student and community engagement. Since 2018, the program has supported over 81 schools in reducing food waste and promoting sustainability, aligning with California’s Senate Bill 1383 , which mandates reductions in organic waste. By turning policy into practice, SacBreathe empowers schools to conserve resources, protect public health, and build resilience through hands-on education and outreach.  

Schools are ideal settings for food waste reduction, given the volume of cafeteria waste and the opportunity to engage students in real-world solutions. SacBreathe’s program integrates food scrap sorting into daily routines, encouraging students to become “Super Sorters” and environmental leaders. In the 2024 academic year, participating schools diverted an estimated 117 tons of food waste from landfills—equivalent to removing 27 gas-powered vehicles from the road for a year. The program’s collaborative approach includes working with kitchen staff, custodians, and administrators to design user-friendly waste stations and embed sustainable habits.

Beyond school campuses, SacBreathe extends its impact through community partnerships and outreach. The team collaborates with local agencies to deliver interactive demonstrations, share food recovery resources, and promote environmental awareness at public events. A free online toolkit provides lesson plans, videos, and guides to help schools and community groups launch or strengthen waste-reduction efforts. In 2024, a case study of Cameron Ranch Elementary showcased how composting cafeteria scraps enriched the school’s garden, creating a full-circle system that connects students to sustainability and positions the school as a model for environmental stewardship.

 

 

​​Past Environmental Award Winners

 

2024

 

Wildlife Care Association

With the help of a small number of paid employees and approximately 250 volunteers, the Wildlife Care Association is open 365 days a year, accepting injured and orphaned wildlife free of charge and caring for them with the ultimate goal of releasing them back into the wild. WCA takes in animals from the public as well as Animal Control Agencies, and maintains detailed annual statistics on species intakes, survival rates, and release rates. In 2023, the Wildlife Care Association received and cared for nearly 7,000 animals and is on track to receive even more in 2024. Between 3000-4000 of the animals received, that otherwise may have died, are released back into the Sacramento area annually. WCA maintains a hotline that the public can call if they find an animal in need and have questions about intervention and care. WCA cares for approximately 340 different species of mammals and birds each year, filling an enormous gap for injured wildlife rehabilitation in the Sacramento region.

 Jamie Stephenson

Jamie Stephenson from Girl Scouts Heart of Central California, Troop 238, planted 25 trees in October of 2023 with the help of 50 volunteers, including the Sacramento Tree Foundation and the City of Folsom. 14 years old at the time, she organized this effort as a project to address the global issue of climate change, which causes warmer temperatures and rising sea levels. The project took 2 years from planning to completion. She planted the trees in a local park in a common gathering area, so local residents would benefit from the shade and beauty. She committed to providing care for the trees for 3 years, including watering them in the summers and visiting year round to check on tree health.

 SPLASH

Over the past 23 years Splash has partnered with many municipalities on education and outreach to communities about the importance of Stormwater Pollution Prevention and Watershed Protection, and has connected nearly 105,000 students with nature, often for the first time in their lives. Splash has trained over 450 teachers on how to make science fun while inspiring a student's curiosity.

SPLASH's Education Programs in 2023 connected with 18,620 students and 579 teachers. Their climate centered Youth Environmental Leadership Camp serves many campers from Title 1 schools and introduces 6th and 7th graders to eco centric career opportunities.

 SPLASH maintains a set of approximately 40 animal ambassadors to assist with Vernal Pool and grassland instruction. These animals were either injured or kept as pets and cannot be released into the wild. In 2023, 546 attendees took tours of the vernal pools. Splash attended educational events where over 7000 people interacted with their educational booth. The Project AWE, which stands for Agriculture, Water, Energy and Environment, hosted 43 school field trips for approximately 7000 students at the Nicolaus Dairy in Elk Grove. Topics at those field trips included water conservation, pollinators, organic farming and vermicomposting. SPLASH has done a tremendous job providing outreach and educating our communities about environmental topics.​

 

2023

 

The American River Homeless Crew

The American River Homeless Crews have been cleaning the American Parkway since the group was founded by Daniel Aderholt in 2013.  He and over 1,000 unhoused volunteers clean up the Parkway of thousands of pounds of trash and debris to protect the environment. The Crew works in conjunction with Sacramento Regional Parks who removes the trash cleaned up by the volunteers.

