Eco stars come out at night
Home » Blog » Sarah Heeringa » Eco stars come out at nightLast night was the night to celebrate the best and brightest of New Zealand sustainability—at the annual NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the sustainablest of them all?”
All was revealed last tonight at a glamorous cocktail event of frocks and canapés in the hallowed walls of Auckland’s St Matthew-in-the-City. Good magazine columnist Rod Oram was the MC.
A big congratulations to overall winners Ecostore, which took out the supreme NZI Sustainable Business Award. Other winners included Kiwibank, Lanzatch, Framework and Wellington Zoo Trust and The Herb Farm.
Starting 17 years ago in their permaculture eco-village, Malcolm and Melanie Rands have persevered with their vision of providing people with quality earth-friendly household cleaning products. And now the hard graft is paying off. The judges were particularly impressed with how sustainability is integrated so fully into Ecostore that it’s considered business as usual. "It's incredibly humbling to be recognised in this way by the sustainable business community," says Malcolm.
"It's incredibly humbling to be recognised in this way by the sustainable business community," says Malcolm Rands, Ecostore
See the next issue of Good (on sale 30th November) for a full profile of all of the category winners.
The NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards recognise and celebrate businesses that are reinventing themselves to thrive in the new sustainable global economy. The theme was “Reinvent to Thrive” and the hunt was on for businesses that can truly inspire with their ability to sustain, innovate, re-engineer, and rethink during the recession.
Finalists included a diverse range of companies from across the country and were all winners in their local region awards. Click here for a full list.
Nominees in most categories completed the Sustainable Business Network’s ‘Get Sustainable Challenge’, which helps companies futureproof their business and act on environmental and social concerns.
Rachel Brown, CEO of the SBN, is impressed with this year’s range of talent. “The diversity of the finalists is testament to the sustainability movement being ever more widely embraced,” she says.
This year, the SBN added a People’s Choice Award and has given the public the chance to vote for their favourite finalist online. “We’re excited to drum up even more interest and support of these businesses by adding a People’s Choice Award this year,” says Rachel.
