Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community. Together we can make a difference.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2011 CONSERVATION CHAMPIONS

Cox is proud to honor these exceptional individuals for their volunteer efforts to preserve and protect our natural resources.

Our apologies, our initial posting of the winners was incorrect. We are sorry for any confusion.

Youth

Skyler Ryan
1st Place Winner - $2,500
Skyler is the CGO (Chief Green Officer) at her high school. She has put in 200 hours helping to clean streets, parks and beaches. Skyler is also responsible for educational art and events. Skyler organizes students to attend community clean ups and helped organize “Bella Gaia” at the Lobero Theater with mentor Dr. Andrea Neal. 327 people attend and learned abut our planet and effects of pollution. Skyler is an amazing artist who designs “Cousteau Bins.” These recycling bins have increased recycling tremendously. She is a teen that is already committed to saving our planet and the animals in it.
Skyler will donate her prize to the Community Environmental Council
Kirsten Hibbard
2nd Place Finalist - $1,000
Kirsten founded the “Environmentality Club” in her freshmen year of high school. She has a deep passion for the environment and actually started a school wide recycling program on campus. She recently went up to Sacramento with various club members from around the Orange County district to support the “Ban the Bag” bill and makes a point to educate shoppers at local grocery stores about the consequences of plastic on our environment. She has attended state parks hearings to support conservation efforts and supported Julia Bromley from Santa Monica who authored the Bag Ban Bill. She has also conducted multiple bottles drives on her high school campus and encourages other students to participate in beach clean ups at our local beaches. She inspires others to take care of our environment and truly feels that it is her calling to help protect and conserve God's gift of nature.
Kirsten will donate her prize to The Ecology Center
Daria Miller
3rd Place Finalist - $500
Daria has been recycling bottles and cans for the past 2 years. It began as a project to help her raise funds for her 8th grade Washington DC trip, and once she started collecting from neighbors, friends and local businesses she couldn't stop. The thought all of the bottles and cans she'd now been getting from everyone would go into landfills made it impossible to stop! Over the past 2 years she has recycled well over 75,000 pieces and removed those items from our local landfill and raised awareness with neighbors and friends about the importance of recycling. Daria has since used portions of the funds she raised for charitable causes such as the CHOC Walk.
Daria will donate her prize to The Ocean Institute

Adult

William Labigan
1st Place Winner - $2,500
In order to reduce his carbon footprint, William sold the second family car and bought a bicycle on Craigslist to ride to work. He started his commuting project September 26, 2008 and is still doing it. By not driving to work he has reduced his carbon footprint and is riding 16 miles round trip each day. His old car got 16 mpg and by not driving he has saved the environment from the consumption of over 600 gallons of gasoline. By riding his bike to work everyday he has also lost over 40lbs and has become an inspiration to his family and friends.
William will donate his prize to the OC Bird of Prey Center
John Smith
2nd Place Finalist - $1,000
As a volunteer for the non-profit, Naturalist For You, John has exceeded the minimum volunteer obligation and was available to lead and sweep 9 nature tours on National Forest land in Southern California during the months of January and February 2011. He greets tour participants with a friendly smile and treats everyone with respect. He takes the initiative to schedule new tours and thoroughly enjoys sharing nature with families. He helps participants through challenging obstacles and is knowledgeable, patient, courteous, and generous. He makes sure that no one is left behind. He has a special interest in the waterfalls of Southern California. He is on a mission to guide as many people as possible to these hidden magical places. He is truly passionate about the outdoors and realizes that the only way our natural resources will be preserved is if everyone loves them the way he does.
John will donate his prize to Naturalist For You
Chris Lung
3rd Place Finalist - $500
Since 2007, Chris has been testing and incorporating Hydrogen Generators into older cars that run poorly, use excess fuel, fail SMOG tests, etc. He wants to make the world a better place by getting the Hybrid Fuel Additive/Alternative Idea out there so that people can understand & benefit from this basic “high-school science.” He is also developing a "Super-Efficient" and possibly "Self-Sufficient" Ultra-Light Quantum-Hybrid Vehicle from the ground-up using recycled de-commissioned car parts in new combinations that share drive-train loads & energy production from normally wasted elemental values of Wind, Water, Solar, Momentum and Renewable-BioFuels. He’s spent the time and money to keep trying as many new ideas that might make the world a better place.
Chris will donate his prize to the Environmental Defense Fund