Awards
Highlights
Sustainability in Prisons Project was invited to apply, and then named a Semifinalist in the 2015 Innovations in American Government Awards Program in October, 2015. In 2010 SPP was recognized with a Bright Idea award by the same organization, Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. The 2015 award represents a higher level of honor.
SPP’s co-founder, Dan Pacholke, received an Environmental Protection Award from Rotary Club of Olympia Washington for outstanding service for a safer environment in 2013. 
SPP’s co-founder, Nalini Nadkarni, received the 2015 William Julius Wilson Award for the Advancement of Social Justice from Washington State University.
The tireless productivity of the Stafford Creek Corrections Center Sustainability Team was recognized by an Innovation Team Award in 2012 by Washington Corrections’s Annual Agency Awards.
Other Awards
| Award | Organization | Date | Recipient | Comments |
| LEED-Gold Prison Campus | U.S. Green Building Council | 2010 | Coyote Ridge Corrections Center | Entire campus LEED-certified |
| Washington Correctional Association | Education Award | 2010 | Professor Nalini Nadkarni (SPP Co-Founder) | for her work with SPP |
| Public Service Award | National Science Foundation | 2010 | Professor Nalini Nadkarni (SPP Co-Founder) | in part, for her work with SPP |
| Education Award | Washington Correctional Association | 2010 | Professor Nalini Nadkarni (SPP Co-Founder) | for her work with the Sustainable Prisons Project |
| Top Honors for North America | Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) | 2012 | Oregon Spotted Frog Reintroduction Project | OR Spotted Frog Working Group including the SPP Frog Program at Cedar Creek Corrections Center |
| Support Staff of the Year | Department of Corrections Annual Agency Awards | 2013 | Paula Andrew | in part, for her work supporting SPP programs at WCCW |
| Outstanding Performance Awards | Department of Ecology | 2014 | Wastewater treatment plants at Clallam Bay, Olympic, McNeil Island, and Cedar Creek Corrections Centers | Perfect performance: each plant passed all environmental tests, analyzed all samples, turned in all state required reports, and avoided violations. |
| Outstanding Performance Award | Department of Ecology | 2006-2015 | Mike Henry, Waste Water Treatment Plant Manager |