The 2025 Green Awards were truly a competition! With businesses from across the county submitting applications that demonstrated dedication and an ongoing commitment to sustainability, this year's selection process was a difficult one. In May, the Clark County Green Business program hosted an awards luncheon at Fourth Plain Community Commons to present awards to the four winners. As winners accepted their awards, attendees had the opportunity to hear from the winning organization's sustainability champions about their work – including both successes and challenges. 

New categories for the 2025 awards

This year, the award categories got a makeover. Instead of selecting winners based on their business size, as in years past, the Green Awards took a new path forward by introducing categories that reflect a business's point along the path to sustainability. These changes allow us to honor both established businesses that have a long history of incorporating sustainability into their workplace as well as businesses that are currently embarking on their journey towards a more sustainable future. The new 2025 award categories were as follows:

• Seeds of Sustainability –business or organization planning and implementing new green initiatives
• Sustainability Trailblazer - business or organization demonstrating exceptional innovation and leadership in driving sustainable practices.
• Sustainability Legacy - business or organization demonstrating long-standing commitment to sustainability.

• Community Champion - business or organization making a profound and lasting impact on their community through sustainability-driven initiatives.

2025 Green Awards winners

Seeds of Sustainability: PeaceHealth SW Medical Center – PeaceHealth is a not-for-profit health care system with medical centers, critical access hospitals and medical clinics in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth is always exploring opportunities to reduce wastes sent to landfill and increase reuse and recycling. They now divert over 5.8 tons of polypropylene surgical "blue wrap" annually and have reduced the need for 371 tons of disposable surgical supplies by switching to sterilizable items that can be reused. They keep food out of the landfill and reduce gas emissions by using an anaerobic digester and sending kitchen food scraps to a local farm to be used for animal feed. They have also reduced water and energy consumption by improving their lighting and HVAC systems, implementing smart water sprinklers, and implementing water reduction practices in their laboratory.

Sustainability Legacy: Simply Thyme Catering – Simply Thyme Catering is committed to providing high-quality, sustainable, and customized meal solutions. They specialize in creating fresh and dietary-conscious meals while prioritizing environmental responsibility in every aspect of the business. From locally sourced ingredients to eco-friendly packaging, Simply Thyme Catering integrates sustainability into their daily operations. At Simply Thyme Catering, every usable food scrap is repurposed — whether incorporated into broths, frozen for future use, or composted. If food is no longer fit for human consumption, it is fed to goats, chickens and cows, ensuring that nothing goes to waste. Additionally, Simply Thyme Catering tackles plastic waste head-on. Catering requires significant use of plastic wrap, but they mitigate the use by collecting, reusing and recycling plastic responsibly.

Sustainability Trailblazer: TSMC Washington – TSMC Washington is a semiconductor manufacturer on 260 acres in Camas. The company's 1-million-square-foot fabrication complex includes approximately 130,000 square feet of clean room space to manufacture computer chips. TSMC Washington's pursuit of a "Zero Waste-to-Landfill" certification, combined with the implementation of composting, color-coded waste sorting systems and staff education on waste reduction makes them a standout leader in waste reduction practices in Clark County. Through innovative and trailblazing sustainability solutions, they have diverted 1.25 million pounds of wastewater filter cakes for reuse, launched a sitewide color-coded waste sorting system, operated on 100% renewable energy since 2018 and added nine greenhouse gas abatement units to reduce their emissions even further.

Community Champion: Evergreen Habitat for Humanity Store – The Clark County Habitat for Humanity Store is a home improvement store and donation center that sells new and gently used furniture, home decor, appliances, building materials and more at discounted prices. Proceeds from the store support the organization's homebuilding and repair programs, directly contributing to affordable housing in the county. They divert over 100 tons of waste from unsellable items every year, thanks in part to their volunteer-run recycling station that disassembles these items for material-specific recycling. The store also offers free community drop-off options for recycling household batteries and paint – recycling over 4,000 pounds of paint each year. They partner with local nonprofits and small businesses to find creative reuse opportunities for items that can't be sold or recycled, including donating slow-selling dishes to "rage rooms." In 2024, they reduced their own operational waste by 57 tons compared to 2023 – nearly doubling their goal for the year.

Trophies

Past Green Awards trophies have included fun upcycled metal sculptures in various forms. This year, winners were presented with unique repurposed lamps which were created by a community organization called Rebuild. These lamps not only represent sustainability through landfill diversion, but they also embody creative reuse by transforming everyday items that had outlived their original use into something that can serve a new purpose. The lamps were also made from items that uniquely represent each industry that the winners work within.

Beyond Awards: A Call to Action

The 2025 Green Awards weren't just about accolades. The winners shared their experiences and how they overcame challenges and barriers in a way that inspired attendees and gave them helpful insights that can turn their current goals into future achievements.