The Loudoun County Environmental Commission is seeking nominations for its fourth annual Environmental Excellence Awards. The awards recognize individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and educators who have shown leadership in environmental matters within the county. Previous recipients have included projects supporting community recycling, student engagement as naturalists, and volunteer efforts to protect local streams.
Nominations should include an overview of the nominee or project, details on how they contributed to preserving or protecting Loudoun County’s environment, achieved results, sustainability of the effort, and best practices learned. The commission is accepting nominations in six categories: Business; Citizen or Community Group; Educator (teacher or school employee); Government Employee or Program/Team; Lifetime Achievement (individual); and Student (individual or group for student-initiated projects). Activities must have taken place between January 2025 and February 2026, except for Lifetime Achievement nominees.
Submissions can be made through an online form until March 2, 2026. Winners will be notified in March and honored at a Board of Supervisors meeting in April. More information about the nomination process is available at loudoun.gov/EnvironmentalAwards.
The Environmental Commission was established by the Board of Supervisors in 2021 to advise on policies related to the environment, sustainability, and energy strategies. Its members represent community groups, industry, and higher education.
Loudoun County Public Schools District enrolled 82,028 students during the 2023-24 school year according to data from the Virginia Department of Education (https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home). Among these schools, Independence High School had the highest enrollment with 2,080 students (https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home). White students made up the largest ethnic group with 33,147 students—40.4% of total enrollment—followed by Asian students at 21,306 or 26% (https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home). The overall school district enrollment decreased slightly by 0.1% compared to the previous year (https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home). Sugarland Elementary School had the most pre-kindergarten students with 38 enrolled during that period (https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home).
Anyone interested in updates on environmental initiatives from Loudoun County government can subscribe to news via the Environment & Energy category on the county website’s Notify Me/New Flash section. Additional information about Loudoun County’s environmental sustainability efforts is available at loudoun.gov/environment.
“More information about Loudoun County’s efforts to increase environmental sustainability and resilience for the health, safety and welfare of Loudoun residents and businesses is available at loudoun.gov/environment.”
