Celebrating Washington’s Greenest Companies

Hundreds of guests packed the Bell Harbor International Conference Center last night to celebrate Seattle Business’ Green Washington Awards. We honored 33 companies and organizations that are working hard to become more sustainable.

Now in its third year, Green Washington has become the leading green business awards event in Washington. But we hope that, before too long, Washington state will be as strongly associated with sustainability as it is now with software and aerospace.

Our keynote speaker, Bill Ruckleshaus, who was the first administrator of the EPA under President Nixon, brought the room to a standing ovation with a call for everyone to work to wean the country from our dependence on fossil fuels. He also was hilarious, the audience laughing several times during his speech. Who knew?

The highlight of the event was the handing out of the awards themselves. Each winner and runner-up went hope with an engraved plaque made from sustainably-grown bamboo. The winners were SnoPUD, Virginia Mason, Burgerville, REI, Boeing, Wilcox Farms, ShoWare Center, Vulcan Real Estate, Hyatt at Olive 8, University of Washington, Blue Sky Cleaners, Optimum Energy and General Biodiesel. We’ve profiled all the winners and runners-up in the October issue of Seattle Business and here at seattlebusinessmag.com.

Congratulations to all our winners, thank you to all who attended and to our sponsors, Seattle Steam Co. and MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions, and to all the people who made this event a very special night for everyone.