Green party Earth Day awards Sunday

The Green party’s Peterborough-Kawartha provincial riding association has introduced the new Nature Care Earth Day Award.

The awards ceremony will be held Sunday, Earth Day, at the Lions Community Centre on Burnham St. from 2 to 4 p.m.

This award is not a competition, however, as everyone who is nominated will win.

“We wanted people to see things no matter how simple others were doing to help the environment and to recognize those people for what they are doing,” said Gianne Broughton, the party’s candidate for the riding in the June 7 provincial election.

The award was created in March and the call for nominations went out.

“We didn’t want to judge whose contributions helped the environment more, as any time someone makes an effort to try to go green or help the environment is a win,” Broughton said.

The program was designed to highlight the Green party’s priorities.

“We are no longer focused solely on the environment,” Broughton stated. “We have a complete package of solutions – economic, social and environmental — for all of the issues facing Ontarians.”

Nominations started in late March on the party’s Facebook page and can now be found at www.ptbogreens.org.

Organizers ask nominators to get the nominees’ permission before filling out the form. Nominations close Friday. “Everyone who is nominated by their peers will have their contribution recognized by this award,” stated Doug Mason, president of the riding association, in a news release. “And taking action to care for nature is just like that. Everybody contributes, everybody wins.”

Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970, is an annual worldwide event.