Environmental Excellence Awards

The Loudoun County Environmental Commission oversees the annual Environmental Excellence Awards, honoring individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and educators for their leadership on environmental issues.

The 2024 winners and categories are:

  • Business: Orblynx Academy. The Ashburn-based academy provides STEM-based education and has a focus on sustainability, which helps students to understand and address environmental challenges.
  • Citizen or Community Group: Lucketts Ruritan Club. The club promotes environmental awareness through community projects, including a weekly recycling service in partnership with Loudoun County.
  • Educator: Manju Gomanthinayagam, Farmwell Station Middle School teacher. Gomanthinayagam founded the school’s Young Naturalist Club, which was instrumental in the school’s recognition by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources as a Virginia Naturally School for its efforts to increase environmental literacy.    
  • Government Employee or Program/Team: Virginia Cooperative Extension – Loudoun. VCE-Loudoun, in collaboration with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, has launched a project at two county parks where tree saplings are temporarily planted in nursey-like gravel beds. This increases the survival rate for the young trees. 
  • Student: Emma Lloyd. The home-schooled 11th grader contributed nearly 100 hours of her time to stream monitoring and related educational outreach efforts in 2023. She initiated a signage program for stream crossings on the Washington &Old Dominion Trail. She has also inspired other students to become certified stream monitors. 

2024 Environmental Exellence Awards Presentation

Photo of 2024 environmental excellence awards presentation

Award Categories

Nominations are accepted in these categories: 

  • Business
  • Citizen or Community Group (Examples: Nonprofit organization, club, faith-based group, etc.). 
  • Educator – Teacher or School employee.
  • Government Employee or Program/Team
  • Lifetime Achievement – Individual who has served the Loudoun community for at least 10 years in an area of environmental stewardship and has had a significant impact with sustained activities in Loudoun in fields such as education, park development or other resource protection. 
  • Student – Individual or Group (For a student-initiated project).

Judging Criteria

Nominations are evaluated and scored in the following areas:

50 Points – Environmental Impact: What are the tangible environmental benefits of the initiative or activities? How have they been measured? Provide specific metrics that support and are relevant to the initiative.

30 Points – Innovation / Uniqueness of the Initiative: What makes this initiative innovative? What is the person/organization doing to solve this environmental problem and why is this initiative unique? How viable and sustainable is this initiative?

20 Points – Transferability, Sharing of Insights and Best Practices: What are the best practices learned from the initiative? How are the best practices being shared? How far reaching is the scope of the initiative? Can these activities be shared with other groups across the county to multiply the positive outcomes achieved?

Past Winners

More Information

Questions about the Environmental Excellence Awards may be directed to the Department of General Services by email or by calling 571-258-3443.