Lab maintains close ties to Keep California Beautiful

How can residents of California help preserve the beauty of the state? A non-profit, volunteer-based environmental education organization can answer that question.

"Keep California Beautiful" (KCB), chartered in 1990, is dedicated to inspiring and engaging individual, community and corporate responsibility and pride through active resource conservation and waste minimization.

For more than a decade, the Lab has fostered ties to the Keep California Beautiful organization through Paul R. Dickinson, formerly of the Lab’s University Relations Program, and now of the Operations and Business Principal Directorate’s Strategic Human Capital Management Directorate.

For the past 17 years, Dickinson has served on the KCB Board of Directors; for the past six years, as its president, applying his experience in program development and non-profit management to expand the influence of KCB.

The KCB Board of Directors includes members from the corporate and business sector, as well as local government and state agencies. The Laboratory is unique in that it is the only national science facility represented.

"I hope that through my presence on the board, the Lab has demonstrated its commitment to public service and outreach efforts," he said.

Active association with KCB provides opportunities for Lab employees to organize or participate in community litter clean up, recycling and beautification projects and has served as a way to promote public visibility of the Lab not only within local communities, but also among the KCB board members and throughout the state.

In February 2005, a special award honoring the Laboratory’s support was presented to Dickinson from the KCB Board of Directors.

Information has been distributed to employees about KCB’s program to dispose of old personal cell phones in an environmentally safe way. Through the Lab’s Environmental Protection Department, employees have been provided with updates and suggestions for recycling their discarded, personal cell phones to help eliminate possible hazardous materials that can be harmful to the environment and conform to California law on proper disposal.

About his involvement on the Keep California Beautiful board, Dickinson said the best thing has been the personal satisfaction he has gained and the great camaraderie with friends he has made across the state — people who share a common commitment to preserving the environment.

"It has been a lot of effort for a long time, but I haven’t considered it work."

With retirement close at hand, Dickinson this month passes the torch to Judy Steenhoven, deputy department head of the Environmental Restoration Department. Steenhoven will take a seat on the Keep California Board of Directors, an assignment that is a natural fit — she has more than 30 years of professional experience working within environmental regulation agencies and LLNL.

Having resided in California most of her life, Steenhoven said she is proud to be part of the KCB board. "Keep California Beautiful incorporates many of the elements that I personally believe in: reducing waste, cleaning up trash and improving California."

Steenhoven hopes that her participation will continue as a way for the Lab to interact with a lot of representatives from industries and agencies around the state and to promote responsible environmental stewardship.