Watertown cable manufacturer Siemon Co. and Connecticut’s post offices received awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their efforts on pollution reduction.
EPA gave Siemon its 2013 Environmental Merit Award for reducing its water use 5 percent, energy use 5 percent, and changing its packaging to achieve zero-landfill status. Employees received incentives to buy fuel efficient cars.
The U.S. Postal Service’s Connecticut Valley District in Hartford was honored for its waste reduction, particularly achieving a recycling rate of 80 percent. The effort generated $596,093 in recycling revenue and avoided $793,527 in landfill disposal costs in 2012.
Other Connecticut organizations and people honored by the EPA were the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, the Northwest Conservation District, the Weantinoge Heritage Land Trust, Inc., Tessa Gutowski, Marc Taylor, and Russell L. Brenneman.
