On May 4th, 2013, The Town of Babylon hosted its annual Earth Day Celebration at Town Hall Park in Lindenhurst. The event featured booths from companies and organizations with environmental themes, including Long Island Green Homes, Suffolk County Water Authority, Home Depot, and Vivint Solar, among others. The Town of Babylon’s Department of Environment Control also hosted a display that showcased information on the Town’s many environmental programs and initiatives. Those in attendance could also take part in a variety of giveaways, where they could win items like recycled grocery bags and coffee mugs. A large inflatable bouncing tent was present for children to enjoy.
Supervisor Schaffer joined with local officials to award scholarship money to outstanding students who have completed selected environmental projects. Every year the Town of Babylon joins with Covanta Energy for the Babylon Covantage Ecotech Scholarship, which was launched in 2008 and has since given out nearly $20,000 to deserving students. This year a total of $3,350 was handed out to fourteen students.
Pictured in the upper right is first place winner Kevin White from the North Babylon School District, who won $1,000 for his project on how to use greenhouse gases to boost the use of hydrogen energy. He is pictured with (from left to right) Supervisor Rich Schaffer, Deputy Supervisor Tony Martinez, Councilwoman Jacqueline Gordon, Deputy Presiding Officer of the Suffolk County Legislature Wayne Horsley, Town Clerk Carol Quirk, Councilman Tom Donnelly, and Covanta Babylon Business Manager Jeff George.
Pictured below are third place winners Jedidiah Dale, Matthew Taggart, and Maxwell Pitagno of Babylon School District who won a total of $500 for their project on the effectiveness of a biomechanical conductor utilizing the flagella powered magnetically-coordinated movement of nickel sulfate enriched, nickel-resistant Pseudomonas putida. Pictured with them (from left to right) are Supervisor Rich Schaffer, Councilwoman Jacqueline Gordon, Deputy Supervisor Martinez, Town Clerk Carol Quirk, and Covanta Babylon Business Manager Jeff George.
