The Whitewater community is now accepting nominations for the Fourth Annual Whitewater Environmental Achievement Award.

The awards, given by UW-Whitewater, recognize nominees who have made contributions in the environment by working in a sustainable manner.

Nominations can be made for three different categories: individual, organization, or corporation and high schools.

Nominations must either be from Whitewater or surrounding counties, including Rock, Jefferson, Waukesha, Walworth, Racine or Kenosha.

All nominations should be turned in to K. Praveen Parboteeah, professor of international management, by March 31. Submissions should be accompanied by a one-page description summarizing how the nominee has contributed to environmental sustainability.

The award finalists will be contacted in early April, with the winners announced during the Earth Week Celebration, April 18-21.

Last year’s competition recognized George Savage and Eric Compas for their work on organizing Earth Week. The Crave Brothers won the company category for sustainability.

“[The Crave Brothers] constantly find ways to ensure that their operations reduce waste while also being as efficient as possible,” Parboteeah said.

The judging committee selects recipients based on the originality, uniqueness and the impact of their activities.

The committee includes Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner and associate professor Linda Reid, among others.

“It’s very important to recognize those that are good stewards of our environment,” Brunner said. “We can learn from their work and use their good example in our own lives to make our communities more sustainable in the future.”