The Maricopa County Air Quality Department awarded the city of Glendale its Spotlight Award for efforts to reach out to residents with important clean air information.

The Spotlight Award recognizes excellence in air quality efforts by a person, group, company or municipality. Glendale was specifically recognized for its annual “Clean and Green” calendar.

Every year, the city creates a “Clean and Green” calendar, funded by the Water Services, Field Operations and Transportation Departments, which is mailed to residents. The calendar is a go-to guide providing valuable information on the city’s environmental programs and services.

The 2020 “Clean and Green” calendar included important air quality information for the months of June and August. More than 54,000 Glendale residents learned about ground-level ozone as well as Maricopa County’s “Mowing Down Pollution” program.

“Much of the air pollution in Maricopa County comes from daily activities and lifestyle choices,” Maricopa County education outreach coordinator Jenny Frank stated in a news release. “I would like to recognize the city of Glendale for their continued efforts to spread air pollution prevention messaging to their residents. Their commitment to a clean and sustainable environment is helping us achieve our mission to provide clean air to the residents of Maricopa County so we can all live, work and play in a healthy environment.”

The 2021 “Clean and Green” calendar is under development.

“I would like to thank our employees in the Water Services and Transportation Departments and the Solid Waste Management and Environmental Programs areas for their hard work in creating such an informative and high quality calendar,” Glendale assistant city manager Jack Friedline stated. “Aside from their efforts on this calendar, I am exceptionally proud of all our staff and residents who work on a daily basis to help ensure we live in a safe and healthy city.”