Climate Smart Glacier Country announced its Climate Smart Champions during a ceremony at the Earth Day celebration April 21 in Whitefish. Awards were presented to businesses, youth and an individual who are leaders in building local solutions to climate change challenges.

“Earth Day is an appropriate time to honor the innovators who work to strengthen local resilience and build a clean energy future,” said Matt Folz, vice chairman of the Climate Smart Glacier Country. “These awards celebrate individuals, businesses and students who are making a positive difference in the Flathead.”

2018 Climate Smart Champions:

Youth Category: Cassie McCann’s sixth grade fall 2017 science class at Whitefish Middle School developed a partnership with local business to display student posters about local climate solutions. Students selected a local business they regularly visit and designed posters with a few tips for customers to make sustainable choices at the business.

Business Category:

— Whitefish Lake Restaurant is a pioneer in local efforts to turn food waste into compost through a partnership with Dirt Rich LLC’s food scrap pick-up service. Owner Doug Reed says it was easy to incorporate the waste diversion program into kitchen operations while saving money on weekly landfill fees.

— Big Mountain Commercial Association’s S.N.O.W Bus program. (Shuttle Network of Whitefish) reduces traffic and parking congestion while saving roughly 10,000 gallons of gas, equivalent to 100,000 pounds of coal that won’t be burned.

Individual Champion: Sierra McCartney was appointed to the Whitefish Climate Action Plan Committee by Mayor John Muhlfeld and volunteered her evenings and weekends to design and produce the 129-page plan. McCartney is also a landscape designer for White Cloud Landscaping, where she helped design the gardens and landscaping for Whitefish Schools’ Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. The Whitefish Climate Action Plan was approved by the Whitefish School District in March and by the City Council April 16.