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2015 Sustainable Business Network awards: the winners

A huge congratulations to all of the winners of last night’s Sustainable Business Network awards – New Zealand’s only sustainable business awards. Last night’s ceremony, held in Auckland’s Shed 10 recognised and celebrated businesses making a real difference by innovating and transforming New Zealand’s business landscape. Here is a full list of winners – including Taupo Beef who took out the Supreme Award. 

Left to right: Rachel Brown, CEO of Sustainable Business Network; Mike and Sharon Barton of Taupo Beef, John Chandler, General Manager Broker Business, NZI 

NZI Greatest Contribution to a Sustainable New Zealand (Supreme Award)

Winner: Taupo Beef

Taupo Beef also took out the Restorative Impact Award through its vision to lead New Zealand beef farming while also protecting the water quality in Lake Taupo.

Taupo Beef comes from three farms which are operating under New Zealand’s toughest environmental standards aimed at protecting water quality in Lake Taupo. They successfully converted their farming practice to protect the waterways and produce high quality beef that demands a premium price. The impact of the model Taupo Beef has implemented has the potential to permanently change New Zealand’s farming practices and consumers’ purchasing behaviour.

Eat My Lunch, being awarded the Communicating Sustainability Award by Suzanne McNamara of Cadence Communications

Cadence Communications Communicating Sustainability Award

Winner: Eat my Lunch

The New Zealand born social movement, Eat My Lunch, has skyrocketed in a short time through a simple business model: BUY ONE. GIVE ONE. The goal is to alleviate poverty in New Zealand, starting with kids’ lunches. With no marketing budget Eat My Lunch created all the content themselves. So far, Eat My Lunch has more than 20,000 likes on Facebook with over 60% engagement, and a recent plug from singer Lorde took the movement global. Her post received over 110,000 likes, shares and comments on Instagram, and following saw orders from the USA, Europe and Australia. In eight weeks, the movement has supplied more than 22,000 lunches, half of which have gone to Kiwi kids who need them the most. 

Commendation: Generation Zero

Dorothy Wilson

Element Magazine Sustainability Champion Award

Winner: Dorothy Wilson

An educator, author and leader in sustainability, Dorothy has been promoting, developing and facilitating sustainability for 30 years. A large part of Dorothy’s success is in matching environmental and community initiatives to provide long-term sustainability goals. Her career has left a legacy of deep and advanced thinking about the role and vision that sustainability needs to take in the years to come.

Dorothy’s work will result in more cyclists riding the streets and cycle ways of West Auckland, householders sending less waste to landfill, cleaner streams and young people striving for more sustainable lives.  She has also been instrumental in helping central and local government better understand a Maori world view. This has resulted in richer plans and projects for all communities.

Commendation: Shane Hagai

SnapIT

Peter Yealands Restorative Innovation Award

Winner: Snap Information Technologies Ltd (SnapIT)

SnapIT created an electronic monitoring system that captures 100 per cent coverage of activity on-board fishing vessels. As auditing and enforcement of catch limits and safe, legal fishing practices is extremely difficult, The SnapIT system installs cameras and sensors on board vessels and at ports to provide data for compliance, interactions with protected species and catch discharge. The system also provides protection for those who are following ethical fishing practices, giving an impartial record of activity and events. ​

Commendations: EthiqueWhai Maia Trust 

Restorative Impact Award​

Winner: Taupo Beef 

Commendation: Junk Run

The team from Kaibosh 

Community Impact Award

Winner: Kaibosh

Kaibosh is New Zealand’s first food rescue organisation with a vision of zero food poverty and zero food waste. Since starting in 2008, Kaibosh has rescued more than 405,784 kg of food, provided more than 1.59 million meals and prevented 315,927 tons of food waste related carbon emissions. Working seven days a week in Wellington and the Hutt Valley, Kaibosh collaborates with over 36 community groups, 30 regular food donors and 85 dedicated volunteers. From this the organisation provides more than 28,000 meals to over 4,400 people, reducing food waste-related carbon emissions by 7,785kg a month.

Commendation: Deloitte/Oxfam

Akina Foundation

EcoPro Cleaning Co Community innovation Award

Winner: Ākina Foundation 

Launchpad, established in 2014/2015, is Ākina’s programme to get New Zealand’s best social enterprise ideas off the ground in six months. Launchpad takes inspired business ideas and turns them into tested, investment-ready social enterprises through support, coaching and training from professionals and social enterprise experts from across New Zealand​

Commendation: HoneyLab

Wishbone Design Studio being awarded Mega Efficiency Innovation Award

Ricoh Mega Efficiency Innovation Award

Winner: Wishbone Design Studio

The Wishbone Bike Recycled Edition is a multifunctional bicycle introducing children from as young as one year old to cycling and recycling simultaneously. Wishbone’s bicycles are made from PCR nylon and PCR polypropylene, sourced from recycled residential carpets (a world first). Each Wishbone Bike diverts 3.4 kg of carpet from landfill and saves 4.7 litres of oil.

Commendation: OptiFleet

Auckland Council Mega Efficiency Impact Award

Winner: Kaibosh

Commendation: 3R Group

DB Breweries & Gull

Renewables Innovation Award

Winner: Gull / DB Breweries

In July, New Zealanders became the first in the world to power their cars from a biofuel made from a by-product of beer. Gull, New Zealand’s leading biofuel retailer, collaborated with DB Breweries approached them with a proposal to create a biofuel using ethanol, a by-product of DB’s beer brewing. Together Gull and DB Breweries created enough DB Export Brewtroleum to last six weeks and temporally replaced Gull’s existing biofuel, Gull Force 10. Biofuels reduce carbon emissions by eight per cent compared to other performance fuels. The limited amount of DB Export Brewtroleum made saved an estimated 55 tonnes of CO2 emissions.​

Commendation: Fulton Hogan and Reid Technology

Abodo Wood

Renewables Impact Award

Winner: Abodo Wood

Typical timber exteriors are unsustainably sourced, chemically treated with toxic preservatives, and need to go to landfill for disposal. All of Abodo Wood’s products are available without chemical and preservative treatments, meaning they can either be returned to the earth as mulch, or burned for fuel.

Commendation: Kiwi Property Group

Laminex

EECA Business Energy Management Award

Winner: Laminex NZ – Taupo manufacturing site

Laminex New Zealand runs a range of internal initiatives at its site in Taupo to help reach its goal of leading the market in environmentally preferable products and sustainable manufacturing practices. In a recent case study, Laminex found that the cost of its recycling efforts came in at $0.009/kg, compared to traditional modes of waste management, which cost an estimated $0.4/kg. Over 12 months, that really makes a difference – In the year from 31st July 2014, Laminex recycled 88 per cent of the 2.5 million kilos of waste it produced.​

Commendation: New Zealand Post

To find out more about the Sustainable Business Network and their 13th annual awards, see sustainable.org.nz

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