Miridae​

Mirid​ae Living Labs promote the crucial ecological role of native arthropods and plants through hands-on mobile science education, “living lab" gardens throughout the region, California native arthropod propagation, and an on-site insectarium. They envision is a world in which cities are cohabitated by humans, native plants, and native arthropods and where local observation of plants and arthropods serves as an accessible, equitable, and engaging launchpad into stem education for people of all communities, while advancing scientific research. Current projects include The Seed Pile Project, the Sierra 2 Center Instructional Native Plant Garden and the Urban Habitat Tracking project, all of which invite people to become citizen scientists and contribute to the crucial data that informs decision making.

Mather Golf Course

The Mather Golf Course is certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, an environmental education and certification program that helps golf courses protect the environment, and promote environmental sustainability. The environmental components of this certification include site assessment/environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, water quality management, and outreach and education. As a result of their continued work on establishing and implementing numerous environmental and sustainability programs through water conservation and managing and improving native habitat, there is a flourishing native plant and animal population, including turtles, hawks, coyotes, and snakes. The Course is hosting a First Green Event which will use the golf course as a living classroom where local students will experience hands-on STEM learning.

Roland Brady

The SEC recognized Dr. Roland Brady for his efforts to expand, protect or enhance green space or habitats for natural and recreational uses. Dr. Brady has been organizing and leading clean-up events along the American River since 2017. Crystal Tobias has partnered with Roland for the last 8 years cleaning the waterway of Steelhead Creek in the American River Parkway. They have worked closely with the American River Parkway Foundation, River City Waterway Alliance, Sacramento County Parks Department, Reclamation District 1000, and other organizations. A project warranting special recognition is the clean-up activities he led on Steelhead Creek. His efforts included removing many tons of trash that covered the stream banks and channel where it impeded fish passage and water flow. This included thousands of plastic tarps and textiles on the channel bottom choking out the oxygen needed to support aquatic life, which resulted in low production of invertebrate food species upon which fish and other organisms depend.​ Dr. Brady implemented an innovative project using draft horses to remove trash and debris that was too large or heavy for normal clean-up using hand labor. Dr. Brady continues to investigate using mechanical equipment to winch or haul large volumes of material from the streambeds.

Cherry Island Golf Course

Cherry Island Golf Course is also certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, an environmental education and certification program that helps golf courses protect the environment, and promote environmental sustainability. The environmental components of this certification include site assessment/environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, water quality management, and outreach and education. In alignment with their annual Audubon recertification, Cherry Island has initiated numerous environmental programs including the installation of bird and bat boxes, turf reduction for water reduction, increasing native habitat areas and an extensive tree planting program. They are also committee to reducing pesticides, stream monitoring, and educational programs. 

The River City Waterway Alliance

The River City Waterway Alliance (RCWA) is recognized in a special category recognizing their work since the formation of the group in January 2023. This special category emphasizes emerging actions that are recently performed in 2023. The SEC wishes to recognize the RCWA for its efforts to expand, protect and enhance green space or habitats for natural and recreational uses. RCWA is an all-volunteer group dedicated to cleaning, restoring and protecting the imperiled waterways of the Sacramento region. RCWA works in partnership with public agencies (including Sacramento County Regional Parks) and community groups, and raises awareness about environmental damage to our waterways. RCWA has hosted 160 volunteer clean-up events which elicited 4,873 total volunteer hours and the removal of 571,410 pounds of trash and abandoned encampment debris from local waterways, as of July. ​