Toro wins 2019 WaterSense Excellence Award

L to R: Rob Starr, water management consultant, Toro Irrigation and Lighting Business; Martha Shimkin, acting deputy director, U.S. EPA Office of Wastewater Management; Chris Davey, product marketing manager, Toro Irrigation and Lighting Business. (Photo: Toro)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized The Toro Co. with a 2019 WaterSense Excellence Award for its efforts to defeat water waste and promote WaterSense in 2018.

The Toro Co. received one of 25 WaterSense awards at the WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas.

“Sustaining our natural resources is a key focus in the work that we do and the products that we bring to market,” said John McPhee, general manager, Toro Irrigation and Lighting Businesses. “We are proud to partner with the EPA to take measurable action to conserve our water resources and to be continually recognized for our efforts. Congratulations to every award recipient for their endeavors over the past year.”

Toro was honored as a 2019 WaterSense Excellence Award winner for the launch of Land. Water. Thrive., a new philanthropic initiative aimed at improving water efficiency in outdoor environments. As part of that initiative, over a two-year period, Toro is offering up to $1 million in grants to nonprofits in the global community as part of the Greenspace Enhancement Grant Program.

In addition to sponsoring the weekly radio program, The Water Zone, Toro co-sponsored the Wyland Foundation’s National Mayor’s Challenge kickoff event to share and promote outdoor water conservation information with participating cities. Toro also continued its annual Water Is Life Art Mural Challenge calendar activity for elementary students nationwide with proceeds from calendar sales benefitting participating schools. The company endorsed WaterSense-labeled products and trained end users at numerous public and professional events throughout the country in 2018.

Since 2006, The Toro Co. and more than 2,000 other WaterSense partners have helped consumers save more than 3.4 trillion gallons of water, enough water to supply all American households for four months. In addition to water savings, WaterSense-labeled products and homes have helped reduce the amount of energy needed to heat, pump and treat water by 462.5 billion kilowatt hours — which is enough to power more than 44.4 million homes for a year and save $84.2 billion in water and energy bills.